Expert interview with Ray Hammond
Europe’s leading futurologist
Part 1
Posted on November 20, 2007 - Filed Under CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews
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1. As Europe’s most experienced futurologist, what do you think about today’s huge commercial potential of the internet and its impacts on tomorrow’s global businesses?
The internet is going to merge with television, radio, cellular networks and wireless technologies to create one global super-medium (for which we do not yet have a name) in which a very large part of business will be conducted. Many businesses will be wholly virtual while many physical businesses (e.g. construction and aviation) will use the new enlarged, multi-media, multi-sensory, always on, always connected, everything to everything, everyone to everyone ”medium” to improve their business processes, their financial trading patterns, their logistics and their customer orientation.
2. How much Information Technology could affect business environment in the next, let’s say, ten years and what other inventions do you stipulate will come into sight by then (now that we already have the multifunctional iPhone)?
The “mobile phone” is a misnomer – we do not yet have the language to describe what the device formerly known as the mobile phone is becoming. In the very near future real-time natural language interfaces will start to transform the device into an intelligence personal assistant. Within ten years ’software personalities’ which reside within the devices will become our personal assistants, organizing our electronic information, our digital money and our business and social lives.
Presenting futurologist Ray Hammond
On Challenging our views on the Future
Posted on November 19, 2007 - Filed Under Innovative marketing strategies, CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews
Continuing to challenge our own views on the future, we have the pleasure of presenting to you Europe’s leading futurologist and commentator on digital business - Ray Hammond.
This week we will talk to Mr Hammond on these drives for the future, which are no subject to interpretation - they are happening!
Ray Hammond is an internationally known futurologist and commentator on the digital society as well as author, broadcaster and businessman. He wrote the world’s first guide to on-line publishing and the Internet, “The On-Line Handbook”, which was published in 1984 and he is the author of the best-selling “Computers and Your Child”.
Over the last 20 years he has commuted between homes in San Francisco and London providing commentary on the digital society for ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Sunday Times’ and ‘The Daily Mail’.
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Expert interview with Larry Hochman
Part 2
Posted on November 15, 2007 - Filed Under Innovative marketing strategies, CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews
4. Once a leader, how can you protect yourself from falling into the trap of conceit, and not really being able to see the way anymore, or on the contrary, of becoming so close to the people you lead, and not being able to guide them on the right track?
Having been the Personal Mentor to many Chief Executives and Directors all over the world, I have contemplated for several years the challenge for leaders to not fall into the trap of complacency. In order for anyone to continue to adapt and change, they must be free of three things: denial, nostalgia and arrogance. Leaders must be open enough to allow colleagues to confront them as often as possible, and challenge their behaviour when these traits appear. Surfacing and discussing these issues in an open manner helps you to identify when they exist. You must first acknowledge the existence of denial, nostalgia and arrogance and how they manifest as personal behaviour, in order to move beyond them. Often you need other people to help you do that. And move beyond them you must. Otherwise, ego and vanity will certainly destroy your career and perhaps your company as well. Of course corruption, lies and ethical lapses can even more quickly destroy the career of any leader. We thankfully live in a world of increasing transparency (and instant communication!), which will dictate the swift exit of any leader who fails to meet the highest possible ethical standards.
5. From your personal experience of 10 years at director level in multi-national companies British Airways and Air Miles, what were the most challenging/delicate situations you were faced with and how did you manage to overcome them? Could you give us a couple of concrete examples?
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Expert interview with Larry Hochman
Part 1
Posted on November 13, 2007 - Filed Under CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews
1. You were selected as “The European Business Speaker of the Year” and your portfolio counts nearly 400 speeches. What is the source of your inspiration for all these speeches: could it be the experience of the ten years you spent at British Airways, where you held the position of Director of Customer Service?
My inspiration for speeches everywhere in the world (in 2006 I did speeches on every continent) is a deeply held belief in a future that is positive. Even though I am often identified as a futurist, I never try to predict the future. What I try to do is to prepare people for the future by identifying trends already underway that I believe will impact both their businesses and their careers. Individuals can then decide what personal actions are necessary to build the foundations for success. We live in truly remarkable times of unlimited opportunity for many. People must open their eyes and minds and as Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Know How To See”. I hope that my speeches help people better understand the world they live in and therefore are better able to take advantage of every opportunity in the unique globalised world where we all now reside.
2. How could companies build strong customer relationships that last a lifetime? How could an organization create a long-term relationship with his customers? Is there a special recipe to achieve success or does it depend on the company or a top management team?
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Expert interview with Charles Gilbeau
Director in the Business Strategy Practice at Zyman Group
Posted on November 8, 2007 - Filed Under Innovative marketing strategies, Expert Interviews
1. What are your views on the future of marketing? How is it going to look like?
As a beginning perspective, I think it is useful to begin by looking at where marketing is today versus where it was in the 1960”s and 1970’s. If you look at marketing from those periods, it is very clear looking back how much it has evolved from those simpler times. I think marketing will continue to evolve so that when we look back 20 years from now today’s marketing will look just as naïve as what we see looking back to those times.
I think the biggest difference is that you will see a greater diversity in approaches to marketing driven by what works. The seeds of this are already evident today Audience fragmentation, new technologies, and new media have been the most evident catalysts leading to unprecedented experimentation in the past decade in reaching consumers. Less so evident is the influence of government regulation. Throughout the world alcohol and tobacco companies which face increasingly more restricive media environments have had no choice but to be pioneers in this area. At Zyman Group, we are working with just such a client today that is unable to use traditional media and therefore must develop and validate new approaches. Its fun…and it works!
Marketing has a built in feedback mechanism…things that work by profitably driving the growth of a business are repeated and replicated by others. Things that don’t work are abandoned by companies (and as we know all too well so will the marketers responsible for them). Recently for example, E-Bay which was a big advertiser on Google stopped and determined that they were actually getting greater effectiveness from offline marketing.
I believe the future will bring more such customized marketing models where the marketing model is an essential ingredient to the success of the business model. Just think about how Starbucks and Red Bull have been able to establish powerful brands through experiential consumer touchpoints beyond media. In the future marketers will be far less likely to reach for off the shelf solutions and will focus on the task of selling to the consumer through the best means. As you heard from Sergio in the conference, marketing innovation begins with marketer innovation.
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Presenting Charles Guilbeau
Posted on November 6, 2007 - Filed Under Innovative marketing strategies, Expert Interviews
As a continuation of our series of expert interviews on marketing innovation, later this week we are going to offer you our interview with Charles Guilbeau. Charles Gilbeau works in the team of Sergio Zyman at Zyman Group and here is a short presentation of who he is:
Charles Guilbeau is a Director in the Business Strategy Practice at Zyman Group in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prior to joining Zyman Group, Charles was with the The Coca-Cola Company where he had various roles in Global Brand Marketing, Strategic Planning, and Marketing Research. Most recently, as Global Group Brand Manager of Fanta, Charles led the implementation of new proprietary packaging, flavor and communication strategies which enabled Fanta to become the company’s fastest growing core brand and contributing almost half of its growth.
Charles holds a Master of Marketing Research Degree and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Georgia.
Look forward to his innovative marketing ideas!
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