Toward a "Good Feeling" Between Youth and Society

Starting today, the Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Department presents its column "Everything About Wakamon." In this first installment, Masahide Yoshida, head of the Youth Research Department, discusses the project's activities and the future we aim to create.

"These days, young people..." Throughout history, young people have been described this way by older generations, yet they have consistently symbolized the future with their fresh sensibilities and perspectives. Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Department is a planning team that engages with the reality of these young people, seeking insights from their "present" to illuminate the near future.

 
One defining feature of the project is that "only young members are allowed!" Volunteers from various fields—from researching youth lifestyles to creative and promotion—come together to realize new businesses that foster better relationships between young people and society (incidentally, I'm the third from the left). Our members have diverse specialties and personalities. By analyzing youth culture through their unique lenses—music, manga, drama, fashion, and more—we uncover universal youth insights. Beyond research, we handle planning, execution, and operations. Everyone understands young people's true feelings, enabling us to provide one-stop solutions for client challenges. This team-based approach is perhaps one of Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Department's greatest strengths. Everyone has such strong personalities! So it's tough to keep us all in line... haha.

Our primary mission is to connect the knowledge gained from daily qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to solving business challenges and creating the future. Simultaneously, we assist clients with internal communication. "Why won't upper management understand why social media is so popular?" "Our internal perceptions of young people are all over the place, making it impossible to decide on strategies." "We tend to prioritize other generation targets, putting youth strategies on the back burner." And so on. As these voices symbolize, precisely because "youth" is something everyone experiences at some point in life, people often get pulled by their own preconceptions and past experiences. In such moments, we help build consensus and move projects forward, while also understanding the perspectives and opinions older generations often hold about youth. This role as a facilitator is perhaps the key difference from typical think tanks.

The "n" in the Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Department logo features a monster-like character. "My first cell phone was a smartphone." "I used Wikipedia for homework research since elementary school." "Wi-Fi is available in the classroom, so I end up looking at my phone during class." These statements, gathered directly from young people during fieldwork, might make them seem like monsters with entirely different ways of living and thinking. However, by stepping down from the adult's perspective, fully immersing ourselves in their daily lives, and truly listening to their voices, their humanity, charm, passion, and dreams inevitably become visible. We hope to contribute, even just a little, to realizing a society where they can live happier lives.

In future installments of this column, we plan to listen to young people's present and future from three angles. "Wakamon Data" will interpret young people's current state through various survey results. "Wakamon Real" will share the substance of fieldwork conducted with actual students. "Wakamon Session" explores hints for future work styles and ways to connect with society through dialogues with young people active in various fields who are seeking new ways of living. We look forward to introducing the present and future of young people from diverse perspectives through our project members. Stay tuned! Next time, we present the first "Wakamon Session": a dialogue between sociologist Noritoshi Furuichi and researcher Mihoko Nishii.

【Wakamon Profile】

Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Department (commonly known as Wakamon) is a planning team that engages with the real lives and mindsets of young people, primarily high school and university students. We seek insights from their present to find hints for brightening and revitalizing the near future. By anticipating the future through their perspectives, we realize new businesses that foster better relationships between young people and society. Currently, 14 project members are based across our Tokyo headquarters, Kansai branch, and Chubu branch. We also share updates on the Wakamon Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/wakamon.dentsu ).