Co-creating language with executives. -The case of STRIPE int'l-

I'm Hideaki Morohashi, a copywriter and CM planner. In the previous article, we explored the "words" that unite a company by defining its business value. This time, I'll introduce words that essentially serve the same function. The difference lies in their formulation process.

Allow me to introduce words crafted through intensive discussions with executives, ultimately applied to manage a company exceeding 3,000 employees.

<Table of Contents>
▼The Era Where Creative Directors Are Appointed as Business Advisors
▼ Going for Casual Chat, Not Proposals
▼The Best Small Talk Requires Preparation
▼ How Casual Conversations Reveal a Business's Future
▼The Words Were Already Born
▼How the term "co-creation" was forged

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The era when creative directors are appointed as business advisors

It all began with a consultation from a certain business owner to my boss, Keiichi Higuchi, ECD (Executive Creative Director).

"Marking our 25th anniversary, we want to consider the future of our business. We'd like your advice."

The client was Yasuharu Ishikawa, President of STRIPE International (hereafter STRIPE). He leads an apparel manufacturer operating over 30 brands in Japan and internationally, including earth music&amp;ecology.

Apparel manufacturers are currently facing a time of transformation. Beyond e-commerce, challenges include the rise of D2C Inc. brands, introducing technology for inventory and logistics management, securing labor, and environmental considerations like waste reduction. The issues they confront are diverse.

Furthermore, while STRIPE's core domain is apparel manufacturing, it also handles the subscription service "Meccha Kari" and the adult-focused e-commerce department store "STRIPE DEPARTMENT".

It was this executive, compelled to consider the future of the business from multiple perspectives, who appointed an advertising agency's Creative Director. And so, assigned by ECD Higuchi as a copywriter, I joined the project.

Going for a chat, not a proposal

When faced with such a grand consultation, advertising agencies often tend to present stiff "business proposals" or "consulting-like proposals."

In an industry where thinking like "We must break out of the advertising mold" or "We must engage with the business from the very top" is often glorified, a consultation like this one shone brightly as "Finally! It's here! The big project!"

I was no exception, eagerly browsing books like "Building Your First Business" in bookstores. But the creative direction I received from ECD Higuchi during that time remains unforgettable.

"Alright, I'll be your casual conversation partner, Ishikawa-san."

I couldn't believe my ears. Wasn't President Ishikawa seeking some kind of proposal? Calling it "casual conversation"? Or rather, that meant there was nothing to do, right?

I couldn't have been more wrong. Becoming the president's casual conversation partner was no trivial matter.

The best casual chats require preparation

To prepare for chatting with President Ishikawa, ECD Higuchi proposed creating a document titled "50 Future Predictions." He wanted to organize the world's megatrends into five categories and compile ten specific future scenarios triggered by each.

The future predictions weren't limited to "apparel" or "advertising"; we simply brainstormed as a team about how humans and society might evolve, compiling them into a list. Adding "× (times) stripes" to each created 50 distinct future scenarios.

It sounds simple written out like this, but actually doing it is surprisingly challenging. Beyond research, it requires large-scale planning capabilities. I was amazed we prepared this much just for "casual chatter," but we pressed on with the work. Below is the summary of the megatrends from that time (2018).

Themes for "50 Future Predictions"

1. Human: The 100-Year Life Era → 10 Futures × Stripes
2. Global: Immigration and Diversity → 10 Futures × Stripe
3. Industry: Sharing Economy Development → 10 Futures × Stripe
4. Digital: Full-Scale AI Operation → 10 Futures × Stripe
5. Society: Post-Truth Era, Neighborly Anxiety → 10 Futures × Stripe

Armed with these "50 Future Predictions," I finally went to meet President Ishikawa. I asked him to pick a few interesting themes from the list, and we started chatting.

Having gone through the process of creating the list, the Dentsu Inc. team already had substantial input on every theme. This meant they could confidently address any question the president raised, resulting in lively conversations. We repeated these conversations about 3-4 times over six months, refining the list as we went.

The Future of the Business Revealed Through Casual Conversation

Of course, the casual conversation itself isn't the goal. It's a process of uncovering the core of the future business the president envisions while discussing various themes.

As we repeated these casual chats, we noticed certain points where the conversation really heated up. For President Ishikawa, this happened whenever the topic turned to "ethical" (※).

*Ethical: An adjective meaning "moral" or "principled. " Ethical consumption refers to the practice of purchasing products not associated with environmental destruction or child labor in their manufacturing process, or supporting companies that produce such products.
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Stripe has already incorporated ethical perspectives into its business, such as improving labor conditions at overseas factories and achieving an exceptionally low waste rate unheard of in the apparel industry. During our casual chats, it seemed he reaffirmed his desire to extend this altruistic mindset to every store staff member nationwide.

This is also a vision for the future: to rebuild the entire company's operations around the core principle of ethics. Our casual conversation ultimately led to the conclusion that we should put this sentiment into words.

The words had already been born

When you go through such deep steps, the final form of the words often surfaces right within the casual conversation itself. The phrase we ultimately established as our corporate message, "Let's do good things.", was something the president casually jotted down on a memo during a casual chat one day. Because we had shared the entire process leading up to it, everyone—transcending client/agency boundaries and president/copywriter roles—agreed, "That's it!" Ethical = Doing good things is simple and easy to understand. Above all, the "ze" is perfect. It's playful, forward-thinking, and uniquely Stripe.

As soon as the phrase was decided, our Dentsu Inc. Creative Team began thinking about "how to deliver this message." After all, it wasn't just for headquarters employees, but for everyone involved, including store staff nationwide. To unite thousands of people with varying levels of ethical awareness, what kind of worldview should the phrase embody? What tone of voice? What colors?

We approached two external specialists: Art Director Mr. Ishihara (NEANDERTAL) and Film Director Mr. Hayashi Kyotaro (DRAWING AND MANUAL). We asked them to collaborate with us to create the visual and cinematic world for this phrase, "Let's do something good." The result is the following creative work, which unites Stripe's fashion sensibility with its strong purpose.

This "Let's do something good." was announced as Stripe's corporate message at the employee general meeting. Of course, the presentation itself was also part of the message.

President Ishikawa was truly remarkable here. As he calmly, meticulously, yet passionately explained the meaning and background of the phrase, the thousands attending the meeting became united. No matter how much strategy we devise, I truly felt nothing is as powerful as words spoken by the leader themselves. Now, Stripe is moving forward as one company, united by "Let's do something good."

How We Created the Word "Co-Creation"

The approach to creating words led by ECD Higuchi is, in essence, co-creation style copy development. The agency stimulates the client's core aspirations, bringing them to the surface and distilling them into words. In other words, through the process of creating words together, we support the client in envisioning the future of their business.

This approach stands apart from the conventional copy proposal method, where several copy directions are written based on the brief and the client selects from them. It's a way of creating words that copywriters fixated on authentic "copywriting" often struggle to conceive.

But when you think about it, there can never be too many ways to create words. In fact, the diversity of approaches might amplify the strength and precision of the words produced. As we confront the increasingly varied challenges of businesses through language, I believe this style—starting with how we create words—will become essential going forward.

This series will continue a little longer. Next time, I'll share an episode where we defined a certain executive's strong convictions in words and applied them to management.