2 Continents, 3 Conferences, 5 Key 'New Consumer' Takeaways

Having just unpacked my case (again) from a 17,000km round trip via New York, Texas and London, I am once again left with great memories and enthusiasm from all the attendees I met at each of the three great conferences I had the honour of keynoting.

I want to thank the organizers of the Retail Innovation Conference, The Identity Summit ForgeRock and the enormous RBTE show and all those delegates attending for the fantastic welcome and for allowing me to share my ideas and thoughts on the future of consumerism and branding.

For those new contacts, here are my top 5 key takeaways regarding the new consumer:

1. Stay Relevant. It is only by truly understanding what consumers want (out of life and thus brands and businesses) that we succeed in business. Take your eye of relevance or understanding what consumers now value, and your game is over
2. Build a business that is truly 'Blue Dot' - centered around the user, responsive to their every move and desire, and puts them at the centre. Businesses that remain product or operationally centered will not thrive with the new consumer
3. Authenticity is a key value driver for branding, so learn to inject some significant personality and point of difference into the offering and how you do business. The new consumer prefers to consume brands where they have some element of 'self identification' through the partnership
4. Deliver an experience along the customer journey that allows the customer to tell your brand story to others. Shareable Experiential Equity and attaining an Empowered Consumer is your ultimate target, one that will sell your product inside their peer network for you
5. Personalize. This is key. Gone are the days where mass market appeal made sense. Today's consumer wants it customized, unique, special. They expect you to know them, and know what they need next. Invest in the systems that allow you to ID your customer at lightning speed, no matter where they are on the customer journey.