Why Digitalization Changes the Importance of "Customer Experience"

"People Driven Marketing (PDM)" is an integrated framework that consolidates and advances marketing methodologies within the Dentsu Group, centered on the "human" element. It collaborates with diverse companies, and its relationship with Adobe Systems (hereafter Adobe), the giant in creative tools, is particularly intriguing. We sat down with Keisuke Anzai, Product Evangelist at Adobe, and Yoshikazu Suzuki, who handles a wide range of web marketing roles at Dentsu Digital Inc., to discuss the challenges organizations face in digital transformation, the profile of successful talent, and other essential elements for realizing customer experience management.

Creating and Delivering Creativity End-to-End

──When people think of Adobe, they often associate it strongly with creative software like Photoshop for photo editing and Illustrator for design. Could you briefly explain Adobe's business scope?

Anzai: Our mission at Adobe is "Changing the world through digital experiences." While creativity itself is important, our philosophy emphasizes the importance of delivering it correctly and creating the experiences that follow.

"Creativity" isn't limited to art; it also includes work produced as part of corporate operations. Promotional content is a prime example. This creative work always has a destination: websites, emails, apps, and various other channels. It's meaningless unless it reaches the right people.

Keisuke Anzai, Product Evangelist and Senior Consultant, Adobe Systems Incorporated
Joined a major Japanese airline in 2001, responsible for web analytics and digital marketing. Joined Omniture in 2008. Transferred to Adobe Systems following the 2009 acquisition. Provided consulting on analytics, personalization, and digital CoE. Served as Product Evangelist since March 2017.

Data for Customer "Experience," Not Customer "Management"

Anzai: The backdrop is rising consumer expectations toward companies.

When home pizza delivery first started, the experience of getting it within 30 minutes was surprising. But now, that alone doesn't impress consumers. They are seeking an even higher level of "experience."

(Photo iStock/PeopleImages)

To meet these expectations, companies need the right systems.

Typically, a company's digital investment starts with systems to organize back-office functions, like ERP. Next, it evolves into front-office areas like CRM, aimed at customer management.

However, while data is indeed accumulated, it is not data for customer experience. This makes it impossible to control and deliver the experience correctly.

With web, PCs, smartphones, apps, advertising, digital signage, and smart speakers all serving as contact points , managing them individually leads to fragmented experiences and prevents consistent communication.

The concept of integrating these is CXM (Customer Experience Management).

By possessing both "content" and "data," and delivering the right content to the right person at the right time, we enhance the customer experience. Since 2009, we have provided the "Adobe Experience Cloud" as the platform to achieve this.

Why Adobe × Dentsu Digital Inc.?

──What can Adobe achieve by partnering with Dentsu Digital Inc.?

Suzuki: Technologically, CXM enables us to deliver the optimal message to each individual.

However, a company's first-party data alone may sometimes be insufficient. This is where Dentsu Group's unique marketing platform, the "People Driven DMP," comes in. It integrates data around the "person" to enrich it further.

This platform connects with first-party data—such as online behavioral information measured by Adobe Analytics and offline attribute data—through Adobe's data management platform, Adobe Audience Manager. This enables us to transform website content and delivered advertisements into experiences that are more valuable to consumers.

Yoshikazu Suzuki, Manager, Data/Technology Division, Dentsu Digital Inc.
After working at a major advertising agency, joined Dentsu Inc. e-marketing One (now Dentsu Digital Inc.) in 2007. From the start, handled PDCA operations for web marketing and consulting across various marketing segments in diverse industries. Served as Customer Success Manager/Account Manager from August 2008.

Anzai: We're in an era where viewing communication as isolated points—just ads, just websites, just emails—leads to miscommunication.

For consumers, this creates inconveniences like "information found in an email not being available on the website," or annoyances such as "seeing ads on a website for emails they unsubscribed from because they weren't interested."

I understand that Dentsu Digital Inc. recognizes the challenge of ensuring continuity across all touchpoints, including advertising.

Adobe possesses enterprise-oriented data, such as owned media. By connecting this with the consumer-oriented data held by the Dentsu Group, we believe we can significantly enhance value.

The primary premise is that it benefits consumers.

──What specific capabilities does data integration enable?

Anzai: Companies want to be chosen from among numerous products and services and deliver value. However, while they possess the bare minimum information about members or subscribers, they typically don't hold any further data beyond what is essential for business operations.

Consider entering new businesses. Regulatory reforms in recent years have made it easier to enter sectors like power, telecommunications, insurance, and finance. With the ability to leverage existing customer bases, companies from other industries are actively pursuing these opportunities.

In such cases, if we could detect signs of a customer's life event, we might be able to make proposals they hadn't considered. For example, it could lead to a positive experience like, "Oh, I needed to review my insurance because I got married."

Without this insight, timing proposals becomes difficult, leading to miscommunication—like suggesting a review to someone who just updated their insurance.

Suzuki: By analyzing existing customers using the "People Driven DMP" to cross-reference behavioral and attitudinal data, we can capture early signs of life events like marriage or moving.

Anzai: The most important factor is customer experience. Using the insurance example, miscommunication creates a negative customer experience, but a timely proposal can create a positive one.

Suzuki: For companies, using their owned first-party data for advertising eliminates wasted efforts and increases accuracy.

The collaboration between Dentsu Digital Inc. and Adobe improves companies' marketing ROI by efficiently delivering ads to the desired customers.

Anzai: Naturally, handling data requires the utmost care. Discussions about data handling are happening globally, but the problem is that companies often focus solely on their own profits.

Suzuki: Absolutely. As someone involved in advertising, I cannot conceive of data utilization that ignores consumers. No matter how much a platform is leveraged, advertising or messaging prioritizing corporate profit alone will never truly resonate with consumers.

The Pros and Cons of Job Rotation

Suzuki: When data connects, internal company connections change too. Without cross-departmental collaboration, initiatives won't succeed. Digital technology is diversifying not just marketing but entire business divisions.

Anzai: Creating customer experiences using data requires deep understanding of both consumers and technology. Yet in many Japanese companies, employees rotate positions roughly every three to five years, leaving no one with deep expertise and no accumulated knowledge.

Companies aware of this issue tend to extend rotation periods. Alternatively, some outsource to firms capable of handling everything.

Transfers can sometimes have positive effects. For instance, in large organizations, transferring someone with digital knowledge to another business unit to spread that expertise. Another example is when someone managing a customer call center moves to the digital department and uses digital solutions to resolve common inquiries.

To drive digital transformation

Anzai: Overall, many mid-level managers feel they "have to" pursue digital transformation. To drive innovation with flexible thinking, free from existing values and frameworks, some companies have even made mid-level managers the core team.

However, finding an executive sponsor within the company is also crucial. As Mr. Suzuki mentioned, delivering customer experiences requires cross-departmental collaboration. Therefore, whether executive-level personnel get involved during the stages of building shared understanding across departments and establishing the organizational structure becomes a very significant point.

Another organizational point: the cross-functional team created to drive digital transformation is called a "Center of Excellence (CoE)". Its core members absolutely must include three individuals who "understand the business", "understand technology", and "understand creativity".

And one more person is essential: someone who can lead with strong conviction, including navigating internal negotiations. The presence or absence of such a leader makes a world of difference in how digital transformation progresses.

Anzai: Even if you can build a cross-functional team, it's quite difficult for a single company to assemble all the necessary talent and organizational resources. Dentsu Digital Inc., with its broad capabilities, is a partner we can confidently recommend to the companies we support.

Suzuki: By April 2019, Dentsu Digital Inc. had expanded to over 1,400 employees, enabling us to offer even more optimal talent and proposals from diverse fields than before.

However, to deliver optimal support, we believe it's essential to have leaders who can clearly define how the company specifically wants to transform its products, services, and business models by leveraging data and digital technology.

The Drawbacks of the Term "Digital Transformation"

Anzai: While we use the term "digital transformation" in our proposals, I also feel its drawbacks are significant.

The pressure to "do something digital" becomes so strong that the "something" itself becomes the goal. Yet what truly matters is how digital can be leveraged to enhance the customer experience.

When I was training as a consultant in the US, companies had specific goals they wanted to achieve and would ask us "how to use Adobe products" to get there. In Japan, however, it often starts with "what should we do?" Of course, our value lies in co-creating solutions together, but this is a huge difference.

Cover two of the three BTCs

Anzai: Digital transformation in marketing is still predicted to grow significantly. Given that technology keeps advancing, it might be more accurate to say we must keep making the next move.

To meet this demand, Dentsu Digital Inc. is also expanding its workforce. What kind of people are joining?

Suzuki: It's quite diverse—systems, consulting, ad operations, and more. But what they share is an interest in new things and a willingness to try them.

We also want people who join with a clear vision of how they can leverage their specialized skills as professionals at Dentsu Digital Inc.

Nowadays, tools are easier to use, and even in digital, there are many areas where you can thrive without programming knowledge.

Still, I believe understanding technical language and being able to discuss it remains crucial. It also makes it easier to transition into other areas when considering individual career paths.

Anzai: Just like CoE, we need talent who think along the axes of "Business," "Technology," and "Creative" – often called "BTC talent." Mastering two of these axes is key.

For example, in my case, I came from the business side into the technology domain, so I have B and T. Recently, there are people called design engineers who cover TC.

Where to grow your career next? Having two or more areas of expertise definitely opens up more interesting possibilities —that's something I know from personal experience.

We discussed the drawbacks of job rotation, but passively following HR decisions without personal direction is entirely different from actively pursuing opportunities you're genuinely interested in. I think it's good to always have that career selection axis in mind.

(Production: NewsPicks Brand Design / Author: Manabu Kato / Editor: Momoko Hisakawa / Photography: Hiroji Matono)