Digital Athlete
Digital Athlete is a Tokyo-based integrated digital marketing agency founded in 2011, serving Japanese SMB and mid-market companies across D2C, e-commerce, and mail-order with coordinated web advertising operations, landing page and video production, and YouTube channel management under monthly managed-service retainers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Digital Athlete does
Digital Athlete Corporation (デジタルアスリート株式会社) is a Tokyo-headquartered digital marketing agency founded in 2011 by Nagahashi Shingo (長橋 真吾) as an internal venture of a prior telecommunications sales business. Originally named Listing Plus, the company was rebranded in 2022 to reflect its broadened scope and now operates from Nishi-Shinjuku Mitsui Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo with 70+ employees. The firm serves primarily Japanese SMB and mid-market companies — concentrated in D2C, e-commerce, and mail-order sectors — offering integrated digital marketing support spanning web advertising operations, landing page and website production, video creation, YouTube channel management, and SNS-to-CRM marketing funnel design. Named clients include ANA, USEN, SCSK, ART VIVANT, ZOFF, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Miss Paris, Phoenix Seagaia Resort, and WACUL, with a cumulative client base of 2,425+ companies over 15+ years.
The company's core technology is an in-house coordinated team that integrates four disciplines — web advertising operations across Google, Yahoo! Japan, Meta, TikTok, LINE, Taboola, SmartNews, YouTube, and X — alongside creative production (LP/website/video) and YouTube channel management — under a single delivery model. It holds certified partner status with Google, Yahoo! Japan, Meta, TikTok, SmartNews (Bronze), and Taboola (Pro), and has received industry recognition including the Taboola Rocks Star Award (April 2024), Google AdWords Excellent Performer Award TOP 10, and selection in Great Place to Work's small-company rankings.
Digital Athlete generates revenue primarily through monthly managed-service retainers where client media budgets typically range from ¥1M to ¥10M per month, supplemented by professional services for landing page and website production, video production, YouTube channel operations, and consulting. A distinguishing commercial feature is a free production cost model available to clients with monthly budgets of ¥2.5M or more, which bundles creative production into media management fees. The company remains privately held under founder Nagahashi Shingo — who completed a full share buyout from the original parent in 2017 — has no disclosed external venture capital or private equity backing, and has expressed an IPO ambition targeting around 2025 that has not yet been realized.
Digital Athlete firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Digital Athlete
- Legal name
- デジタルAthlet社株式会社
- Website
- https://ppc-master.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Digital Athlete is a Tokyo-based integrated digital marketing agency founded in 2011, serving Japanese SMB and mid-market companies across D2C, e-commerce, and mail-order with coordinated web advertising operations, landing page and video production, and YouTube channel management under monthly managed-service retainers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Digital Athlete is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Digital Athlete business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Web Advertising Agency Services: Core revenue stream from managing and optimizing web advertising campaigns for clients. Clients typically engage with monthly budgets of 1M–10M JPY.
- Landing Page & Website Production: Production of landing pages and websites for clients, including free production cost model for some engagements.
- Video & YouTube Channel Management: Video content creation and YouTube channel management services bundled with advertising campaigns.
- Consulting & Support Services: Comprehensive marketing support from SNS utilization to article LPs, sales LPs, and CRM implementation support.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | Custom agency retainer — budget-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Digital Athlete product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Digital Athlete is a Japanese digital marketing agency that manages and optimizes web advertising campaigns across Google, Yahoo!, Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Taboola, LINE, and X (Twitter) for SMB and mid-market clients. It also produces landing pages, websites, and video content, and manages YouTube channels as integrated support for client ad campaigns.
Product overview
Digital Athlete is a comprehensive digital marketing agency offering integrated services under a unified platform. The core offerings include advertising agency services managing campaigns across multiple platforms (Google Ads, Meta, Yahoo!, TikTok, YouTube, Taboola, LINE, X/Twitter), landing page and website production services, video content creation, YouTube channel operations, and in-house support services. The company rebranded from Listing Plus to Digital Athlete in 2022 to reflect expanded service capabilities beyond search advertising into full-scale digital marketing support. The portfolio enables clients to access advertising operations, creative production, and marketing internalization support as an integrated solution.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Advertising Agency Services (広告運用代行)
Companies that use Digital Athlete
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Digital Athlete technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Digital Athlete partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- TaboolacoreDigital Athlete holds Taboola Pro Certification and received the Taboola Rocks Star Award in 2024, indicating a deep technology and integration partnership in native advertising distribution.
- SmartNewscoreBronze partner status in SmartNews Ads Partner Program as of September 2024, providing access to SmartNews advertising distribution.
- Yahoo! Japan (Yahoo!リスティング広告)coreCertified professional partner for Yahoo! Listing Ads (Yahoo!リスティング広告認定プロフェッショナル), indicating specialized expertise in Yahoo Japan advertising platform.
- Google (Googleアドワーズ)coreCertified professional partner for Google AdWords (Googleアドワーズ認定プロフェッショナル), indicating specialized expertise in Google advertising platform.
- Facebook (Meta)coreFacebook Marketing Partner, providing access to Meta advertising ecosystem including Facebook and Instagram ad distribution.
- 株式会社精鋭minorListed as a partner company, nature of partnership not further specified.
- 株式会社デジタルマーケティング総合研究所minorListed as a partner company, nature of partnership not further specified.
- 株式会社WebilminorListed as a partner company, nature of partnership not further specified.
- 株式会社Add ValueminorListed as a partner company, nature of partnership not further specified.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Digital Athlete competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- FreakOut Holdings, Inc. Japanese digital advertising technology and marketing group operating DSPs and agency services, comparable in providing multi-channel paid media buying and campaign management to Japanese advertisers.
- Geniee, Inc. Tokyo-based ad tech and digital marketing company offering programmatic advertising and marketing solutions across search, social, and display — directly overlapping with Digital Athlete's paid media management services.
- Allied Architects, Inc. Japanese digital marketing company providing integrated advertising operations and creative services to SMB and mid-market clients, closely matching Digital Athlete's full-funnel positioning and Japanese market focus.
- Septeni Holdings Co., Ltd. Tokyo-headquartered digital advertising agency group offering multi-platform ad operations, creative production, and digital marketing services in Japan — directly comparable in service mix and customer segment to Digital Athlete.
- i-mobile Co., Ltd. Japanese digital advertising platform and agency providing mobile and web ad operations and affiliate marketing — directly comparable in multi-channel paid media execution and SMB advertiser focus.
- ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. Japanese affiliate and digital performance marketing company offering performance-based advertising solutions — comparable in business model focus on measurable digital marketing outcomes for advertisers.
Emerging players
- Repro Inc. Tokyo-based marketing automation and analytics SaaS provider enabling mobile/web engagement — emerging player with overlapping focus on conversion optimization and SMB/mid-market digital marketing workflows.
Broad incumbents
- Dentsu Group Inc. Japan's largest advertising agency group offering end-to-end digital and traditional advertising services at global scale — a broad incumbent competitor with overlapping capabilities in web advertising and creative production.
- Digital Garage, Inc. Tokyo-listed digital marketing, payments, and venture investment group with significant digital advertising agency operations, providing comparable multi-channel campaign services to Japanese brands.
- Hakuhodo Inc. Second-largest Japanese advertising agency with extensive digital marketing, content production, and media planning capabilities — competes for many of the same mid-market and enterprise clients as Digital Athlete.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Digital Athlete social profiles
Digital presenceDigital Athlete compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance13 records
Digital Athlete financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Digital Athlete leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Digital Athlete funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Digital Athlete M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Digital Athlete
What does Digital Athlete do?
Digital Athlete is a Japanese digital marketing agency that manages and optimizes web advertising campaigns across Google, Yahoo!, Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Taboola, LINE, and X (Twitter) for SMB and mid-market clients. It also produces landing pages, websites, and video content, and manages YouTube channels as integrated support for client ad campaigns.
Is Digital Athlete a public or private company?
Digital Athlete is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Digital Athlete founded?
Digital Athlete was founded in 2011.
Where is Digital Athlete based?
Digital Athlete is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Digital Athlete make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Web Advertising Agency Services are the primary driver. The others are landing Page & Website Production, video & YouTube Channel Management and consulting & Support Services.
Who are Digital Athlete's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are FreakOut Holdings, Inc., Geniee, Inc., Allied Architects, Inc., Septeni Holdings Co., Ltd., i-mobile Co., Ltd. and ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.. Repro Inc. is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Dentsu Group Inc., Digital Garage, Inc. and Hakuhodo Inc..
Does Digital Athlete have an API?
No public API is recorded for Digital Athlete.