Why is a Gen Z Co-Creation Solution Effective for Sustainability Promotion? (Part 2)

As environmental and human rights awareness grows, advancing sustainability has become an unavoidable management challenge for all companies. Dentsu Inc. has launched " REVERSE CONSULTING for SUSTAINABILITY," a service that drives corporate sustainability in collaboration with Generation Z, often called sustainability natives. Discussing key points for co-creation with Generation Z are: Shota Hisashi, CEO of NEW STANDARD Inc., which disseminates Generation Z trends; Yuta Matsuzaki, who established the Digital Native Room at Dentsu Digital Inc. (Dentsu Inc.); and Rie Tanaka, Director of the Sustainability Consulting Office at Dentsu Inc. and a Dentsu Team SDGs Consultant.

Part 1 introduced the service overview and the relationship between Generation Z and sustainability. This Part 2 covers case studies and highlights key points for co-creation with Generation Z.

The "Explicit Knowledge" Needed for Reverse Mentoring

Tanaka: In the first part, you mentioned that reverse mentoring is starting to gain traction overseas. What do you think is needed for it to take hold in Japan?

Hisashi: This is similar to the adoption of DX (Digital Transformation). The essence of DX is user-centric problem identification. Bringing together diverse challenges, sharing them, and solving them agilely is the key. No genius or amazing team can conceive and execute everything alone. Older or more experienced individuals don't hold all the answers either. As active participants in society, the younger generation can certainly raise unique issues. Promoting young talent to leadership roles and encouraging them to voice their opinions is crucial for a company's own sustainability.

However, when young people become leaders within a company, a common bottleneck is "tacit knowledge" – the unspoken know-how and rules unique to that company, based on individual experience. Naturally, young professionals with limited work experience find it difficult to operate based on tacit knowledge. This is where explicit knowledge, based on numbers and data, becomes essential. If decision-making case studies can be formalized as rules or utilized as explicit knowledge, it becomes easier for anyone in a leadership role to make decisions and gain agreement. This eliminates unnecessary guesswork about what the boss or decision-maker wants.

Tanaka: When the decision-making process is open through explicit knowledge, anyone can become a leader more easily. This connects to promoting organizational inclusivity while incorporating the perspective of Generation Z.

Matsuzaki: From Gen Z's perspective, they might even feel a bit uncomfortable with the term "sustainability" being loudly proclaimed. They likely don't see the dichotomy of social good versus social bad either. That's because they operate on the fundamental premise that "companies should exist to improve society." For current businesses, sustainability often becomes an "obligation" or something "they have to do." But for Gen Z, sustainability is simply "the norm" and positioned as "something enjoyable."

Tanaka: Digital natives have also mastered using digital tools as something natural and enjoyable, right? I think many people struggle to take action if they only think about it as something they "have to do." But if they can imagine "this would make everyone happy," surely more people would act spontaneously. What Mr. Hisashi said about not shouldering everything alone but solving problems together is precisely the spirit of collective impact. "User-centric" might seem like a human-centered approach that's hard to sustain at first glance. But it's precisely when we reframe large, complex social issues through the perspective and ownership of a single individual that diverse viewpoints and technologies converge to solve them. It's the same approach that emerged with digital technology.

Connecting new contexts to foster a sense of ownership

Tanaka: Hisashi, you've developed various businesses and services through co-creation with Generation Z. Could you share a few examples?

Hisashi: A symbolic example is my involvement in developing a new alcoholic beverage for a major beverage company, launched in May 2022. Historically, alcohol has been strongly associated with the context of "getting drunk." However, alcohol can also enrich people's hearts. Especially during the pandemic, when it was hard to feel fulfilled, we wanted to create new value around "drinking." So, we removed the contexts young people associated with alcohol, like "having to pour drinks for others" or "feeling pressure from authority." Instead, we replaced the context tied to alcohol with things like "emotional" or "chill" – concepts that feel relatable to young people and make it easier for them to see value.

Tanaka: So you changed the context surrounding the product to make it valuable to young people.

Hisashi: Exactly. People understand things through context, so I believe context is a crucial element in creating a product's value.

Tanaka: Any examples related to sustainability?

Hisashi: The November 2022 exhibition " My Journey Begins: Discovering Shiga's SDGs" was hosted by Shiga Prefecture, with content creation and supervision handled by "TABI LABO," a media platform operated by NEW STANDARD. It featured Gen Z photographers traveling through Shiga, discovering how everyday life is packed with SDGs, and allowing viewers to vicariously experience this journey through photos and other content.

Tanaka: That's great. Approaching sustainability as "starting something new" can feel like a high hurdle, but reframing it as reevaluating what we've already been doing makes it much more accessible.

Hisashi: Experiencing things close to home fosters a sense of ownership. It's not limited to tourism; visiting factories practicing sustainable manufacturing is another example. Approaches that help people realize how SDGs and sustainability are already part of their everyday lives will become increasingly important going forward.

Tanaka: Ecotourism is also an area with business potential amid growing focus on biodiversity. I recently heard about a school trip from Osaka to Ishigaki Island where beach cleanup was chosen as an activity, and participants reported high satisfaction. Incorporating Gen Z perspectives and sustainability into service development for travel or employee training could open up new possibilities.

A Customer Journey That Goes Beyond "Purchase"

Tanaka: Could you share an example of your sustainability initiatives, Matsuzaki-san?

Matsuzaki: For UNIQLO's charity T-shirt project "PEACE FOR ALL," we collaborated with TikTokers to create video content (※1-3). The project's core concept is selling T-shirts designed by celebrities who support the goal of "taking action for world peace," with all profits donated to three humanitarian aid organizations. This time, we planned the video content. We worked with TikToker Remi-tan (former captain of Japan's national handball team, Remi Anri Doi), who has over 6 million followers, and Miu-san, a TikToker who uses a wheelchair. Together, we visited the supported organizations: the UNHCR Association of Japan, Save the Children, Plan International Japan. We covered the field as much as possible, learning about the challenges these organizations face and the support they provide. We believe today's younger generation is less receptive to content lacking authenticity. Therefore, we chose to collaborate with TikTokers for the coverage, aiming to convey the stories from their perspective with a tangible feel.

Tanaka: It's great that buying the T-shirt becomes an experience where you learn about the support organizations. I think the significance of buying the T-shirt goes beyond just the material or design.

Matsuzaki: Of course, the T-shirt itself has value as a product, but getting people to buy it isn't the goal. It's a series of projects using the T-shirt as a medium. From there, we can connect people to the frontlines of social issues via influencers, or have users exchange opinions in the video comment sections. That's where I see the potential. For projects like this, it would be a waste if the customer journey ended with the purchase.

Tanaka: I see. How we communicate the post-purchase lifestyle and the background of the people involved in the business is also central to "REVERSE CONSULTING for SUSTAINABILITY." Moving forward, I want to rethink sustainability-related business with the lighthearted Z-generation mindset of "Why haven't we been doing this already?" rather than "We have to do this," and rewrite the world in an interesting way.

Mechanisms for gathering Gen Z opinions are vital for a company's own sustainability. This requires management efforts to transform tacit knowledge—often a bottleneck—into explicit knowledge. The key lies in gathering individual perspectives and adopting a collective impact mindset where everyone works toward solutions together. Furthermore, sustainable ventures co-created with Generation Z must reframe existing contexts. Consumption should be seen not as the goal, but as one process, with the focus on satisfaction shifting toward the subsequent lifestyle and connections. These were the topics discussed among the three of us. How did our readers feel about them?

"REVERSE CONSULTING for SUSTAINABILITY" is a consulting solution that reframes existing frameworks through Generation Z's perspective to transform sustainability initiatives into opportunities for business strategy. It turns future generations' negatives into positives and rebuilds businesses to ensure these efforts translate into revenue.

※1 Charity T-shirt Project "PEACE FOR ALL" Video Content ① (by Remi-tan)
※2 Charity T-shirt Project "PEACE FOR ALL" Video Content ② (Myu)
※3 Charity T-shirt Project "PEACE FOR ALL" Video Content ③ (Remi-tan)