NEWS

OPT, Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Daisuke Kanazawa; hereinafter “OPT”), an Innovation Agency leading the digital shift, has been certified as a partner in the “LINE Account Connect” and “LINE Ads Platform” sections of the “LINE Biz-Solutions Partner Program.” This program certifies partners for the sales and development of various corporate services provided by LINE Corporation (Head Office: Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo; CEO and President: Takeshi Idezawa; hereinafter “LINE”).

＜Certification Sections＞
■ “LINE Account Connect” Section
Certified as a “Diamond Technology Partner” 
Certified as a “Silver Sales Partner” 
 
■ “LINE Ads Platform” Section 
Certified as a “Silver Sales Partner”
 

This certification as “Diamond Technology Partner” in the “LINE Account Connect” section is linked to API-related services based on LINE Official Accounts. The criteria for certification include whether the specifications of the tool linked with LINE can be shared when required by the advertising sponsor, whether the skills and resources required for changing LINE specifications are available, and whether the required technical specifications can be maintained. 
 
OPT has developed the proprietary Messaging API delivery tool “TSUNAGARU,” (*1), and provides this service to many corporate customers, primarily those with LINE Official Accounts under the new plan. 
This new certification recognizes that OPT has stimulated corporate LINE Official Account usage by utilizing TSUNAGARU to promote the development of account services provided by LINE Corporation. 

Through initiatives such as constructing unique applications using cooperation with its proprietary “Spin App” service, OPT also proposes integrated marketing solutions using the LINE Ads Platform, from brand recognition to ‘friending,’ to new customer acquisition, all the way to customer support. 

In the future, OPT will continue to strengthen its collaboration with LINE to maximize the effectiveness of corporate marketing. 


■ From Mr. Yuki Ikehata, Executive Officer at LINE 
OPT supports many corporate customers using LINE, particularly through “TSUNAGARU,” which links LINE Official Accounts and API services, facilitating the provision of a range of business solutions. LINE has been engaged in integrating LINE Official Accounts since December last year. OPT has given us tremendous support in terms of the utilization of “LINE Official Accounts” on the new platform, and this has led us to recognize them with the first certification as “Diamond Technology Partner” in the “LINE Account Connect” section. OPT has been actively involved in proposing initiatives utilizing the newly launched API services, such as the “Notification Message” and “LINE Point Connect” functions. LINE plans to continue to introduce functional enhancements, and we hope to work together with OPT to promote business solutions using API integration.

■ Outline of “LINE Biz-Solutions Partner Program” 
“LINE Biz-Solutions Partner Program” is a certification and award program for advertising agencies and service developers in the product sections of “LINE Account Connect,” “LINE Ads Platform” and “LINE Sales Promotion.” The program was introduced in order to more proactively promote the expansion of sales and the addition and improvement of functions for various corporate services provided by LINE. 
 
“LINE Account Connect” section has four certification categories: “Sales Partner,” “Technology Partner,” “Special Award,” and “Planning Partner,”; “LINE Ads Platform” section has two categories: “Sales Partner” and “Technology Partner”; and “LINE Sales Promotion” section has one: “Sales Partner” category. 
* The “Planning Partner” category has not been included in the partner awards this time. 

 
＜Outline of the LINE Biz-Solutions Partner Program＞
▼ “LINE Account Connect” Section
- Technology Partner
This is a partner that provides services linked to API-related services based on LINE Official Accounts.
Certification is targeted at advertising services based on LINE Official Accounts, with outstanding partners awarded the “Diamond,” “Gold,” “Silver” or “Bronze” rank. The criteria for certification include whether the specifications of the tool linked with LINE can be shared on request, whether the skills and resources required for changing LINE specifications are available, or whether the required technical specifications can be maintained. Certified partners receive special benefits, such as promotion in LINE media and invitations to LINE events. 
 
- Sales Partner
This is a partner for the sales of advertised products and API-related services based on LINE Official Accounts. 
Certification is targeted at advertising services based on LINE Official Accounts. The criteria for certification include sales volume, number of newly opened accounts, and the average “push” (including IFA, etc.) distribution quantity for owned accounts. Outstanding partners are awarded the “Diamond,” “Gold,” “Silver” or “Bronze” rank. Based on this rank, certified partners receive special benefits, such as prioritized notice and sales support for new products, introductions on LINE media and invitations to LINE events. 

▼ “LINE Ads Platform” Section
- Sales Partner
Certification is targeted at “LINE Ads Platform” programmatic advertising, and is ranked as “Diamond,” “Gold,” “Silver,” “Bronze,” “Basic” or “Best SMB Partner” based on criteria such as total accumulated sales per six months. Based on this rank, certified partners receive special benefits, such as prioritized notice and sales support for new products, introductions on LINE media and invitations to LINE events. 
* The newly-established “Best SMB Partner” rank is awarded to the single strategic partner in the SMB domain with the greatest total accumulated sales per six months to new SMB advertising sponsors for programmatic advertising on the “LINE Ads Platform.”

*1 The “TSUNAGARU” Messaging API distribution tool is provided by OPT, Inc. as an ASP service to companies that want to open a LINE Official Account, and it enables the more advanced utilization of Messaging API distribution. 
“TSUNAGARU” provides not only advertisement distribution services, but also vital support for the function of corporate business services, and can be utilized for business development and expansion. 
The tool is equipped with a wide variety of functions, such as ID syncing, message distribution, bots for automated responses, AI chat, barcode display, questionnaire creation, click data collection, “Line Beacon” management, MA (Marketing Automation) functions and call center support. The tool greatly reduces the system development burdens on companies that are deploying and implementing “Messaging API” distribution, which maximizes the effectiveness of Internet advertising fields that include LINE. 
Please see http://tsunagaru.linebc.jp/ for details.


* What is “Messaging API”?
“Messaging API” is an application programming interface (API) that facilitates two-way communication with users through a LINE account.Messaging API not only enables one-way message dissemination to users, but also selective delivery of optimized messages to specific users. In addition, with the consent of users, Messaging API can be used as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool and operations solutions tool, by coordinating existing corporate databases and proprietary systems with a LINE account. (* Line Corporation does not store customer data from any company linked to a LINE account.)