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When Japan’s Hakuhodo launched H+ in 2022, a cross-company unit formed with D.A. Consortium (DAC), it set out to merge two worlds that often seem at odds: human empathy and AI.
The group’s mission is to “empower the digital future” for marketers, combining the creative legacy of Hakuhodo with a data-rich, AI-powered understanding of how people actually live and make choices. It’s a move that signals how traditional agencies are rethinking human behaviour in an increasingly automated marketing landscape.
“AI alone can’t understand people,” says Stephen Li, senior strategic advisor at H+. “But people guided by AI can see patterns and motivations faster, and act on them more intelligently.”
From consumers to sei-katsu-sha
Central to Hakuhodo’s worldview is a philosophy called sei-katsu-sha, a term the agency coined. Roughly translated as “life-living person”, it’s an approach that views people not simply as consumers but as complex individuals with lifestyles, relationships and aspirations. This is juxtaposed against the mere stereotype of sho-hi-sha (a consuming, spending person)
“Sei-katsu-sha tells us to look at the full 360 degrees of every human being,” Li explains. “It reminds us that marketing is a two-way conversation built on understanding and respect.”
The philosophy underpins everything from creative development to audience modelling. Rather than focusing on transactions, H+ looks for emotional and cultural cues that shape decision-making. That ethos has informed Hakuhodo’s proprietary InsightOut planning method – an approach that transforms behavioural data into actionable ideas rooted in real human context.
Making sei-katsu-sha operational
What differentiates H+ from other data-driven agencies is how it operationalises this human-first philosophy across markets and media.
“The idea of sei-katsu-sha isn’t just a Japan-only concept,” says Li. “It’s embedded in how our teams plan and think globally. Whether a campaign runs in Japan or globally, the same respect for real lives guides our work.”
This consistency allows H+ to deliver locally relevant insights while maintaining a unified strategic framework. For the agency, understanding cultural nuance is as critical as crunching numbers. The approach resists the one-size-fits-all models that often dominate multinational marketing systems.
H+ Intelligence: AI with empathy
The technology backbone of this model is H+ Intelligence, the agency’s proprietary AI platform. The system integrates multiple data streams; first-party client data, third-party sources and Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living’s (HILL) ongoing ethnographic studies; to generate multi-dimensional audience personas.
Each persona maps motivations and behaviours across the customer journey, helping planners predict not only what people will do, but why they might do it. In other words, to gain a deeper level understanding of the customer journey.
“Our goal isn’t to automate creativity,” Li emphasises. “It’s to accelerate empathy.”
H+ Intelligence powers Hakuhodo’s work globally, supported by development teams in Japan, Southeast Asia and North America. While the technical details remain proprietary, Li confirms that the platform combines AI modelling with human interpretation to identify latent demand and emerging cultural shifts. This is where ‘human-in-the-loop’ is essential to a campaign’s success.
The result: faster, more grounded insights that enable brands to act on change as it happens, not months later.
For example, a Southeast Asian F&B client used AI sei-katsu-sha to identify targeted communication strategies for different audience segments, which helped predict new product SKUs and determine which retail channels to prioritise.
Balancing human and machine
AI, in this model, is a collaborator. It provides speed and scale, while human strategists and creatives supply empathy and context. Together, they produce campaigns that feel more relevant and connected to everyday life.
“We’re always looking for the intersection of data and humanity,” says Li. “That’s where meaningful marketing happens.”
H+ is now exploring the next evolution of its model: AI agents designed to learn from cultural dynamics and assist in planning decisions. While still early, the goal is clear: to deepen, not dilute, human understanding.
