If it's not fun, sustainability won't progress!? Using gamification to transform "unaddressed issues" into business "growth potential"!

※This article is an edited version of a piece originally published on "Japan Innovation Review" on September 28, 2023.
 

Are your company's sustainability initiatives becoming a "constraint" on business activities? Even before that, if these initiatives become mandatory—something "unpleasant but necessary"—no one will want to participate. However, if we can shift our perspective to see these constraints not only as an agenda to solve by 2030, but also as a potential growth opportunity for companies, we might be able to take a positive new step forward.

To address this, the Dentsu Group has developed a unique tool serving as an entry point for sustainability consulting. We asked four key figures, including Creative Director Ayu Sasaki, about the vision behind it and its underlying philosophy. (Interviewer: Tomokazu Segi, Editor-in-Chief, Japan Innovation Review)

25 Perspectives to Transform Defensive Sustainability into Offensive Thinking

──I understand you've developed a tool that systematizes 25 perspectives to transform "challenges" in the sustainability domain into "possibilities," supporting idea generation. Could you first explain the underlying philosophy and concept?

Sasaki: Our overarching theme across the entire Sustainability Consulting Office is "Sustainability for New Growth." This means we aim to develop sustainability thinking while discovering new business potential.

Today, the narrowly defined sustainability often used in business is perceived as something "unpleasant" because it's seen as a constraint or obligation that must be addressed. Furthermore, through our interactions with various clients, we've observed challenges such as fragmentation occurring because different departments tackle it separately, and efforts failing to expand into organization-wide initiatives.

To shift from traditional "defensive" sustainability to "offensive" sustainability, we must view the societal and business changes required to achieve a sustainable society as opportunities. We need to combine these with existing business assets to transform them into "growth potential."

Therefore, we defined the social agendas that need to be addressed by 2030 as "unaddressed issues." This refers to unsolved challenges and future challenges. While many clients are formulating mid-to-long-term business strategies for 2030, we wanted to develop a tool that supports idea generation by systematizing perspectives for organizing these unaddressed issues and transforming them into growth potential.

Sakamoto: For any company to achieve sustainable growth, tackling unresolved challenges and potential future issues is now essential. Solving only the immediate challenges at hand is insufficient. By addressing challenges one step further, we can build future business growth together with our clients. This is the sentiment embodied in the term "unaddressed challenges."

──What kinds of concerns or anxieties do you hear from companies regarding their sustainability initiatives?

Sasaki: The problem with sustainability often lies in the fact that while the general principles are understood, when it comes to specifics, decisions about who bears the costs or who should drive the initiatives remain undetermined. Companies start somewhat vaguely, making it difficult to translate into concrete actions. We also frequently hear from B2C companies that while they are advancing initiatives like decarbonization and plastic reduction for the circular economy as part of their corporate responsibility, it's challenging to effectively mobilize consumers within their systems.

──This tool, named "Sustainable Growth Drivers," presents 25 perspectives across four themes—"Tech," "Lifestyle," "Environmental," and "Social"—to address unmet challenges. It further indicates growth potential for each perspective across six categories: "Food," "Urban & Living Environment," "Fashion & Beauty," "Money," "Human Relationships & Communication," and "Other." What is the aim here?

Sasaki: We actually struggled a lot to systematize the perspectives. When we first brainstormed ideas, we ended up with about 100 points. We then gradually consolidated and organized them. Four themes emerged as the most convincing classification, and we ultimately distilled them into 25 perspectives.

The six categories are based on the fundamentals of clothing, food, shelter, money, and relationships. We believed that multiplying these with our clients would yield interesting results. That's why we added "Others" for certain themes.

──For example, under "Tech," "From Web2.0 to Web3.0" appears; under "Food," "From Fast Food to Fact Food"; and under "Human Relationships/Communication," "From Saving Money to Saving Trust." The copywriting is brilliant, making you chuckle.

Sasaki: The most challenging aspect of developing our tool was ensuring "hints close to the answer" could be found. Planners didn't just introduce trends or future predictions; they wrote each entry with the mindset of whether it could become a driver transforming into growth potential. We aimed for each card to contain enough content to write an entire proposal.

Arima: Merely listing ideas often results in pie-in-the-sky scenarios. We focused intently on credibility. We rigorously examined whether these things would genuinely happen by 2030, whether technological evolution and lifestyle awareness would advance that far, striving to grasp societal trends as realistically as possible. Visualizing actual clients, gathering data and evidence, and thoroughly debating with team members was an immense undertaking.

Leveraging our strengths to transform unaddressed challenges into business potential

──Please explain the details and usage of the two tools designed to support idea generation.

Sasaki: Both share common content. One is a slide-based tool. Beyond the previously mentioned "Web3.0," perspectives include "The Era of Mental Performance" under "Lifestyle," "Development of the Circular Economy" under "Environmental," and "Diversification of Family Structures" under "Social."

The other is a card game-style workshop tool that incorporates gamification to force participants to generate future-oriented ideas. I'll explain how to use the latter.

[How toUsethe Workshop Tool "Sustainable Growth Drivers THE BOARD"]

Sasaki: In this game, all participants are set as "CEOs." Leveraging their company's strengths (assets), they transform unresolved challenges that everyone faces into new business potential.

Players are divided into the "Dealer" (who facilitates the game) and "CEOs" and "Investors." The recommended number of players is 4 to 6, with each participant taking on both CEO and Investor roles. The Dealer is played by a staff member from the Dentsu Group.

Game components include "Potential Cards" detailing new opportunities born from unaddressed issues, "Asset Cards" for noting company strengths, "Investment Stickers," and a "Future Map."

Before starting the game, participants pre-list about 10 of their company's strengths. They then select one of these strengths and brainstorm new business ideas by combining it with a distributed Potential Card.

After repeating this forced brainstorming process four times, participants then evaluate the ideas generated by each team from an investor's perspective. Based on their scores, these ideas are plotted on the "Future Map." Finally, each team presents their ideas, and by sharing them collectively, the new business concepts become more clearly defined.

[Tried it at "Japan Innovation Review"]

Sasaki: Since we have the chance, let's try it today with Japan Innovation Review. What assets does your company have?

※During the interview, we were given a demonstration of "Sustainable Growth Drivers THE BOARD".

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The listed assets of "Japan Innovation Review" included: "Network with large corporate executives," "Readership of transformational leaders," "Digital media business know-how," "Diversity of talent," "Online seminar expertise"... Under the theme "From Web 2.0 to Web 3.0," participants were given potential cards. A five-minute forced brainstorming session began to explore what could be created by combining these assets.

[Example of a New Business Idea]
Potential Card: "From Social Media to Social DAO"
×
Asset Cards: "Readership among transformational leaders," "Online seminar know-how"
=
Providing an online seminar platform where transformational leaders can be both participants and organizers (a community platform where members voluntarily take turns as instructors and attendees, exchanging tokens among themselves as tuition fees)

Next, participants transitioned from CEOs to investors. They applied "investment stickers" to promising new business ideas generated by each individual, evaluating them on two axes—"market potential" and "social/environmental value"—and plotted them onto a "Future Map."

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Dentsu Group's strength lies in driving behavioral change among consumers through compelling mechanisms.

──It's definitely fun once you try it.

Sasaki: Since it's about their own company, participants get really excited. It becomes increasingly enjoyable, and idea generation snowballs.

──How has corporate feedback been regarding the tool?

Sasaki: We just released it in July and are currently proposing, "How about conducting workshops in this format?" When we trialed it internally, it generated tremendous enthusiasm. Frankly, our people are all so eager to think that we even got complaints like, "There's absolutely not enough time!" (laughs).

──Any tips for running workshops effectively?

Sasaki: I believe the dealer's skill is crucial, so we always include our own planners. Especially during the idea generation phase, they can help expand thinking, take seeds of ideas back, and help shape them into concrete plans. To enhance the game-like feel, calling them dealers rather than facilitators is key.

──Could you tell us about how these tools are used in sustainability consulting and future developments?

Sasaki: Among the tools the SC Office is developing, I see this as the most accessible entry point. We hope as many clients as possible will use it, generating numerous sustainability case studies. If the starting point is enjoyable, the outcome is sure to be enjoyable too.

──What are the strengths and unique features of the Dentsu Group in sustainability consulting?

Sasaki: I believe it's our ability to make engaging with the serious challenge of sustainability enjoyable. Without fun, it won't last, and we can't engage consumers. Personally, I want to promote "sustainability that can be fun" as one of our key themes.

Arima: Everyone understands sustainability is important, but it often carries negative connotations like being troublesome or feeling forced. What's crucial is designing communication that creates pathways where people realize, after reflecting on their consumption habits or daily lives, that their actions connect to sustainability. We focus on enabling people to engage consciously while enjoying the process.

Sawai: While we're called the Sustainability Consulting Office, our strength lies in our diverse team—BX (※1), DX (※2), PR, creative, producers, and more. Our unique advantage is that as a company whose core business is communication, we provide clear, enjoyable consulting—not overly complex advice—that helps clients reshape relationships with shareholders, employees, customers, and partners.

※1 Business Transformation: The business transformation domain that realizes business transformation for client companies
※2 Digital Transformation: The digital transformation domain that achieves marketing infrastructure transformation

Sakamoto: I believe the ability to prompt shifts in end-users' feelings and actions is what defines the Dentsu Group, originating from advertising and marketing. The SC Division's strength lies in creating shifts in users' feelings—using language, visuals, presentation, and mechanisms—so they think "I want to try this" or "This seems fun to do," rather than "I have to do this." This fosters behavioral changes that lead to sustainability.

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After the Interview
Japan Innovation Review Editor-in-Chief Tomokazu Segi

The concept of "learning sustainability enjoyably through a card game-style workshop" is a mechanism that feels quintessentially Dentsu Group, known for its creativity. As mentioned in the article, when our interview team actually experienced the game, it turned out to be more fun than we expected. Purely.

Using the assets your company possesses, you must brainstorm business opportunities related to "Unaddressed Issues" (= social agendas Japan must solve) on the cards dealt by the dealer. You have to brainstorm in just five minutes how your company's existing assets could unlock business potential. This intensely stimulates some part of your brain you probably never use, and combined with the looming deadline, you can feel something like adrenaline pumping through you. We'd show each other what was written on our cards, chatting away: "That's cheating! Yours looks way easier," or "It'd be bad if the editor-in-chief only came up with lame ideas (lol)."

Incidentally, the potential card I drew was "From Social Media to Social DAO." The idea I came up with combines Japan Innovation Review's assets – its "readers who are transformational leaders" and its "online seminar know-how" – into a model where "these transformational leaders, who are both readers and potential instructors, voluntarily become either instructors or participants on the community platform Japan Innovation Review establishes for online seminars, exchanging tokens as tuition fees." This idea shifts from the traditional model—where organizers plan events, invite speakers, attract attendees, collect fees, and pay speaker fees—to a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) model. Increasing the number of high-quality seminars in society would provide more opportunities for change agents to gain new insights, ultimately making society better. I know this sounds like self-praise, but considering I came up with it in just five minutes, I think it's not bad for an initial idea generation stage. Even now, over a week after the interview as I write this, I'm seriously considering pursuing it as a business venture (laugh).

Thus, "Sustainable Growth Drivers" proves highly effective as a tool for joyfully generating ideas about societal challenges defined as "unaddressed issues." Sustainability often carries negative connotations like "constraints" or "obligations," but by engaging with it "while having fun" through games, each individual can transform it into "growth potential." This interview gave me a tangible sense of that.

Finally, let me share a few of the card copy lines that made me want to shout, "Yamada-kun, bring me a cushion!"

Unaddressed Issue: From Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
Card: "From Saving Money to Saving Trust"
Academic backgrounds, learning histories, and records of past actions are all stored as tamper-proof data, building up a credit score.

Unaddressed Issue: The Era of Mental Performance
Card: From Cost Performance and Time Performance to Mental Performance
Rather than cost-effectiveness or time-effectiveness, the new value standard will be how much positive effect something has on mental well-being. For example, services where fees fluctuate based on effects like relaxation or heightened excitement.

Unresolved Issue: Advancement of the Circular Economy
Card: How to Use and How to Dispose Become Part of the Customer Experience
Product development will require consideration of questions like: Is this clothing made to last? Are these containers reusable? Are these bags designed for easy decomposition when discarded? This will foster customer experiences built on reuse and recycling as a given.

Unresolved Issue: Diversification of Family Structures
Card: Sharing meals, even with strangers
While opportunities for families to share large dishes decrease, food's importance grows as a way for single individuals to connect with others and society. For example, services and spaces where single individuals share meals will diversify and expand.

So, what ideas can you come up with in five minutes?

(JBpress)