Unraveling CX Creativity That Drives Active Engagement: Insights from Blue Bottle Coffee's Music Live Events

CX (Customer Experience) continues to evolve daily.

How can Dentsu Inc.'s creative team contribute to the 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 a series. That series is "Monthly CX" ( For more on Monthly CX, click here ).

This time, we spoke with Takuya Fujita, CXCC Creative Director/Communication Planner, who planned the online live event "MUSIC PAIRING FESTIVAL" themed around "coffee and music pairing," streamed in September 2021, about creating new customer experiences.

This unexpected pairing—an online live event featuring Blue Bottle Coffee and three musicians—gained significant attention on social media, resulting in a highly enjoyable experience for both viewers and participants. What was the key to this event? The essence of pairing—combining something different from the product itself.

*CX Creative refers to... using creative power to generate valuable new customer experiences. It also denotes the initiatives themselves.
 

【Profile of Takuya Fujita】
Dentsu Inc.
Customer Experience Creative Center
Creative Director / Communication Planner
Since joining the company, he has spent approximately 13 years in event and space-related departments. He joined CDC in December 2016 and CXCC in January 2021. Guided by the motto "Updating life and experiences through the power of creativity," he practices communication design that transcends boundaries.
Major awards include Cannes Lions, D&AD, N.Y. ADC, CLIO, AD STARS, ACC, WOMMY, Red Dot Design Award, SABRE AWARDS, PR Awards Asia, and the Good Design Award.
 

A New Customer Experience Born from Pairing Music and Coffee

Monthly CX: Please tell us about the overview of your collaboration with Blue Bottle Coffee.

Fujita: Blue Bottle Coffee approached us during the pandemic, when it was difficult for customers to enjoy coffee in their cafes. They wanted to promote their instant coffee, allowing people to enjoy Blue Bottle Coffee anytime, anywhere. Faced with the challenge of creating a different way to enjoy Blue Bottle Coffee than in-store consumption, we conceived the idea of pairing coffee with something else to create a new experience.

Music came to mind due to its high affinity with coffee. This led to the "MUSIC PAIRING FESTIVAL," a live music streaming event that could be enjoyed beyond the constraints of place and time.

Monthly CX: So using the pairing format created a new approach to customer experience. Could you elaborate a bit more on how you arrived at music as the pairing?

Fujita: I love eating out and visit various restaurants, and sometimes the music playing in those spaces sticks in my memory. Like hearing hard rock at a curry shop, or hip-hop at a coffee shop – unexpected combinations that surprise me. I realized that the taste and satisfaction of the food or drink are influenced by the atmosphere of the place, including the music and interior design, and that these experiences accumulate as memories of the restaurant.

So, when I thought about how to help people retain positive memories of Blue Bottle Coffee's taste and aroma, music came to mind. Since it was also during the pandemic, we decided to do a live stream to deliver the experience without needing the physical cafe space.

The live venue was the roastery. How did you create a vibrant stage?

Fujita: We considered several venues for the live stream, including new stores, but ultimately chose the roasting facility "Kita-Suna Factory" in Koto Ward, Tokyo. This is where coffee is shipped to Blue Bottle Coffee cafes nationwide. However, being a roasting facility, it was rather stark as a live venue. So, during setup the day before the stream, we added various decorations and touches.

Monthly CX: What specific efforts were made?

Fujita: This photo shows coffee burlap sacks. We had our art team create sacks printed with both the Blue Bottle Coffee logo and the event logo, which we then installed. We also used lighting techniques to create the right atmosphere.

Monthly CX: The tasteful design really complements the coffee. How did you select the participating musicians? Even after deciding to pair them with music, there are countless artists to choose from. What was your selection process?

Fujita: We invited musicians SIRUP, Kan Sano, and TENDRE to participate.

We approached these three because they can captivate even those less interested in music, are recognized by music connoisseurs as talented artists, and can play music that fits comfortably into the scene of drinking coffee.

Monthly CX: From there, bringing out each musician's unique appeal was crucial, right?

Fujita: We asked the musicians to create music specifically for the coffee-drinking experience. They performed in acoustic styles or solo acoustic arrangements, different from their usual work. This likely offered a fresh musical experience even for their own fans.

Additionally, we invited former TBS announcer Yuri Sasagawa to participate. We held a talk show where she and the musicians discussed coffee experiences, and a segment where they learned how to brew coffee from a barista and actually tried it themselves. Since these musicians don't usually appear on TV for talks, we were able to deliver a live stream showing scenes fans had never seen before.

Delivering quality that satisfies even live-stream savvy audiences

Monthly CX: So you considered the profile of customers watching the live stream, selected musicians aligned with Blue Bottle Coffee's brand and product image, and then designed the content accordingly?

Fujita: We aimed to create something that felt natural to both brand fans and musician fans while offering new experiences to both. For the highly informed musician fans, the Blue Bottle Coffee pairing was likely a welcome surprise. For Blue Bottle Coffee, it was an opportunity to reach an audience we hadn't fully connected with before.

Monthly CX: Were there any specific filming techniques you employed for the live stream?

Fujita: The number of cameras. For the music segments, we used seven cameras and installed tracks to allow for moving shots. For the talk segments, we used four cameras. We also put a lot of effort into the lighting design to capture a variety of expressions. Having a director experienced in TV music and information programs handle the project meant the camera work and staging went smoothly.

Supported by the professional dedication of such outstanding professionals, I believe we achieved a livestream of quality that satisfied even the discerning viewers accustomed to livestreams during the pandemic.

Monthly CX: How was the actual audience reaction during the live event?

Fujita: Honestly, I was anxious because you never know how things will turn out until you try. But looking at the reactions on social media, they were 100% positive. In all my work so far, I've never received such a storm of praise, and it was great that there were no negative reactions. We managed to generate such high energy that people didn't just passively watch; they wanted to share the experience with others.

It was full of unconventional elements—performing in the unique space of a roastery, an unfamiliar talk segment—but thanks to MC Sasagawa's leadership, the talk segments were lively. The participating musicians also had a great time and were very satisfied. I believe we built a strong win-win relationship between the musicians and Blue Bottle Coffee.

Creating experiences that inspire consumers to take proactive action

Monthly CX: Combining your strength in events with the product creates unprecedented experiences. Plus, your personal knowledge and hobbies really come into play, right?

Fujita: That's right. I want to pursue creative work that focuses on how to increase consumers' proactivity and the opportunities for them to actually experience things.

Monthly CX: "Proactivity" is a great term.

Fujita: Relying solely on video or graphics tends to result in passive communication. With CX creative focused on generating new customer experiences, I believe we can intervene earlier, designing consumers' actions and experiences to facilitate communication.

For example, when I hear about cases creating new experiences—like "Bunkyu," a bookstore where you pay an entrance fee, or "The Restaurant That Gets Your Order Wrong," where people with dementia work as staff—I feel compelled to dive right in. The experience itself becomes the communication content. It's fascinating how consumers' experiences are being updated like this. I want to initiate communication that involves physicality or slightly alters the landscape of daily life.

Monthly CX: The essence of your CX creativity, Mr. Fujita, is indeed proactive, and there's also this sense of interactivity where the recipient themselves wants to share it.

Fujita: I want to go beyond just TV screens or posters—I want to turn everything that happens in daily life into communication media. That way, we can think about video and graphics in terms of when, where, and to whom they're shown, delivering them as communication content that multiplies experience opportunities.

Pursuing efficiency alone is dangerous! Use your right brain to verify whether you genuinely want to do it.

Monthly CX: The DX wave is also hitting the event industry. How will it impact areas like interactivity and proactivity?

Fujita: Personally, I think it's problematic to view DX solely through the lens of logic and efficiency – a left-brain approach. While efficiency is crucial in business, it's the right-brain creative elements like curiosity and interest that ultimately move people.

Many things have already been done to the limit in terms of convenience, so I see potential in creating unprecedented value from the perspective of "interesting" and "new." I'm thinking about how we can leverage digital more in these areas.

Monthly CX: When combining digital and creative, the tendency is indeed to lean toward logical, left-brain thinking. Is there a secret to making digital creative more right-brain oriented?

Fujita: I think it's about being skeptical about whether you truly want to do it. I'm naturally lazy and slow to act, but I will move when it's something I like or am interested in. I ask myself: would my lazy self actually do this? I think about whether I would engage with something I created.

I think it's dangerous when efficiency is the main focus. You especially need to be careful when you're thinking, "The client said so," or "This is how it should be," and your thinking stops there. In those moments, I deliberately check with my right brain: Do I want to do this? Do I want to move forward?

Monthly CX: Are there tasks that start with the right brain and tasks that start with the left brain?

Fujita: Yes, there are. This project started with a left-brain approach: "Music and coffee pair well." Then I checked with my right brain whether it could be enjoyable.
Conversely, projects involving spaces like stores or events often start with the right brain. Also, when media or methods are limited, ideas sometimes come intuitively first—perhaps because you're thinking about what would work best within those constraints. After that, I verify if they're appropriate using the left brain. Conversely, when considering what kind of communication should exist, I often start with logical, left-brain thinking and then re-examine if it can be enjoyed using the right brain.

Adding creativity to sales methods to create new experiences

Monthly CX: Finally, is there anything new you'd like to take on going forward?

Fujita: I want to create solutions that update experiences, without being overly constrained by advertising or communication.

We launched a CXCC project team called "Urikuri" that provides communication solutions by injecting creativity into sales approaches. This project was also part of Urikuri's work; having team members join us at the kickoff was a huge help.

In today's world, corporate activities tend to be discussed solely within a CSR context, but fundamentally, sales activities are the core of corporate operations. By injecting creative power into this, I believe there's still so much potential to create interesting things – like imbuing new meaning or transforming it into entertainment – that also function as communication.

If we view client relationships solely as buyer-seller transactions, it limits what we can achieve. But if we see them as partnerships, we can expand possibilities significantly. Creating experiences is one of my strengths, so I want to partner with clients to launch new experiences into the world.

Of course, we'll continue creating video and graphics, but I also want to develop projects that feel like three-dimensional, tactile communications—ones that invite themselves into people's daily lives.

Monthly CX: Once the pandemic subsides, more people will return to enjoying events and experiences. Digital transformation also offers opportunities to create new experiences that bridge the gap between online and offline. We look forward to your future endeavors. Thank you.

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(Editor's Note)
In Monthly CX Issue 7, we introduced Blue Bottle Coffee's case study of exceeding customer expectations by combining coffee and music.

For creators, this approach—logically thinking things through with the left brain, then right-brain checking to see if it genuinely inspires action—is highly insightful. Please keep an eye on the future activities likely to emerge from the project team "Urikuri."

This interview was conducted in collaboration with 'CX Creative Studio note' ( see here for details on CX Creative Studio note ). We are also working with Dentsu Digital Inc.'s CX Creative Team, not just the Dentsu CXCC team, to collect and introduce a broader range of case studies. If you're interested, please check that out as well.