Book: Dentsu Inc. Design Talk Vol.1 Koichiro Shima × Keiichi Higuchi "We Overcome with Ideas"

The book "Dentsu Design Talk Vol.1" is now on sale from July 8th to great acclaim. Here, we share a glimpse from Session 3, where Koichiro Shima of Hakuhodo Kettle, involved in establishing the "Bookstore Grand Prize," and Keiichi Higuchi of Dentsu Inc. discuss the theme "The Power to Transcend."

(Planning & Production: Dentsu Inc. Human Resources Bureau, Aki Kanahara     Article Editing: Sugatsuke Office     Composition Support: Eiji Kobayashi)
　

 

Let's Talk About "The Power to Surpass"

Higuchi: Today, I'd like to discuss "the power to transcend" with Mr. Shima. As a premise, I think there's the question of what the boundary between advertising and non-advertising really is—or more broadly, whether the various boundaries like "mass/non-mass" actually hold any real meaning. And if such boundaries exist, where exactly do they lie?

I want to work on projects that effortlessly "transcend" these boundaries, and I resonate deeply with many aspects of your approach to work and your philosophy. There are likely several forms of this "power to transcend," and I'd like us to discuss what kind of power each of us employs. Before that, could you tell us a bit about your company, Hakuhodo Kettle?

Shima: The company name Kettle comes from the English word for "kettle," right? It's super cliché, but it means "boiling up the world" or "ideas boiling up." Hakuhodo has a lot of subsidiaries with conceptual names, but I like ours best because it's the silliest.

When we founded the company on April 3, 2006, there were five founding members. We've since grown to about 25 employees. We have around 30 clients. Both myself and co-CEO Kentaro Kimura are Hakuhodo alumni. Kimura was first assigned to the Marketing Bureau in 1992, while I was assigned to the Corporate Communications Bureau—the PR department—in 1993. We never worked directly together in our twenties, but in our thirties, we often teamed up for presentations. Back then, teams without a single creative person were still rare. So, we were often treated as the creative team and participated in presentations. We were really strong in competitive pitches. Seeing this, Teruhiko Ando, an executive at Hakuhodo at the time, said, "Shima, go start a company with Kimura."

I think Hakuhodo itself was also aiming to expand revenue beyond its existing advertising business. It was like, "Let's just put these guys out there and experiment," so they created a separate company as a sort of guinea pig. Until then, Hakuhodo's salespeople had been doing business by taking commissions, but from that day on, we had to sell our own ideas for a fee. At first, it was really like being sold off. Suddenly, we were being priced in the market. That fee-based business model is now fundamental to Kettle's operations.

Higuchi: At Kettle, you produce not just ads but also magazines, right?

Shima: Yes, we publish a culture magazine called Kettle through Ota Publishing, and I serve as its editor-in-chief. Since editing Hakuhodo's Kako magazine in 2002, I've consistently been involved in editing and publishing magazine media, including the food magazine "Shun ga Marugoto" published by Poplar Publishing.

From an outsider's perspective, Kettle's output might seem inconsistent. We make commercials, produce events, and handle digital work. We strive to create the best possible output for each client's challenge, so naturally, our outputs vary widely.

While Kettle's output spans many areas, I believe we have several specialties. One is campaign building based on strategic PR, partly because I come from a PR background. Many agencies execute integrated campaigns, but Kettle's strength lies in our ability to integrate advanced PR technology. We're also skilled at creating collaborative opportunities between clients. For example, we often produce win-win projects like the joint 50th anniversary initiative for Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine.

Social campaigns are another strength. The "Bookstore Grand Prize" I assist with is one example, and Kimura is working with an IT company to create a platform that helps recover lost memories, like photos, from the earthquake disaster.

Content development is another one of our specialties. We view publishing magazines and running bookstores as part of Kettle's business. We check the profitability of each one, and they all stand on their own as viable businesses.

 

The "Bookstore Award" Born from Booksellers' Frustrations

Higuchi: How did the Bookstore Award actually start?

Shima: The Bookstore Award is run by the NPO Bookstore Award Executive Committee, formed by volunteer booksellers. I help manage the award as one of the NPO's directors. My main roles involve organizing the award ceremony and PR, plus editing and distributing the free paper. The free paper 'LOVE Bookstore!' communicates the activities of the Bookstore Award Executive Committee while also gathering advertisements and serving as a fundraising tool for our activities.

The Bookstore Award began in 2004, but even before that, I had many clients in publishing and was aware of the problems surrounding the publishing recession. From 2003 to 2005, I served as editor-in-chief of the magazine 'Advertising,' published by Hakuhodo. During that time, I often visited bookstores in Tokyo carrying 'Advertising' posters. What struck me was that bookstore staff also shared this awareness of the publishing slump. Yet, the situation felt beyond the power of any single bookseller. And the books they wanted to sell just weren't selling.

Having run a bookstore myself, I understand well that the issues of fixed book prices and consignment sales are significant. Bookstores cannot control their own selling prices or purchase costs. They certainly can't decide, "BRUTUS is selling really well this week, so let's raise the price." On the other hand, the fixed book price system does have the benefit of allowing books to be sold cheaply even on remote islands where transportation costs are high.

Also, as a general rule, wholesalers and publishers tend to be reluctant to actively distribute books other than bestsellers for consignment sales. Why? Because even if they deliver books to a bookstore, if they don't sell, they have to come back and collect them again. Fearing that cost, only the bestsellers get distributed. Even if a bookstore in Aomori requests distribution of the Complete Works of Osamu Dazai to encourage local high school students to read them, they might be turned down. In other words, bookstores often can't procure the books they want to sell. Well, that kind of bookstore isn't much fun, is it? I've long had this sense of unease, wondering if there wasn't some way to fix this.

Since the 90s, I've also helped create the website for the book review magazine 'The Book Magazine'. I created a section on that website where bookstore clerks could appear. Those clerks shared the same concerns. So, these dedicated clerks and the 'Book Magazine' editorial team started working to create an award to replace the Naoki Prize.

Quite a few booksellers would say, "If it were up to me, I wouldn't pick that Naoki Prize winner." So, when we asked them, "Well, what books do you find interesting then?" they'd mention all sorts of fascinating novels I hadn't known about. The idea was that if booksellers voted to decide the award, interesting books would be chosen. That's how the Booksellers' Award began.
This story captures the essence of planning. Planning doesn't work unless you capture someone's insight—their desire. But people are awkward; they can't easily articulate specific desires like "I want this" or "I want that." Yet they can complain. Complaints are the flip side of desire. A complaint like "Why did the Naoki Prize pick this work?" is really the flip side of the desire "I have a book I want to sell more." That's why I think the Booksellers' Award still works even after ten years. It hit the target's insight squarely.

Human desires often manifest as complaints. So I've made it a habit: if I hear the same complaint three times in different places, I start thinking that desire must be quite prevalent in society. That's why, though it's a strange hobby, I actually enjoy watching people complain. You often see people complaining at supermarket registers or to station staff at the train station, and I immediately go over to ask what they're complaining about.

Higuchi: Did you plan from the start to operate as an NPO?

Shima: It's hard to say the revenue structure was meticulously planned from the start. The primary goal was to make a dent in the publishing slump. Around the second year, we gained recognition through the Bookstore Award and started considering becoming an NPO to become self-sustaining. We established the NPO, created the free paper 'LOVE Bookstore!' for fundraising, and began generating ad revenue. We incorporated as an NPO because without legal status, we couldn't accept donations and faced restrictions on various activities.

 

Get an effective "title" to achieve your goals

Higuchi: From my perspective, Mr. Shima approaches work from an "editorial" viewpoint; he's a born editor. So, let's first focus on "editing power" as a business developed from advertising. Editing power is indispensable when it comes to "crossing" boundaries. What's the situation with that editor-in-chief fee you mentioned earlier?

Shima: Regarding the publication of the magazine 'Kettle,' I receive an editor-in-chief fee from Ota Publishing for my work. In exchange, targets are set for advertising and sales figures. Of course, it's not a highly profitable endeavor. With cultural magazines ceasing publication one after another, the magazine business is said to be quite difficult. But with ingenuity, ways to publish magazines can be devised. I want to propose an alternative approach to making magazines, different from those published by traditional publishers.

Editing a single issue of a magazine means collaborating with over 100 writers, artists, cultural figures, and photographers. It's incredibly rewarding to build relationships with them as an editor, not just as an advertising executive.

Higuchi: Of course, I understand this involves editorial content, but to me, it feels like the main focus is on having a network of cultural figures as a resource.

Shima: Oh, come on, don't be so cynical about people (laughs).

Higuchi: Take the Bookstore Award too—you've built relationships and networks possible only because you're the editor-in-chief. I noticed that strongly back in the 'Advertising' days, and you're still creating that situation with 'Kettle'. Or rather, you continue doing it through events at B&B, the Shimokitazawa bookstore you own, right?

Shima: That aspect is definitely there. Having a media outlet where you can create and publish your own content is powerful. When clients want to do cultural events, Kettle is stronger than regular casting agencies for booking and such. For people on the cultural side, it's helpful to have someone who understands them coordinate their work. I think it's an organic, positive situation that allows for deeper relationships.

Higuchi: When you approach things as someone from an ad agency, there's this phenomenon where the cost jumps by an order of magnitude, right?

Back when I worked with the IDÉE team, we were building networks with architects and designers for events and ads. Initially, they didn't know I was from Dentsu Inc. The moment they found out—"Oh, you're from Dentsu Inc.?"—it created this distance, you know? (wry smile) So, building networks with cultural figures outside the advertising agency framework is meaningful.

Shima: That happens, doesn't it? My approach is probably influenced by starting out as a PR person when I joined the company. For example, if someone from an ad agency goes to a magazine editorial department pitching, "We have this information" or "This is interesting, would you run it?", sure, they'll listen, but there's a sense of being pushed away. That distance exists, right? I figured mentioning the ad agency name wouldn't end well, so I visited various editorial departments as just a writer. That meant I had to pitch ideas beyond just the specific story I wanted to bring in. But once they realized I was someone who could consistently bring interesting material, they became much more open to listening. In the 90s, I regularly attended editorial meetings for many magazines. I think a lot of people only found out later that I was from Hakuhodo.

Higuchi: I first heard about Mr. Shima myself, I think it was at some meeting for Tokyo Designers Block. I remember hearing, "He's technically with an ad agency, but there's this interesting guy named Shima."

Shima: I don't think there's much need to define who you are. You just need to be the most useful agent for whoever needs you. If the "Hakuhodo" title works, I'll use it to the max; if it doesn't, I'll just ditch it.

People often remark how Kimura and I, with our different personalities, manage to run a company together. But we share the same goal; our methods just differ. It's like choosing which weapon to use to achieve an objective—the difference in approach isn't really that important.

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You can also read the fourth volume of the "DENTSU DESIGN TALK" series, 'To Solve the Problems Right Here, Right Now: We Overcome Them with Ideas', from BookWalker's e-book label [Kadokawa Minute Books].

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