New Trends in Digital Solutions

What digital solutions need going forward is a "Big Story" that moves many hearts. When there's a grand narrative that users empathize with and start talking about, a "Big Community" emerges, expanding into various solutions like new services, products, and apps. This book explains, from a creative perspective, how to create and activate the "Big Story" that generates large-scale solutions.

Not just a "Story," but a "Big Story"

This time, we'll discuss "digital solutions." But even when we say "digital solutions," everyone tends to focus on different aspects, right? Marketing perspectives, media perspectives, expression perspectives. Targets, efficiency, and even greater impact. People involved in digital now span various fields. As someone from the creative side, I want to consider digital solutions from that viewpoint this time. But I believe this discussion is important for people in any field.

Simplifying digital solutions from a creative perspective, they can be broken down into three elements. First, there's the product or brand that needs advertising. Then, you develop the necessary strategy. Finally, you build the appropriate solution. These are three very basic, fundamental parts. Recently, the data connecting these parts has become visible, and we sometimes call it "big data." Essentially, we use that data to optimize the strategy and solution.

Even focusing solely on the solution part of these three components, the tasks are incredibly diverse: traditional media (mass media, OOH, etc.) that create encounters with users; the web and mobile platforms that receive this; compelling content that users want to revisit; SNS that gather and amplify users; promotions and PR that activate everyone; and finally, in-store and e-commerce initiatives to drive purchases... Social media itself is diverse—Facebook, Twitter, specialized platforms like Instagram—each fostering its own fans and communities. Figuring out where and how to meet users, what to show them, and where to activate engagement... it's overwhelming. While each detail is crucial, I worry that creatives today often fixate solely on these minutiae, getting winded and trapped by quick metrics and short-term efficiency tricks.

I believe there's a major missing piece in the current process of creating digital solutions: "Story." And what's needed now isn't just any ordinary story, but a "Big Story." Having a "Big Story" makes it easier to develop strategies and solutions, and it enables the creation of truly significant solutions.

The "Big Story" isn't about telling "Small Stories" like product features or competitive advantages. It's about articulating the brand's core beliefs and its purpose. It's crucial to provide the "Big Story" users want to hear, to make them notice, to get them talking about it as if it were their own, and to let them experience it. Doing this deepens the bond between the brand and the user. This is something only digital can achieve. Having a big story that resonates with users dramatically improves campaign awareness and online impressions, ultimately leading to actual sales.

The power of the "Big Story" extends beyond advertising

Traditional communication involved brands climbing onto a high platform—the media—to shout their story at an attentive audience. While this approach remains effective, today we must step into the midst of users wielding their own loudspeakers (like social media) and speak to them at eye level, like friends. And what we should be sharing here is the "Big Story." When you gather around a table chatting, talking about big dreams or things everyone loves helps you make friends. People who only brag about their own good points probably aren't very well-liked, right? This is the brand's position in the social-digital era. Of course, people who just tell "nice stories" aren't particularly compelling either. The Big Story isn't just about talking about social good. First, find the "big story" that people truly want to hear. Then, based on that, you need to think about tactics—what to do on social media, what to do in the media, and so on—as specific actions.

When you successfully create a "Big Story," a "Big Community" naturally emerges. You don't need to force users into one place; communities will form organically in various spaces, coalescing into a larger community. The bigger the story, the better the community formed, and the more sustainably it will thrive. Communities gathered through gift campaigns, for example, will become dissatisfied if the gifts stop, people will leave, and if treated poorly, they could even turn into enemies.

Furthermore, having a "Big Story" makes it easier to expand solutions beyond advertising into various domains like new services, products, apps, content, and platforms.

Creative work is often perceived as merely crafting advertising expressions, but it extends far beyond that. It involves collaborating with clients to build a "Big Story" and providing solutions that go beyond mere expression—solutions encompassing diverse services, products, content, and platforms. While "digital" presents numerous tasks, I want to work with you starting from the very first step: building that "Big Story." I believe the time has come for us creatives to engage more deeply with digital solutions, free from the constraints of existing approaches.