Simon Uwins
Day 2: More keynotes, More Networking
We had another great with some excellent speakers, presentations, and opportunities to network and interact with everyone. Yesterday was our first day of keynotes, and we had diverse perspectives that challenged attendees to consider how they consider trends, demographic segments and how consumers communicate their perspective.
Then the morning concluded with Billy Beane, General Manager, Oakland A's, who presented Transforming America's Pastime ' and What You Can Learn From It. It was actually very fascinating as you consider how the amount of statistics that is captured in every aspect of the game for every individual playing on the field, and yet so many management decisions that are made regarding these players do not use that data to influence their decision-making process. It really was surprising, and I think it left everyone considering how critical it is to get that their research data to senior management.
The morning began with E. Kinney Zalesne, Co-Author, Microtrends, The Small Forces behind tomorrow's big changes who gave her overview of the different microtrends that while not of the size of larger trends and segments, are clearly defined and influencing the expectations of these consumers. She did a great job by framing the discussion around the concept of a 'Starbucks Economy' vs a 'Ford Economy,' where the expectations today are framed by the ability of consumers to receive, even expect to receive, every premutation of a product, today it is consumer-determined vs. manufacturer-determined. I had a chance to record a few minutes of her presentations, you can listen to it here.
Then this presentation was followed by Simon Uwins, Chief Marketing Officer, Fresh & Easy, 
who discussed Uncovering New Opportunities in Retail Through Research, as he outlined his experience in first taking the role of CMO of Fresh & Easy, moving to the United States and worked on developing plans to enter different markets in the US. I also had a chance to record some great insights from him, you can listen to here.
who discussed Uncovering New Opportunities in Retail Through Research, as he outlined his experience in first taking the role of CMO of Fresh & Easy, moving to the United States and worked on developing plans to enter different markets in the US. I also had a chance to record some great insights from him, you can listen to here.
Next up, Lindsay Zaltman, Author, Marketing Metaphoria who discussed the different levels of meaning to consider as respondents use metaphors that can be capture for profound persepectives depending on how they are used. I had a chance to meet with him afterwards and speak to him about his work and some of the highlights of his presentations.
Then the morning concluded with Billy Beane, General Manager, Oakland A's, who presented Transforming America's Pastime ' and What You Can Learn From It. It was actually very fascinating as you consider how the amount of statistics that is captured in every aspect of the game for every individual playing on the field, and yet so many management decisions that are made regarding these players do not use that data to influence their decision-making process. It really was surprising, and I think it left everyone considering how critical it is to get that their research data to senior management. Overall a great morning of keynote presentations. Later today, you'll see more updates from April as she gives her highlights of some of the presentations from yesterday. Now I'm off to cover today's great presentations.