Medium-term Management Plan
dentsu Sustainable Business Solutions
Providing clients with Dentu’s solutions
that integrate social responsibilities
and business growth strategies
dentsu Sustainable Business Solutions (dSBS) are provided to amplify the social value of a client’s business with the Group’s strengths of creativity based on deep insight into client companies, consumers, and society.
With the massive rise of consumer interest in the social values and functions of businesses, companies are under scrutiny like never before. Moving forward, they must earn their social license to operate by building transparency, trust, and reliability with customers and the wider public.
As a company that has been a bridge between business and society for 120 years, it is our duty to continue to help our clients accelerate their transformation agenda.
At the same time, it is essential that we play a leadership role at the Group management level, as our organization expands globally to deliver dSBS to a wide range of customers and contribute to the growth of society.
In 2021, we set up the Sustainable Business Board (SBB) for this purpose.
Our senior management will participate in and is committed to the promotion of dSBS and Dentsu Group activities as a corporate citizen under one roof. SBB facilitates Knowledge management among the Group companies to deliver SBB, with each Group company leveraging its strengths to customize service for our clients.
For example, the insights on the environmental impact of manufacturing and consumer behavior are shared Group-wide. Meanwhile, Company A, which is responsible for media planning, and Company B, in charge of commerce service development, will provide the components of an integrated solution to clients based on their unique strengths.
Efforts to provide dSBS throughout the Dentsu Group have only just begun, and we expect significant progress to be made as we implement our Medium-term Management Plan.
- Newspaper becoming an advertising medium
- At the time of our founding, we supported newspaper companies through news distribution and advertising sales. To realize a prosperous society, newspaper became an important advertising medium for increasing awareness and understanding of client products and services that meet consumer needs.
- Commercial television
- Having conducted detailed research into technological developments in the United States, we were confident the era of radio broadcasting would also come to Japan. We created commercial television broadcasting stations with newspaper companies, contributing to the development of a medium that has become indispensable to society by providing a wide range of content: news, culture and entertainment as demanded by consumers.
- Sponsored sports
- The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were covered live and in color by television broadcasts and in extensive newspaper articles that electrified the entire nation. Dentsu’s company-wide efforts contributed to the success of the Tokyo Olympics, expanding the business potential of sporting events.
- World Expo
- At the Japan World Exposition held in Osaka in 1970, we were involved in event management and functioned as an agency for global corporate exhibitors and overseas governments, substantially contributing to advancing relations between entities in Japan and abroad.
- Regional revitalization
- We advocated a U-turn policy—Let’s Go Back to Ono—to address concerns about the dwindling population of Ono City, Fukui Prefecture. Accordingly, the historical castle town’s history and charms were depicted using posters and photo albums created in cooperation with town revitalization leaders and local high school students. These contributed to the region’s revitalization.
- Using technology to watch sports
- To make it easier to understand fencing matches in which it is difficult to capture decisive moments with the naked eye, we utilized machine learning and other technologies to visualize the trajectory of the sword tip as it moves,* using athlete biometric data. We created a new sport-watching experience unlike any in the past.
※ The Rhizomatiks fencing tracking and visualization system
- Combining traditional performing arts with technology
- Noh is a traditional performing art in which Japan takes great pride. The Tech-Noh project is about bringing together advanced technology and the beauty of Noh without changing the essence of this traditional performing art. In doing so, we hope to generate new value and interest for the present day.
- Isobar Good
- Isobar launched Isobar Good, an initiative that uses Isobar’s skills, expertise, and tools to support client-company brands, businesses, and non-governmental organizations. It aims to partner with businesses and brands, to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Using AI to evaluate the quality of tuna
- TUNA SCOPE is an AI-based system that judges the quality of natural tuna using cross-sectional images of their tails. Developed by Dentsu, ISID, and Sojitz Corporation, the goal behind the development of this system was to pass down skills in the field of tuna evaluation, an area with a serious shortage of successors.
- At the Summit
- At the 2019 G20 summit meeting in Osaka, we supported conference facility construction and international media center operations, while showcasing Japanese cutting-edge technology and conveying Osaka’s appeal and attractions. This strengthened the impression of Japan across the globe.
- SDGs Business Solutions
- Six Dentsu Japan Network companies (Dentsu Inc., Dentsu Tec, Dentsu Public Relations, Dentsu Live, Dentsu Digital, and ISID), collaborated with Material ConneXion Tokyo to launch SDGs Business Solutions that offer consulting services to develop a circular economy to combine SDGs and growth.
https://www.dentsu.co.jp/en/news/release/pdf-cms/2020104-1116en.pdf
CASE 1
WATERS takeshiba
An urban development project by East Japan Railway Company in Takeshiba, Tokyo. Dentsu has turned around the not well-known area through an integrated branding approach, from developing its concept and naming based on consumer insight, to designing a plaza—presenting Takeshiba as a symbol of a water capital, Tokyo. Dentsu has collaborated with overseas artists to convey the message “In Takeshiba, city-dwellers can enjoy Tokyo Bay and the Hamarikyu Gardens.” Dentsu succeeded in transforming Takeshiba into a popular destination and now visitors can enjoy the natural environment, biodiversity, and sustainable urban development, all at once without leaving central Tokyo.
CASE 2
Novozymes’ “Plant Assistant” app to analyze wastewater
Novozymes is the world leader in biological solutions. Isobar worked with the Novozymes team to develop a Plant Assistant app powered by image recognition software and AI to analyze wastewater. In fractions of seconds, the app’s image recognition software and AI can examine an image from a microscope, determine the type of bacteria in the water, and suggest the best and most gentle biological method of treatment. Plant Assistant has reduced analysis of water samples from weeks to seconds, leading to a faster way to clean water.
