[KEEN × SUNNY SIDE UP] Achieving Effective Marketing by Analyzing and Visualizing “Kaiwa”—A New Era of PR Perspectives

In recent years, changes in information gathering and dissemination through social media have led to the segmentation of people’s interests and concerns, and communities sharing specific hobbies and values have come to be called “Kaiwa.” Nominated for the “New Words and Buzzwords Award” in 2024, “Kaiwa” has become an entity that can no longer be ignored in marketing.

Founded in 2019, KEEN Inc. has developed the “KEEN Kaiwa DB (Database),” which visualizes these “Kaiwa” using proprietary databases and generative AI. The company has continued to support brands and consumers in building new relationships. Representative Kazuha Ogura views Kaiwa not merely as a trend, but as an important space where each individual’s “authenticity” comes together.

Mr. Ogura chose SUNNY SIDE UP as the partner for his company’s public relations and PR. What kind of changes has SUNNY SIDE UP’s unique PR perspective—”Let’s Have Fun!”—brought to KEEN’s business?

This time, we conducted a dialogue between KEEN’s representative Mr. Ogura and Sunny’s Naka Hirai, who accompanies the project. We explore the forefront of “Kaiwa Marketing,” where technology and PR intertwine.

From left: KEEN Inc. Representative Director Kazuha Ogura, SUNNY SIDE UP’s Hirai

“Kaiwa” Are Micro-Communities Created by Modern Consumers

—First, please tell us about your current positions and missions.

Mr. Ogura: I’m Ogura, representative of KEEN Inc. At KEEN, we have a mission to “liberate people from various reasons why they ‘cannot’ and create movements that change the world.” To realize this, we aim to create high-quality connections and experiences through the power of technology, and currently operate a business centered on “Kaiwa Marketing.”

Speaking of my own roots, I was born and raised in the countryside of Akita. How rural was it? So rural that even if you put up an advertisement, only bears would see it (laughs). But even in such a place with nothing, I felt a powerful gap in being able to touch products created by the founder of Microsoft. I felt the “power of products” that technology possesses, and the “power of marketing” that spreads them throughout the world. The surprise and excitement I felt at that time have become my foundation today.

Hirai: I’m Hirai from SUNNY SIDE UP. Our mission is to “cook” the information that clients want to spread to the world from a PR perspective, shape it into a form that generates interest, and solve clients’ challenges. With the mindset of “Let’s Have Fun!” we continue our daily activities to make the world even a little brighter. We were approached by KEEN around the end of 2025, and have been working together since then.

Mr. Ogura: While we had the desire to focus on PR, we faced a dilemma of not being able to focus on it with our small team. If we were going to work with someone, we wanted to work with a company and leader we could respect, who could be a role model for us. SUNNY SIDE UP has a female founder, Ms. Tsugihara, and we reached out because we really wanted to work with them.

Hirai: For us as well, as we currently conduct influencer initiatives in PR, we felt that KEEN’s concept of “Kaiwa” has very high affinity. Mr. Ogura and everyone else have such bright and energetic personalities—I always feel energized when working with this team.

—The word “Kaiwa” has come to be used frequently in recent years, but how does KEEN define this “Kaiwa”?

Mr. Ogura: Originally, it was a word referring to a specific region or nearby space, like “the Shibuya area,” but with the development of social media, its meaning has changed. Now, some people use “Kaiwa” to refer to those in a profession, like “the marketer Kaiwa,” and among Gen Z in particular, it’s also being used as a meme (wordplay), like “the bath-canceling Kaiwa.” We define “Kaiwa” as a collective of people with the same interests brought together by social media algorithms—in other words, a “micro-community.”

—How is this “Kaiwa” effective in marketing?

Mr. Ogura: We believe it’s extremely important that consumers voluntarily declare “I am part of the ○○ Kaiwa”—in other words, the term is used as an expression of identity. Traditional marketing has been dominated by methods based on demographic information or clusters segmented conveniently by brands. However, “Kaiwa” is different—consumers themselves create these collectives. The very posture of brands “co-creating” within these communities is, I believe, a new form of marketing.

With the development of social media and the rise of creators, a single person’s statement can lead to explosive product sales, or conversely, lead to brand criticism or backlash. In this modern era where social media wields tremendous power, how can brands create value together with consumers? One of the major keys to this is “Kaiwa.”

—Does this mean that those providing products and services also need to adopt the mindset of being conscious of “Kaiwa” and reaching the right audiences?

Mr. Ogura: Exactly. For example, just as the recommended feeds that Ms. Hirai and I see on social media are completely different, social media algorithms now display information optimized for each individual. Even for targets with the same attributes, the information that should be delivered differs for each person. To achieve results with limited resources, we must consider these new targeting mechanisms.

Also, the traditional word “community” tended to focus attention on loyal customers who passionately support a brand. However, to expand a community, it’s essential to approach the layer “just before” that. Capturing the “Kaiwa” formed by people who mention the brand on social media but don’t yet belong to the community is what’s required right now.

—Ms. Hirai, what are your thoughts on KEEN’s concept of “Kaiwa”?

Hirai: In our PR work, while correctly conveying the value of products and services is a given, we’ve always thought about “how to create buzz” and “who to approach for that.” However, the idea of capturing “Kaiwa” and applying it to marketing, as KEEN does, was a completely new perspective until I heard Mr. Ogura’s explanation, and I’m always learning. Until now, it was difficult to gain certainty about “whether that person is truly appropriate for that domain” with just the data we had at hand. The concept of “Kaiwa” is different from the words “community” or “population” that we’ve assumed until now—I view it very positively as a new nuance.

Proposing a Tool to Understand the Center of Enthusiasm, Even Without Detailed Knowledge of “Kaiwa”

—What kind of service is the “KEEN Kaiwa DB” that KEEN offers?

Mr. Ogura: “KEEN Kaiwa DB” is KEEN’s proprietary marketing service. With this service, we collect data on over 600 Kaiwa from social media. We perform clustering using generative AI and other tools to analyze what language is used together with these Kaiwa. Within this, we analyze the fundamental principles of how Kaiwa emerge and create a database of the mechanisms by which collectives form from psychology such as “wanting to acquire information early” or “not wanting to be left behind” within specific micro-communities.

This allows us to see numerically which Kaiwa are hot at this very moment and who the central figures within a Kaiwa are. By proposing this to brands, new influencer marketing becomes possible.

—What led you to focus on “Kaiwa”?

Mr. Ogura: In my previous position at Microsoft, I had the experience of building and managing a community from scratch. Through that activity, I felt firsthand the enthusiasm that communities possess and the potential for co-creation that emerges from them. However, I also experienced the difficulty of community management—as communities mature, they inevitably tend to become closed off, making it difficult for new people to enter. To continue growing a brand, I came to believe that while cherishing existing passionate fans, it’s extremely important to approach “people who may become fans in the future” outside that circle.

While searching for a solution, I arrived at the concept of “Kaiwa” that consumers create themselves on social media. Rather than brand-managed “boxes” as communities, I thought that by focusing on the loose connections that consumers spontaneously form and visualizing them with data, we could achieve healthier and more expansive marketing. That was the origin of the business.

Hirai: Being able to propose to clients “let’s work together with people in this Kaiwa” with the backing of data, rather than proceeding on feeling alone, is extremely reassuring for us. Our work begins with setting targets together with clients—”who do we want to reach” with that brand. Until now, we would form hypotheses based on our own feelings and experience, thinking “the target might be around here,” but with KEEN’s objective data on “Kaiwa” added to that, we can verify whether our assessment is correct. That’s what I find truly groundbreaking about this business.

Mr. Ogura: Of course, follower count is also a very important metric—it’s an accumulation of trust and a track record. But if you only look at that, even with 1 million followers, whether you can actually reach those 1 million people is another matter. Whether you can deliver a message—if you’re in that “Kaiwa” you know, but otherwise it’s hard to tell. We aim to make that information understandable even if you’re not in the “Kaiwa.”

—What kinds of companies are actually using this “KEEN Kaiwa DB”?

Mr. Ogura: For example, in the case of a certain beauty brand, data revealed that a highly enthusiastic “Kaiwa” actually existed in a completely different place from the demographic they thought was their target. Until now, there were inevitably parts that had to rely on the担当者’s experience and intuition, or “point” surveys like questionnaires. Previously, it would have taken enormous time and cost to verify the answer to “who should we reach.” By using this database, we can visualize numerically which Kaiwa, which influencers, and in what context they are trusted at this very moment.

Hirai: We also saw that case, and felt that being able to reliably confirm the “quality” of how many people the information reaches is something that will significantly change existing marketing.

Mr. Ogura: Thanks to this, we’re steadily building a track record as a platform where brands can find genuine partners for co-creation, rather than simply “creating buzz.”

Hirai: By turning these specific success stories into narratives and disseminating them as Sunny, I’m convinced that the concept of “Kaiwa” will become the new standard in the industry.

Because We Could Organize Our Story, We Can Speak Honestly—Working with Sunny

—What was the reason KEEN decided to focus on PR initiatives?

Mr. Ogura: While we originally placed emphasis on product development, the catalyst was feeling the need to more widely and correctly communicate how this “KEEN Kaiwa DB” changes marketing and what new value it can provide. Until now, our dissemination was centered within our own community, but we wanted to step outside and have more brands and marketers learn about the concept of “Kaiwa.”

The reason we chose SUNNY SIDE UP as our partner was the impression that they excel not just at information exposure, but at “creating atmosphere”—capturing the mood and trends of society and establishing new values. Spreading the concept of “Kaiwa” has aspects close to a kind of culture-building. That’s precisely why we wanted to work with SUNNY SIDE UP, who would understand not just PR as a method, but also grasp the philosophy and story behind it and deliver it to the world.

Also, the fact that Ms. Hirai and the other members understood our product not merely as an analysis tool, but as something essential to future marketing, and engaged with it with such enthusiasm, was a very significant deciding factor.

—By the way, how did you learn about SUNNY SIDE UP?

Mr. Ogura: I heard from an acquaintance that they also support startups. “So that’s why that company had such buzz and excitement—because Sunny was helping them.”

It clicked for me then that startups could rely on Sunny too. As I mentioned at the beginning, with a female founder, they were also a company I respected, so I wanted to ask them, and we made the offer ourselves.

—Ms. Hirai, what impressions do you have of KEEN as a company and of Mr. Ogura?

Hirai: I heard that Mr. Ogura and Executive Officer COO Kota Hada Thomas have been friends since their student days, and seeing them interact so harmoniously, I felt it was very energetic and wonderful. On the other hand, I also heard that Mr. Ogura personally visited places and sent DMs—very steady and careful sales activities. So I thought we could support them with “aerial warfare” through third-party media with our capabilities, and that’s the kind of support we’re providing now.

Also, I think not just the service content, but the atmosphere of the people you work with is important. Mr. Ogura gathers people from the marketing Kaiwa and hosts barbecues for them. The way she builds friendships and communities is truly wonderful. And she actually goes out to the streets of Shibuya and conducts street interviews asking “Why did you buy this?”

Mr. Ogura: From technology to real-world emotion, you might say (laughs). Ultimately, technology and such are tools, and in the end it’s “how people’s hearts move.” I believe it’s important to actually dive into places where people are and connect that enthusiasm to brands and consumers.

Hirai: We want to properly communicate KEEN’s company culture and the appeal of its “people” through media as well. Delivering “human enthusiasm” farther and to more people through the power of PR—that’s the future we want to achieve together as KEEN’s partner.

—Since the PR project with SUNNY SIDE UP began, what specific changes have you felt?

Mr. Ogura: Being able to organize the “story” of how we should talk about ourselves has already become a significant value. Because we have science-oriented minds, we tended to lean toward explanations as a tool vendor, saying “functionally, this can be done.”

Hirai: Because Mr. Ogura’s founding story and the essence of the “Kaiwa” concept are wonderful, we valued how to connect that with media perspectives and societal needs. To do that, we started by preparing the “ingredients”—fact books and profile sheets.

Mr. Ogura: Thanks to that, when facing client executives, we became able to tell stories about what we aim for and how we’re being received by society. Being able to speak honestly and openly has been a major change.

Hirai: With that organized story, starting in February we’ve been actively approaching business media and specialized publications read by those in the beauty industry.

—Please also tell us about initiatives and visions you want to focus on even more going forward.

Hirai: What’s currently in progress is the creation of a “research report” utilizing KEEN’s proprietary data. Based on this, we’re preparing to conduct study sessions and roundtables for media.

Mr. Ogura: The research report and the serialization opportunities that Sunny has connected us with are opportunities we absolutely couldn’t have achieved as a single company. I’m learning every day.

Hirai: Going forward, we want to further expand the range of media and communicate Mr. Ogura to the world as “the leading authority on Kaiwa.” We want to build a partnership where we can support more clients together by combining SUNNY SIDE UP’s specialty communication solutions with KEEN’s data. Beyond just the current approach to specialized publications, we want to expand genres even further and deliver the appeal of KEEN’s services to more people. With Sunny’s strength in PR and KEEN’s data, I hope we can solve clients’ challenges together through this partnership.

Mr. Ogura: Even as times and technology change, places where people gather—communities—will never disappear. We want to continue being an entity that actually dives into places where people are, whether digital or real, and connects that enthusiasm to brands and consumers. With Sunny, I feel we can turn that challenge into an even bigger movement.

Not merely spreading information, but visualizing the “movement of people’s hearts” beyond that, and changing the atmosphere of society from “Kaiwa.” KEEN will continue to develop approaches from “Kaiwa” in various forms, with SUNNY SIDE UP accompanying them. If you’re a company or brand担当者 struggling with new marketing, why not check out the “KEEN Kaiwa DB” once?