What's Next? Major Shifts from Traditional Marketing

The 9th Sustainable Brands International Conference 2025 Tokyo Marunouchi (SB'25) was held on March 18-19, 2025. This year's theme was "Breakthrough in REGENERATION," aiming for further innovation towards the regeneration of business and society.

The "Brands for Good - A Paradigm Shift in Marketing" session was facilitated by Shigeki Aoki, SB'25 Academic Producer, with speakers Tsunahiro Fukushima from Argo Marketing Institute, Rie Takeshima from Dentsu Inc., and Hiromasa Yamashita from Great Works. They shared their perspectives on the significant shift from traditional marketing, including the 2024 revision of the marketing definition by the Japan Marketing Association.

Kenichiro Nagai from Dentsu Inc.'s Sustainability Consulting Office introduces the session's content.

<Table of Contents>
▼Revamping the Marketing Definition for the First Time in 34 Years!

▼Q. How do you envision marketing moving forward?

▼Q. What are the major differences from traditional marketing?

▼Q. What should be the first step toward becoming a sustainable brand?

Revamping the marketing definition for the first time in 34 years!

Aoki: Marketing is said to be undergoing significant change right now. Previous marketing was called customer-centric. The customer was at the center, and marketers focused on the controllable factors of the "4Ps" of marketing: What products should we create for customers? What sales channels and outlets should we use? How should we promote? How should we price? External factors included culture, competition, economics, and society, but sustainability and the environment were seen merely as one element within this external environment.

Last year, the Japan Marketing Association made a significant change to the definition of marketing. The new definition states: "Marketing is the creation of value together with customers and society, and the widespread dissemination of that value." I believe marketers would agree with this. It further states that marketing is "a concept and process for fostering relationships with stakeholders to realize a more prosperous and sustainable society." Regarding this part, some may have thought: Wasn't marketing about "customers"? Was "sustainable society" ever part of the previous definition? What about "sales and profits"? It seems the scope has expanded considerably from the traditional definition of marketing.

I sense marketing is moving closer to sustainability. I'd like to ask our three speakers how they perceive this current state.

Q. How do you view the future of marketing?

Fukushima: This time, the Marketing Association revised its definition of marketing for the first time in 34 years, and I was a member of the review committee. The new definition states "cultivating relationships with stakeholders" rather than "providing value," and the concept of customers is included within these stakeholders.

To interpret this more strongly, even products and services themselves are not actually the goal of marketing; they are merely one means of building relationships with customers. In fact, this definition is not yet established in the US, so I believe Japan has adopted an extremely advanced definition.

Takushima: I believe business transformation efforts in the sustainability era are finally reaching the phase where they must translate into revenue. Examples include developing, improving, and recycling environmentally conscious products and services. However, the key point here is that transformation won't take root unless consumers and others join in the effort.

Moving forward, I believe the relationship should evolve into one where we become "supporters" who act together. "Supporters" are people who endorse the society and value a company aims to create, who actively work alongside the company to realize that vision, who spread awareness of the company's activities, and who help grow the community of like-minded individuals. Such supporters will be essential going forward.

For new marketing in the sustainability era, I believe "collaborative marketing" is needed—marketing that looks ahead to an era where companies and consumers share the same vision and move together.

Three elements are essential for collaborative marketing:

First is "creating shared motivation with consumers."
While most companies now have a purpose or sustainability vision, the key is how to clarify this from the consumer's perspective.

Second is "finding allies who share that motivation and will act together."
I believe it's vital to figure out how to recruit and visualize supporters who share the same aspirations and intentions.

Third is "creating mechanisms to sustain ongoing collaboration with supporters."
Sharing the same purpose is fundamental, but since this involves long-term relationships, building mechanisms to share processes and outcomes and work together continuously is vital.

I hope we can work together on these three elements as a new form of "collaborative marketing."

Q. What is the major difference from traditional marketing?

Fukushima: In the old-fashioned marketing activities of the past, especially in commodity markets, companies often engaged in excessive price wars, sweating unnecessarily, using raw materials excessively, and ultimately generating a lot of waste. I think we need to re-examine this approach.

The key to this is creating new markets through differentiation. I believe we should completely abandon the idea of new entrants joining existing markets. Entering an existing market is a zero-sum game where you build your own sales by taking market share from the pioneers. If you're building a brand from scratch, you need to provide value that hasn't been offered to the world before. In traditional marketing, the focus was often on next month's sales or this quarter's sales, and I think the perspective of creating new markets was missing.

Takushima: Earlier we discussed collaborative marketing. To clarify how it differs from traditional marketing, I'd like to revisit three key points.

First, regarding creating shared motivation with consumers: a key lesson is that purpose and sustainability visions often became lofty, corporate-centric narratives. The major difference now is clearly articulating what these purposes and visions will do for consumers from their perspective.

Second is finding partners who will take action together. Companies must clearly define their objectives and actions, then use that as an entry point to make a direct call to action: what do we want people to do with us?

Furthermore, I believe we should abandon the mindset of indiscriminately increasing the total number of supporters. Those who genuinely agree and take action will spread the word themselves and bring new allies.

Third is building mechanisms to sustain ongoing collaboration with supporters. Since sustainability and social issues are medium-to-long-term challenges, you won't keep people engaged unless you constantly share the process and outcomes. Therefore, creating sustainable sharing mechanisms and designing effective incentives are crucial.

Furthermore, I don't believe the entry point for communicating with consumers always has to be about grand causes, sustainability, the planet, or the future. It's crucial to create enjoyment and excitement that makes people want to agree and participate, while also establishing an accessible entry point that encourages commitment. In this sense, how the message is conveyed and the tone & manner are actually extremely important.

Yamashita: That's precisely where I struggle most in daily discussions with clients. I often feel the subjects—like "corporations," "society," or "the planet"—are too grandiose. What traditional marketing lacks is a shift from corporate or customer perspectives to a more personal viewpoint. Prioritizing feelings over data, embracing ambiguity—these might be necessary.

In that sense, perhaps more Eastern values are what our times truly need. Rather than judging solely by functional differentiation or rationality, I believe it's more important to leverage resonant stories and the power of curation to truly confront the question: "What defines our authenticity?" And I feel that by creating a new playing field with overwhelming passion for "this is what we want to do," we can forge ahead.

Q. What should be the first step to becoming a sustainable brand?

Fukushima: Historically, many Japanese companies have avoided direct contact with customers. This stems from structural issues in distribution, where direct customer contact was seen as outside their role. When I asked a B2C company I'm advising, "Have you ever spoken with your true fans?" they were speechless. That company could easily list their weaknesses, but struggled to articulate their strengths.

When business is tough, it can be hard to grasp the affection customers have for the company. But the truth is, fans often hold a passionate love for the brand. That's why I strongly suggest starting by directly engaging with your true fans.

Takushima: I think traditional marketing approaches have focused solely on how efficiently you can capture a large number of people. I believe it's better to abandon that mindset for now.
It might start with fewer people, but building strong connections with them will naturally draw others to them. I believe this is actually the fastest route.

Yamashita: This might go against everyone else's opinion, but from a sustainable brand perspective, I think it's okay to be more conscious about "making money." Talking with clients, I often see cases where they've built an environmentally conscious image but it hasn't translated to profits. How to monetize is a big part of sustainability discussions right now.

Aoki: Over the past four years, SDG awareness has hovered just under 90%, showing little change. Moreover, the number of people who actually understand the SDGs seems to be decreasing—some might even be feeling "SDG fatigue" or "bored with it."

However, many companies have defined their purpose or various scenarios, and since it's necessary, I believe sustainability and decarbonization will continue to advance. But to achieve that, the challenge lies in how to strike a chord with customers – that's precisely the task of sustainable marketing. There's no single answer for "Brands for Good." Still, I think we can sense that a paradigm shift in marketing is occurring in this era of sustainability.