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Hiroshi Igarashi, the president and global CEO of Dentsu, has always believed that the key to transformational growth lies in listening to the past while creating the future. This belief is embodied in Dentsu's global initiative, the Dentsu Lab, which focuses on cutting-edge technological innovations that impact people, society and businesses.
Dentsu Lab began in Tokyo in 2014 but is now set to launch globally, beginning with five new markets including Mumbai and Bengaluru in India. The other initial markets are London, Amsterdam and Warsaw. The roll-out is one more rendition of taking Dentsu’s call of innovating to impact, globally. Each new Dentsu Lab will be overseen by dedicated local leadership, with a team of specialists bringing a range of services to market. Dentsu Lab will enter more markets in 2025.
Igarashi sees this as a natural progression for the agency, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, coinciding with his 40th year in the business.
“Much has changed throughout these decades but one thing has remained constant. Businesses turn to Dentsu for innovation that can drive real impact and open new markets and categories. Impact is the point where a simple idea transforms into a global mass movement. Without impact, innovation cannot reach its destiny,” Igarashi notes.
Dentsu's journey began with a hybrid model of news service and advertising agency. Over the years, it has embraced various media forms, including radio, and today, it boasts projects like the Azuki NFT, which blends brand, entertainment and technology. “This history has taught us to learn from the past,” notes Igarashi.
Five Principles Of Innovation
Igarashi’s advice also is the first of five principles that guide Dentsu’s innovation journey. The second, according to Dentsu's global chief creative officer, Yasuharu Sasaki is to have an outlier perspective to innovate and challenge the status quo. The third principle involves discovering new emotions and connections to express, explore, and connect beyond words. Dentsu's third mantra is ‘Mix. Augment. Make New’.
“Technology should not be used for its own sake but to elevate creative ideas and enhance human experiences. This ties into the fifth principle of using technology to augment humanity. As Dentsu Lab expands to new markets, this is the proposition we aim to build on,” says Sasaki.
Dentsu Lab Tokyo, founded in 2014 by Sasaki, has been at the forefront of some of Dentsu's most innovative projects over the past decade. These include ‘All Players Welcome’, which uses technology to unleash the creative potential of people with
disabilities, enhancing sports experiences through algorithms and data visualisation and contributing to international event ceremonies.
“We have learned in our journey that we must take time to see what has gone before and learn from it but we must not let it define who we are and what we will become. I urge everyone who is here at Cannes to take this fresh perspective and imagine how one can innovate to impact brands, people and society,” Igarashi sums up.
