From the SMX West Conference in San Jose, California, March 21-23, 2017. SESSION: Consumer-Led Change: How To Stay Relevant & Build Success. PRESENTATION: Consumer Lead Change: How to Stay Relevant and Build Success - Given by Duane Forrester, @duaneforrester - Bruce Clay Inc., VP, Operations. #SMX #32C3

1. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
Consumer-led Change
How to Stay Relevant
and Build Success

2. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
Who Am I?

3. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
In 2016 Moosylvania
(an ad agency) spoke
with more than 1500
Millennials to find out
what brands they love.
Here are their top 12
brands.
Brands Millennials Love

4. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
• Target owns the affordable/stylish
intersection. They’ve also stopped labeling
their toys for gender and offer gender-
neutral décor options.
• Apple is the leader in design and a master
at creating a usable, useful ecosystem that
captures users.
• Google has a similar ecosystem approach
but layers on the depth of search
knowledge/data.
• Amazon is a leader in easy
shopping/fulfillment and often a price
leader. Convenience clinches it for them.
Why Millennials Love These Brands
Convenience Value
Connectedness Innovation
Social Awareness Accessibility

5. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
• GenZ alone is 25% of the US population today – close to 100m people
• Inheriting control over 6+ trillion dollars in wealth
• Affected by the recession; savers not spenders
• Believe in corporate responsibility
• They describe themselves as:
– Loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, determined
– Competitive, adventuresome, spontaneous, curious
• Want to be trusted by them?
– You need to link your business with actions the generation wants to see - corporate giving, community
involvement, ethical practices, adherence to standards, etc.
Beyond Millennials

6. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
Pyramid of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
The FUTURE of CSR:
Economic/legal/ethical &
philanthropic responsibilities.
Creation of public value,
establishing long-lasting
relationships with benefiting
organizations.
Philanthropic Responsibilities
(Be a good corporate citizen)
Contribute resources to the community;
improve the quality of life
Ethical Responsibilities
(Be ethical)
Obligation to do what is right, just and fair;
avoid harm
Legal Responsibilities
(Obey the law)
Law is society’s codification of right & wrong;
play by the rules
Economic Responsibilities
(Be profitable)
The foundation for all businesses/commerce
u Millennials are
changing the face
of CSR:
u 70% consider
themselves to be
“social activists”
u 75% believe
corporations
should create
economic value
for society by
addressing needs
u “CSR is millennials’
new religion.”
The PAST of CSR:
Economic/legal/ethical
responsibilities. Avoiding
harm and donating to
benefiting organizations.
1
1 – Quote by Andrew Swinand, co-founder of
Chicago-based Frequency540 (startup accelerator)
CSR Pyramid source: Carroll/The
Pyramid of CSR, Swinand/Crain’s
Chicago Business
Slide originally created and shared by Roland Berger corp.

7. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
Influentials
Shifting, Celebs
Losing Ground
Friendship v.
Fanship
Engagement v.
Push
Source: Youtube 2016

8. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
What else do you need
to be aware of?
Major Shake Ups in our Midst

9. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
The Sharing Economy
• Zipcar, Mechakari, Rent The Runway, Audi
– the list goes on
• Consumers are moving from owning to
sharing.
• Cars, clothes, fashion, bikes, movies, etc.
• Leading fashion sharing app Mechakari is
supported by Stripe International. Long
term try before buying.
• Sharing means knowing where things are,
where you will be and matching the two to
smooth the path to consumer.

10. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
Search Game Changers
• Amazon Echo, Cortana, GAssistant, Siri – all seeing
significant investments
• Voice control functionality will lead GenZ to fully embrace
voice search - it's about being familiar with how to use
technology.
• Context will influence content even more. Forcing
businesses to learn new ways to be relevant. It's going to be
important as coming generations are moved away from
infinite choices and towards a select few,
proven, reliable results.

11. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
AI will change apps and allow then to think logically like humans.
Not immediately at the same level, but enough to start help problem
solving and deductive reasoning evolve into apps. This will help
them help us better and faster.
First to feel the effects:
§ Autonomous vehicles and delivery drones will change our life
patterns
§ Home service robots will help clean and provide security
monitoring
§ Smart sensors will monitor blood sugar and organ function,
improving health
§ Food distribution and crime analysis will improve
§ Robots will take over base-level jobs like inventory movement,
meeting scheduling and basic financial advice
Artificial Intelligence
http://stanford.io/
2bLQYny
Search evolves; apps
evolve; assistants truly help

12. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
• Loyalty programs free of attachments
• No fees, restrictions or minimums
• Rewards for social media engagement
• Retweets, shares, pins, likes generate reward points
• Amplifying their CSR
• Getting caught being a good community member – effective PR, not
window dressing
• Blending programs – seo, ppc, social all working to communicate
the same campaign message
Tactics of Those Successful Brands

13. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
• YouTube
• You cannot afford to skip this in your mix
• Quality doesn’t need to be perfect
• Usefulness of content matters
• Markup, Mobile, Usability
• Get these implemented & close to perfected
• Reviews matter, so engage & manage
• Customer Journey
• Legit personas, consumer pathways,
anticipate needs
More Tactics That Matter
A good player skates to where the
puck is.
A great player skates to where the
puck is going to be.

14. #SMX #32C3 @duaneforrester
LEARN MORE: UPCOMING @SMX EVENTS
THANK YOU!
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX