The Work of "Messaging Partners" Supporting Top Management

We live in an era overflowing with information, an era of rapid change. Precisely because of this, the importance of words that are uniquely a company's own, words only that company can express, words that reveal the company's true essence, has grown significantly.

We at Dentsu Inc. Messaging Partners were established as a specialized team responsible for crafting corporate philosophies—such as purpose, mission, vision, and values—as well as speechwriting for top executives themselves. Alongside copywriters, members with diverse backgrounds including PR planners and producers carry business cards bearing the title "Messaging Partner" as they carry out their work.

In this series, we aim to carefully convey our team's originality and expertise, as well as the future direction of "top management messaging."

What We Mean by "Messaging"

Hello. I'm Keisei Takahashi from Dentsu Inc. Messaging Partners. I work as a copywriter and under the title "Messaging Partner." In this article, I'd like to share the vision and aspirations that led us to establish the Dentsu Inc. Messaging Partners team.

Looking up the word "message" in the dictionary reveals its root meaning is "to send." The sender and the receiver. How to connect these two and align their shared goals? That is the very core of "messaging," our specialty.

You might wonder how this differs from advertising copy. Indeed, there is significant overlap. Yet, we deliberately coined the term "messaging" for two reasons.

First, it concerns the "domain" of our work. We wanted to clearly articulate our specialty: we are a team supporting the power of words from top executives. Specifically, we focus on the messages companies communicate, and more concretely, the words spoken by the executives themselves. We believe it is precisely in this domain that our expertise and skills can be most effectively applied.

Second, it clarifies the "process" of crafting words. We found that standard presentation formats often struggle to convey the CEO's personal vision with sufficient purity. This naturally leads us to adopt a session-based approach, involving repeated dialogue.

Based on this approach, we offer our "Messaging Support" service. We're seeing increasing inquiries from top executives, organizational leaders, and professionals in corporate planning and communications departments. Many express that while they recognized the challenges of "messaging," they were unsure where to turn for help.

Finding "Yes, that's it!" through dialogue

As mentioned earlier, "dialogue" is central to our Messaging Support. We often start without slides or written materials, instead beginning by having the executive leader themselves tell us what they want to say and convey.

Of course, sometimes they bring a draft script from the outset. However, we believe that by first receiving their raw thoughts and passion directly, before they're neatly polished, we can enhance the final message's quality and precision.

For example, we often find crucial insights in personal anecdotes, non-work experiences, or recurring themes—things they might preface with "This might stray from the main topic, but..."

When aiming to communicate broadly to "all employees" or "all stakeholders," the subject inevitably becomes "we" – the corporate subject. However, regardless of the audience size, the fundamental structure remains "the communicator and the receiver." Therefore, in speechwriting, we consciously strive to craft stories told in the first person, using "I."Of course, we clearly organize and communicate what the company must convey. On top of that, to deliver the message more effectively and memorably, we infuse personal passion. That's the balance we strive for.

Beyond that, we also place great importance on proactively posing questions ourselves. When people are asked something from an unexpected angle, they may feel momentary surprise or confusion. However, this can act as a catalyst, helping them discover "a theme they had considered but hadn't consciously acknowledged" or leading them to realize, "Actually, what I really wanted to talk about was this," thereby broadening their perspective.

For example, during a dialogue about a specific challenge, we might ask a broadening question like: "If we assume that challenge were suddenly resolved, how would the company change?"

Or, "If your future self from ten years from now could give the company just one piece of advice, what would it be?"—a question that travels through time.

The more the conversation and discussion branch out in different directions, the deeper we can delve into the message that truly needs to be conveyed. Our role isn't just to organize and summarize what's said. Within the dialogue process, when we find that core moment – "Yes, this is exactly what needs to be communicated" – we both feel that tangible sense of "Yes, yes, that's it!" Once that is found, the pillar of the message is established, allowing us to move forward to the stage of refining the story.

What's fascinating is that it's not just us listening—clients themselves are often surprised, exclaiming, "I never realized I was thinking this!" or wondering, "Why didn't I notice this before?" This kind of insight rarely emerges in fixed roles like presenter/audience.

After such dialogue, we draft the manuscript or message proposal and engage in further discussion. This is our approach to shaping the "core message for management."

What we aim to achieve through "messaging"

I may have gotten a bit passionate there, and you might be thinking, "Isn't there already too much information in the world today?" But precisely because of that, the importance of clearly shaping and delivering the messages that truly matter is growing, wouldn't you agree?

As mentioned at the outset, just as the origin of the word "message" is "to send," we believe that if we can properly connect the sender and the receiver, the company can unleash its full potential, and it also leads to unlocking the potential of each individual working there.

If business and management could succeed with words alone, there would be no struggle. That perspective exists. Yet, words remain the driving force behind human will and action. Why am I committed to this work? How does the task before us connect to the future? When individuals deeply internalize meaning for these questions, both companies and individuals can move closer to their envisioned ideals.

Therefore, we don't simply set creating words as our goal. For example, we aim for those words to circulate as "internal catchphrases." For example, we aim for questions like "Does that align with our mission of XX?" to emerge. We continue to think earnestly about creating a common language that runs from management to the front lines, one that can be utilized in daily work.

Above all, we find immense fulfillment in those moments during dialogue when someone says, "Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to express." Witnessing the impact of a presentation or speech—meticulously crafted sentence by sentence through repeated dialogue—when it truly resonates with the audience is also a great joy for us.

Some might dismiss words as insignificant. But we are committed to making those words meaningful for the employees and executives of each company.

Dentsu Inc. Messaging Partners
Email:messaging@dentsu.co.jp