Live from FOCI 2013: The Future Consumer, brought to life by one shot visuals

Perhaps the most refreshing start to the day is having a presentation that is essentially not a presentation, but rather a movie, a conversation, or simply a kaleidoscopic peak into the future. The opening at FOCI13 epitomizes the fact that there is no room for templates, formality or the usual conservativeness usually associated with crisp corporate.

The learnings are that consumers and corporate are becoming more open to informality, change, and embracing the variety of options to communicate - via mobile, social, or simply empowered with the notion that their opinion matters. And with more ways to communicate with each other and brands - the one spiking currently being Snapchat, the market is becoming crowded, busy, and with the need for sounder research. Ethnic diversity, cost savvy-ness, sharing (versus ownership) and the likes are all consequential findings. It ends on an interesting note of the existence of technology, and if there is really a threshold of how much we really need it.

Jaspar Roos, with all his Dutch humor (having lived in Holland and working with a Dutch company, I'd know this!) and livelihood of poking fun at industries from banking to insurance, made for an engaging opening speaker. Not only did he share the aforementioned learnings, but brought to life an important point: you don't need a slide deck for an effective presentation. An apt collection of powerful images is sufficient to relay a truthful, often harsh, but very candid reality.