Fireside Chat with Tomas Granlund
Tomas Granlund runs Fiskars Group’s “BRUK”, a hub founded to create new and innovative concepts and services at the heart of a very traditional business, with a 370 year old roots. With a background in product and service development, Tomas Granlund's 20+ year career expands over several industries including consumer goods, technology and finance. He has previously held leadership roles in product management, service development, digital business and innovation at OP Financial Group, Nokia and an international startup.
?I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Tomas who has a wide and deep experience as a VP of New Business Development, as a COO running P&L and an advisory board member.
Nicole: What is your passion in work and business?
Tomas: As a person, I am very curious towards the new, and therefore I like to meet people, understand different perspectives and try new things. Consumer focus has always been high on my agenda, and I get great satisfaction when I see someone using a product or service I have been involved with. This can be something totally new or putting a fresh view on an already established business.?When reflecting on my career, I can also see a pattern of finding myself in challenging transformation projects where companies are transformed and changed into something new.
3 Trends in Retail: consumer focus on their home, Ecommerce will continue to accelerate, and "Rent vs. Buy" attitude.
Nicole: What are some trends that you see in the retail consumer goods and services in the last 3 years globally and in the Nordics?
Tomas: The last years have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 and many trends emerging from the pandemic are likely to continue. One that has been very significant for us at Fiskars Group, is that consumers continue to put a great focus on their home, a trend that is expected to continue despite the pandemic easing out. Ecommerce will continue to accelerate and this adoption will persist as customers remain channel loyal. One trend that we are following very closely is the rent vs buy habit, and the different forms of rental economy now starting to include almost any everyday consumer product you can think of. Circular economy is also playing a major role going forward where environmentally conscious consumers have an opportunity to service, reuse and recycle the objects they use in everyday life.
More brands move to a more direct to consumer model.
Nicole: With global e-commerce platforms (like Amazon, Alibaba) and regional players, where do you see the convergence happening and how are successful brands handling the transformations?
Tomas: Most successful bigger brands are working a lot with both Amazon, category pure players and traditional wholesale partners. At the same time there is an increased investment focus into one’s own eCom capabilities and many brands have plans to move more into a direct to consumer model. Each channel needs to play its own role and successful brands are providing unique value on their brand.com and own retail stores. Examples of this could be seamless omnichannel experience, unique assortment, content, personalization services, gifting, taste making etc.
Nicole: What has been the best decision you have made in terms of strategy and direction for a company?
Tomas: This is a hard question as strategy is seldom something that just one person or team decides, especially if you are working in a larger corporation. At my old workplace in the financial sector, the strategy to early focus on mobile as the primary channel was a great strategic choice. In my current role, I see that the focus on direct to consumer, ecom and new innovative service models could be the winning formula for the long term and I am happy that Fiskars Group has decided to invest heavily in this field. ?
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?Next generation of global consumer business making its mark from Finland.
Nicole: What do you think is an area of improvement for Finland to grow its economic presence in Europe and internationally?
Tomas: Back in the days, we had lots of people that used to work for Nokia with demanding roles abroad and knew how to run a consumer business on global scale. Finland has benefitted greatly from that competence as people moved on from Nokia. Today we have lots of new success cases where the next generation is making its mark and we can read about fantastic growth stories almost on a weekly basis.?Now the essential thing is to get this newly accumulated knowledge to benefit the society and take us to the next level. Success feeds success.
Nicole: If there is one thing that you can do to change how Finland is promoted, what would it be?
Tomas: Need to walk the talk here as I am working for a house of brands. We tend to be very feature driven, technical and rational when it comes to promoting our products, company or even our country. People often want to hear inspiring stories and make an emotional connection before they move on to the more rational part. So, we should try to win the hearts first and the brain next??
Nicole: What advice can you give to mid-career professionals who are looking for their next challenge?
Tomas: Make a list for yourself on what the most important things are in terms of your career, what your passion is and where you can add most value. That list will help a lot when talking to recruiters, hiring managers etc. I would also recommend trying to get a job in a different industry than the one you are currently working in. That gives a lot of perspective, and the best teams I have worked with have always been a blend of long industry expertise combined with positive challenges from newcomers bringing in fresh views.
Nicole: Which are the areas where you could help others in the Kaato group?
Tomas: I have been involved in bringing lots of products and services to the market, both physical and digital, local and global. So, you can always get an opinion and feedback from me, in a positively challenging way. I have a large network, across many industries, that can be utilized for finding collaboration opportunities or partnerships. Fiskars BRUK is also a great platform for companies that want to innovate around global, known consumer brands, so always looking out for cooperation possibilities there as well. ?
Nicole: What is your pet project or something you like to do??
Tomas: I love spending time in the archipelago. We have a place in Tammisaari and I try to spend as much time there as possible. The changing seasons at the sea are fascinating. With two teenage boys that are active football players, you can also find me quite often at the pitch, either training or cheering during an exciting game.
Thanks, Tomas, for the heart-to-heart chat about the trends in retail consumer businesses and the circular economy trends of the consumers going forward.
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