An event co-hosted by Hotlink and Mizkan on 25 August 2026 covering KPI design for linking UGC to sales. The discussion focused on UGC and NPI, including the definition of good UGC and KPI design for each stage of a brand's development.
The article introduced the content and background of an offline event hosted by Hotlink, with Kodama Riyo (小玉 理代) of Mizkan as a guest. The discussion covered using NPI as an intermediate metric for linking UGC to purchasing behavior, as well as efforts to prioritize UGC across brands.
UGC was discussed along two dimensions, quantity and quality, and the event explained a policy of shifting the focus of UGC according to brand awareness. Based on customer segment analysis using 9segs®, the speakers presented the idea of designing a UGC strategy around which cells to move.
Using Ajipon as an example, the event introduced an initiative to use fans' voices in TV commercials and reported changes in sales, search volume and UGC. While UGC is not readily used as a direct sales metric, the importance of designing it in conjunction with NPI as an intermediate metric was emphasized.
The article concluded that integrating TV and social media trends through an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach, accumulating touchpoints using ULSSAS AD, and advancing UGC analysis with AI are key areas with direct implications for future practice.