Chemical Reactions Born from Dentsu Inc.'s Open Innovation Approach

Open innovation has gained significant attention in recent years as a method for solving corporate challenges and developing new products and services. It is one approach enabling breakthrough idea creation that was difficult to achieve through internal resources alone. Dentsu Inc.'s open innovation facilitation service, however, offers something distinct from conventional work sessions, leveraging Dentsu Inc.'s unique connection capabilities.

 

Dentsu Inc. Style Open Innovation: Leveraging Human Connections Across Sectors

Open innovation generally refers to the concept of creating innovative new value by incorporating external ideas and technologies, not just relying on internal resources. This can involve leveraging a company's own technology and resources to collaborate with other companies or individuals with different perspectives on new business development, or it can mean involving customers in new product development.

The open innovation we offer as part of our innovation consulting services is a facilitation-based approach. It supports client companies in solving their challenges by creating chemical reactions through the participation of "external, diverse talent." This methodology stems from right-brain thinking that breaks away from the conventional "mold" of typical work sessions.

The themes we tackle encompass a wide range of challenges, including developing new business concepts for client companies, generating ideas for new products and services, or identifying directions for new market development for existing products and services.

The key strength of Dentsu Inc.'s open innovation approach lies in our ability to assemble external talent (referred to as open innovation resources) for each project. This leverages Dentsu Inc.'s unique advantage: connections built through communication business with companies across all industries, and personal networks with experts and thought leaders from various fields.

For example, suppose a beverage manufacturer client requests the development of a new product strongly appealing to men in their 20s. The client's team consists of cross-functional members from business planning, product development, and sales departments.

The Open Innovation Team is then assembled as external supporters, bringing different knowledge, expertise, and perspectives to create a chemical reaction. For instance, we might enlist the cooperation of magazine editors targeting men in their 20s, development personnel from cosmetics companies with products similarly aimed at this demographic, or creators from game manufacturers. The key point is involving industry professionals and experts from fields distinct from the beverage manufacturer.

Forming an open innovation team requires meticulous preparation

Project approaches vary based on the client company's challenges. For instance, in the case of developing a new product for men in their 20s mentioned earlier, we first ask the external open innovation team members to generate numerous seed ideas for the concept in advance. To encourage brainstorming that imagines the target audience's lifestyle and feelings, and to foster ideas within that same living environment, we sometimes utilize a proprietary cloud system. This system allows members to submit ideas even during off-hours, like holidays, away from the office work mode. Using this cloud system means that even during the idea generation phase, open innovation team members can see each other's ideas. This mutual exposure provides further stimulation, often sparking new ideas.

Based on the gathered ideas, the next step involves bringing together the client company, the open innovation team members, and Dentsu Inc. planners and creators for an ideation session. During the session, several mixed teams are formed. Ideas generated from the diverse perspectives of varied talents are then refined from different angles by other team members. Utilizing various stimulating content, these ideas undergo multiple rounds of rigorous refinement. Through this process, participants from the client company often realize how their thinking is constrained by industry conventions. Fresh perspectives from external participants can also awaken dormant ideas, leading to breakthrough, original concepts.

However, this is just one example; the design of an open innovation project varies as much as the 100 clients themselves. For instance, we might employ ethnographic*1 research to deeply observe consumers' daily lives and behaviors, uncovering improvement points for existing products or discovering new value. Or, to deeply understand customer actions and psychological shifts, we might incorporate a Customer Journey*2 methodology, establishing steps to explore and validate customer value. Sometimes, we even take the process further, developing new product prototypes following ideation sessions.

　Our expertise as consultants lies in designing projects tailored to client needs, unconstrained by rigid templates.

Creating a Chain Reaction of Chemical Reactions Not Just in Sessions, But Within the Company Too

About two years ago, our team translated a book titled "The Five Principles of Innovation" (published by Diamond Inc.), which compiles practical innovation theory from SRI International, one of the world's leading research and development institutions. This book introduces the term "watering hole." Literally translated as "watering hole," it refers to the savanna watering hole where diverse animals gather—a shared source of life for different species. Similarly, when diverse individuals come together in a space designed to generate innovative wisdom, it creates a new source of ideas. This is the meaning behind the "watering hole" in innovation.

Clients who have experienced Dentsu Inc.-style open innovation often share feedback like, "Bringing in and integrating perspectives we didn't have led to ideas we'd never conceived before." External thinking and know-how can spark awareness of previously overlooked challenges or prompt reevaluation of dormant in-house technologies. We've also seen open innovation projects initiated in one department ripple out to others.

As a supporter working on the front lines, I have personally witnessed how the chemical reactions sparked by external innovation supporters—with their distinct attributes and perspectives—create various chain reactions not only within the session itself but also throughout the client company.

 

*1 Ethnography: Originally a method used in cultural anthropology and sociology to investigate and record the behavioral patterns of groups and societies through fieldwork. It is applied in marketing research as a method for gaining deep insight into the actual behaviors and lifestyles of consumers.
　

*2 Customer journey: A term that likens the process of how customers and brands interact, and how customers feel and behave at each point of contact during their purchasing and usage experience, to a journey. Customer journey maps are used as an effective tool for customer-centric product and service design.

　
The final installment is scheduled to be released on March 26.
　

Filming Location: BICE