SPIKES ASIA Special Discussion Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals × Hiroya Furukawa, Head of Dentsu CDC Center

Lions Festivals, the organizing body behind global events like Cannes Lions, Asia's Spikes Asia, and Europe's Eurobest, exerts significant influence on the advertising industry.

Its leader and an Executive Creative Director focused on Beyond—the future beyond advertising—discussed the direction agencies should take.

Savage: Congratulations on winning Spikes Agency of the Year.

Furukawa: Thank you. Looking at the award list, it's clear our scope of work has expanded considerably compared to about ten years ago. This seems to correspond with the expansion of award categories at Cannes and Spikes.

Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals

Savage: Fundamentally, a festival must reflect the business. When we create a new category, we understand the business and assess where it's headed. Sometimes, like with the Innovation category, we move early even if it feels a bit premature, to spur the industry. Innovation is precisely the field developing right now, and I don't think agencies have truly embraced it yet. If we don't start tackling it now, people coming in from other industries will take the business away.

Yuya Furukawa, Executive Creative Director and Head of Dentsu CDC Center

Furukawa: We take pride in Dentsu Inc.'s strengths: "breadth" and "height." Wherever creativity is needed, we see global business opportunities. That's what defines a world-class solutions company.

Savage: You're absolutely right. Dentsu Inc. is incredibly intriguing from a global perspective. Why? Because it possesses numerous hidden assets that the world doesn't fully grasp. At various levels—technology, sports marketing, business design. That's something unattainable for other companies. It's fascinating to see if these powerful assets can be leveraged on the global stage, moving beyond a Japan-centric focus. In today's era, many organizations can do what agencies do. Business is a crucial element, but an agency's strength lies in creativity and innovation. This is the very source of power in this industry. It all comes down to how unique your proposals can be. We must never stray from this point.

Furukawa: Rather, it's about applying the skills cultivated in advertising to opportunities beyond advertising. Thank you very much.