Creating the future through vision-driven collaboration. Co-creating future ventures for an unpredictable era with "Future Vision Studio" (Part 2)

Dentsu Inc.'s 'Future Vision Studio' utilizes vision-driven business development methodologies to create future ventures and concepts for numerous companies. Its distinctive approach involves collaborating with Dentsu Inc. creators to envision the future through groundbreaking ideas, visualizing them with illustrations and CG, and then grounding these visions in reality by materializing what can be achieved today.

In "Transformation SHOWCASE," we interviewed core members of this project: Dentsu Inc.'s Ryosuke Sakaki, Kaori Sato, and Daisuke Ichikawa. In Part 2, we asked about the project's unique characteristics and the areas they wish to focus on going forward.

Vision-driven business development is becoming the new standard

Q. It's been about two and a half years since the launch of "Future Vision Studio." How do you feel about the current progress?

Sakaki: Client demand has clearly increased. When I first started advocating vision-driven future planning around 2018, it wasn't as widespread, but now many companies resonate with it. I feel it's becoming the new standard for business development.

The programs we offer have also become more refined compared to the first year. We've continuously developed and updated new frameworks, so we're now delivering highly satisfying outcomes.

Sato: Personally, a major takeaway from the "Future Vision Studio" was realizing just how many fascinating talents Dentsu Inc. has.I learned that within the company, there are surprisingly many people who have completely different skills while still being creatively grounded. For example, I heard that a young copywriter/CM planner draws illustrations as a hobby, so in this program, we had them participate as an illustrator, taking on a role different from their usual work. We want to increase the number of members going forward, so we really hope anyone interested will join us.

Q. Can you share an example of a future concept born from "Future Vision Studio"?

Sakaki: We collaborated with a major systems integrator to envision the future of disaster prevention and resilience services. Together, we formulated a vision and communicated it through high-resolution visualizations on their website and in white papers.

We also have a series in Nikkei Business titled "Japan 2050: The Future Revealed by Moonshot Initiatives." Currently, Japan is launching the "Moonshot R&D System," centered around the Cabinet Office, to solve societal challenges by 2040-2050. We interview the researchers involved, and the creators at Future Vision Studio develop transformative narratives and visuals.

Generating transformative visions from the perspective of future consumers

Q. I imagine there are various other services that collaborate with companies to envision the future or support the development of future businesses. What do you consider to be the uniqueness and distinct appeal of "Future Vision Studio" among them?

Sakaki: One key point is that by incorporating Dentsu Inc.'s advertising creators, we generate ideas from the perspective of future consumers, not just the corporate viewpoint. Another unique aspect is that these ideas are visually presented in a way that is compelling to consumers, enabling us to propose concepts that genuinely make people think, "I want to use this."

Another key strength is our ability to generate truly transformative ideas. We excel at taking disparate parts and assembling them into something wonderful, creating that leap of vision. Furthermore, our ability to articulate and visualize these visions is something only we, with our background as advertising creators, can offer.

Ichikawa: Beyond simply envisioning the future, our ability to collaborate with related companies and develop future concepts based on factual information is also compelling. Having a technical team capable of prototyping is another strength, offering diverse output variations. This can also lead to movie production, exhibition participation, and more.

The future is born from one person's imagination and nurtured by society's choices

Q. "Future Vision Studio" is a project Sakaki-san initiated voluntarily. You launched the project from your own vision, formed the team, and engaged both internal and external stakeholders. Where does that motivation come from?

Sakaki: I hold the belief that "The future is born from one person's imagination and nurtured by society's choices." I feel we live in an era where someone's vision of the future, their exciting imagination, can draw in many people and become reality. I wanted to prove that.

"OPEN MEALS," which envisions the future of the food industry, is one such activity. However, this project wasn't viable as a business, and in that sense, I felt it wasn't sustainable. That's why I launched "Future Vision Studio" – driven by the challenge of framing what we did with "OPEN MEALS" into a sustainable framework and making it viable as a business.

Since I couldn't achieve this alone, I gathered motivated individuals from both inside and outside the company. Naturally, as the team grew, so did the points of contact with client companies. This also fueled the idea that it might become a viable business.

Ichikawa: As we challenge new areas, collaborating with client companies to develop their future ventures and learning and reflecting through training is meaningful. Consequently, we're starting to see new connections forming with departments and teams we hadn't previously worked with.

Sakaki: We too feel that while maintaining our core competency in creating advertising, we must solve all kinds of challenges and build everything from businesses and cities to the future itself. We work with client companies participating in our programs not merely as "clients," but in a relationship closer to "partners." If we can successfully implement co-creation workshops, the distance between members, including client companies, will shrink. We hold the expectation that "Future Vision Studio" might become the standard for how we work going forward.

Q. Finally, for companies considering consulting with Future Vision Studio, please share a message for them.

Sakaki: In our future vision support program, thinking about the distant future means actual outputs take time to materialize. Because of this, at present, cases progressing fully to the implementation phase are still relatively rare, with vision-phase projects forming the core. However, moving forward, we will leverage another of our strengths: our output design capabilities. This includes our skills in creating compelling videos, our know-how in designing events, and our ability to implement prototypes in an engaging way. We will solidify the vision of the output.Beyond that, we aim to run alongside clients all the way through to developing future businesses end-to-end.

"Future Vision Studio" is a project designed to implement the future in a vision-driven manner. The name "Studio" was chosen because it embodies our desire to gather corporate partners as collaborators, engage in collective discussions, and create the future together with creators and technologists. The project's goal is to go beyond workshops and challenge ourselves to pursue business development. We sincerely hope to collaborate with many people.

In these increasingly turbulent times, the methods of "Future Vision Studio" seem poised to meet growing demand. Why not envision and materialize your future ventures alongside "Future Vision Studio," equipped with a wide range of specialized capabilities—from leapfrog ideas that propel you into the future, to illustrations that visualize your vision, to approaches for making it a reality?