Cannes Lions 2015② Dentsu Inc. Employee Special Report ~ Yumiko Ota & Fumi Hito
The "See It Be It" Female CD Development Program
Reaffirming the Importance of Individual Power
Cannes offers not only awards and seminars, but also numerous opportunities for learning in small groups.
"See It Be It" is one such program. Launched last year as a support initiative for female creators, I was fortunate to participate this time as one of 12 selected from around the world.
Why focus on women? Statistics show that women creative directors still make up only 3% of the global advertising industry. Despite systems designed for gender equality, women continue to leave the field in large numbers after their thirties for various reasons. With women comprising half the market and holding 80% of purchasing power, the program aims to reexamine this reality without falling into excessive feminism, and to consider what we want to achieve.
The program centered on workshops and sessions with industry leaders at the forefront of their fields. Over three days, with a schedule packed minute by minute, we listened to a wide range of perspectives and exchanged ideas. While there was mentorship to share concerns and receive advice, what was most inspiring were the participating women themselves. Carrying their portfolios, they crossed borders and moved between agencies to build their careers. Their strength and freedom, qualities I lacked, were dazzling. Discussing with them, we concluded—it's not about being women or not; we just need to do good work. That's the only way.
Yumiko Ota
Focuses on language to develop diverse forms of expression. Also participated in Dentsu Inc.'s "Global Cap" overseas OJT training project for young creators.
Female creators gathered from around the world, including the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and India.
Fifth from the left is the author.
Seminar Frontline
AI, Robotics, Technology
I attended with a technology perspective: "How much has the wave of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics reached Cannes?" What I witnessed far exceeded my expectations.
First, I was surprised by the unexpectedly high number of seminars directly addressing AI. At the Dentsu Inc. seminar "Creativity in the Age of Data," Koichi Yamamoto, Head of the Marketing Solutions Division, declared, "Data creativity has passed through the stages of visualization and analysis, now entering the next frontier: the era of 'AI'." Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, also spoke at a PHD seminar titled "Sentience: the Coming AI Revolution." Furthermore, Ray Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer at AKQA, stated at his company's seminar, "After broadcast and digital, the next era is AI."
Supervisor
Fumito Nitto
Engaged in media development and business development within the digital technology domain. Winner of the Gold Prize in the "Thesis Category" at the 44th JAAA Prize Essay Contest (2014).
In robotics, SoftBank's "Pepper" was the center of attention. He appeared alongside SoftBank Robotics' Kaname Hayashi and Dentsu Inc.'s Yamamoto at the Dentsu Inc. seminar "Communication Robots as a Creative Platform" during the newly established Lions Innovation festival. The venue was packed to overflowing, and Pepper performed a rap in English, creating what was arguably the festival's biggest buzz moment. U.S. home improvement giant Lowe's also demonstrated "OSHBot," a practical robot designed specifically for in-store customer service. Its design philosophy stood in stark contrast to Pepper's. On the final day of Cannes Lions, Matsukoroid also appeared at the E-Lab seminar "Matsukoroid Disrupts TV and Ad Agencies." The session featured the company's president, Takeshi Mita, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University, and Yasuharu Sasaki, Executive Creative Director at Dentsu Inc. CDC. These Japanese-developed robots and seminars were received with great surprise overseas as being advanced and cutting-edge. Looking back at the event as a whole, R/GA, a pioneer in digital agencies, had a significant presence. In addition to providing the "Start-up Academy" to 10 venture companies selected through open recruitment, they exhibited many products developed by their portfolio companies and won two awards in the Innovation category. At their seminar, they revealed their collaboration with Techstars, an accelerator that invests in and nurtures startups, which became a major topic of conversation. At the awards ceremony on the final day, founder and chairman Bob Greenberg received the Lion of St. Mark lifetime achievement award, and R/GA won Agency of the Year, bringing the long festival to a close. It can be said that R/GA fully demonstrated its technology-driven innovation in Cannes.
Tim Berners-Lee
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Author
Yumiko Ota
Dentsu Inc.
Focusing on language, I develop various forms of expression. I also participated in Dentsu Inc.'s "Global Cap" overseas OJT training program for young creators.
Articles by this person
Nitō Fumi
Dentsu Inc.
Currently responsible for solution development utilizing "accelerating technologies," primarily AI, at Dentsu Live Inc. Visiting Researcher at the Japan Marketing Association. Following the 2016 JAAA Gold Prize for the paper "The Advertising Industry Moves at the 'Great Divergence' of the AI Revolution: Next-Generation Agents That Move People" (marking consecutive gold prizes from the previous year), has delivered numerous lectures and contributed articles on AI and cutting-edge technologies. Received the "Japan IBM Prize" at the 2017 Dentsu Watson Hackathon.
