During the pandemic, many brands and retailers went all-in on digital. While social media, email and search allow us to reach current and potential customers at scale, sometimes it can feel a bit, well, cold. Batch-and-blast messages that push timely deals and basic brand messaging sometimes don’t resonate and now, more than ever, consumers are looking to connect with the brands they love.
We know the perfect expert to help you optimize your relationship building for the digital-driven era: Ken Hughes! He’s a consumer behavioralist and an experience strategist, and he’ll be taking the stage as one of our featured keynote speakers for the Retail Innovation Conference & Expo, being held May 10-12, 2022 at McCormick Place in Chicago!
Some have described Ken as:
- The global authority on new consumer values and behaviors
- An inspiring speaker on disruption, change, AI and innovation
- A strategist driving high performance in business and life
Not to mention, he’s a lot of fun! That’s why we’ve had Ken as a speaker several times at our Retail Innovation Conference online and in-person in New York City. This year, Ken will provide attendees with actionable insights on how they can optimize the digital experience while meeting consumers’ innate needs to connect on an intimate level with others.
A Captivating Storyteller
With 20 years of experience and as CEO of consumer insight agency Glacier Consulting, Ken blends his understanding of consumer and cyber psychology, digital anthropology, behavioral economics and retail futurology to explore the needs of the new consumer and predict the changes to come. He is internationally renowned for helping his largely blue-chip client base to understand the physical, digital and future consumer. In addition, Ken advises some of the biggest brands in the world on customer experience, omnichannel strategy, artificial intelligence, shopper marketing, retail trends, the millennial / Gen Z shopper and the peer-to-peer economy.
A Snapshot of Ken’s Keynote Session
During his keynote session, Ken will dive deeper into our rapidly evolving “digital first” world, as digital convenience continues to accelerate. Although you can instantly get everything you need in one click or swipe, digital experiences can sometimes feel very transactional and two-dimensional, lacking any depth, empathy or connection. And while we speak a lot about customer lifetime value, brand loyalty and shopper experience, we have to ask ourselves some hard questions relating to how we intend to build relationships deep enough to make an impact across the digital landscape.
The acceleration of new technology will drive digital transformation even further, and we’ll see the “blue dot consumer” continue to evolve.
How can retailers truly understand what these consumers want and expect out of the shopping experience, while also meeting their innate needs for connection, empathy and meaningful relationships? Ken will dive deep into what you really need to know moving forward, including:
- The evolution of the “blue dot consumer” and how the pandemic has accelerated their hunger to connect and co-create with others;
- The 10 key attributes for successful human relationships and map them on to customer interactions; and
- A tactical report card that will set you up for success.
More To Come
We look forward to welcoming you to Chicago in May to hear from leading experts and practitioners in the retail industry! Stay tuned to this blog as we continue to reveal more exciting keynote speakers for #RICE22 in the coming weeks.
