Tatsuya Yamamoto and Kentaro Itonori's New Textbook on Character Marketing: Building Strong Brands to be Released
Co-authored by Dentsu Inc. Creative Director Tatsuya Yamamoto and Art Director Kentaro Itonori, "Building Strong Brands: The New Textbook on Character Marketing - From Corporate Character Development, Cultivation, and Operation to Communication Strategy" (Shoeisha) will be released on February 20.
[Book Content]
Cute Alone Won't Cut It!
How to Develop Corporate Characters That Contribute to Solving Business Challenges?
Corporate characters, developed independently by companies as an advertising and marketing tool, are gaining attention. While traditionally often seen merely as decorative elements in ads, corporate characters—capable of instantly capturing customer attention and enabling relatable communication—are now, combined with advances in digital and AI technology, an unparalleled marketing tool for building customer relationships both in the short term and over the medium to long term.
However, in today's era of character saturation, it is essential to possess a "strategic approach"—clearly defining the purpose of utilizing a corporate character and developing, nurturing, and operating it in alignment with the company's challenges and target audience. This book, based on case studies such as "Ponta," the corporate character for the shared points service Ponta, and TV Tokyo's "Nanana," which the author helped develop, explores the
・Design Concept
・Naming
• World-building
・Cultivation Methods
・Experience design
・Quality Management Framework
・Funnel Management Methods
・Communication Strategy
are systematically explained.
Furthermore, it covers corporate
・Public Relations Activities
・Internal Motivation
・Enhancing employee loyalty
.
This book is packed with the latest insights, including social media strategies, AI and AR applications, and building fan communities.
[From the Table of Contents]
Chapter 1: Turning Corporate Characters into Solutions
Chapter 2: Developing Corporate Characters
Chapter 3: Cultivating and Operating Corporate Characters
Chapter 4: Corporate Character Communication in the Digital Age
【About the Author】
Creative Director, Dentsu Inc. Second CR Planning Bureau
Advocates for the strategic development and utilization of corporate characters rooted in business challenges. As a Creative Director and Copywriter, has been involved in developing numerous corporate characters, rebranding corporate characters, and consulting for companies both domestically and internationally. Representative developed characters include Ponta (Ponta) for the Ponta common point service and Nanana for TV Tokyo.
Art Director, Content Creative Division 3, Customer Experience Creative Center, Dentsu Inc.
He is widely active in communication utilizing characters. In 2021, he released the "Character CX Solution," which combines technology with characters to upgrade customer experiences. He continues to explore new ways to utilize characters. Representative characters he has developed include Ponta for the Ponta common point service, Nanana for TV Tokyo, and DANCE-K for the D-League.
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