TBWA\HAKUHODO Champions Inclusive Sports at Advertising Week Asia
Advertising Week Asia returns to Japan on May 27‒30, with a program that provides a deep-dive into industryʼs most important topics, career-enhancing insights, and actionable learnings from top marketing leaders, stars of the entertainment world, and inspiring entrepreneurs.
Left to right: Grim Narita, Tatsuya Honda, Masaya Asai.
This year, TBWA\HAKUHODO joins the prestigious line-up of speakers with a session on ʻInclusive Sports Marketing,ʼ moderated by group creative director, Masaya Asai. He will be joined onstage by Grim Narita, Winter Paralympic Gold medallist, and Tatsuya Honda, award winning UI designer at Fujitsuʼs strategic marketing department.
The diverse panel will discuss opportunities to enable and liberate underrepresented athletes in a new age of sport consumption, and how brands need to update and innovate their approach to sports marketing as consumer behaviour changes. Stories off the field are now just as important as the competition on the field, and getting to know the individual players adds depth, drama and connection at a human level.
Left to right: Grim Narita, Tatsuya Honda, Masaya Asai.
With the whole country ‒ along with global brand marketers ‒ gearing up for a year of sport in 2020 and beyond, the session explores how the industry can use its creative, design, and storytelling expertise to facilitate a more inclusive sporting culture.
Grim Narita, ranked number one para-snowboarder in the world in 2017, brings unique insight from an athleteʼs perspective. His successful career started with him winning the World Junior Championships in 2013 for the half pipe in freestyle skiing. However, because of a training accident the following month, he developed peroneal nerve paralysis leaving him unable to control the movements of his feet or legs. Resilient and undeterred, Narita undertook intense physiotherapy and went on to take both national and world championship titles in para-snowboarding before winning a Gold and Bronze at PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Tatsuya Honda from Fujitsuʼs sports and culture business unit will share his experience from a corporate brand perspective. He has a passion for developing solutions that help those with disabilities, and his work has included machines and systems that assist and enhance hearing, and the Ontenna, a device that uses haptic feedback to help the deaf interpret sounds around them. Honda has been honoured with many awards including Excellence Category for the Design Intelligence Awards, Forbes Under 30 Asia, and Good Design Awards.
“Iʼm very excited to bring together two minds operating at the forefront of inclusivity in sports,” said Masaya Asai. “As viewing behaviour and fan interaction evolves to offer better access and connection to sports stars, we in the advertising and communications industry are in a uniquely influential position. Weʼll be discussing how agencies and brands can use their creativity, design, and storytelling expertise to open up new opportunities and multi- faceted approaches for shaping and stimulating a more inclusive sporting culture.”
Masaya has won over 50 international awards for advertising, including a Cannes Lions Grand Prix, Grand Clio, New York ADC Award, D&AD, Tokyo ADC and Young Lotus of the Year.
