“Towards a sustainable society
with the power of entertainment”
Contribution to future talents
and unknown excitements

In November 2022, Avex announced their new sustainability policy, “Contribution to future talent and undiscovered joy” They have identified the company materiality (key issues) and have launched social actions to create a new value model for entertainment companies. What was their path to make a full-fledged commitment to sustainability at this time, and what is the contribution to the future that only an entertainment company can make? We interviewed Atsushi Nishimoto, who heads the new Sustainability Promotion Office established in July, Chiharu Inoue, a new member of the office, and Yumeto Ito, their newly appointed senior advisor who has held senior positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SDGs promotion for Yonezawa City, and other organizations.

Professionals with 3rd-person perspectives.
Linking careers to important questions

From a sustainability perspective, Avex has long been involved in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) while many of their artists have contributed to social activities. In recent years, however, as values such as ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) have become widely accepted in society, Avex has decided to make a more systematic effort to contribute to society as a whole. In July 2022, Avex established a new Sustainability Promotion Office to promote more systematic social action throughout the company.

Nishimoto joined the Sustainability Promotion Office as the head of the Public Relations Office of the Corporate Strategy Division of Avex, while Inoue joined while keeping his position in the Promotion Department of Avex Communication Broadcasting Company. Ito, a professional in this field who served as the head of the SDGs domestic mainstreaming team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and currently serves as an SDGs promotion counselor for Yonezawa City in Yamagata Prefecture, also accepted an offer to join the office.

Ito "My encounter with Avex began with a presentation at the UN General Assembly in 2017. Mr. Kishida, the current Prime Minister and then Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited New York to promote our efforts to push the SDGs with an emphasis on public-private partnerships. At that time, the celebrity we worked with to raise awareness was Piko Taro, and that was the beginning of our relationship with Avex. After that, I continued to communicate with the people at Avex, and when I resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021, they were the first of several private companies to offer me a position as advisor."

Nishimoto "One of the reasons why we asked Ito-san to join us is the first thing we considered when promoting sustainability activities, which was to have professionals with a third-party perspective become a part of our team, instead of just relying on people within the company. Of course, it is important to utilize your company's own strengths, but we were conscious of proceeding forward after carefully assessing what is needed in the world and what the world's standards are."

Inoue "Sustainability is a genre that I had never been involved in before in my work, so it is very refreshing, and I feel that I am once again working toward the essence of entertainment. Up until now, my main job has been to market artists and their works, but now I am more conscious of efforts in looking beyond that. It may sound like an exaggeration, but I believe that entertainment is an essential field for maintaining mental health and helping people live as human beings, so I feel it is meaningful to be able to contribute through entertainment."

The question that arose was, what part of the company's stance as an entertainment company and its actual activities could be linked to sustainability.

Ito "As for my part, I started by looking into the sustainability/SDGs efforts of entertainment companies, and I found that many of them, even globally, were struggling. In particular, SDGs are subdivided into 17 goals and 169 targets, and there are few items that directly apply to entertainment companies. It is difficult to link our core business with social action, and if anything, many entertainment companies are doing their best just to spread and raise awareness."

This is the reason why Avex has chosen to use the word “sustainability” rather than “SDGs” for this series of actions. SDGs refers to the goals meant to be achieved by 2030. In contrast, Avex is looking beyond the SDGs and beyond 2030 to become a leader in sustainability in the entertainment industry.

Creating new value models with
“offensive” sustainability

In order to clarify the connection between entertainment and sustainability, the members first conducted a workshop. The subjects discussed there were “what Avex itself values based on its corporate philosophy,” and “what society expects from Avex.”

Nishimoto "The excitement and enjoyment we deliver to people through our artists and their work are part of our core values at Avex, and at the same time, they are parts of what society demands of us. Therefore, as an entertainment company, in order to create a new value model that contributes to a sustainable society, we have identified three parts to our materiality: 'Creating and delivering “Intangible wealth”,' 'Creating and delivering “The next generation”,' and 'Creating an organization that serves as the foundation for creating “intangible wealth” and the “next generation”.’ Finally, we came up with the sustainability policy, “Contribution to future talent and undiscovered joy”"

Nishimoto also noted that the new “corporate philosophy” established by Avex played a major role in the process of establishing the sustainability policy and materiality.

Nishimoto "In July 2022, Avex announced their new corporate philosophy, which was to “Making impossible entertainment , possible. We believe in your abilities, uniqueness and creativity in building a future that is exciting and world changing.” This is a clear statement of the purpose of Avex's activities and our reason for being as it pertains to society, which is why we wanted our sustainability policy and materiality to be linked to our corporate philosophy."

It was Nishimoto who approached Inoue about joining the Sustainability Promotion Office after hearing of her reputation within the company. Inoue was responsible for communicating information about sustainability at Avex through the media. Nishimoto says of Inoue's work, "It was also important to me that the person had a solid career within the company."

Nishimoto "In order to promote sustainability activities, we need the cooperation of various related departments within the company. It was very reassuring to us at the time to have someone like Inoue, who has built up a career and who we trust."

Materiality is shaped through a series of discussions, including workshops, interactions with relevant internal departments, and exchanges of views with external companies and institutional investors. There are also two other major aspects to consider as well.

The first is the “defensive” part of the sustainability contribution. This is based on corporate social responsibility, such as compliance and corporate governance, and it ensures social credibility by disclosing information about the company's efforts.

Another is the “offensive” promotion of sustainability, which is one of those things that entertainment company excel at.

Ito "Avex has a vast roster of artists, so we are able to deliver vitality and inspiration to fans who live in various circumstances. Creating and delivering “Intangible wealth” in the materiality is an “offensive” form of promotion for sustainability that leverages the company's strengths. This is an area in which only an entertainment company can say they excel at. In addition, 'Creating and delivering “The next generation”' involves discovering and fostering diverse human resources who will create the future, while creating 'next generation' content that harmonizes the economy, society, and the environment through the use of technology, I believe, that is a contribution that leverages Avex's strengths as well."

The company has already formulated a concrete action plan based on this defense and offense. In the future, the company plans to proactively promote activities unique to an entertainment company, while expanding the reach of the action plan within the company and periodically reviewing the initiatives related to the action plan.

Looking past 2030:
Action for a post-SDGs era

Although the artists at Avex have been communicating their individual activities in relation to sustainability, it has been difficult for the company to do so as a whole. The response to Avex's actions in various forms is expected to be significant in the industry.

Nishimoto "For example, we see our Avex Class as a contribution to the talent of the future. It is our project in which artists and talents affiliated with Avex teach the importance of 'the power in believing in one's talent and dreams' at educational institutions nationwide. In addition, we have already introduced an internship system for university students in our Sustainability Promotion Office, which is an action for the future connected to our materiality of 'creating and delivering the 'next generation.’"

Inoue "When I joined the Sustainability Promotion Office, I received many suggestions and requests from within the company as well as from people outside the company asking me, 'What can we do to help?' I’m often reminded that this field is attracting a lot of attention."

Impact is created precisely because a company that has never been known for doing so, does so. Contributing to sustainability actions beyond the SDGs without losing its identity as Japan's leading entertainment company is the mission that Avex is now taking on.

Ito "Entertainment companies have a great influence on society, which is exactly why it was very important to integrate the promotion of sustainability with our core business. Entertainment can make a significant contribution to creating a situation where 'all people are prosperous and fulfilled,’ as expressed in the introduction statement to the SDGs. This is also connected to Avex's strength in nurturing the talents of the next generation. Avex's challenge to contribute to sustainability in its core business of entertainment, while looking ahead to the world beyond 2030, is a groundbreaking initiative even from an industry perspective."

Inoue "Entertainment is essential for human beings in order for us to just stay human. Delivering the thrill and excitement that enriches lives from all over Japan to the world is an entertainment company's unique approach to sustainability. We also aim to be a beacon that opens the way to the future for the next generation. We will continue to take on new challenges while leveraging the unique individual character Avex has to offer."

Nishimoto "Working together with artists and talent on social issues and delivering our activities to a large number of people will lead to an increase in the number of parties interested in and concerned about sustainability. I believe that this contribution is the strength and core of what Avex can do, exactly because we are an entertainment company."

Today, the word “sustainability” is becoming more and more prevalent in society and the people who live in it. For many people, the word conjures up images of “tangible” things that they are trying to protect, such as the natural environment and energy. However, the actions initiated by Avex can be felt as an “intangible enrichment” to the heart. Contributing to talent and inspiration, an entertainment strong suit, could be a means of expressing sustainability that opens the way to a new future.