Mihoko Nishii
Project Director / Business Designer
Solution Creation Center
Dentsu Inc.
Masaya Yomaru
Planning Director / Copywriter
Future Creative Center
Dentsu Inc.
The skills of creatives are not limited to creating ad copies and content, as it is commonly seen in mass advertisement. Words, design, concept. Creatives design the way an idea is communicated and they implement it. Such skills are applied in every aspect of management to drive the business. Not only is it required to communicate with accuracy, but the message also must touch people’s hearts. Everyone’s emotions are collected and the direction to be taken is determined.
In this series “Creatives can be a weapon”, we spoke to such creatives and introduce case studies of their projects and their approaches.
The third of the series is “Aeon Fantasy”, a project that will shape the future. As a strategy and creative partner, Dentsu team supported the project by creating the corporate tag line “Inspiring Enthusiasm”, established the purpose of the project, developed the campaign product, and helped transform Aeon Fantasy. One of the project output was an unusual one called “Whose poo?”, a calendar reinvented exclusively for use in the toilet. We spoke to the Dentsu creatives who came up with the idea, Mihoko Nishii from the Solution Creation Center and Masaya Yomaru from the Future Creative Center, Creative Planning Division 2, Dentsu Inc.
From an entertainment company to an edutainment company
Aeon Fantasy Co., Ltd. operates amusement facilities in eight countries around the world that focus on offering a place where children feel safe as they play. In Japan, they provide a variety of facilities and services that meet the needs of families, such as “Molly Fantasy”, an amusement facility with a play space for children, and “Skids Garden”, an indoor playground where kids can play with certified nursery and kindergarten teachers or ‘play leaders’, staff who have completed an original educational program.
Since 2014, Aeon Fantasy and Dentsu have been working on a future-shaping project to support the transformation of Aeon Fantasy. As the birthrate continues to decline, there was a pressing need to give added value to the entertainment that Aeon Fantasy can offer, in order to continue providing sustainable amusement.
To evolve the activity of ‘play’, we focused on edutainment (education + entertainment), adding educational elements to entertainment. In 2020 Dentsu helped recreate Aeon Fantasy’s vision and reshape their communication to support their evolution to become an edutainment provider.
Play or Study!?
Is it play!?, or is it study!? As children immerse themselves in the activity, their potential is brought out to the fullest. Going back and forth between ‘wonder’ and ‘surprise’ helps the heart, body, and mind develop. No one knows more about the power and effect of ‘play’ than Aeon Fantasy, and we want to pursue experiences that only we can create. We will go beyond the scope of subjects taught in school and present themes in the form of edutainment that is “never thought about before!” Everything in this world still has room for play and there is more to learn. Wouldn’t you like to see expressions on children that you’ve never seen before?
Edutainment [edutainment = education + entertainment]
An edutainment calendar that is “never thought about before!”
As children all over the world are affected by COVID and forced to stay home, we wanted to promote the concept and method of edutainment in a catchy way to employees as well as to people outside of the company. So we thought we could send a striking message about Aeon Fantasy’s approach by offering edutainment at a place in everyone’s home that has nothing to do with entertainment or education: the toilet. Together with Aeon Fantasy we designed and produced a calendar called “Whose poo?” to be used specifically in the toilet so children could learn about animal life and ecology through poo.
The days of the month are shown on the calendar with an illustration representing the intestine of an animal to explain how food is digested and finally formed into poo. Every month, children would curiously ask, “What do they eat?” as they imagine what kind of animal it is. Information about the eating habits of animals and the color, form, and smell of their poo are explained in a fun way on the backside of the calendar. Each time the month changes, they gain new insight into biology.
“Whose poo?”, the calendar exclusively for use in the toilet, received numerous national and international calendar awards and recognition in other categories as well.
<Notable awards given to ”Whose poo?”>
- Category II Silver, 72nd National Calendar Exhibition (Hosted by the Japan Federation of Printing Industries and Fuji Sankei Business i)
- Japanese German Calendar Exchange 2021 Silver, Gregor International Calendar Award (Germany)
- Product Design Category Merit, the 100th New York ADC Awards
- Print Category Silver, AD STARS 2021
After its release, “Whose poo?” was featured in over fifty media, and the 30,000 calendars that were printed went quickly and we faced a shortage in supply. Educational institutions and public foundations contacted us, and the calendar was distributed to over fifty schools, including nursery schools and kindergartens across the country. The calendar was put up at the Aeon Fantasy headquarters as well as at about 430 Aeon stores nationwide with the objective of communicating the spirit of edutainment both among the Aeon Fantasy staff and across society.
In 2022, as the second version of the edutainment calendar, we designed and produced a countdown calendar called “How many more days?”
The longer the wait, the greater the excitement
Because we had to put things on hold and be patient day after day, we wanted to put a smile on everyone’s face while they waited for the next event to happen.
That was the idea behind this calendar. A countdown calendar “How many more days?” that keeps track of the number of days until the next scheduled event.
How much longer must we wait, and what awaits us? Let’s count the days with our family.
When developing the second version of the calendar, we focused on the fact that some children, because of their age, do not yet understand the days of the week and do not know how to use a regular calendar. Moreover, many events were cancelled or attendance was restricted due to COVID, and we were forced to be patient and wait. We wondered how we could put a smile on people’s faces during the long wait until the next event. That was the reason behind the Aeon Fantasy and Dentsu team to design and create this calendar.
The calendar not only shows the dates, but it re-defines the purpose as a way to keep track of the number of days remaining until the day of the next event. Children would choose the event they most look forward to, and they use the calendar as a countdown board.
Re-branding requires change from within, not only on the outside
In 2022, Aeon Fantasy took the mission statement they established when the firm was founded and tried to sublimate it into a higher purpose that has a stronger sense of social responsibility and existence. We had many discussions with Mr. Tokuya Fujiwara, President, Aeon Fantasy Co. Ltd., about the changes surrounding society and children and about the role businesses must play in society, while we tried to understand and respect the wishes of the founder. Through that process, we expressed Aeon Fantasy’s social mission in words: “What does it mean to take our children seriously? It means recognizing that they are tomorrow’s adults and that whatever impact we have on them today will determine the shape of our future.” We also created their purpose, which is: “Inspiring enthusiasm in every child so that there is a smile on every face.” And that is how the corporate tag line “Inspiring Enthusiasm” was born.
We have been supporting the branding of various companies of different industries, from major corporations to startups. What we always care about most is communication, that is, we create something that all the employees can be proud of. When companies undertake reform, changing the way that a company looks from the outside is just superficial reform. Companies are merely a frame, and they can change only when each employee who make up the company can change.
At Aeon Fantasy, the calendar project is just another outcome of product development that exemplifies the idea of edutainment. In fact, various initiatives have been introduced by Aeon Fantasy such as “Game College Level 99”, an on-line school program using games to develop the ‘skill of thinking’, or “Nobikko”, a playground for young children not yet attending school. These initiatives have lit up the faces of many children and spread many smiles among them.
It is often thought that people’s actions can change only when their attitudes change, but it is actually the other way around. Once people’s actions change, then their attitudes also change. We hope to leverage our creativity to support Aeon Fantasy and their initiatives, from the development of products and business to human resources, and help them fulfill their purpose.
Related Link
Creatives can be a weapon (Japanese language only)
