Monthly CX [21]"Multifaceted CX Creative" that lets you savor the Dole brand from every angle
Customer experience (CX) continues to evolve daily.
How can Dentsu Inc.'s creative approach contribute to the CX domain, now demanded in every scenario?
To explore this potential, Dentsu Inc.'s CXCC (Customer Experience Creative Center) members share insights on CX and creativity in the series "Monthly CX" ( Learn more about Monthly CX here ).
This installment introduces brand enhancement initiatives for Dole, a food company boasting world-leading sales volumes of fruits like bananas and pineapples.
How did they approach expanding their presence? What tactics did they employ to acquire new customers? We spoke with Takuya Fujita, the project lead.
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.
*Affiliation and position are as of the time of the interview.
A Comprehensive Approach to Communicating the Appeal of the Dole Brand
Monthly CX: Today we'll discuss Dole's brand strengthening initiatives. First, could you tell us about Dole as a company?
Fujita: Dole is a historic company with over 150 years of history, selling high-quality fruits like bananas and pineapples, as well as processed fruit products.
Beyond pursuing delicious products, we focus on ethical aspects—like establishing " The Dole Promise," six commitments addressing environmental issues to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Beyond the environment, we also develop diverse touchpoints through fruit, such as activities centered on beauty and health.
Monthly CX: What specific actions are you taking?
Fujita: We sell high-value-added products like our premium "Gokusen Banana," which emphasizes quality. We also focus on the nutritional value of bananas, appealing to consumers from beauty and health perspectives. We conduct extensive communication highlighting the diverse values fruit offers beyond just taste.
Monthly CX: So you prepare initiatives from various angles.
Fujita: While each initiative itself is excellent, we faced the challenge that the connection between Dole's activities and the brand itself felt somewhat weak. That's why we undertook this initiative to redefine what the Dole brand truly is.
We aimed to create a new framework that consolidates and showcases both past and future initiatives as Dole's activities. Establishing this framework not only emphasizes the brand's presence but also paves the way for approaching new areas we plan to expand into.
Monthly CX: I see. Could you also tell us about the content of the initiatives?
Fujita: The first step was creating the brand message: "Smiles from fruit." This conveys that fruit isn't just delicious; it's something that accompanies people in various scenes of their lives, resulting in smiles appearing everywhere.
We also produced a brand movie expressing the sentiment behind "Smiles with Fruit." For this, we utilized bananas that were otherwise destined for disposal due to being non-standard. By projecting the video onto actual fruit as a canvas, we expressed the diverse possibilities inherent in fruit while also incorporating Dole's valued ethical actions into our communication activities. We utilize not only the finished video but also the process of its creation as PR content.
※Click the image to watch the video
Monthly CX: It's enjoyable to watch and really conveys the brand's message.
Fujita: Thank you. We also created a graphic that expresses the brand message in a single visual.
We displayed this graphic in stores to promote brand message recognition. By concentrating the brand's intent into this statement, we believed it would communicate as a more substantial initiative.
Monthly CX: So "Smiles with Fruit" serves as the hub for both branding and promotion.
Fujita: Exactly. In summer 2023, we also held the experiential event "Dole Fruit Smile Park / Dole Fruit Smile Stand" to share the appeal of fruit with children. The event featured various activities to engage with fruit, including an activity to experience buying bananas by weight, trying on clothes made from materials utilizing pineapple leaves, and a food stand serving ethical menus made from fruit that would otherwise be discarded.
*Clicking the image will display the X (Twitter) post screenRebuilding the connection between fruit and customers through events
Monthly CX: How did attendees react to the event?
Fujita: It seemed enjoyable for everyone, regardless of age or gender, including children. Seeing attendees smile after trying the activities created a ripple effect where others felt inspired to try them too. Personally, seeing visitors smile as they discovered fruit's appeal made me happy and felt like a true embodiment of "Smiles through fruit."
Monthly CX: How did the client react?
Fujita: They were extremely pleased. We held it at the ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO, which is a hub for communicating SDGs initiatives. Apparently, it drew the highest attendance of any event held there, and they even extended the stand's operating period. It was also great that Dole's internal team actively suggested ideas like, "Could we also try this?" in response to our proposals, creating various positive interactions.
Furthermore, this initiative unifies past and future actions under the new brand message "Smiles from Fruit." It's designed for long-term branding: the more actions Dole takes, the stronger and richer the message becomes. In other words, it's not about immediate results, but about demonstrating true value through continuity. I was delighted that they understood this and we could advance the project together.
Multifaceted CX that carefully communicates appeal and value without wavering
Monthly CX: What were your personal impressions of this project, Mr. Fujita?
Fujita: I think it was very good that we were able to carefully embody and convey Dole's essence without wavering. Dole's strength lies in its activities that convey the appeal of fruit multifacetedly through multiple touchpoints, using various angles. Many branding initiatives tend to let go of existing elements to focus on selection and concentration, but this time we were able to create a system that seamlessly connects everything. It's like embracing all the Dole-ness we've cultivated so far.
Monthly CX: "Embracing Dole's essence" – that's a really great phrase. If you had to pinpoint a key CX creative aspect of this initiative, what would it be?
Fujita: It's a "multi-faceted CX approach," maintaining common elements of Dole's appeal and value while taking a multifaceted approach. I think it's a relatively new CX approach: customers who come to the Dole brand through the deliciousness or health benefits of bananas then gain opportunities through our initiatives to learn about Dole's other activities, like environmental issues. Rather than selection and concentration, we focused on preparing various entry points – changing the angle of approach to create different tactile experiences.
To put it more simply: polish and effectively leverage the value the client has built up over time, further enhancing its strength. On top of that, ensuring the creative expression doesn't overlook ethically important elements was a crucial point.
Monthly CX: Thank you. Finally, could you share your future outlook, Mr. Fujita?
Fujita: Having established the overall framework this time, I now want to deepen the experience for each individual theme and continuously enrich the content. There are still unexplored routes ahead. Moving forward, I hope to continue exploring the possibilities of fruit alongside Dole, while also helping to create and deliver new brand value to the world.
(Editor's Note)
This article introduced Dole's brand strengthening initiatives.
Rather than selection and concentration, conveying a single value from multiple angles can generate new customer needs and experiences. To achieve this, correctly understanding the value the brand has built up is key. From Dole's case, we gained hints for future brand strategy approaches.
This interview was conducted in collaboration with 'CX Creative Studio note' ( For more on CX Creative Studio note, click here ). We are also working with Dentsu Digital Inc.'s CX Creative team, alongside the Dentsu CXCC team, to collect and introduce a broader range of case studies. If you are interested, please check it out as well.
If you have requests for future case studies or topics, please send a message to the Monthly CX Editorial Department via the contact page below. Thank you for your continued readership.
Dentsu Inc. CXCC: Koike, Oda, Otani, Kibata, Takakusagi, Kanasaka, Okumura
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Author
Takuya Fujita
Dentsu Inc.
Since joining the company, I have been part of the event and space-related departments for approximately 13 years. I joined CDC in December 2016 and CXCC in January 2021. Guided by the motto "Updating life and experiences through the power of creativity," I practice 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.
Monthly CX Editorial Department
Dentsu Inc.
The editorial team for "Monthly CX," a series where members of Dentsu Inc.'s CX-specialized division "CXCC" share insights on CX and creativity. By covering outstanding CX creative success stories within the agency or company, we unravel the essence and potential of CX creativity. Core members are Yoko Kibata, Hiroshi Koike, Nao Otani, Hirono Okumura, Yutaro Kosugi, Espin, Keisuke Saito, Kenji Oda, Hirozumi Takakusagi, and Motofumi Kanasaka, all belonging to CXCC.
