Mayumi Morinaga × Shusaku Hirota: Work Methods for Hands-On Practitioners

In this era of rapid change, where predicting the near future is impossible, we must find new roles and ways of working within society ourselves, rather than following precedent or convention. Shusaku Hirota from Dentsu Inc.'s Platform Business Bureau goes to hear from people who are finding and practicing such new ways of working, not just within the advertising industry.

Leveraging his background in engineering, Shusaku Hirota analyzes consumer needs and information diffusion patterns from social data. He then applies these insights to communication activities and creative development. Currently within Dentsu Inc., he is pioneering a new work style called "Communication Planner." For this discussion, Hirota chose Mayumi Morinaga of Hakuhodo DY Media Partners as his conversation partner. Known among Hirota's clients for her engaging conversation, Morinaga has personally enjoyed building servers and creating websites since her university days, experiencing their appeal through hands-on work. She continues to actively use social media and generate information to create work opportunities. These two professionals, representing Japan's leading advertising agencies Dentsu Inc. and Hakuhodo, discuss evolving work styles and the future within their changing industry.

Theme① The Connection Between Work and Personal Activities

Hirota: Morinaga-san, you personally share information on Twitter. How do you view the connection between work and personal activities?

Morinaga: The closest connection to my work is the network of people I share online content with. It's a terrifying place where clients vent about each other, like "That agency is useless," but I'm welcomed into that circle as a colleague. Sometimes it's through secret groups on SNS, other times it happens over drinks in real life.

Older generations in the industry are often surprised to see this kind of mixing. I think it's great that people see us as peers who understand each other because we're close in age and share similar approaches to using the internet and our stance online, and that they reach out to us.

──Beyond the opposing professional roles of advertising agency employee and client, the sense of being "comrades" who share online connections as people represents a new value.

Theme② From a "Delivery Culture" focused on delivering the ultimate finished product to "Collaboration" where we create together

Hirota: Some people from slightly older generations believe unique marketing methods must never be shared externally. My approach is that sharing what you can actually attracts more information. While strictly adhering to confidentiality, sharing proposals and ideas leads to more work.

Working with this sharing mindset, I see a shift from the old way of gathering large teams to present proposals, to work now emerging from personal connections.

Morinaga: It might be a generational thing, or perhaps just the times, but I see traditional advertising work as a "delivery culture." You deliver a perfectly customized, top-tier finished product to the client, and what's demanded is the quality of that final piece. And, not that it's a battle of ultimate supremacy or anything (laughs), but each ad agency's finished product had its differences, and that was the client's selection point.

Lately, it feels more like starting with a common beta version for everyone, then building on top of that with the client—adding their company's unique character, making small changes, and refining it into a finished product. Or rather, it feels closer to continuously nurturing it forever. And as we nurture it, if any insights emerge—like methodologies or data—that everyone finds useful to share as common knowledge, we don't hoard them as "differentiating factors." We share them externally. That sense of accumulating knowledge internally while exchanging information externally, growing the entire industry together, and making client projects even better—that's part of the package, right? This way of working gets criticized... or rather, misunderstood and met with suspicion by those in the "delivery-only" culture. To those who believe "the job ends with delivery," people who say "the job starts after delivery" probably look like they're cutting corners early on. But that's not it. It's about proposing a flexible approach and structure in the initial stages—avoiding over-tweaking or over-fixing—so we can ultimately create the best possible outcome by pivoting as needed based on circumstances. It's tricky to explain, though...

Hirota: When proposing, we sometimes set up a whiteboard and build things together with the client during discussions. I feel like more work is blurring the lines between client and ad agency. Things like sharing data, or stepping in when the client's internal structure changes to help with organizational restructuring – how would you describe this approach compared to a delivery-focused culture?

Morinaga: It might be more about "collaborative creation." Lately, I've found my experience as an IT consultant really useful. That mindset is: "Don't assume what the client says is always their true requirement." When a client representative, who might not be tech-savvy, says "I want this," it's not guaranteed to solve their company's actual problems. There might be better solutions out there. So, what IT consultants should provide is this: thoroughly listen to and understand what the client is struggling with and what they truly need. Then, as professionals, present the optimal options. It's crucial to continue using these solutions while detecting and improving underlying issues that surface later. In other words, the core skill demanded of consultants is listening.

──Morinaga-san highlighted listening to clients and understanding their needs to make optimal proposals as a key point of "collaboration." It's also interesting that he distinguishes between the delivery-focused culture and collaboration not by generation, but by era.

Theme③ Motivation for "Trying It Yourself"

Hirota: Mr. Morinaga, you have many personal projects and have even tried creating LINE stamps yourself. What motivates you to do things like that?

Morinaga: It's not really a grand project... I just thought it would be fun to try (laughs). I've made websites, created smartphone skins... but to me, it's the same as saying "I weave baskets at home" or "I do balcony gardening." It's just that online, you can see pioneers in all sorts of genres. Seeing them enjoy themselves makes me think, "That looks fun," "I want to join them." So I want to try it myself first, get to a level where I can communicate, then be recognized and become friends on equal terms. That's the desire driving me.

Hirota: Agencies are often seen as "agents," meaning they don't get their hands dirty themselves, just create the overarching concept and then delegate the rest. But Morinaga-san, it's amazing how hands-on you are.

Morinaga: Hmm, I'm not the brightest... I think I'm the type who won't understand unless I do it myself. I can't just talk convincingly based on knowledge alone. I get so nervous I start shaking like crazy (laughs). In that sense, maybe I lack talent as an ad agency person... Half-serious, half-joking aside, especially in the digital space, clients themselves are touching, operating, analyzing, and accumulating real-world insights and experience. Statements based on shallow knowledge without real experience will quickly be exposed as hollow. That's incredibly scary, right?

Hirota: When clients are actively managing things and have their own insights, it's incredibly tough for us to add further value. Unless we have knowledge, experience, and compelling stories that surpass the client's, they won't listen. There's no room for us to slip in.

──Morinaga-san's desire to "become equals with people in that field" is what motivates him to actually get his hands dirty. Simultaneously, it's only by doing this hands-on work that he gains the experience and insights needed to speak on equal footing with clients professionally.

Theme④ The Role That Should Be Fulfilled from Katsu Kaishu's Position, Not Sakamoto Ryoma's

Morinaga: I often see people comparing the current media and advertising industry to the Bakumatsu period. One complaint I have is, "Why does everyone want to be Ryoma?" It's like everyone wanting to be Red Ranger in childhood superhero games. What gives you, an older person who isn't even freelance, the right to talk about Ryoma, who was active as a freelancer and died young... Oh, that was a slip of the tongue (laughs).

If anything, I see my position as more like Katsu Kaishu or Yamaoka Tesshu—those who were inside the shogunate and opened Edo Castle. My allies who want to change the industry or communication methods, the anti-shogunate side, are already plentiful outside. It's already full of Ryomas out there (laughs). Amidst this wave of Ryoma-like peers my age taking action to change the world, there must be a need for someone to open doors from within and connect things. To become capable of that, I believe I should keep building up what I need to do within a full-service advertising agency.

Hirota: Speaking of connecting, there's this idea that people can empathize with others within a 15-year age range, plus or minus. I'm 33 now, so plus 15 is 48. At work, I can just about picture what someone that senior is thinking. On the other end, minus 15 takes me down to college age, and I can just about grasp their perspective.

I experienced the Famicom in elementary school, the Super Famicom in middle school, and just barely caught the cramming era in academics. I'm also right in the middle of the generation experiencing the current digital shift and digital divide. So, I think a lot of my work involves bridging that culture and knowledge gap.
Thank you for today. I look forward to working with you in the future.

For more details on the interview, head over to AdTie!