Trendsetters: Dentsu's CEO, Tadashi Ishii, Discusses "2012 Innovation Challenge" as the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake approaches
Japan's horrific Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred last year on March 11th. Miraculously, the Japanese people with their extraordinary work ethic are making great strides despite the severity of the disaster. Even ad predications for 2012 are looking ahead to a Japan with positive growth.
The Japanese word kizuna, which means the bonds between people, symbolizes the sentiment in Japan today. Tadashi Ishii, Dentsu Inc. President & CEO of Dentsu says, "I strongly believe that communication is the key to developing bonds. The role expected of the Dentsu Group, with our mission to strengthen bonds between people through the power of communication, will be larger than ever this year."
Mr. Ishii delivered the company's annual back-to-work earlier this month in Tokyo and cited how Japan’s 2011 tragedy has led to both identity and innovation. Here are excerpts from that address to Dentsu employees throughout the world that are indeed inspiring:
"As I look back on 2011, I am struck again by how many trials and tribulations, including the Great East Japan earthquake, were visited on the world in the course of the year. These and many other events created a strong sense that we were witnessing a major milestone or turning point in time. It is likely that 2011 will long remain in people’s memories as a critical juncture in world history.
Although we faced a number of trials of our own during the past year, I also felt a genuine sense of the potential of the Dentsu Group which comes from the dynamism that our Group possesses as a global network. In solving the issues our clients face, our international network continues to produce synergy and results that transcend the limitations of any single country or company.
For the Dentsu Group, I believe that 2012 will be an important year that may have a decisive influence on the position of the Group in ten years’ time. As we embark on what promises to be a watershed year, I am keenly aware of two key terms. These are identity and innovation.
The foundation of the Dentsu Group identity is the attitude that encapsulates the Dentsu DNA: a resolute, whole-hearted dedication to taking on the challenges at workplaces spiced up by an acute sense of professionalism. If all of the Dentsu Group’s 20,000 employees embrace the Dentsu DNA when they meet each challenge, I strongly believe that the Dentsu Group will, as one big team, continue to provide services with incomparable value to our clients.
Alongside identity, the other key term to focus on is innovation. I believe the most crucial factor in achieving innovation is each individual’s unshakeable will or, in other words, determination to change. True innovation is a discontinuous process, not a mere extension of conventional ideas or actions. Throughout the Dentsu Group, and in Dentsu in particular, which stands at its core, we must ourselves be able to break away from our own history of past successes and the fixed ways of thinking we developed during the 20th century if we are to achieve fresh innovation for Dentsu.
The Dentsu Group must take on two major challenges at the same time while continuing to provide ever greater value for our clients: to bolster our existing revenue base and to establish a new foundation for revenue going forward. This means we are facing the challenge of bringing about innovation in our business structure itself. As our clients’ preferred partner, we will also need to establish new revenue models separate from the conventional advertising business."
