relativ

What relativ does

relativ K.K. is a Tokyo-headquartered, for-profit marketing solutions agency founded in 2015 that designs customer experiences, data-driven strategies, and creative communications for ambitious global and regional brands, with a particular focus on cross-border work between Asia and North America. The company delivers a unified five-pillar service portfolio: Research and Insights, CX Consulting/Strategy, Data Science and Data Solutions (including statistical modeling, ML/AI, and NLP), UX/UI/Service Design, and Creative and Communications Development. Its proprietary, trademarked methodology Kinectivity measures the strength of brand-to-consumer relationships against competitors and links those scores to business outcomes; the dataset spans 100+ brands tracked over five years and originated from an 11,000-consumer baseline study in 2016.

The firm operates as a sales-led, direct-engagement professional services business, with no disclosed public pricing and no reseller or platform channel; engagements are scoped per project with enterprise and mid-market brand marketing leaders. It is incorporated in Japan as a Kabushiki Kaisha, is founder-led (Cairo Marsh, Founder & Executive Partner), and has no disclosed institutional investment, M&A history, or subsidiaries. The commercial footprint is Tokyo (HQ, 2015), Seattle (2022), and Taipei (2025), with 11-50 employees and a stated 29-year age span across the team. Customer logos are concentrated in enterprise-tier consumer brands (shu uemura, SHIRO, Le Creuset, QMSP, Meat & Livestock Australia, BNP Paribas Cardif, TaiwanPlus, HexClad, Marriott, Coca-Cola, JWI Solutions), with case studies documenting outcomes such as a 3x CTR lift for QMSP and a 3x traffic increase for JWI Solutions. The company is a shareholder member of Worldwide Partners, a network of 75+ independent agencies across 40+ countries, which extends its multinational delivery capability, and has won Campaign Asia's Japan/Korea Independent Agency of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 plus Customer Engagement Agency of the Year in 2022 and 2024.

Name

relativ

Legal name

relativ K.K.

Website

https://relativ.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

relativ is a Tokyo-founded marketing solutions agency that designs customer experience strategy, data science, and creative communications for enterprise and mid-market brands expanding across Asia and North America, anchored by its proprietary Kinectivity relationship-measurement methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing Agency Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Rebrand & Brand Refresh Programs (MPAAAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Lead Nurturing & Marketing Operations (List Management, Scoring) (MPAAAIAJ), Loyalty, Rewards & Retention Platforms (BPAFAFAH)

Keywords

• Marketing solutions agency
• Customer experience consulting
• Brand relationship strategy
• Data-driven marketing services
• Creative communications agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketing Agency Services: Professional services including CX consulting, strategy development, data science, UX/UI design, and creative communications development for enterprise and mid-market clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

relativ is a Tokyo-based marketing solutions agency that helps ambitious brands design and deliver customer experiences that build deeper brand-to-consumer relationships. Its service portfolio spans research and insights, CX consulting and strategy, data science, UX/UI and service design, and creative communications development. Underpinning these services is Kinectivity, a proprietary trademarked research tool that quantifies brand-consumer relationship strength relative to competitors.

Product overview

relativ is a marketing solutions agency that offers a unified suite of professional services rather than a software product platform. The core service portfolio comprises five interconnected offerings: Research and Insights (market research and competitive analysis), CX Consulting/Strategy (customer experience and acquisition strategy), Data Science and Data Solutions (ML/AI modeling, NLP, and analytics), UX/UI/Service Design (user research, journey mapping, and interface design), and Creative and Communications Development (campaign design, social media, and brand development). Supporting these services is Kinectivity, the company's proprietary trademark research tool that measures brand-to-consumer relationship strength and provides actionable intelligence for strategic decision-making.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kinectivity: Proprietary trademark research tool that measures brand-to-consumer relationship strength relative to competitors

Products and services

• Research and Insights
• CX Consulting and Strategy
• Data Science and Data Solutions
• UX/UI and Service Design
• Creative and Communications Development
• Kinectivity

Quantifiable outcome

• 3x increase in CTR and 5x increase in clicks and visits for QMSP campaign
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partnerrelativ* is a shareholder member of Worldwide Partners, a global network of 75+ independent agencies across 40+ countries. This membership enables relativ* to support global brands with customized multinational service delivery, ensuring local market implementation of global marketing principles.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hakuhodo: Japan-headquartered independent advertising and CX agency network. Directly comparable to relativ* as a Japan-rooted agency serving enterprise clients on branding, CX, and integrated campaigns, though at materially larger scale.
• TBWA\Hakuhodo: Joint venture of TBWA and Hakuhodo in Japan. Competes head-to-head with relativ* for Japan-based enterprise creative and CX mandates, with similar cultural fluency but larger network backing.
• Serviceplan Group: Largest independent agency network in Europe, comparable in independent-owner positioning and integrated CX/data-science capabilities. Similar mid-sized, owner-operated agency model versus network-owned peers.
• Pereira O'Dell: Independent creative and brand experience agency with offices in San Francisco and New York. Comparable as a mid-sized, independent shop focused on brand-building and customer engagement for ambitious global brands.
• Mother Design: Independent creative network known for brand-building, design, and CX-led work. Comparable in independent operating philosophy and brand-experience focus, though London-rooted rather than Asia-rooted.
• Wieden+Kennedy: Independent creative agency known for brand-building and integrated campaigns for global enterprise clients (Nike, Coca-Cola, etc.). Comparable in independent operating model and brand-experience emphasis, though at larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Dentsu Creative: Global creative arm of Dentsu Group, headquartered in Japan. Overlaps with relativ* on brand strategy, CX, and creative campaigns for enterprise clients, but operates within a much broader portfolio of marketing services.
• McCann Worldgroup: Global advertising and CX network with strong Japan/APAC presence. Comparable to relativ* on brand-building, customer engagement, and integrated campaigns, but operates as a much larger incumbent.
• R/GA: Global digital agency (part of IPG) focused on customer experience, design, and technology-enabled brand work. Comparable to relativ* on CX strategy and data-driven creative, but at much larger scale.
• Accenture Song: Accenture's creative, marketing, and CX practice. Competes with relativ* on CX strategy, loyalty programs, and data-driven customer engagement for enterprise clients, with significantly larger scale and consulting integration.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/itsrelativ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/-relativ-
• Instagraminstagram.com/relativ_inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about relativ