Hakuhodo unveils Ventures of Creativity to drive internal innovation

Hakuhodo DY Holdings has unveiled a new entity Ventures of Creativity (VoC), to bolster its in-house venture programme by managing investment functions for teams selected through the programme. 

Led by Hiroo Takeda, the new entity aims to empower Hakuhodo DY Group’s employees to harness their creativity and come up with innovative business ideas that generate new social values. 

VoC will operate as a special-purpose entity dedicated to managing the investment functions of this programme. The entity has now extended to all employees within the Hakuhodo DY Group's global network, including Japan.  

The group inaugurated its in-house venture programme in 2023, focusing on business incubation. This programme solicits innovative business proposals in marketing from all employees across the global network, providing startup investment and acceleration for the teams chosen through a business competition.  

To reproduce the general startup market environment as closely as possible, various systems and measures have been designed, to foster business growth together with the selected teams under more challenging conditions.  

This comes after the group articulated its global purpose, a forward-looking goal based on its role in society, in June 2024. Ventures of Creativity represents one of the initiatives to actualise this purpose through new business creation.

“We are committed to transforming the aspirations of our employees into new businesses that will form the cornerstone of the Hakuhodo DY Group's future,” said the company.

Don't miss: Hakuhodo launches new company to bolster digital marketing offerings

Beyond creativity, the network group also doubled down on its digital efforts by merging DAC and Irep to form Hakuhodo DY ONE in April.

The new company brings together not only the capabilities of DAC and Irep, but also the digital marketing knowledge and resources of Hakuhodo, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners and other group companies to serve as Hakuhodo DY Group’s “digital core.”

By consolidating resources and strengthening its operational structure, Hakuhodo DY ONE aims to enhance competitiveness, increase productivity and improve profitability to become the best digital marketing company in the industry, according to the release.

DAC has been working to empower the digital future through technological developments that make the world more dynamic and enrich its potential. Irep places value in continuously trying to do its best based on its DNA of ongoing improvement that has been passed down through the generations.

With a foundation built from the cultures and histories of both these companies, the new company HDY ONE will help the Hakuhodo DY Group work together as a united front to pave the way for the digital future. "With a spirit of self-discipline, each person working for HDY ONE will unharness his or her expertise and join forces as one with the aim to become our client companies’ valued 'one and only'," said the release.

The ring of the symbol mark of the new company symbolises the consolidation of its digital core strategy and the letter “O,” the initial for “ONE.” This ring, which depending on the rotation, can appear as a full circle or a straight line, is like a digital signal that goes back and forth between 0 and 1.

"The ring is drawn at an angle where it is neither a 0 or 1, to express the unquantifiable potential of digital technology. This symbol mark represents our commitment to resolving issues using data by working earnestly alongside our clients with passion and compassion," said the company

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