Crafting a company's growth story. What is the "technique" for creating CX through data × creative?

CX (Customer Experience) continues to evolve daily.

How can Dentsu Inc.'s creative team contribute to this CX domain now demanded in every scenario?

To explore this potential, members of Dentsu Inc.'s CX specialist unit, the "CXCC" (Customer Experience Creative Center), share insights on CX and creativity in this series. This is "Monthly CX" ( For more on Monthly CX, click here ).

For the third installment, we invited Yuu Nakata, who oversees integrated direction across the vast CX landscape through the fusion of data marketing and creative, to explore the essence of CX creative.

[Profile of Mr. Yu Nakata]
Dentsu Inc.  
Customer Experience Creative Center
Integrated Communications Director / Chief Creative Director
Operates as an "Integrated Communication Director," overseeing everything from data-driven communication strategies to creative expression across the entire funnel.
Handled projects including Ajinomoto Co., Inc.'s "Smart Salt," the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "#Genki Itadakimasu Project," Nestlé Japan's "Nescafé Ambassador," and Kao Humming's "Rescue from Unbearable Heat."
 

"Digital" and "Data": Two Game-Changing Moments

Monthly CX: What sparked your interest in data marketing and CX, Mr. Nakata, who started as a copywriter?
 
Nakata: There wasn't any one specific event. Since joining the company, I thought, "I'll make a living with my copywriting skills forever."

But then the digital era arrived, bringing the first game-changer. At first, I was indifferent to digital. But as the times progressed, my anxiety grew: "If I stay ignorant about digital, I'll probably struggle to come up with interesting ideas."

To dispel that anxiety, I immersed myself in studying digital case studies. What I realized was that advertising creators in this new era need not only "traditional copywriting skills" but also expertise in "new expressive techniques leveraging digital technology."

Monthly CX: If the digital era was the "first" game-changer, was there a second one?

Nakata: Yes. The data marketing era that followed the digital age was the second game-changer for me. Initially, I was skeptical: "What does data have to do with creative work that moves people?"...

But clients were also deepening their expertise in data and digital advertising daily. I realized I needed to be able to engage with them on the same level, so I challenged myself to fuse data marketing and creative.

Monthly CX: Specifically, what kind of initiatives were you undertaking?

Nakata: Together with the "Data Marketing Center" team, we constantly discussed questions like "What data can we leverage?", "Who should receive what message?", "What creative concepts will actually land?", and "Will this be compelling?" to write proposals that achieved our clients' business goals.

The Dentsu Group possesses Japan's largest customer data platform (People Driven DMP®). How to leverage these databases and what insights to derive from them is also part of the idea.

Monthly CX: New initiatives must have presented many challenges.

Nakata: It was tough at first. Back then, it was the dawn of the era, and there weren't many examples of "merging data marketing with creative." Every time, we groaned while searching for strategies and the creative ideas that would seamlessly execute them. But establishing that methodology is what led to our current CX creative work.

We derive challenges from data and gain hints for creative leaps. We established that as our own template.

Data bridges the gap between creative and client

Monthly CX: When you actually proposed plans utilizing data, how did clients react?

Nakata: I think they often responded quite positively. For example, imagine a client unsure about who their actual target customers are.

When we proposed to such clients, "Data shows the most promising customers to target are XX. The volume of XX is about this much, and they have these characteristics. If we run this kind of ad at this contact point, we might sell more than we do now. Why don't we try it?" they often responded with interest, saying, "So that's one way to approach it."

Monthly CX: So it's a "new discovery" for the client too. Did you notice any changes from your perspective as someone involved in creative work?

Nakata: It was a welcome discovery that the relationship between creative and clients changed significantly. What I mean is, when presenting solely on creative, interactions tend to be mostly with the client's advertising department or specialized creative teams. However, when approaching from data marketing, you can also engage with executives and business unit leaders.

Furthermore, by designing the whole strategy starting from data, marketing and creative direction shift to a "stock-based" model. We accumulate knowledge to grow the business and continuously run the PDCA cycle. Each iteration improves the CX design's completeness and makes creative leaps easier. This has enabled us to build long-term partnerships with clients.

Starting with data transforms marketing and creative into a "stock-based" model. Accumulating knowledge enhances the refinement of messages and expressions.

Data is meaningless if merely accumulated. Interpretation is essential. Determining what to change and what must remain unchanged based on data is itself a form of creativity.

Monthly CX: With the change in the people involved, did Mr. Nakata's own work approach or role also change?

Nakata: Yes. It's incredibly rewarding when I engage in projects as a borderless presence, transcending the role of "Creative Director," and evolve into a partner consulted on management challenges or a kind of comrade.

Monthly CX: This elevates the quality of initiatives and deepens relationships. Data utilization creates a win-win for both clients and creators.

Balancing Business Success and Creative Leaps

Monthly CX: From a creative perspective, what benefits does utilizing data offer?
 
Nakata: I see two major benefits. First, it provides solid evidence to support the strategies devised to achieve the client's Key Goal Indicators (KGIs). Second, it offers significant hints for creative leaps.

We utilize data marketing as one means to achieve this dual goal of "business success" and "creative leaps."

Monthly CX: I heard that the "Naburu?" campaign you executed at Ajinomoto Co., Inc. was a successful example using data marketing. Could you explain what kind of initiative it was?

Nakata: Yes. For "Naburu?", we used data marketing with Dentsu Inc .'s PDM (People Driven Marketing®, a people-centric integrated marketing framework) to analyze the relationship between customer purchasing behavior and their mindset. What we discovered was that the impulse people feel in winter to "want to eat hot pot" can be divided into several distinct categories. We call this classification "moment clusters."

Monthly CX: So, the reasons—or moments—for wanting hot pot vary, like "I want something hot because it's cold" or "I want to use up leftover vegetables." You capture these as distinct clusters, correct?

Nakata: Yes. In data marketing, it's common to cluster promising customers and then implement optimized communication tailored to each cluster.

With "Naburu?", we proposed a strategy to "spread the urge to eat hot pot all over Japan" by individually approaching each cluster. Under the umbrella of the campaign word "Naburu?", we continuously sparked creative leaps to activate various impulses.

Monthly CX: Mr. Nakata, you've named the "Let's Nabe?" case the "Moment Strategy Type." I thought it was an interesting approach to identify the case type and name it the "○○ Strategy."

Nakata: This might stem from my experience as a copywriter. I enjoy naming projects and initiatives with campaign titles and do it often.

The reason is that I want to make the value of the proposal at that very moment crystal clear. Giving each one a name also allows us to look back on how the initiative evolved, and it has the added benefit of helping the entire staff unite and face the same direction.

All corporate actions are CX. Enter the era of branding through CX.

Monthly CX: Recently, there's been a lot of talk about how important it is for society and companies to build sustainable relationships and become growth partners.

Nakata: Yes. At this major turning point, it's vital for every client to rebuild their own new raison d'être. Reconnecting society and companies through new value. Creative work is said to be gaining importance as an idea for achieving this.

Monthly CX: The role of CX creative is significant too, isn't it?

Nakata: Yes, I believe it's very significant. Creative professionals will become entities that not only share major goals while engaging directly with client executives, but ultimately take full responsibility for actions and communications toward society. To achieve this, deepening understanding of consumers and focusing on core issues among multiple challenges is crucial. Data marketing is considered a powerful means to accomplish this.

Monthly CX: So for CX creatives, data marketing is a means, not an end.

Nakata: Yes. I believe data marketing should exist not as an end in itself, but rather to realize all forms of creativity.

Monthly CX: How do you create CX creative, Mr. Nakata?

Nakata: Our methodology allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of creative actions using data, enabling us to build a repository of marketing and creative insights. This means we don't just consider isolated actions for a company or brand. Instead, we envision the story of how that business will expand, then layer memorable creative actions one by one, building on accumulated experience.

In fact, we believe the sum of these actions constitutes CX, and this accumulation itself will become the very essence of future corporate branding.

Monthly CX: So CX creative holds the potential to resonate with a company or brand's values and inspire people to want to support it.

The主張 of data and the主張 of CX creative. Exploding ideas at that turning point

Monthly CX: Among advertising creators, it seems quite a few harbor doubts about CX creative based on data marketing. What are your thoughts, Mr. Nakata?

Nakata: Perhaps the methodology has spread, but the "why" behind it hasn't been communicated well enough.

Monthly CX: There also seems to be an image that it's "somehow difficult."

Nakata: As I mentioned earlier, the world of data × CX creative has a dual nature: it not only solves clients' business challenges but also unlocks the potential of creativity. Looking at data can lead to new insights and sometimes sparks ideas you never imagined.

Monthly CX: Some people might feel the process—starting with data acquisition and analysis, then translating it into creative work—has a high barrier.

Nakata: Regarding how creatives engage with data, I think it's best for each person to control their own approach. If you want to oversee everything from the very beginning, you can participate in the project as an integrated director. Alternatively, as a creative director, you can get involved once the data analysis is complete, starting from the point where you collide ideas with the data.

Monthly CX: Which type are you, Mr. Nakata?

Nakata: I'm the former type, involved from the data analysis stage. That said, I don't handle the granular data myself. Instead, I frequently discuss with members of the Data Marketing Center how visualizing certain insights could lead to compelling strategies.

Data marketing argues this is how it should be done. Creative intuition, on the other hand, argues that's how it should be done. The idea is to take the point where these two clash – that "tide line" – and use inspiration to create a massive explosion, forging a core strategy and seamlessly integrating creative across the entire funnel. Only a Creative Director can control that. And I believe if Creative Directors start working this way, the world will become much more interesting.

Monthly CX: So, by overseeing this, you aim to stimulate the meeting point of data marketing and creativity to achieve a major creative leap. Finally, could you tell us what challenges you want to take on next?

Nakata: I want to create many CX actions that are meaningful for Japan's future. To achieve this, I want to continue our efforts to generate numerous creative best practices, enabling CXCC to thrive as a growth partner for our clients.

IGP (Integrated Growth Partner) represents Dentsu Inc.'s approach to identifying core challenges within complex and sophisticated corporate issues and providing integrated solutions. Dentsu Inc.'s four business domains that realize IGP are AX, BX, CX, and DX.

Monthly CX: I felt that CX creative still holds immense untapped potential, and the fusion of data marketing and creative will continue to evolve. Mr. Nakata, thank you for your valuable insights today.

(Editor's Note)
In the third issue of Monthly CX, we spoke with Mr. Nakata, the Head Creative Director of Dentsu Inc.'s CXCC and Integrated Communications Director, about CX Creative.

If you have requests for specific case studies or themes you'd like us to cover, please send a message to the Monthly CX editorial team via the contact page below.
 

Monthly CX Editorial Department
Dentsu Inc. CXCC: Koike, Oda, Takakusagi, Kanasaka, Okumura