Global futurist. Innovative strategist. Bestselling author. Inspiring speaker.
We are in the midst of a new revolution. The internet, social media, and mobile technologies have transformed how customers interact with brands and how companies market their products and services. It has transformed products themselves, customer experiences, business models, and organisation structures. It has transformed markets, customer aspirations and how value is created.
Most significantly it is a mental shift. From marketing organisations built around brand managers, campaign schedules, paid-for advertising and distribution channels – to a world where the only limit is imagination and time – tweets are unlimited, Facebook pages are free, social influence is done by customers. Whilst the technologies are fascinating – VR helmets and data analytics – it is the mindset that makes the difference.
Consider the journey of marketing from a world before digital (the old paradigm of product-push, advertising enabled, mass-marketing) to a world where digital came to the for (today’s world of websites and mobile apps, social and interactive, more connected, more customer-centric). Now consider what the next phase looks like, going above and beyond digital (to embrace intelligence, fuelled and inspired by the new generation of technologies, but only limited by our imagination).
Digital has transformed every market, as well as the very essence of marketing. Marketing beyond digital takes your brand further and faster:
Bigger ideas … Marketing is about big ideas, that connect with people in more relevant and realtime ways. Ideas about their lives, enabling them to achieve more. These ideas come from deep insight, building brands with more meaning, and then solving real problems for mutual benefit. Ideas spread through word of mouth, or tweets and likes, accelerated by social influencers and shared passions.
Smarter innovation … Marketing is been shaken up in a digital world, no longer centred around products and campaigns, advertising and selling … it is about engaging people in new ways, with new channels, and new incentives, creating business models that generate revenues in new ways. All marketing is digital, it is how it harnesses the power of data and technology to succeed more creatively.
Personal identity … Marketing gives people a richer identity, about who they are, what they believe and aspire to be. Brands are a reflection of customers not companies, communities and causes. Markets are increasingly fragmented, tribal and turbulent. Millennials add a new wave expectation and desire. Customer-centric marketing is all about you – on your terms, what and how, when and where you want it.
Radical imagination … Marketing brings new solutions to life through new technologies, co-created or customised with customers, brought to life through virtual and augmented reality, delivered in anticipation of needs by using big data to surprise and inspire people. Marketing can sometimes be accused of selling you what you don’t need, but it is also the platform for exploring possibilities, and a better life.
Business impact … Marketing is the driving force of profitable growth, turning ideas into innovation, solutions into sales, futures into financial success. In a world where customers trust each other more than companies, it is networks that drive success – networks of partners, networks of customers, networks of participants. Time to market is accelerated, old decision processes are disrupted, impact can be instant.
Unleashing technology … Marketing is digital in everything it does. Digital is more than an app, a website, a fan page or a headset. Digital is about harnessing the power of data and networks to transform markets, and the relationship with and between customers. Whilst routine activities are automated and accelerated, technology gives marketers the opportunity to dream, to dare and to of further than ever before.
Digital is transforming every market, as well as the very essence of marketing. But marketing is now more than digital, it moves to the next generation of technologies, but also to realise its humanity, and potential to transform business and beyond.
Inspiration comes from a positive outlook on a confusing and uncertain world. It comes from being able to make sense of often-bewildering change, and to have a clarity and confidence about what the future holds. It is not just about great words, it must be real – authentic, human and desirable.
Leaders enrich, engage and enable their people, and their businesses, to go further.
Too often we see leadership revert to its classic pyramidal model, where the leader stands at the top of the organisation, encouraging his (hopefully, just as frequently, her) people forwards. They have learnt not to command in the old way, but they still see themselves as coordinators from on high, and controllers of the organisation machine.
But leadership is more than that today, and increasingly not that. The leader gives the organisation energy and purpose, sets a style that becomes a culture, and the hands-on impetus to continually think different and do better. As a business we could do anything, enter any market or sector. So organisations requires a more active style of ongoing leadership – better choices, clarity of navigation, and momentum.
Leaders catalyse, connect, communicate and coach.
Most importantly, they amplify potential.
Today there is much to be anxious about when we get up each day. Uncertainty reigns as rapid change disrupts expectations and social norms. The old institutions are fractured and economic conditions fluctuate widely. Threats abound, from climate change to cyberterrorism. The relentless pace can make you want to curl up in a corner, wary of what might come next.
Or you look ahead, through the chaos and complexity, ready to build a better tomorrow.
Here are a few inspirations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ENp2BQ8lE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk98pvCMaWw
Fast Company magazine recently summarised 10 attributes for leaders of today, seeking more courage and confidence, to see the future with more optimism.
1. Move quick
When Ford CEO Jim Hackett talks about leading the 115-year-old company that he took over in 2017, he acknowledges the need to speed up its metabolism—to try more new things. It’s one reason he’s endorsed fast prototyping at Ford’s new Greenfield Labs in Palo Alto. If Ford wants to withstand the revolutions of autonomous driving and next-generation engines, Hackett knows, its culture has to move beyond methodical and reliable. But Hackett also isn’t saying what Ford’s precise business model will be after these revolutions play out. And he’s okay with that uncertainty. He’s too impatient to stand still, yet deeply patient about selecting an ultimate course of action.
2. Take time to think
Someone once told me, “Before you say something in anger, count backward from 100.” Keeping calm is one of the hardest challenges in times of stress. It is also the route to gaining perspective. When Questlove talks about his love of silence—and how it serves as a creative engine for him—he’s definitely onto something. The sound of silence is the sound of someone thinking.
3. Have a point of view
One of my favorite verses from the musical Hamilton is the lead character’s admonition of Aaron Burr early in the play: “If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?” As leaders and as businesses, we are defined by the positions we take on the most difficult issues. To Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, that means pledging to hire 100,000 “opportunity youth.” To soccer star Abby Wambach, that means support for both U.S. patriotism and Colin Kaepernick. As Nike’s Hannah Jones puts it, “A brand that doesn’t stand for something is no longer a brand worth working for.” This is not a moment to be shy.
4. Be a force for change
Government officials may claim to be stewards of our social contract, but other institutions provide their own leadership as well. “Think about the sustainability movement,” says Nike’s Jones. “You fly across the world and you see windmill farms everywhere. It doesn’t matter what the U.S. administration is doing; we are all moving to renewable energy.” From education to gender identity norms, businesses play a central role in advancing global culture. Forward-thinking leaders embrace that responsibility with conviction.
5. Don’t forget, you’re human
In our tech-filled world of always-on connectivity, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence, direct interaction provides the ultimate competitive advantage. As Ideo’s Fred Dust argues, face-to-face engagement is a dwindling art. Yet it is empathy that unlocks so much capacity and creativity. Whether in a one-on-one situation or a one-to-many forum, listening is an essential skill. As Brandless CEO Tina Sharkey says, “People are craving human interaction. That’s going to move the needle more than any technology you could ever dream up.”
6. Cross the line
Traditional demarcations of “generations”—what differentiates one age cohort from another—are becoming muddy, as experience takes precedence over age. While seasoned executives still have wisdom to share with young talents—Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood calls the training of young people “probably the most important mark I hope to leave”—modern mentorship is a two-way street. West Elm’s Doug Guiley admits to leaning on his 12-year-old daughter for perspective on his brand. He’s hardly alone in appreciating the fresh eyes and intuition of digital natives.
7. Respect complexity
Even as businesses work to project confidence in a competitive world, we all have to get comfortable with a higher-than-usual degree of messiness if we want to iterate at the pace of global change. “We can’t think about being perfect, we just have to keep moving forward,” says Dell Technologies’ Elizabeth Gore. Whether the topic is bitcoin or AI, we have to accept that our knowledge is incomplete, that lifelong learning is required. Actor Kate Hudson, who cofounded athleisure brand Fabletics, groans at the prospect of robots invading the retail experience—yet she acknowledges that her company will inevitably need to reckon with them.
8. Embrace differences
Diversity is not just a social issue; it is a business requirement. Having “a lot of different people in the room,” says Morgan Stanley’s Carla Harris, unlocks broader ideas and opportunities. What’s more, says Professor Michael Kimmel, diversity must be aligned with inclusion, breaking down silos and freeing voices. Whether it’s TV writer Lena Waithe discussing her emotional, Emmy-winning coming-out episode of Master of None, or drag queens Sasha Velour, Milk, and BibleGirl sparking dialogue around how we talk about gender with our kids, uncomfortable topics help us all to grow.
9. Raise your expectations
Millennials “are getting into positions of leadership faster than we did,” says Morgan Stanley’s Harris. “That is going to cause companies that have been around a long time to change.” A parallel transformation is under way in the consumer marketplace. Sundial’s Bonin Bough uses the term “promiscuous” to describe consumers, not in a derogatory sense, but to underscore how fluid our relationships with products and brands—and employers—have become. That sets the bar higher for everyone, to be more consistent, more responsive, more essential. Yesterday’s achievements just don’t hold the same weight; today’s best practices are tomorrow’s table stakes.
10. Do it, don’t just talk about it
To hear Kimbal Musk and Dan Barber argue about the future of food is like glimpsing two parallel visions of the future. Will we grow produce in vertical farms within cities, as Musk would have it? Or will we return to family farming that balances ecology, sustainability, and health, as Barber prefers? Neither course would be considered likely by most analysts, and yet that skepticism bothers the two of them not at all. The fact that their visions are difficult to execute is part of what drives them. They take nothing for granted—and they put everything they have into remaking this vital sector. In the process, they open the door to a better way for all of us.
Elon Musk has become the Thomas Edison of our times. Whilst his part role in the success of PayPal may not have transformed our lives, it funded his imagination, and the possibilities to change our futures in ways that science fiction writers could not even dream of.
Go to his SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and every employee has a very clear sense of purpose. “We’re going to Mars” is the unanimous first words. Within the next 7 years.
I often say that the next 10 years will see more change than the last 250 years. Anyone who wants to get a sense of how real that could be, should read Elon Musk’s occasional letters to the world. His most recent letter, in July 2016, captures his bold ambition and life-changing plans.
On the future, he says: “There’s a fundamental difference, if you look into the future, between a humanity that is a space-faring civilization, that’s out there exploring the stars … compared with one where we are forever confined to Earth until some eventual extinction event.”
Of course, many of his projects including travelling to Mars sound like fantasies. He disagrees, saying “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.”
Last week he took another step forwards, unveiling plans for a new spacecraft that he says would allow his company SpaceX to colonise Mars, build a base on the moon, and allow commercial travel to anywhere on Earth in under an hour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcVpMJp9Th4
The spacecraft is currently still codenamed the BFR (Big Fucking Rocket – not sure why he feels he needs the F word?!). He says the company hopes to have the first launch by 2022, and then have four flying to Mars by 2024.
Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide Australia on Friday, he said the company had figured out a way to pay for the project. The key, he said, was to “cannibalise” all of SpaceX’s other products. Instead of operating a number of smaller spacecrafts to deliver satellites into orbit and supply the International Space Station, he said the BFR would eventually be used to complete all of its missions.
SpaceX has been working feverishly on reusable spacecraft designs, now completing 16 successful landings in a row of its Falcon9 rocket. That was the key to allowing the ambitious design to be economic, he said. “It’s really crazy that we build these sophisticated rockets and then crash them every time we fly,” he said. “This is mad.”
Musk said the cost of fuel is low, and so if the crafts were fully reusable, the costs of flights drop dramatically. He said the company had already started building the system, with construction of the first ship to begin next year. “I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and be ready for a launch in five years,” he said.
By 2024, Musk said he wanted to fly four ships to Mars, two of which would have crew in them. By that stage, they planned to be able to build a plant on the surface of Mars that would be able to synthesise fuel for return journeys back from Mars.
For a trip to Mars, he said the craft would be able to hold about 100 people in 40 cabins. But he said once the ship is built, it could be used to travel on Earth too. He did not estimate the cost of such flights, but said that most long-distance flights could be completed in 30 minutes, and you could get anywhere on Earth in under an hour.
“If we’re building this thing to go to the Moon and Mars then why not go to other places on earth as well,” he said. He said the size of the payload – which would allow items with a diameter of just under 9m – means larger satellites could be delivered to orbit in a single mission.
At a presentation at last years IAC conference in Mexico, Musk described the earlier iteration of the system with more details about the costs. For that earlier version, he said the cost of sending a person on the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System would be around $200,000. Musk suggested that multiple space rockets could take 100 people each over 40 to 100 years until a million people lived there.
“It was much too big and fantastical,” said Robert Zubrin, president and founder of Mars Society, a non-profit that promotes human settlement of Mars.
Musk’s proposal for getting a million people to Mars as quickly as possible was, Zubrin said, “like a D-Day landing”. Instead, Musk should be thinking of sending just ten people to set up an agricultural base, Zubrin said.
“Then send 20 more people and so forth to develop capabilities to make steel and eventually create institutions like schools.”
“He typically goes into something with over-reach,” Zubrin added, referring to Musk’s tendency to overpromise with many of his projects, including delivery dates of Teslas and the Hyperloop. “But he’s able to take criticism and adjust things to become achievable,” said Zubrin. “If he reduces his launch system from 500 tons to 150 tons or less, that would show he’s serious and would move him from the realm of vision to the realm of engineering.”
Lockheed Martin also presented an idea for a manned Mars mission at the Adelaide event. The aerospace company outlined a six-person space station called Mars Base Camp that it thinks could be orbiting the red planet by 2028 along with a lander that could descend to the surface. Astronauts on the space station could carry out scientific research and exploration work, including operating rovers and identifying landing spots on the surface of the planet for larger vehicles.
The bigger picture of Musk’s world is dominated by Tesla, as well as SpaceX and Hyperloop. In a recent interview (TED, May 2017) he talked about the many projects, and what drives him:
Hyperloop One first test runs on the SFO-LAX loop:
SpaceX Falcon 9 landing, launching and relanding:
Tesla 3, sustainable driving becomes mainstream:
Neuralink, his latest venture, fusing the human brain and AI:
And a fun Late Show interview asks is he a super villain?
Brands and business need to be bold and brave to win in today’s world. They need to stand up for what they believe in the world, to talk about more than their products, to care about their societies and futures.
Of course ‘purpose’, ‘meaning’, ‘relevance’ are all keywords during any strategy workshop which I facilitate, but in recent times they have started to really matter. To have substance beyond slogans, and to shape the way organisations think and behave. To be real and human, authentic and trustworthy. The best brands are embracing this in quite dramatic and daring ways.
There was a time when all that companies seemed to care about was themselves – their heritage and quality, to be the best in their industry, to maximise returns to their shareholders. Then they slowly shifted attention to customers, leading to rather meaningless statements about putting customers first, service matters and lifetime relationships. Whilst the shift to become customer-centric can be significant and profound, it still sounded hollow – textbook words that lacked passion and difference.
But then the world started to be shaken up like it hadn’t in many decades. Instead of relative peace, stability and certainty, a tidal wave of economic instability rolled at lightening speed across the digitally-connected world. The frustration and aspiration which followed led to revolutions and radicalisation. The Arab Spring toppled dictators and unleashed new religious extremism, war and terror, and floods of refugees across geographical borders that had been eroding for years. At the same time, Russia grabbed a piece of Ukraine, claiming ethnicity means sovereignty, and tried to recreate polarities between east and west.
A new wave a fearful, nationalistic and divisive politicians jumped on the bandwagon, sweeping people up without logic or humanity, from Brexit to Trump, as symbols of change. They challenged the established order. A new world order started to emerge, but not led by Britain or America. China’s rise has been profound, although its debt mountain is fragile, whilst other emerging markets have emerged to drive the world’s faltering economy. And at the same time, Polemon Go came and went, Snapchat captured a new generation, cyberhacking became the new form of attack, and presidents told blatant lies like fake news was simply a different channel.
VUCA was no longer just a military term – volatile, uncertain, complex, ambitious – it applied to every aspect of work and life.
Polarisation, localisation, extremism and have been the consequences of progress, connectedness and democracy. People who used to yearn for change – to love social and tech progress, to travel the world, to embrace the future – and the sure way in which any new politician could galvanise followers – now seem to reject change. Whilst it felt like people were more engaged, they didn’t seem to care – climate change declared a hoax by the US president, people banned from travel simply because of religion, a hatred of diversity, and walls emerging between the closest neighbours. This isn’t the 21st century we signed up to.
What does all this mean for business and brands?
Companies are a highly visual and practical part of this polarising world.
Leading brands have started to assert their voice, and take sides. They need to, in order to stay relevant but also to make real choices about how they work, treat people, and do business. Brands are the icons of today’s world – they can often have more influence than governments, relevance and maybe trust, working across traditional borders and social divides.
But taking sides also has consequences – it means not everybody will like you. Instead some will love you, others might hate you. Actually it was Nike and Starbuck’s marketer Scott Bedbury said that this is the perfect role of a brand – to polarise people.
Whilst politicians have lost their heads, and electorates are left spinning by what is real and fake – and others more extremely seek to whip up a frenzy of thoughtless action – then it is left to brands to fight for a better world, to stick up for fairness and equality, and to re-embrace a positive future.
Challenger brands have long embraced polarisation, knowing that the potential upside of being loved by one tribe and loathed by another is better than people feeling indifferent. These polarised times however, mean people are expecting brands of all shapes and sizes to choose which side of the fence they sit. The results of which have allowed for some glorious rubbernecking as brands discover the quickfire consequences of taking sides.
With a flurry of new #Boycott <Brand> trending every day. It doesn’t matter what you sell, no brand is safe from a consumer who believes you have backed the wrong side. In the current climate, it’s impossible to please everybody, and as such, no particular position is safe.
Take Starbucks’ response to Trump’s potential so-called travel ban. The brand pledged to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. Howard Shultz launch a direct assault on his president, reminding people that we are all human and equal, and that Starbuck’s would not stand by watching unfairness. Whilst many people met this gesture with cheers, #BoycottStarbucks began trending on Twitter.
Similarly, Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad which was deemed as pro-immigration led to angry threats to ditch the (previously considered ‘all-American’) beer whilst others pledged to buy it in bulk. This highlighted that responding to our split political climate can lead to both good and bad-will in equal measure. Many other Super Bowl ads took a similar stance. Movie and sports stars have been similar in their vocalness.
At a grassroots level, people are combining their efforts across multiple targets with both #TheResistance and #GrabYourWallet movements. As punishment for toeing the new White House’s party line, these aim to hit brands where it hurts most – in the pocket.
Under Armour fell foul to a backlash after their CEO Kevin Plank expressed his excitement at having such a ‘pro-business president’. Sponsored athletes vocally condemned this point of view and #BoycottUnderArmour gained momentum. In response, Plank took out a full page ad in The Baltimore Sun where he used a letter to personally clarify that he did not agree with Trump’s approach to social justice.
Similarly, sparks flew when fashion retailer Nordstrom pulled Ivanka Trump’s brand from their range after sales began to plummet. Unsurprisingly, Nordstrom received a huffy tweet from President Trump himself and once again, the twitterati responses involved adulation and disgust in seemingly equal measure.
Where brands claim they haven’t taken a side, assumptions are quickly made on where they may stand. Take Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Building Global Community’ manifesto questioning whether collectively ‘we are building the world we all want’. Although avoiding specifics, Zuckerberg’s choice of language around ‘divisiveness’ and ‘isolation’ led to swift interpretations of an anti-Trump message.
For years brands were dying to ‘join the conversation’ and now they’re involved, people are demanding more from them. And since this boycott train doesn’t feel like it is slowing down, brands need to be confident and consistent in delivering on what they believe. It needs to pervade their business, in passion and action, not just intent and words. For a brand with a clear, longstanding purpose, taking a side is made much easier.
Take Airbnb, who have been galvanised by the passion of CMO Jonathan Mildenhall and his team. From capturing their brand around the bigger idea of ‘belong everywhere’ to their ‘community commitment’ request where they ask travellers to accept their terms and conditions of use, their ‘we accept’ Super Bowl ad, to their support for minority groups in society, they have a purpose that goes far beyond image, slogan or campaign.
Take a little inspiration from this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c23OBLQFcCw
Now is the time for brand’s to show who they are, to have a personality and attitude, a purpose and conscience, and follow though in practical and meaningful ways – to stand up and have an opinion, express a point of view, create debate and inspire a better future – to be positive, bold and inspiring.
Forbes Magazine today publishes its own list of Global Gamechangers … focusing on the individual leaders behind some of the world’s most disruptive innovators. The list complements well with my own ranking of Gamechanger companies which you can explore in more detail here.
In particular its great to see some fabulous female leaders on this list, women like Sara Blakely of Spanx and Katrine Bosley of Editas. What Sara can do for your body shape and confidence, Katrine can do for your future health and wellbeing
Together these Gamechangers are great leaders and innovators – leveraging technology, finance and sheer brainpower to upend entire sectors and transform the everyday lives of billions. To compile their list, Forbes started by screening hundreds of companies for growth, innovation and global presence. They only considered for-profit entities with a market value of more than $1 billion, although we all recognise that smaller, focused business can be incredibly disruptive too. Although they sought balance in terms of industries and geography, inclusion was mostly determined, in the end, by the brilliance of their ideas and the audacity of their ambition.
Here’s the list, in alphabetical order:
Marc Benioff, 51
Founder, CEO, Salesforce.com
United States
Cloud-computing pioneer
has upended the software business with its ubiquitous customer relationship software. Revenues, which were $6.7 billion in 2015, continue to grow at 30% annual clip.
“What we’re using today will be obsolete in a few years. The past is never the future.” Aug. 8, 2011
Jeff Bezos, 52
Founder, CEO, Amazon.com
United States
First books, then retail. Now movies and data farms. Next: drones and grocery delivery. Bezos seems to remake an industry nearly every year, and Amazon has global sales of nearly $110 billion.
“We are comfortable planting seeds and waiting for them to grow into trees.” Apr. 23, 2012
Brought the discount airline model to the developing world, supersized it and made it profitable. IndiGo is now India’s largest and most profitable carrier, with 29 million passengers in 2015, or 2 in 5 domestic fliers. Recently expanded to Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, Kathmandu and Muscat.
“We keep asking ourselves: What other cost can we remove without losing a single customer? This is our religion, and it serves us well.” Oct. 20, 2014
Sara Blakely, 45
Founder, Spanx
United States
In just over a decade Spanx has become a byword for shapewear in the same way Kleenex is for tissues, spawning dozens of competitors and copycats. Blakely still owns 100% of the brand, which had estimated sales of $400 million last year, ships to 61 countries and is rolling out its own brick-and-mortar network (14 stores and counting).
“I’m game for anything. The company has to pull me back.” Mar. 26, 2012
Katrine Bosley, 47
CEO, Editas Medicine
United States
Bosley is spearheading the push to turn CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology that has been called a word processor for DNA because of its low cost and ease of use, into new medicines. Its first treatment, soon to be tested in humans, is for Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease. It is also developing cancer-killing cells with Juno Therapeutics of Seattle, Wash. After a successful IPO earlier this year, the company is already worth some $1.5 billion.
Brian Chesky, 34
Cofounder, CEO, Airbnb
United States
The first smash hit of the share economy, Airbnb has provided beds for more than
60 million since 2008. The company offers accommodations in 34,000 cities in 190 countries, including Cuba.
“People providing these services in many ways are entrepreneurs or micro-entrepreneurs. They’re more independent, more liberated, a little more economically empowered.”
Feb. 11, 2013
Daniel Ek, 33
coFounder, CEO, Spotify
Sweden
After Napster nearly destroyed the music business, Ek found a way to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, offering up millions of tunes and splitting the revenue (from a combo of subscriptions and ads) with the artists and labels. His service is available in 59 nations and has 75 million monthly active users.
“It disturbed me that the music industry had gone down the drain, even though people were listening to more music than ever and from a greater diversity of artists.” Jan. 16, 2012
Jay Flatley, 63
CEO, Illumina
United States
Not long ago it cost $200,000 to sequence one person’s genome. Now, thanks to Illumina, the cost is around $1,000 per person, opening up the possibility of truly individualized medicine. Sales increased 19% to $2.2 billion in 2015, and profits went up 21% to $490 million. Flatley has even greater ambitions: A new subsidiary, Grail, is working on inventing a simple blood test that can catch cancer in its earliest stages.
“If we remain the leader in sequencing we can grow our company with a much more fantastic return on investment than anything else.” Sept. 8, 2014
Ilene Gordon, 62
CEO, Ingredion
United States
High-fructose corn syrup is cheap, plentiful and terrible for you. The stuff is still a part of Ingredion’s core business, but Gordon is focused on turning corn (and berries, fruits and potatoes) into ingredients for organic, gluten-free and non-GMO foods. It’s working. Specialty sales, which include gluten-free ingredients, have gone from 5% of revenue to 25% on Gordon’s watch, and could hit 30%, or more than $2 billion, by 2019.
Terry Gou, 65
Founder,
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn)
Taiwan
Without Gou you probably couldn’t afford that iPhone in your pocket. Marrying a low-cost workforce with high-precision assembly has transformed Foxconn from a small plastics supplier into the largest electronics maker in the world. Its most famous customer is Apple: It has made about 80% of all iPhones on the planet. Over the past five years revenues have increased 20% to $141.2 billion, and profits have grown to $4.6 billion. The company recently agreed to buy Sharp, the venerable Japanese consumer-electronics concern.
Reed Hastings, 55
Cofounder, CEO, Netflix
United States
Whether you want your entertainment delivered in the mail on a DVD or prefer to stream it on your phone, Netflix is there for you. Having conquered distribution, Hastings’ company is now gunning for network status, producing critically acclaimed binge-watchable blockbusters like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. In January Netflix made its service available in 130 more countries, effectively doubling its footprint. The number of subscribers has expanded by 30% since 2014.
Jen-Hsun Huang, 53
Cofounder, CEO, Nvidia
United States
Nvidia is best-known for making the high-end graphics chips used by gamers to soup up their PCs. Its single-minded pursuit of creating better-looking aliens has also led the company to a slew of related technological advances. Some of the fastest supercomputers in the world run on its Tesla chips, and the firm has a portfolio of 7,300 patents used in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.
“The more content there is, the more visual interest there can be, the more processing horsepower people need.” Jan. 7, 2008
Wang Jianlin, 61
founder, Dalian Wanda Group, China
Wang became China’s richest man by shrewdly playing the high-stakes Beijing real estate market. Now he is making an equally shrewd move to hedge his bets by diversifying globally. Most recently he purchased the AMC movie theater chain for $2.6 billion in 2012 and earlier this year spent $3.5 billion for Legendary Entertainment, maker of Godzilla and Straight Outta Compton. Group revenue was up 19% in 2015 to $44 billion.
“Legendary is a gateway to cultural and financial alignment between the Hollywood moviemaking world and the rapidly expanding Chinese marketplace.” Feb. 29, 2016
Travis Kalanick, 39
Cofounder, CEO, Uber
United States
Hailing a taxi often used to mean overpaying for a ride in a dirty jalopy. No more. Uber’s rides are affordable, clean and, because of its rating system for both drivers and passengers, nearly always pleasant. Uber is available in 405 cities around the world and in some markets is also available for food and other deliveries. The company has raised more than $10 billion, valuing it above $62 billion.
Alexander Karp, 48
Cofounder, CEO, Palantir Technologies
United States
Big brother meets big data. Karp’s secretive firm is the go-to partner for central governments, law enforcement agencies and multinationals trying to glean actionable intelligence from massive data sets. Palantir has helped capture terrorists, thwarted sex traffickers and identified rogue traders. The CIA was an early investor (and client), but customers now include foreign governments, the NYPD, JPMorgan and Hershey. Its last round of funding, in December 2015, valued the company at $20.5 billion.
“The only time I’m not thinking about Palantir is when I’m swimming, practicing Qigong or during sexual activity.” Sept. 2, 2013
Osman Kibar, 45
Founder, CEO, Samumed
United States
The new biotech billionaire is backed by a deep purse of international money that has raised $270 million from investors gambling that the Turkish-American scientist has discovered a real fountain of youth (read the full story).
Bom Kim, 37
Founder, CEO, Coupang
South Korea
The Harvard-trained Kim is beating Jeff Bezos at his own game in South Korea (read the full story).
Jorge Paulo Lemann, 76
CoFounder, 3G Capital
United States
With the backing of Warren Buffett, Brazil’s richest man (whose firm is headquartered in New York City) has become the undisputed master of the megadeal, transforming mature brands–from Budweiser and Burger King to Heinz ketchup and Jell-O–into gigantic profit centers. The secret is razor-sharp cost-cutting implemented by forcing managers to justify every single number on their budgets, every single year. Anheuser-Busch InBev's 32% operating margin is now the envy of the industry, and it wants to spread the gospel by spending more than $100 billion to buy global rival SABMiller.
Jack Ma, 51
Founder, Alibaba
China
The biggest Internet company in China is a one-stop e-commerce shop, combining the functions of Amazon, eBay and PayPal under the same roof. Now it’s pushing deeper into financial services through Ant Financial and opening new offices in places like London and Milan. In 2014 Alibaba raised $25 billion in the largest initial public offering of all time. The company has been clocking sales growth in the range of 50% per year, with 2015 revenues at $12.3 billion and profit margins of around 45%.
John Milligan, 55
CEO, Gilead Sciences
United States
By diving more deeply into the science of viruses than any other company, Gilead has managed to create meds that put HIV in check and cure hepatitis C 95% of the time. Harvoni, its hep C drug, is already one of the world’s bestselling, and the market could even be bigger: The disease still afflicts 150 million people and kills 500,000 every year. Annual sales have tripled to $33 billion in three years.
Elon Musk, 44
Cofounder, CEO,
Tesla Motors, SpaceX
United States
The world’s most innovative businessman has stratospheric ambitions: He’s reimagining the electric car as more of a rocket ship than a golf cart and reimagining the rocket ship as more of a car (i.e., reusable). Tesla’s newest car, the more affordable Model 3, booked $7.5 billion in preorders the first day it was offered, and the vertically integrated company has a three-year sales growth rate of 114%. Tesla’s “Gigafactory” in Nevada will soon produce more lithium batteries than all the other factories in the world.
“Life sucked in the old days. People knew very little, and you were likely to die at a young age of some horrible disease. You’d probably have no teeth by now.”
Apr. 9, 2012
Peder Holk Nielsen, 60
CEO, Novozymes
Denmark
Novozymes’ enzymes replace nasty chemicals in places like refineries and food factories, making the industrial world run cleaner and more efficiently. The company’s products could save 100 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2020. Research is a religion at the company: Scientists spend 10% of their time pursuing personal projects.
Larry Page, 43
Cofounder, CEO, Alphabet (Google)
United States
Not content with just being the Ma Bell of the Internet, the parent company of the world’s most knowing search engine is busy pursuing dozens of “moon shots.” These high-risk, high-reward (and often high-minded) projects include self-driving cars, computers that create original art and a network of balloons that deliver high-speed Internet access to rural areas in the developing world. Google, far and away the largest subsidiary of Alphabet, raked in $74.5 billion in revenues in 2015, up from $65.7 billion in 2014 and $10.6 billion a decade ago.
India
The world’s largest vaccine-maker by volume produces 1.3 billion doses annually, which have immunized close to two-thirds of the world’s children. Serum’s revenues, estimated to be some $620 million, have been growing at about 30% compounded and profits about 40%. It supplies low-cost vaccines to 140 countries through agencies such as UNICEF and the Pan American HealthOrganization. New vaccines are being developed for diarrhea, cervical cancer, pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Hakan Samuelsson, 65
CEO, Volvo Cars
Sweden
Safety-first Volvo has publicly pledged that no one should die or be seriously injured in its cars by 2020. Now owned by China’s Geely Holding Group, Volvo tripled its operating profit to $780 million in 2015 on revenues of $20 billion. Worldwide, Volvo sold 503,127 vehicles last year, the highest in the company’s 89-year history.
Howard Schultz, 62
CEO, Starbucks
United States
Schultz has turned a commodity product into a high-margin lifestyle brand that represents everything from digital savvy and green living to progressive politics. The coffee-shop social experiment resonates on a global scale: Starbucks now has more than 24,000 stores in 70 countries, 6,000 opened in the last five years. Sales grew 17% to $19.2 billion in 2015.
“We can elevate citizenship and humanity.” Mar. 21, 2016
Sunny Varkey, 59
Founder, GEMS Education
United Arab Emirates
He never went to college, but Varkey is building the largest network of private K?12 schools in the world, many focused on providing education to girls in places where they would otherwise have no access. GEMS has 250,000 students enrolled in 240 schools in 17 countries across the globe. Over the next four years Varkey plans to invest $200 million in expanding in Africa and his native India.
“We adopted the airline model of economy, business and first class to make top-notch education available based on what families could afford.” Apr. 14, 2014
Frank Wang, 35
Founder, CEO, DJi, China
Chances are if you own a drone, it was made by Wang’s company: His Shenzhen-based DJI has an estimated 70% share of the consumer drone market. And unlike most Chinese tech companies, which tend to be fast followers of their Western counterparts, DJI is blazing the trail in this entirely new electronic category. Nearly 1,500 of its 4,000 employees are focused on R&D. It doubled its sales to an estimated $1 billion last year, evenly distributed among Asia, North America and Europe.
“All you need to do is to be smarter than others–there needs to be a distance from
the masses. If you can create that distance, you will be
successful.” May 25, 2015
Japan
In a business where choking on inventory is commonplace, Yanai’s flagship, trendy Uniqlo, is a master of speed-to-market. In-store sales are tracked obsessively, and slow-selling products are yanked and replaced by new ones. In addition to Uniqlo’s 1,700 stores spread across 17 countries, Fast Retailing runs the denim-focused J Brand and, in February, introduced a popular line of clothing for Muslim women in America. Revenues are up 15% annually over the last five years.
Mark Zuckerberg, 31
Cofounder, CEO, Facebook
United States
Five words: one billion active daily users. That’s roughly one out of every seven humans alive today and nearly a third of all people who have Internet access. Eighty-four percent of Facebook’s users hail from outside the U.S., and sales have grown at an average annual rate of 49% over the past five years to $18 billion, generating 2015 profits of $3.7 billion. Zuckerberg is leveraging that financial success to buy his way into hot new markets. In 2014 he acquired the pioneering virtual-reality firm Oculus for $2 billion and messaging giant WhatsApp for $22 billion.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk unveiled the highly anticipated Tesla Model 3 electric car on Thursday night in a converted LA aircraft hangar. Tesla’s launch events have become a little like Apple’s big moments used to be. Electrifying, a pioneering spirit, packed with hard core fans. Musk is much more improvised than the word perfect Jobs, stuttering with nerves that show he is human despite his vision and celebrity. The Model 3 has the potential to become the tipping point from carbon to carbon-free motoring, and to drive exponential growth for Tesla, and the electric car market. 250,000 preorders, almost two years ahead of delivery, demonstrates the consumer response.
In the Gamechangers project we explore in detail how Tesla has developed a long-term market-shaping strategy to change the game of car travel. The cars themselves, beautiful and technically wonderful, are not even the heart of the story. Nor is the innovative retail model, selling direct in upmarket shopping malls, customised on the iPad, cash in advance. Most significant is the overall business model – designed to shape the market through the world’s leading charging network – the Supercharger network, which is included as an ongoing subscription in the retail price, for Tesla and other brand cars. Supercharger is driven by another of Musk’s businesses, Solar City. By giving away much technical IP, Tesla is creating an industry standard in its own vision, on its own terms. It is redefining the game of motoring in front of our eyes.
At the launch of the Model 3, Musk was at pains to explain his market entry strategy too. Starting from the expensive and niche roadster, to the other premium models, he has positioned the brand as innovative and aspirational, to compare with a Porsche or even Ferrari. Now he is moving down the price ladder to the wider market – to compete alongside the BMW and Audi-type brands, but with more magic, and sustainable credentials. He even thanked early adopters, those who had bought the early models at premium prices, saying that the profits he made through them has allowed him to build this new car for everyone (well at lot more people, and made him incredibly rich too).
Tesla’s mass market Model 3 was driven onto a foggy stage in an extravagant unveiling, where Musk revealed that the Tesla Model 3 will seat five, and be able to cover at least 215 miles on one charge. Musk said the standard Model 3 would be capable of zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 6 seconds, and will cost $35,000, which is half that of the company’s current flagship cars, the Model S sedan and Model X crossover. The new car actually looks like a more sporty version of the company’s Model S. The Model 3 will also feature Autopilot for assisted driving and be future-proof for self-driving road use. Deliveries begin in late 2017, by which time Tesla says it will have doubled the number of charging stations worldwide and will include charging for free.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s attempt to bring electric cars to the mass market and is considered critical to the company’s future success. Interest has been strong, with preorders for the Model 3 at Tesla stores and galleries – some of which are located directly adjacent to Apple retail stores (where the launch of the iPhone SE no longer commands the long queues of old). Musk later boasted on stage that the company had already secured 115,000 reservations before the car had even been revealed (a figure that has doubled in the last few days). Tesla’s stock price rocketed too.
You can watch the full unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 here:
Apple is believed to be working on its own electric road vehicle, commonly referred to as the Apple Car (rather than iCar, in a similar naming logic to the Apple Watch), which Musk has called an “open secret” in the industry. According to Musk, the hundreds of engineers Apple has taken on make it clear there’s an electric car in the works. Apple and Tesla have hired each other’s employees over the last couple of years, with Musk saying that Apple has hired away “very few people” from the car company despite offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to its employees. Tesla meanwhile has hired nearly 150 Apple employees.
Read more about Tesla and how it is changing the game.
“Robot Makers” focus on the most exciting growth markets of robotics and drones.
Whilst it might seem a long time since the golden C-3PO and cute R2D2 appeared in the first Star Wars movie back in 1977, the technical capabilities, intelligence and applications of robotics are about to explode into every day life. These include the much-hyped role of drones, supporting everything from unmanned combat to Amazon parcel deliveries.
Like other “Market Makers” these Robot Makers create and shape markets in their own vision.
They are not content to play the game of marginal gains – competing on small differences or price discounts, in mature and stagnant markets. They see the future world, they look for the new growth markets, and in particular those which are still emerging, which they can shape to their own advantage. They are “gamechangers” in the biggest sense, in that they create new games (markets), with new audiences (customers and needs), new rules (process and behaviours), and new possibilities (perceived value and profit potential) for business success.
Here are some of the most phenomenal Robot Makers who are creating and shaping the fast-emerging robotics markets to their advantage. Whilst there are many others developing sophisticated AI and robotics, these are examples of companies who are already out there, making money and shaping the attitudes and behaviours of customers right now:
Anki Drive, debuted during an Apple press conference back in 2013, lives up to the hype. Rather than using a Scaletrix-type track, Anki embeds cameras and IR sensors into the toys, and lets them steer themselves. Even the human-controlled racers smooth out user input, turning commands into more precise on-track movements. Anki toys have clocked up more than 800,000 miles. If this sounds like a lot of tech just for a little racing game, Anki CEO and cofounder Boris Sofman says “We want to eventually leave entertainment, to go into other areas where these approaches would apply, like the home or sports or even transportation.”
Bossa Nova is developing a fulling autonomous mobile robot that could transform everyday tasks in the home. Their 2016 launch, developed at Carnegie Mellon University, seeks to create emotional connections so that tasks become intuitive and empathic- seeking to add value in new ways, rather than just automate the mundane.
One of most promising players in the growing field of wearable robotics is also the most unexpected. DSME, the shipbuilding arm of the South Korean Daewoo Group is developing exoskeletons for use in its sprawling shipyards, to help workers carry heavy loads by hand. The hydraulic, battery-powered systems deployed in a successful pilot test could run for three hours at a time and lift 66 pounds on their own. The company’s current goal, however, is nothing short of superhuman—effortless handling of loads weighing roughly 220 pounds.
The Shenzhen-based company is opening a Silicon Valley research and development center in hopes of harnessing the wealth of robotics talent in the area, and identifying potential new partners and investment targets. The Phantom range of consumer drones have captured the world’s imagination – for everything from mapping landscapes to herding sheep. Phantoms are relatively inexpensive (about $1,300) remote-control quad-copters that are made for filming, some with stabilized HD cameras built in. The small and light drones are fairly user-friendly and extremely high-performance. They fly at speeds of up to 35 miles an hour and up to 400 feet. They also have GPS and stabilizing sensors to idiot-proof them as much as possible, with features that allow them to automatically return to where they launched should they lose contact with their remote. The company was founded in 2006, but in just the last three years, its sales have grown by a factor of 150, making it the fastest-growing drone manufacturer in the world.
G2R have developed the “Cybernetic Brain” – artificial intelligence that enables the robot to operate independently whilst detecting and making judgement relating to any “invaders” – fire, water, or suspicious objects. The robots learns about its environment, becoming fast and accurate in diagnosis, and ultimately more reliable and lower risk than humans.
Matternet One is the first smart transport drone – in particularly focused on the challenge of “last mile” logistics to homes. The company is building an automated delivery network for goods based on a fleet of autonomous UAVs/drones. Initial tests with Swiss Post delivering parcels to areas which were difficult to reach by traditional methods (everything from mountain tops, to apartment blocks, and remote islands).
Exoskeletons that will replace expired limbs and wheelchairs.
The ReWalk Personal System is the first exoskeleton to be cleared by the FDA for use at home and in the community. No longer stuck in laboratories or rehab facilities, these robotic devices can now help users move about the world, restoring some of the lower-limb mobility lost to injury or disease. ReWalk Robotics’ model essentially walks for its wearer, balancing and adjusting its gait as it steps forward, and proving a first glimpse of a future where exoskeletons are as commonplace as wheelchairs
More ideas
I am currently working with Odense, Denmark which has become Europe’s “robot city” and seeks to change the game in the way in which it works with start-ups and corporates in accelerating the technical development and market growth of robotics and drones.
I am also currently researching my next book about Market Makers:
Gamechangers … introduction to my recent book on disruptive innovation
Market Makers … new strategies for creating and shaping markets
Innolab … fast and collaborative strategic innovation process
If you’d like to suggest ideas for inclusion in my next book, please email me at peterfisk@peterfisk.com
