In 2022, we will tackle corporate and societal challenges with "Creativity First."

In November 2021, Dentsu Inc. established a new Chief Creative Officer (CCO) position to oversee its creative division, appointing Executive Officer Yasuharu Sasaki to the role.

What role will Dentsu Inc.'s creativity play in a rapidly changing society? What is the value of creativity that is needed now more than ever? We asked Mr. Sasaki about the future of creativity.

With creativity, any idea can be realized

──Since joining Dentsu in 1995, you've worked as a copywriter and creative director on numerous projects, winning many major advertising awards both domestically and internationally. First, could you tell us about how you joined the company and your career as a creator?

Sasaki: 1995... Looking back, it feels like a distant memory now (laughs). During my student days, I researched computer science, and it was right around the time the internet became commercially available. Many of my peers went into fields like manufacturing or research institutes, creating systems and software. I, however, was more interested in how the internet itself, as a mechanism, would spread as a medium throughout society. That's why I knocked on the door of Dentsu Inc.

And somehow, I ended up assigned to the copywriter department. So, rather than choosing it myself, it was more like being suddenly brought into an unfamiliar place – that was the start of my journey into the creative world.

But I was captivated by the creative world almost immediately after joining. I'd spent my entire career writing programs to make computers work, but when I understood that copywriting was about writing words to move people's hearts and bodies, I thought, "This is way more interesting!" (laughs).

From there, I worked on planning and producing various ads. I especially loved radio commercials. The idea that you could create any world just with sound and words, using only a pencil and a stopwatch, was incredibly exciting. For TV commercials, I also have vivid memories of working for years on corporate ads for a pharmaceutical company that used wild animals as motifs. I researched rare animals from around the world in libraries, then traveled to jungles, deserts, and grasslands to observe them in person, capturing moments revealing their unique behaviors. I raced around the globe to meet all kinds of animals. Looking back, my career began with a very analog creative life.

Then, in 1998, a turning point arrived. Dentsu Inc. pioneered the establishment of a new digital creative department, and I was assigned there. The digital world I'd known for years and the newly discovered world of creativity. How could I connect these to create something truly interesting? That became my new quest. This was an era when digital marketing methods weren't yet established. I kept creating relentlessly, experimenting with how to make new expressions no one had seen before, how to create powerful experiences that moved people's hearts. Before I knew it, I'd arrived at where I am today.

──What have you valued most in your creative work?

Sasaki: The belief that "no idea is impossible to realize." For example, building a time machine in the real world is difficult, but using the power of technology and ideas, we can create the "experience" of going back in time or traveling to the future. Any idea you conceive can absolutely be realized by utilizing various means, so don't give up; persist, devise solutions, and bring it to life. Since entering the world of digital creativity, I've constantly held this mindset.

Creativity that reconnects people, companies, and society is needed

──How do you perceive the current global creative landscape and its changes?

Sasaki: Needless to say, the changes brought by the pandemic have been significant. While opportunities to go out decreased, digital technology rapidly permeated our daily lives. Simultaneously, interest in environmental and social issues has surged. Today, companies are no longer judged solely on creating and selling products or services; their very purpose is being questioned. Naturally, this means the role expected of creativity is changing too. I sense a growing global trend where creativity is being applied not just to convey the appeal of companies, products, or services, but to redefine a company's core value proposition, forge new connections between people and companies, and between people and society.

──Can you share some recent creative work that impressed you?

Sasaki: There are many, but for example, Heineken's overseas creative work has been consistently interesting lately. While beer carries the value of being "something enjoyed together," they're taking on the challenge of reconnecting people and businesses that became isolated during the pandemic. Their commercials depicting people enjoying drinks while navigating infection prevention measures give everyone a boost, and they've run campaigns placing ads on store shutters to support businesses forced to close. I felt these were excellent initiatives, connecting people, companies, and society while communicating their own purpose.

This approach is essential: by providing sophisticated creativity to solve corporate challenges, we can redefine corporate value and even transform society. For an automaker, for instance, the core purpose might not just be making electric vehicles, but providing the freedom of mobility that lies beyond, or offering enjoyable experiences and enriched lifestyles through travel. I believe creativity is needed to envision a grand future and deliver it to people.

Creativity is indispensable for solving corporate and societal challenges

──How do you view the newly established CCO position at Dentsu Inc.?

Sasaki: Dentsu Inc. employs around 800 creators. Globally, it's rare for a company to have this many creators, but their greatest uniqueness lies in their diverse expertise. We have copywriters, designers, video and story creators, experience designers, digital technology specialists, experts in space development, and people who can create products by applying genome research, among others.

Frankly, it's difficult to align all 800 of these unique individuals in the same direction. Therefore, rather than directing them top-down, I see my role as nurturing this diversity, fostering unexpected team combinations, creating environments where previously unimaginable new value can emerge, and elevating individual creativity. Simultaneously, communicating to the outside world that Dentsu Inc. is a Creativity Company is also part of the CCO's job.

──Dentsu Inc. has adopted the vision of being an "Integrated Growth Partner," aiming to contribute to the sustainable growth of companies and society across a wide range of fields beyond advertising. Within this framework, could you explain the role creativity should play?

Sasaki: Precisely. Dentsu Inc. has expanded its business domains from traditional Advertising Transformation (AX) to Business Transformation (BX), Customer Experience Transformation (CX), and Digital Transformation (DX). We tackle client and societal challenges in collaboration with group companies globally. I believe exceptional creativity forms the foundation of this.

Creativity isn't just about crafting advertising expressions in the narrow sense. It's about grasping the essence of societal challenges, devising and executing dramatically effective yet minimally energy-consuming solutions—the "Why didn't I think of that?" kind of approach—and thereby moving people's hearts and minds. At Dentsu Inc., alongside creators, there are numerous diverse professionals: producers, media planners, scientists, strategists, entrepreneurs, and more. Now that our business domain has expanded beyond solving corporate challenges through advertising to brilliantly addressing the broader challenges of people and society, the potential for the creativity born from this diversity to contribute to corporate and societal challenges is immense.

Dentsu Inc. also possesses abundant data and technology. We utilize these to elevate creativity. Dentsu Inc. creators can now employ anything as tools for their creativity—not just traditional media, but digital spaces, real spaces, experience creation, and business design. How much can we create from Dentsu Inc. that is unexpected, groundbreaking, and powerfully moves people? We want to pursue this relentlessly together.

We interpret Dentsu Inc.'s establishment of the CCO position as a renewed corporate commitment to valuing creativity. Moving forward, we will continue to create new value centered on creativity, contributing to the sustainable growth of companies, people, and society.

*Four Business Domains (AX, BX, CX, DX)
AX (Advertising Transformation) Domain: The advertising transformation domain that achieves advanced and efficient advertising.
BX (Business Transformation) Domain: The business transformation domain that enables our client companies' business transformation.
CX (Customer Experience Transformation) Domain: The customer experience transformation domain that designs and delivers optimal customer experiences.
DX (Digital Transformation) Domain: The digital transformation domain that achieves the transformation of marketing foundations.