SUNNY SIDE UP Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Ryu Si-chau), which is responsible for the core business of SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Inc., has entered into a content partnership with HERALBONY Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Morioka, Iwate Prefecture; President and CEO: Takuya Matsuda) as of September 28, 2023, and will strengthen its efforts to revitalize local communities with a focus on DEI (Diversity, Equity Inclusion).

■Using the Power of Art x Brand Communication to Bring DEI to Regions and to Japan

For over 30 years since its founding, our group has been committed to “social good activities” to contribute to solving social issues. In recent years, we have been actively supporting companies and organizations that are working to solve issues such as the environment, education, and gender, which are included in the SDGs, from the perspective of PR and communication. In particular, we place emphasis on respecting “diversity,” including gender and race, and have positioned “building an organization that leads DEI” as one of the pillars of our group’s overall growth strategy.

In August 2023, we also launched the “Regional Revitalization Unit” based on the perspective of “sustainable tourism” (*1), which is included in SDG Goal 8. We have begun providing support to companies and local governments facing challenges in regional revitalization to attract tourists and raise awareness of local culture.

Meanwhile, HERALBONY is a welfare experiment company that aims to create new culture from the starting point of welfare, with the mission of “Unleash Your Exceptionality.” We have contracts with mainly artists with intellectual disabilities both in Japan and overseas, and manage copyrights for over 2,000 high-resolution art data. We also operate the art lifestyle brand “HERALBONY,” which incorporates works into products such as fashion and interiors, and are developing a variety of businesses with a view to expanding the welfare domain. By collaborating with welfare facilities throughout Japan, we aim to revitalize local communities, change the social image of “disability,” and realize a society where 8 billion people can live as they are with their own unique exceptionality.

We sympathize with this background and the corporate stance of facing DEI promotion and regional revitalization through our core business, and have reached a content partnership agreement. By combining the high-quality art IP and content of HERALBONY with the planning capabilities and brand communication know-how that SUNNY SIDE UP has cultivated, we will solve the “regional issues” faced by companies and organizations in each region. By “moving people’s hearts,” we aim to change perceptions of DEI and challenge the transformation of society as a whole.

*1 Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social-cultural and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.

■Future Business Development Through Regional Revitalization

HERALBONY, headquartered in Iwate Prefecture, has licensing agreements with over 150 artists throughout Japan, and when collaborating with companies and organizations, it implements projects in collaboration with artists who have connections to the region. We are developing regional revitalization-type art projects that reframe temporary fences at construction sites and commercial facilities as limited-time “museums.”

SUNNY SIDE UP will provide consulting, operations, and marketing/communication services in the tourism industry and regional revitalization in various parts of Japan, which are developed by our “Regional Revitalization Unit.” As one of the solutions, we will develop high-quality content that “moves people’s hearts” by utilizing HERALBONY’s relationships with artists throughout Japan. By providing a wide range of proposals that incorporate regionality and DEI perspectives, we aim to strengthen regional revitalization throughout Japan while contributing to the branding of regional companies and organizations.

■Comment from Ryu Si-chau, President and Representative Director of SUNNY SIDE UP Inc.

SUNNY SIDE UP is expanding its business domain to brand communication business with a PR perspective from this term. HERALBONY’s IP content, which has a beautiful and strong message to society, is indispensable to our vision of changing the world with the power of communication. SUNNY SIDE UP will provide even more enhanced one-stop solutions together with HERALBONY, and will unleash the “fun commotion of exceptionality.”

■Comments from Takuya Matsuda, President and CEO, and Ayato Matsuda, Vice President and CEO of HERALBONY Co., Ltd.

HERALBONY, which celebrated its 5th anniversary, needs to deliver its mission of “Unleash Your Exceptionality” to society more widely, more deeply, and more essentially. Through continued dialogue with President Ryu Si-chau, I felt that entering into a content partnership with SUNNY SIDE UP, which has continued to make Japan and the world more fun and exciting, was the best way to further drive both companies’ businesses and move society forward in a better direction. I hope that the employees of both companies will be enthusiastic together, take on challenges together, and create the future together…and realize a world that “moves people’s hearts and society.”