Case Study: Dentsu Aegis Network achieves data-driven OOH advertising with Microsoft Corporation and Azure

How Dentsu is transforming out-of-home advertising with the support of Microsoft Azure

Dentsu Aegis Network, a major Japanese advertising company, was struggling with a key challenge in out-of-home advertising: it lacked reliable metrics to measure how many people saw an ad, who they were, and how they engaged. To solve this, the company worked with Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft Azure to explore AI-powered OOH advertising that could generate actionable campaign data.

Microsoft Corporation helped Dentsu Aegis Network implement a serverless solution on Azure using Microsoft Cognitive Services, Azure Functions, and Power BI to analyze viewer data and produce reports automatically. In a 2017 proof-of-concept at Roppongi Station, the system captured traffic volume, audience attributes, and engagement levels, while digital signage changed in response to viewers. The project was completed in two months and later won an award at Digital Signage Japan 2018, showing strong results and rapid delivery.

Dentsu Aegis Network

Ichiro T. Jinnai

Director of Tech and Data Intelligence