Move society with the power of language: 

In all the work I do, I am conscious about how to create touchpoints between sei-katsu-sha and brands. It is important to define touchpoints in words, and this definition is the core of any proposal. Creating a concept and expressing it in words is the foundation of a proposal’s strength.

Putting words at the core is more difficult the stronger the thing you are trying to create. Surprisingly, many people think about the output first. Because it’s easier to create a picture of the output in your mind. But it is important to really think through the core. This is something that I, at least, value greatly.

My senses as a sei-katsu-sha myself are also important. Questions that I have had in my everyday life have led to various ideas in my work. Rather than searching the Internet, I think from a creator’s perspective about how to convey things I notice with my own senses. I go back and forth between these two perspectives.

My biggest joy is when I first share something with the team and their reaction is: “This is great!” It’s those moments that keep me going. I don’t think I can achieve anything just me on my own. The fun is moving forward together, with the whole team throwing in ideas.

I want my team members and the young people coming through to have their own weapons. In recent years, integrated communication has been the thing, and there is a tendency to want people who can think in an integrated manner, but I don’t think we can get there in one fell swoop. We need to establish yardsticks for ourselves.

For me, that would be copy, but for an art director it could be artwork, and for a public relations person PR. Whatever it is, the process of honing our skills to the point we can say they are our weapon, and then thinking about how to broaden them, is important.

When thinking about what my motto would be, I realized that it is “Move society with the power of language.” I studied architecture to graduate school, so someday I would like to be involved with regional cities, buildings, and community development using language.

Hiroshi Yamazaki was named Creator of the Year for 2021 by the Japan Advertising Agencies Association (JAAA) in March 2022. The award recognizes individual creators who demonstrate creativity and drive the implementation of measures that solve client or social challenges, and produce multiple creative works in a single year that led to increased value or expanded functions for advertising companies.

“The First Take,” a work he was involved in as copywriter, was awarded a Grande at ADFEST 2022 and a Grand Prix at AD STARS 2021.

Roles and titles current when this article was published in June 2022.