The Secret of Why This Company is So Energetic Season 2 [19]To energize people and society through business driven by love.
This series explores the secrets behind "vibrant companies" possessing "originality," as uncovered by Dentsu Inc.'s "Company Design" team. The 19th installment features Creema, which continuously creates platforms connecting "makers" and "consumers." By providing spaces—both online and offline—where people can encounter works by creators across various genres and connect through shared sensibilities, Creema has expanded its business. We delved into the passion driving this endeavor.
In Part #01 of this series, we interviewed an antique dealer named Kanegae. It was incredibly stimulating content. I myself work under the somewhat creative title of copywriter. However, creative work doesn't exist solely through people with "creative" titles. Creative work is made possible by a team that includes not only the client work handled by business producers, but also the clients themselves (or so I believe).
And the most rewarding moment in creative work is when the creator's vision truly connects with the audience or reader. Making money or winning awards certainly has value. But that's not the true purpose. It's the dynamism of sparking genuine love or respect that makes you think, "Ah, I'm so glad I do this work," from the bottom of your heart.
But what exactly is this power called creativity? Seeking clues to this question I've long pondered, I spoke with Kotaro Marubayashi, President of Creema.
Written by: Shuji Shibata (Dentsu Inc. BXCC)
Amidst diversifying values, we want to create a more joyful and happy world.
"We want to establish a fair economic ecosystem where talented creators are properly valued." Creema, the handmade marketplace, created and established as a culture the C2C distribution structure for original works by individual creators in Japan. It has now grown into Japan's largest handmade marketplace, with over 240,000 registered creators and an annual gross transaction volume exceeding 16 billion yen.
Many Creema sellers are professionals or aspiring professionals, meaning their work is of high quality. Creema's emergence has shone a light on the potential of the "individual"—talent and effort that deserve proper recognition—by enabling direct transactions bypassing existing distribution channels. "We often hear stories of talent being fairly evaluated and creators actually making a living through Creema. As values diversify, the forms of self-realization are also changing. By showing creators and consumers new value, we want to build a happier, more enjoyable world."
Born in Yokohama in 1979. After graduating from Keio University, he worked for a major internet advertising company group before founding Akamaru Holdings Co., Ltd. (now Creema Inc.) in 2009. He operates Japan and Asia's largest handmade marketplace "Creema" and the crowdfunding service "Creema SPRINGS." His goal is "to energize people and society through businesses built on love." His hobbies include DJing, music production, and watching professional wrestling.
I want to work on things that can make the greatest number of people happy
President Marubayashi's background is rooted in tennis. "With coaching guidance and parental support, I achieved decent results in tennis starting from elementary school. In junior high, I won two titles at the Kanto Regional Tournament. But in my third year, I suddenly wondered: What is the appeal of tennis? I realized I wasn't playing for trophies. Defeating opponents wasn't the goal. I was playing tennis to bring joy to spectators, teammates, coaches, and family."
The leap in thinking from there was remarkable. Becoming Japan's best tennis player would certainly bring joy to many people. But there were other ways to make people happy, and wasn't "music" – something that had been a source of emotional support for me during tennis trips – one of them? In fact, couldn't music reach even more people?
"For a while, I immersed myself in music. But then, a question popped into my head. Even if I became a top-tier artist, maybe the limit would be making a few million people happy. Millions is incredible, but my goal is to make the greatest number of people in the world happy." During my university days, I shared this seemingly absurd idea with a CEO of a major corporation I'd met through a connection. To my surprise, he gave me unexpected advice." That advice was: "If that's your true heart, I think you'd be better suited to be a CEO or a politician."
Original experiences hold power. Why is that?
President Marubayashi is what society calls a "winner." You could even call him a strong person. If you put him on a tennis court, he'd reach the top. His musical skills are also first-rate. He graduated from a top university and landed a job at a top company. So why did President Marubayashi, someone like that, decide to start a business to support unknown artists?
To that question, President Marubayashi answered: "In tennis, the strongest player almost always wins. But the music world isn't like that. Various circumstances often overlap, leading to evaluations that have little to do with the artist's actual ability. Some people with real talent never get their chance, while others, even if they don't seem to have that much sense or effort, get plenty of work. What the hell? Isn't that weird? That feeling of discomfort, bordering on anger, is what made me start this business."
It was precisely because tennis was his foundation that he felt this sense of dissonance, or even indignation, upon entering the music world. This feeling became the energy driving President Marubayashi.
"Tennis is fair, above all else. You absolutely cannot cheat your way to becoming world number one, and even a player who was number one yesterday can lose to a younger player. When I thought about what that feeling of satisfaction and refreshing clarity came from... I realized it was the idea of 'Let's play fair!'" Like many business leaders, President Marubayashi had a foundational experience directly tied to his business.
What is a "business with love"?
President Marubayashi's business philosophy is consistent: he wants to make more people happy. "Tennis, music, and my current business. At the core of all of them is love." President Marubayashi says he personally felt that, unlike sports or academics, in the world of creation, ability and effort don't directly translate to results or evaluation. He wondered: Couldn't we create an environment where talented people could strive with hope and be fairly evaluated? This lifelong line of thinking connected when considering new ventures.
"I didn't just want to start a handmade e-commerce site. What I wanted to create was a platform for indie creators, an alternative system directly connecting creators with consumers. I felt deep down that I wanted to build a fair system where creators could unleash their talent and receive proper recognition. That was the origin of starting this business."
Online sales, physical stores, events, alliance programs, crowdfunding... What consistently underlies the business President Marubayashi is "expanding" is business driven by love.
The defining characteristic of creativity is its "fluffy" nature
I asked President Marubayashi, "Please explain the feeling of making a good purchase, not from the seller's perspective, but from the buyer's." His answer came immediately. "I believe there are two types of good purchases. One is when you know something has value and you buy that value. The other is when you don't quite understand it, but after experiencing it, you think, 'Huh? This is good!' and realize its value before buying. While brand theory tends to be a hot topic, I feel the future potential lies more in the latter."
To use art as an analogy, buying a Van Gogh painting is the former. Everyone knows it's worth hundreds of millions of yen, and you purchase that value. The latter is more like being unexpectedly drawn to a piece by an unknown artist, placing it in your living room, and finding it unexpectedly thrilling—adding conversation and color to your daily life.
"Frankly, I've always felt uneasy about the term 'handmade' itself," says President Marubayashi. "Whether it's a Van Gogh painting or something handmade? Even global designer fashion brands started as handmade creations by a single designer, right? Van Gogh's vision was shaped by his own hand. That's where something was born that stirs the hearts of people worldwide. What that 'something' is, no one can define. Because creativity is always something elusive." As a fellow creative professional, President Marubayashi's passion for cherishing that elusive quality made me feel like saying, "Thank you!"
Visit the service site for the handmade marketplace "Creema" here.
The official website for Japan's largest creator festival, "Handmade in Japan Festival," is here.
The official website for the outdoor music and craft festival "Creema YAMABIKO FES" is here.
The service site for the lesson video sales platform "FANTIST" is here.
Creema's corporate site is here.
Season 2 of the series where Dentsu Inc.'s 'Company Design' team explores the secrets of 'vibrant companies' with 'originality'. Episode 19 introduced Creema, which continues to create platforms connecting 'creators' and 'fans'.
Season 1 of the series can be found here.
The "Company Design" project site is here.
[Editor's Note]
At the end of the interview, I asked President Marubayashi this rather tricky question: "What's the Japanese translation for 'creative'?" The recently concluded morning drama mentioned that "there is no English equivalent for 'sunlight filtering through trees'." Conversely, there really isn't a Japanese word that perfectly captures "creative." We translated "art" as "geijutsu" (芸術). We translated "economics" as "keizai" (経済). They fit perfectly. But a Japanese word that truly captures the essence of "creative" has yet to be born. As expressions like "turning creative into business power" suggest, it's clearly not pure art.
With a slight hesitation, President Marubayashi answered: "Translating it as 'creativity' is easy. But that doesn't capture its essence. I believe creative is the power to generate something from nothing."
And that power, President Marubayashi continued, isn't exclusive to those with "creator" printed on their business cards. Whether you're in sales, education, agriculture, or politics, any act of creating a "1" from something no one imagined is creative. Anyone who can achieve that is a creator. A purple mandarin? You're kidding, right? People are moved by the power that makes such outrageous ideas a reality. President Marubayashi's words struck a chord: "That's precisely why I want to create an environment where creative value is fairly recognized."
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Author
Osamu Shibata
Dentsu Inc.
After joining Dentsu Inc., transitioned from sales to copywriting. Recipient of the TCC Newcomer Award, ACC Gold, and others. Recently added "Conceptor" to business cards, expanding beyond copywriting into broader linguistic domains.
