Yuki Shintani
Japan
CAREER Enrolled in April 2011; Completed master’s degree in March 2013
I work for an advertising agency. Until I was reassigned in August 2015 to work in strategic planning for a tire manufacturer, my primary job was creating and producing digital content for an alcoholic beverages maker. In digital content creation, the goal is to use the web and social network services to trigger discussion of a product and to convince people to feel favorably towards it. In strategic planning, you investigate what the essential attractions of the product are and how they can be communicated, formulating hypotheses and reflecting them in your strategy.
At KMD, I participated on Professor Naohito Okude’s OIKOS, and launched a new project called “Music in Community” to study the relationship between music and local communities. This resulted in Keio University creating a new credited class on music practice, so I did have some impact on society. During the project, I had an opportunity to think deeply about what the world enjoys, needs, and wants to experience, and I gained my own experience in how to push a project forward strongly enough that my plan becomes reality. My KMD experiences have had a significant impact on my current work.
(This article was written in March 2016.)