Bridging wellness and medical care, toward a future with high health literacy.

Dentsu Inc. Business Design Square (BDS) is an organization specializing in business design, established in 2017 under the theme "Creating a future worth loving, together with companies."

Leveraging Dentsu Inc.'s strength in creativity, BDS brings together unique specialists to co-create projects with partner companies. These projects inject ideas into all areas of corporate management, always mindful of the future that lies ahead.

This series introduces the frontlines of future creation where BDS members engage through projects with partner companies.

In the first installment, Tomoyasu Senkawara of Fitbit Japan and BDS's Yuichiro Kojima discussed "The Future of Health." Fitbit, a wearable device that tracks activity levels, heart rate, sleep depth, and more to support health management, has been adopted by approximately 3,000 employees of Dentsu Inc. Combining insights gained from its use with BDS's cultivated expertise, we developed the "Fitbit Inner Activation Program" to support corporate health management. In this era dubbed the "100-Year Life," how should we approach our own health?

Fitbit's Innovation: Visualizing That "Vague Feeling" About Your Health

Kojima: I believe BDS and Fitbit first connected in 2016. As I became involved in recruitment and health management projects within a client's HR domain, I began to think Fitbit could be used in more diverse ways. So, I proposed a business co-creation project to offer Fitbit not just for B2C but also for B2B.

Even just in the roughly three years since then, I'm amazed daily by how dramatically the possibilities through Fitbit have expanded and continue to evolve. Heart rate, sleep—and even more granular sleep data is now available... Each phase brought new discoveries, and simultaneously, the business potential keeps broadening.

Chigawara: It feels like we've been working together for quite a while now. Collaborating with BDS on the project, I was struck when someone said the essence of wearable device innovation is visualizing that "vague feeling." That really resonated with me – it felt so quintessentially Fitbit.

Everyone has days where they feel "somehow in good shape" or "somehow sleepy," right? Let me check my data. According to the Fitbit app, I slept 5 hours and 11 minutes last night. That's a bit short, isn't it? But because I had a long period of deep sleep, I actually feel surprisingly refreshed. Data provides answers to vague questions like, "My sleep time was short, but I feel refreshed today. Why is that?"

Right now, we're just recording and visualizing data. But in the next phase, we want to analyze the individual data accumulated on our cloud servers and provide some kind of notification. Heart rate and sleep data contain many elements, so they reveal various aspects of health. Fitbit will likely position itself between wellness and medical, using data to bridge the two.

Kojima: This seems increasingly useful for corporate health management too. In fact, over the past few years, more companies have been using Fitbit to promote employee wellness. We really felt this with the "Fitbit Inner Activation Program, " announced recently as one of our projects, which supports corporate health management. The response from both inside and outside the company was huge. It was a moment where we truly felt we'd built a partnership with Fitbit, even though they are, of course, our client.

Chigawara: That's wonderful to hear. We also feel that having partners like BDS, with their strong conceptual and execution capabilities, is creating a social wave and accelerating the momentum.

Interestingly, when people start wearing Fitbit, their activity levels naturally increase. Health awareness rises, and you see changes in mindset: "I've been walking more lately," "I'm paying more attention to my diet and sleep." As a result, a clear trend is emerging where healthcare costs are decreasing at companies that adopt it.

Furthermore, employee communication deepens. In American companies, employee interaction, workplace atmosphere, and motivation are often described using the term "engagement." Fitbit actually increases engagement levels. It even starts building new relationships between people who previously had no work connection. This ultimately leads to heightened loyalty and a stronger sense of belonging to the company.

Kojima: Dentsu Inc. also introduced Fitbit, and both the president and young employees are participating together in step competitions. It was memorable when a young employee, who rarely had contact with the president, remarked, "The president is actually alive! I thought he was a fictional character!" (laughs).

Chigawara: I believe Fitbit's value is built on three pillars: the device, the data, and the social community. Among these, the social community is Fitbit's true strength. Actually, it was BDS that taught me this value.

For example, analysis of vast data shows that when friends connected through the Fitbit community participate in a "Challenge" step competition, their daily step count increases by 2,000 steps compared to those not participating. It's precisely because they encourage each other, enjoy the experience, and compete that activity levels rise. When Mr. Kojima told me, "Mr. Chigawara, this is where Fitbit's true significance lies!", I realized he was absolutely right.

Kojima: I realized data visualization alone isn't the essence of Fitbit.

Chigawara: We focus on how to get people more active and how to create change in their daily lives. After all, working out with friends is more fun than exercising alone, and it leads to better long-term results. That's the very philosophy of Fitbit.

A future with high health literacy, not just health awareness

Kojima: What kind of future do you envision as a "lovable future," Chigawara-san?

Chigawara: A "future with high health literacy," perhaps. When health literacy rises, it impacts not just the individual, but also family, friends, and society. If you're healthy, you have more opportunities to enjoy various activities with family and close friends. For society, it leads to reduced healthcare costs. That, I believe, is a "future we can love."

Kojima: As someone who also uses Fitbit, I feel that the very concept of health is changing because of the data. Until now, health data was like a black box—rough and vague. For the individual, it meant things like "getting an A rating at a checkup means you're healthy" or "needing a re-examination at a comprehensive health screening means you're unhealthy." But now, a different measure of health has emerged, and we can obtain data focused on the individual. I think that's a major change.

Chigawara: Fitbit's visualized data offers various insights. From another perspective, it's like self-screening. You might notice things like, "My resting heart rate has been a bit high lately," or "My deep sleep phase is short." Previously, you couldn't detect early signs of potential health issues through numerical changes in your daily life until a doctor diagnosed you with "You might have this condition." Fitbit's heart rate and sleep data contain a wealth of information. Based on analyzing this data, Fitbit's next goal is to provide deeper, personalized insights tailored to each individual. Stay tuned.

Kojima: Overseas, you're already rolling out "Fitbit Care," a health coaching service aimed at promoting wellness, right? Fitbit is increasingly making its presence felt in the health solutions space.

Chigawara: I believe there are still many areas where Fitbit can contribute. For example, imagine you, Kojima-san, go to the hospital and have a consultation with a doctor. But the moment you step outside the hospital, the doctor has no idea how many hours you sleep or what your resting heart rate is, right? Despite how advanced our information infrastructure is, doctors only know about their patients during the consultation at the hospital. You could call it point-based healthcare.

But if you wear a Fitbit, we can monitor patients outside the hospital 24/7. That's incredibly innovative. I hope that in five or ten years, it will be commonplace for doctors to be constantly connected with their patients outside the hospital.

Kojima: Fitbit data, recorded as minute-by-minute heart rate data, becomes a second medical record for doctors. It's not just about personal data management; it enables new diagnostic applications using data previously unavailable in clinical settings. That future might not be far off. We believe this is the very essence of the innovation wearable devices will bring.

Chigawara: Just a day's worth of heart rate data contains an incredible amount of information. Even now, people from diverse backgrounds—doctors, psychologists, cultural anthropologists, AI researchers—are exploring Fitbit's potential and envisioning the future of health.

For example, in the US, it's been reported that wearable devices play a significant role during the pre- and post-surgery periods. Surgery is extremely taxing on the body. Using Fitbit pre-surgery allows patients to build up their physical strength before undergoing the procedure. Furthermore, Fitbit is also considered effective during the post-surgery phase when physical strength plummets and needs to be restored.

For breast cancer patients, increasing activity levels post-surgery is linked to improved QOL (Quality of Life). The National Cancer Center utilizes Fitbit in its research titled "Development of an Exercise Program for Breast Cancer Survivors to Perform at Home" (※).

(※) Reference Material
https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000041451
 

Kojima: We might reach a time when Fitbits are handed out alongside medication. Taking medicine inevitably brings negative feelings, but Fitbit's appeal is that it lets people enjoyably work on improving their physical strength.

Chigawara: We've also been contacted by a community of breast cancer survivors. They told us, "We're having a big step-count competition using Fitbits among ourselves." People who've experienced serious illness often feel isolated. Even knowing they need to increase their activity after breast cancer surgery, it's hard to find motivation alone. Hearing that "joining the community and participating in the Fitbit challenge let us all enjoy increasing our steps together" made me very happy.

Kojima: When planning new step challenges, creating communities around shared experiences could be interesting. People with the same experiences are scattered like isolated points. Connecting them through Fitbit could create new value.

From March 18th to 24th, we ran an inter-departmental step challenge within Dentsu Inc. Surprisingly, the top spot went to a creative department. You might imagine creators working indoors, yet that department came out on top. I think it inspired other employees too.

Chigawara: Among companies using Fitbit, Dentsu Inc . stands out for organizing inter-departmental step challenges and proposing uniquely creative applications. Since your employees are creators themselves, they discover new possibilities. That's precisely the greatest benefit of our partnership with BDS.

Kojima: Both Fitbit and Dentsu Inc.'s health management share the common goal of "making health fun." Frankly, our employees won't show interest unless it's enjoyable (laughs). Our responsibility at BDS is to uncover that enjoyment, spread it to other adopting companies, and naturally elevate society's overall "health literacy."

Your data helps someone else

Chigawara: Japanese companies tend to view health management as complex and perhaps lean too heavily on data-driven approaches. Collecting and analyzing data isn't Fitbit's sole purpose. That approach makes wearers feel like lab rats. Engagement is paramount. I want BDS to strongly emphasize this message.

Kojima: We also have employees who say, "I don't want the company taking my data." But I want them to see beyond that. Providing your data to the company benefits other employees. If people feel their data is helping someone else, it creates new communities and engagement. Isn't this the health literacy we need for the future?

Chigawara: You're absolutely right. Fitbit receives emails from users worldwide. For example, someone diagnosed with diabetes later purchased a Fitbit and, while continuing to exercise, saw a significant improvement in their A1C (a measure of blood sugar control). At one point, Fitbit detected a significant drop in their resting heart rate. They went to the hospital, were diagnosed with coronary artery disease, and underwent emergency surgery. This is a case where Fitbit provided an alert and guided them to take appropriate action. Simply sharing this experience can be incredibly helpful for others with similar conditions.

Kojima: Departments involved in health management do issue alerts like "We won't leak your data" or "We won't use it for other purposes," but they don't say "Thank you for providing your data." Going forward, I want to foster a shift in awareness by communicating that appreciation. I believe this connects to the "lovable future" envisioned by BDS.

Chigawara: Dentsu Inc. as a whole is using Fitbit as a test case with 3,000 employees. From small realizations to big moments of inspiration, these experiences are scattered among each of those 3,000 individuals. We want to share them.

Kojima: I think it would be great if our project team could effectively capture these insights and moments of wonder, create a "Dentsu Inc. Fitbit Success Story," and use that as a foundation to collaboratively envision a future of corporate health. Thank you for today.

Dentsu Inc. Business Design Square Website
http://www.dentsu-bds.com/