"Carbon Neutral Urban Design (CNUD)" is a project led by Future Design Shibuya (FDS) and the general incorporated association SWiTCH, in which Shibuya's industry, government, and academia have engaged in various discussions about a carbon-neutral society.
This time, the theme was "Public Relations Branding," and the session was co-hosted by Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Co., Ltd. and focused on how to make stakeholders aware of, understand, and sympathize with a company's sustainability activities, and ultimately how to become a brand that consumers will choose.
＜SPEAKER＞
Daisuke Masaki
(Group Leader, Brand Management Group, Corporate Communications Department, Tokyu Land Corporation)
Koshino Tamon
(Suntory Holdings Limited Sustainability Management Promotion Headquarters (Information Strategy) Information Dissemination and Awareness Group)
Saza Maki
(Representative Director of SWiTCH General Incorporated Association)
In his opening remarks, Matsumoto from Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Corporation explained the purpose of this MEETUP, saying, "Now that it has become commonplace for companies to take on sustainable initiatives, we want to use this opportunity to think together about how to communicate this to customers and stakeholders." He also introduced the venue, TENOHA Daikanyama, and explained how it will be a hub for communicating sustainability, including the facility's architecture, biodiversity, and the use of renewable energy from food waste.
In the first part, Mr. Koshino from Suntory Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as Suntory) and Mr. Masaaki from Tokyu Real Estate Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tokyu Real Estate) introduced examples of their companies' initiatives.
Suntory conveyed that it is promoting sustainability through culture and social contributions based on its "corporate philosophy (purpose)," and introduced its initiatives regarding "water" and "containers and packaging" at this event. In addition to promoting forest conservation activities "Suntory Natural Water Sanctuary" that are being carried out nationwide and horizontal recycling of PET bottles, Suntory also introduced its efforts to raise environmental awareness through corporate advertising, with examples given.
Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Group has set "environmental management" as its policy, and Tokyu Fudosan, the core company, has launched a TV commercial with the catchphrase "All-out for the environment, TOKYU FUDOSAN" to promote various environmental initiatives. As an example of an easy-to-understand example of biodiversity conservation activities among environmental initiatives, Tokyu Fudosan, which has been promoting the great tit nest boxes that were installed in the rooftop garden "Omohara Forest" of Tokyu Plaza Omotesando, a commercial facility in Omotesando, and built nests this year, has become a hot topic. The group spoke about how they have used introductory advertising and SNS to widely spread sympathy for environmental activities among consumers.
In the second talk session, the speakers spoke about "success stories and challenges" in environmental branding and "actions to popularize it."
In the "Success stories and challenges" section, Suntory shared how it has built up a track record in environmental branding and places importance on communicating that in an easy-to-understand manner. Aiming to appeal to the younger generation who will lead the next generation, Suntory reported that it has been distributing videos in collaboration with YouTubers and providing a learning space on a dedicated website to deepen new communication with consumers.
On the other hand, Tokyu Land Corporation also mentioned that when they used YouTube in the past, they noticed a gap between "what the company wanted to communicate" and "what the viewers wanted to see." In addition to sharing how they received more diverse responses than they had expected through social media PR for "The Big Tit Mansion," they also introduced examples of mechanisms that generate sympathy.
In the "Actions for Popularization" section, Tokyu Land Corporation, based in Shibuya, is working to create flexible businesses that involve a variety of stakeholders and are easy for anyone to participate in. They shared the importance of mechanisms to involve many companies and consumers through projects that people can easily participate in.
Meanwhile, Suntory reported that in order to root sustainability as a corporate culture, it is important to spread it throughout the company, and that they are working on this through messages from management and training and study sessions. Recently, employees' understanding has deepened, but they also reported that they are working to make it more of a personal concern. Tokyu Land Corporation also places importance on spreading sustainability within the company, and shared that they feel that environmental initiatives have become integrated with management, changing employees' awareness and having a positive impact on business.
The third part was an interactive Q&A session, where attendees shared their concerns and posed questions to the speakers.
The first CNUD Environmental Brand MEET UP provided a renewed sense of the importance of continuing to share advanced examples and promote horizontal collaboration between companies through CNUD, as well as sending a message from Shibuya to the rest of Japan.
