"Moving Real People Just a Little Bit" 2022 Creator of the Year Award Winner, Masatoshi Kurita

Masatoshi Kurita of Dentsu Inc. was awarded the 2022 Creator of the Year (※), with the award ceremony held at the Tokyo Kaikan on May 31. We spoke with Mr. Kurita, who creates ripples in society and guides solutions to challenges through ideas and expressive power that move viewers, about his approach to work and the future of advertising creativity.

※An award hosted by the Japan Advertising Association (JAAA) that honors the individual creator within JAAA member companies who produced the most outstanding creative work in 2022. Since its inception in 1989, this marks the 34th time the award has been presented.

 

Masatoshi Kurita   Creative Director / CM Planner / Copywriter, Dentsu Inc. Major creative works include: Suntory Holdings "Life Needs Restaurants," UNIQLO "Atashinchi × Mother's Day & Father's Day," "Life and Wear Wide Pants, Bra Top, etc.," Nissin Foods "Cup Noodle PRO," and the National Lottery "Quick One" for all prefectures and designated cities.

 

Honest and endearing

──Congratulations on winning Creator of the Year. Please share your thoughts on receiving this award.

I feel deeply honored and grateful to receive an award that has been given to such great predecessors. At the same time, I feel quite humbled... because I haven't done a single piece of work entirely on my own, and the name of the award feels a bit too grand for me.

──The award recognized your work as "creativity that touches people's hearts and brings hope." What did you focus on during production?

I hoped it might just make people feel a little better. Trying to do something too grand feels insincere, so I always aim to keep things grounded—not swinging for the fences, but gently moving someone, someone real, just a little. To do that, I feel authenticity and humor are incredibly important.

──What's your approach or mindset when building communication?

There are two main points. One is to avoid dishonesty as much as possible. Advertising inherently tends to shape things in a way that suits the sender, so I try my best to resist that and avoid it in various situations.

The other is to make it as endearing as possible. I value adding elements that evoke positive emotional responses in people—things that feel cute, funny, cool, or laugh-out-loud.

But listing them like this, they seem pretty obvious, don't they... It would have been cooler if I could create ads with more innovative ideas... Sorry about that...

Suntory Holdings "Life needs restaurants." (left) / UNIQLO "Atashinchi × Mother's Day" (right)

 

The source of inspiration is within a 5-meter radius

──Where does the inspiration for creativity come from?

I'd say about 95% comes from things I've encountered within a 5-meter radius throughout my life. Things like videos I've seen, things friends have said, phrases from books I've read, and so on. The remaining 5% or so are strange images that just pop into my head completely without reason. These lack logic, making them hard to persuade others with, and they have very low survival chances. But I always end up trying hard to keep these ones alive. Maybe because if they fit well, they feel less like something everyone else has?

──What do you think is the role of a Creative Director?

What's required of a Creative Director (CD) varies case by case depending on the project. But regardless, I think it's crucial to keep pointing the way, persistently saying "That way!" to guide things toward their true form. Often, due to various circumstances, the direction your finger points changes midway, or you end up yelling "Put that hand down!" Still, you have to keep pushing, maintaining that posture of holding your arm up high, even while crying your eyes out...

──Have your approaches to creativity changed between pre-pandemic times and now?

These three years brought many changes, and I feel only the truly important things remain. People's concerns also seem to have shifted closer to the essence of humanity. So, I might be placing greater importance on depicting human emotions. Also, I've thought more about advertising's function of lifting people's spirits. Precisely because it's an expression that reaches so many people, I believe there's something unique it can achieve.

Nissin Foods "Cup Noodle PRO" (left) / National Lottery "Quick One" (right)

 

Being human is unchangeable

──Given the rapid pace of change in the media environment surrounding consumers these days, have you seen changes in how advertising is created or communication is designed? 

Absolutely. I believe constant change is the eternal fate of the advertising world, so it's a daily learning process. It would be easier if we could just keep reusing techniques we learned long ago... but life isn't that simple...

Also, while the media landscape has changed dramatically, I believe that if you can create something truly compelling and interesting that moves people's hearts, regardless of the medium, it will spread as a topic of conversation and ultimately become "mass advertising." In that sense, the techniques needed to reach the masses are still necessary, and perhaps the star we aim for hasn't changed as much as you might think.

──If creativity were to expand beyond the realm of advertising into other business areas in the future, what kind of areas do you think that might be?

That's so varied, I couldn't possibly sum it up in a single sentence. Sorry... But I do think creativity can expand into many different areas, not just business. Also, when we say "expand," it often conjures an image of moving away from advertising, but I believe there's still a ton of room for expansion within advertising itself.

──What do you think the future holds for advertising, the advertising industry, and creativity?

Honestly, I wish someone would tell me... Predicting the future is tough. But I don't think we can fundamentally change the fact that we're human. Even as times and media evolve, we still read novels and manga, watch movies and dramas. That's because humans are involved, and humans are interested in other humans. I think our brains are just wired that way.

So, I think creators who focus on people, who learn how to move hearts and what words truly resonate, will be fine in the future... or at least, that's what I hope. Or rather, as someone who's pretty much dedicated their entire life to this, I desperately hope it's true. It's almost like a prayer... Please, future, that's how I feel.

Also, I really love making ads, but I feel like the fact that "ad creation is fun" isn't really advertised itself. I think it's important for us to properly convey that to the younger generation, to the people of the future. Though maybe it's less about telling them with words and more about us just making incredibly fun ads to prove it. I'll do my best, however small my contribution...