Rie Matsumoto and Koichi Kitagawa Speak at Marketing Week Spring 2026 — Seminar Held on the Evolution of Branding, PR, and Communication in the AI Era

The 27th Marketing Week Summer 2026 (MaS), one of Japan’s largest comprehensive marketing exhibitions, is currently being held at Tokyo Big Sight over three days from Wednesday, June 24 to Friday, June 26, 2026.

Organized by RX Japan, Marketing Week is a large-scale marketing exhibition consisting of specialized shows in nine categories, including digital marketing, sales promotion, advertising, research, and analysis. It is a venue where visitors can compare, evaluate, and conduct business negotiations for services and case studies that fit various challenges. Approximately 300 companies are exhibiting, bringing together a wide range of solutions from the latest technology to the front lines of marketing.

In addition to the exhibits, this event features numerous seminars by industry key figures. Among them, at the previous 26th Marketing Week Spring 2026, SUNNY SIDE UP Director Rie Matsumoto and Senior Strategic Advisor Koichi Kitagawa took the stage. They gave a lecture on the “human understanding” required in the AI era and PR/communication strategies that move people’s hearts. The event was a great success, with 277 participants exceeding the capacity, resulting in a standing-room-only crowd!

In this article, we bring you a report on the seminar that drew a large audience!

A Major Turning Point in Business as the Definitions of Marketing and PR Converge

Director Rie Matsumoto

Matsumoto, who served as a lecturer, is a founding member of SUNNY SIDE UP and has been engaged in the PR industry since high school, handling client work across a wide range of industries. In 2024, she was appointed Vice Chairperson of the Japan Public Relations Association, contributing to the development of the entire PR industry through various activities.

Senior Strategic Advisor Koichi Kitagawa

Furthermore, Kitagawa joined SUNNY SIDE UP in April 2025 after serving as Executive Officer and CMO of Suntory Beverage Food International and President and Representative Director of SUN-AD Co., Ltd. During his 40-year tenure at Suntory, he was involved in product development and advertising production for soft drinks, canned coffee, and beer.

At the beginning of the seminar, Matsumoto first introduced how the definition of marketing has been updated.

In 1990, the Japan Marketing Association defined marketing as “comprehensive activities for market creation conducted by corporations and other organizations through fair competition, while gaining mutual understanding with customers from a global perspective.”

This definition was revised in 2024 to: “A concept and process for creating value together with customers and society, and by widely disseminating that value, fostering relationships with stakeholders to realize a richer and more sustainable society.”

The relationship with customers in marketing has shifted from “mutual understanding” to becoming partners who “create value together,” and the focus has changed from “competition” to “widely disseminating value.” This redefinition of marketing is very close to the concept of “PR.”

PR is defined as “a management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends” (definition by the Public Relations Society of America). In other words, PR aims to build good relationships with stakeholders.

She pointed out that as society matures, the definitions of “marketing” and “PR” have converged, and we are standing at a major turning point in modern business. Regarding the fact that the essence of PR and the definition of marketing have become this close, Matsumoto said, “This was received with great impact within the PR industry as well.”

She also mentioned changes in how information reaches people. In the past, the “third parties” in PR were the media and influencers, but now “AI” naturally plays that role. In an era where AI organizes information and presents the correct answers, how should companies build “relationships of trust” with society and the people living in it? She emphasized that the era has come for PR to truly demonstrate its genuine role.

In response to this, Kitagawa, who has nurtured numerous national brands, expressed the core of branding with the words “LOVE GOOD LIFE.” It means products being loved by people and making their lives and futures a “GOOD LIFE.” As the boundaries between marketing and PR become blurred, he redefined the essential goal as “creating a brand that is loved,” something that cannot be replaced by AI.

Surfacing Small Daily Questions and Turning Them into Social Context

Kitagawa, who has worked on various products at Suntory, said, “It is a given that functions and quality are excellent. What ultimately moves people’s hearts is the power of communication,” and stated that how to deeply engage with people’s hearts is a crucial perspective in branding.

At SUNNY SIDE UP, we also handle many branding projects that touch people’s hearts rather than just promoting specifications.

Regarding a certain product for which SUNNY SIDE UP handled the PR and is now known by everyone: instead of starting with the promotion of the product’s specs or advertising, we focused on the vague sense of malaise or discomfort that modern people feel in their daily lives. By verbalizing the underlying living environment and social issues, and carefully unraveling the causes, we communicated the benefits of that product to society as a whole. By accumulating such enlightening communication, the soil for a new market was nurtured. As a result, a new market was born.

Matsumoto says, “The source of PR is ‘a sense of incongruity.'” Why are the actions that everyone takes for granted the way they are? What is the difference between what is liked and what is not? Why, why, why… Noticing those small questions lurking in daily life, making them manifest, and expanding them into a social context. She says that this is the core mechanism by which PR evolves branding.

In the AI Era, Reaching Hearts via a “Different Route”

In the second half of the seminar, the topic shifted to “Communication in the Era of AI Coexistence.” In today’s world, AI organizes information and suggests optimal solutions. If messages sent by companies are “ignored” by AI, they will not reach consumers.

In response to this change, a stance based on the premise of AI was presented, rather than an “AI or human” binary choice.

One is to “assume AI and make it an ally.” How to incorporate the brand’s “emotional information” into the data sources that AI learns from. This is the “construction of ’emotional value’ that is also recommended by AI.” The results of human hearts being moved become data, and by AI learning that data, a virtuous cycle is created where value is further diffused. By doing so, it should become possible to move the “heart” of AI as well.

Next is to “create touchpoints for humans through a different route from AI.” While AI recommends optimal solutions for efficiency, humans are also moved through emotional routes such as “trust” and “experience.” Carefully building up “uniquely human touchpoints” through stories and direct experiences will, conversely, become a powerful weapon for a brand.

Since its founding, SUNNY SIDE UP has considered the goal of communication to be “creating a ‘fun stir’ (Tanoshii Sawagi) to create a better future.” This is a value that remains unchanged even in the AI era. While using AI as a smart partner, we must not forget the starting point: human understanding. “From imagination to creation.” That message seemed to indicate the path that future communication should take.

The seminar drew so many people that it was standing room only, and even at the networking session for exchanging business cards after the event, a long line formed in front of the two speakers, making it a great success.

Additionally, there was an exhibition corner in the venue introducing business books and other literature recommended by the seminar lecturers, including Matsumoto and Kitagawa, where many people stopped to take a look.

Many such seminars are also being held at the currently ongoing “27th Marketing Week Summer.” Please be sure to check them out!

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP will continue to explore PR and communication for a new era, and we will strive to demonstrate that power not only through seminars and events but also within our business. Please look forward to it.