Rui Nago walks the talk as chief strategy officer at Grey Tokyo, leading the agency to significant wins such as Spikes Asia Agency of the Year 2022 as well as 2021 APAC Effie wins for campaigns on Pride Hair (P&G) and VS Series Olympics (SKII).
Rui joined Grey in 2010 and has been instrumental in developing the brand, creative and communication strategies for many of Grey Tokyo’s global clients.
Rui> No difference really. But "strategist" sounds too intellectual and serious to me. I believe strategists in this industry should be more right-brained, more creative, more playful, and more curious about humanity compared to strategists in other industries, such as business consultancy or data analytics.
Rui> For the above reason, I'm a little embarrassed to be called a "strategist". I want to add something before "strategist", like "Creative strategist" or "brand strategist" it sounds more fitting though I know these are also not simple descriptors…
Rui> Hmm… that's a tough question. But I love campaigns that embrace the imperfections that make us human —our fragility, selfishness, and insignificance, basically one that celebrates human nature in its wholeness. Harvey Nichols's "Sorry I Spent It On Myself" campaign is one of my favourites and one I really respect.
Rui> "Document 72 Hours" is a Japanese TV documentary series where the director and cameraman stay in one location for, yes you guessed it, 72 hours! In many cases, they would feature an ordinary, but unique location, such as an unmanned thrift store, a fishermen's convenience store in northern Japan, or a sandwich stand in a nightlife district, interviewing people they encounter there. Through this, we get a glimpse into people's lives as they open up and share. These are real people whom we might never get to meet at a focus group.
The program really reminds me of a simple fact that everyone, no matter who they are, has their own lives and stories, and they lead a life just like any of us.
Rui> The moment when I discover the "truth", one that provides us with a new perspective of our world. That's the moment of realisation that gives me an adrenaline rush, a sense of euphoria.
Rui> "Why does this brand exist in this era?" I tend to revisit this question over and over again. Keep asking this, and it reveals the core of the brand.
Rui> There is a classical Japanese poetry style called renga, collaborative and improvisational poetry made by two poets. One poet creates the first part, and the second poet reacts to it with a latter part. It is an unexpected, thrilling poetry-writing process. I always love working with creatives with whom I can do renga together.
Rui> There is nothing else strategists can do other than to prove it.
Rui> The ability of the strategist to look at the world from a different perspective.
Rui> It's good for strategists. But at the same time, I think we've come to the point where the meaning of effectiveness should change. It should no longer be a "brand likability has increased xx%" type of effectiveness. Instead, it has to be more about how effective it is at changing old rules, laws, prejudices, biases and moving society forward through the power of brands and creativity.
Rui> I feel we should be more open, going beyond the advertising sphere. We should provide our expertise and talent to support business transformation, new product creation, new service creation and more instead of just creating an advertising campaign.
Rui> Keep your eyes on society and humans, not data.