Taking a New Step After a Year of Challenges: The SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP 41st Term Kick-off Meeting

Hello! This is Sunny-chan from Public Relations.

Record-breaking, unseasonable heatwaves are continuing across Japan… Please take care of yourselves and stay hydrated and replenished with salt. ☀️

Now, late June is usually the middle of the rainy season. For us at SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP, this period marks an important milestone—the time for our annual Kick-off Meeting.

In this post, we will look back on our progress over the past year and report on the highlights of the Kick-off Meeting. 🔍

A Comprehensive Review of SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP’s 40th Term!

The 41st term marks the major milestone of our 40th anniversary since founding. Before taking this new step forward, let’s look back at the previous year—the 40th term—in chronological order.

SUNNY SIDE UP Enters Partnership Agreement with Community Success Platform “Commune” (August)

To meet the growing demand for “fan marketing” in corporate activities and marketing communications, SUNNY SIDE UP entered into a partnership agreement with Commune Inc., the provider of the fan community platform “Commune.”

By combining the strengths of both companies—Commune’s community-building capabilities and SUNNY SIDE UP’s brand communication power rooted in PR thinking—we aim to create new marketing solutions.

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Wins “Japan/Korea Best Place to Work” at Campaign’s “Agency of the Year 2024”!

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP was the only company in Japan and South Korea to be awarded “Japan/Korea Best Place to Work” at the “Agency of the Year 2024” awards, hosted by Campaign Asia Pacific, the region’s largest advertising and marketing media outlet.

The award recognized our commitment to creating a workplace where every member with a diverse lifestyle can work comfortably and maximize their potential—including our unique “32 Benefits” welfare system tailored to current trends—as well as our proactive stance toward SDGs and other social contribution activities.

Koichi Kitagawa Appointed as Senior Strategic Advisor to SUNNY SIDE UP (April)

SUNNY SIDE UP appointed Koichi Kitagawa, who has handled numerous innovative brand developments and advertisement productions over many years, as Senior Strategic Advisor.

At Suntory Holdings, Mr. Kitagawa was involved in brand development for products such as “Malt’s Super Premium” (the prototype for the current The Premium Malt’s) and the production of advertisements for “Iyemon” and “BOSS (Alien Jones series).” He also served as President and Chairman of SUN-AD Co., Ltd. We believe his extensive knowledge and track record will create significant synergies for our company—which aims to deliver new value to corporations and society through “Tanoshii Sawagi” (exciting ripples)—not only in branding but also in organizational development and structural strengthening.

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Earns “Bronze Medal” in EcoVadis Sustainability Rating

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP earned a “Bronze Medal” in the sustainability rating by EcoVadis (headquartered in France), an international sustainability rating agency. This medal is awarded only to the top 35% of all companies evaluated.

The EcoVadis sustainability rating evaluates the sustainability efforts of over 150,000 companies across 185 countries based on four themes: Environment, Labor Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. In this evaluation, we were highly rated particularly in the “Labor Human Rights” field for our efforts to create an environment where every member can thrive while feeling the ease of working, by incorporating diversity perspectives into our work styles, human resource development, and personnel evaluations.

As the Year Comes to a Close, the “SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP 41st Term Kick-off Meeting” is Held at Tokyo Marriott Hotel!

The Kick-off Meeting is a special annual event. SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP continues to grow with the support of many stakeholders, and the number of members increases every year. Today, we are a company where more than 400 colleagues gather.

Consequently, the opportunity for the entire group to gather in one place becomes more precious and important with each passing year.

Under these circumstances, the Tokyo Marriott Hotel in Kita-Shinagawa was chosen as the venue for the “Kick-off Meeting” to mark the start of the 41st term. While maintaining the same prestigious atmosphere as previous venues, the event was held in a more spacious area to accommodate our growing membership.

We designed the event through repeated discussions with the hotel staff to ensure that everyone could enjoy the content and the food in a relaxed atmosphere.

What is the content for this term…?

This term also opened with a digest video of the past year! We looked back at the numerous projects and corporate events that defined the 40th term through video.

It allows us to realize once again that every single task our members have approached with sincerity in their respective positions contributes to the growth of the company.

Next, Etsuko Tsugihara, President and Representative Director of the Group, delivered a message regarding the outlook for the 41st term.

The venue was filled with an atmosphere of being encouraged by a powerful message for the future, leading into the toast. 🥂

Led by Shin Watanabe, Executive Vice President and Representative Director of the Group, all members raised their glasses to celebrate the start of the 41st term.

Cheers to everyone for their hard work over the past year!!

Our MCs for the event. 👗

After the toast, we moved on to the now-traditional video content from each group company.

This year, the virtual character “Echiko” appeared as Tsugihara’s “alter ego.”

The video introduced the highlights of the 40th term and the outlook for the 41st term through humorous interactions with members from each company.

It was a pleasant time, with laughter and applause breaking out from the audience.

The unique dialogue between a virtual character and a real human was quite shocking and fresh… The content is confidential, so if you are curious, please join SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP. (Laughs)

And then, the long-awaited announcement of the “SUNNY AWARDS”!

This time, in addition to 10 projects that created “Tanoshii Sawagi,” awards were presented to three projects that won external PR awards or contributed to creating social trends, as well as members of the SR Department who showed outstanding performance as media promoters.

Representative members from each group took the stage to share their thoughts and express their daily gratitude. 🎉

Director Matsumoto of SUNNY SIDE UP also delivered a message of appreciation to the winners.

Finally, a commemorative photo with everyone from SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP. 📸

With an increasing number of unique colleagues, SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP continues to grow even stronger.

To deliver news that makes tomorrow a little brighter. In the 41st term, we will continue to create “Tanoshii Sawagi” in the world by leveraging our respective strengths and demonstrating group synergy!