Each year ushers in new technology, new consumer expectations and new opportunities to share fresh thinking as a speaker. One of the great and often unseen benefits of speaking at so many events around the world is that you get to benefit from pattern recognition that is only possible because you are constantly hearing insights into new technology, new consumer behavior and new cultural trends. So I start each year by revisiting the topics that I speak about to better address the new demands of the marketplace based on the insights I glean from our consulting work at We First and this pattern recognition. These new topics build on the thinking that went in to my first book, We First (there’s another on the way) and speeches I have done in the past focused on Sustainable Capitalism, Brand Purpose, Social Branding, CSR and Philanthropic Marketing. So here are the new topics for 2016 and a little background on me in case there’s a chance to work together to build your brand and business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY2V3hX7DMI

1. Leadership: Positioning your organization to lead the future.

Fast changing technologies, increased competition and new expectations from tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z, making it tough for organizations to strategize, plan and maintain leadership positions. In many cases it leads to paralysis, confusion and disengagement among leadership, marketing and employees. But what if there was a way to position your organization so that your business and communication strategies aligned? A way to inspire leadership, employees, customers and consumers to promote and build the business? A way to inspire everyone inside and outside your organization to use the power of social technologies – no matter what they are – to promote the brand and build the business?

What You Will Learn:

• How to create a vision that employees, customers and consumers want to follow.
• How to create a culture that inspires employees to build your business.
• How to ensure a fast changing marketplace that works to your advantage.
• How to inspire customers and consumers to promote your organization.
• How to create a competitive advantage for your organization by shaping culture.
• How to position your organization to lead the future.

2. Innovation: Putting rapid change to work for you.

The business landscape is changing faster than ever. As a result, innovation must become a way of being throughout your organization or you’ll be left behind. For that to happen, leadership must create a special culture that thrives on change. It must motivate employees to share their best ideas. It must inspire employees to use the latest technologies to promote the organization and build your business. This requires a new mindset, priorities and actions that allow your organization to keep pace with the marketplace and your customers? But what is that mindset, how do you share it with employees, and how do you maintain it over time?

What You Will Learn:

• How to build a culture of innovation for new ideas and problem solving.
• How to inspire your employee to create and share their best ideas.
• How to leverage future trends in marketing to generate new ideas with consumers.
• How to leverage the latest social technology to build your reputation and business.
• How to position your organization to benefit from the latest trends in culture.
• How to position your organization to shape culture and lead the future.

3. Marketing: Reinventing storytelling for a digital, social and mobile world.

In the last few years the marketing landscape has transformed before our eyes. Digital, social and mobile media are rapidly overtaking television, print and radio. Customers are consuming content when and where they like and sharing it with whom they choose. Technologies are emerging every day that are making audiences harder to find, engage and keep. But what if you could position your organization to transcend this technology? That allowed you to emotionally connect with your audiences no matter what technology they were using? That inspired them to use these technologies to promote your organization and build its business?

What You Will Learn:

• What are the major trends remaking the marketing landscape.
• How to overcome the major barriers to change within your organization.
• How leading organizations are changing their marketing to engage consumers.
• What strategies to use to build a growing customer community.
• How to ensure your employees, customers and consumers build your business.
• How to lead change, conversations and culture to build your business.

4. Employee Engagement: Building a united, committed and inspired organization.

Organizations invest so much money and time in their employees yet rarely unlock their full potential to build their business. In fact, research shows that less than 20% of employees in the US are considered ‘fully engaged.’ But what if you could inspire your employees to bring their best selves and highest purpose to their work? What if you could inspire Millennials and Gen Z employees to become powerful advocates for your organization? What if you could share the story of your organization in a way that inspires the brightest, young talent to compete to work with you?

What You Will Learn:

• How to improve your corporate culture to increase the return on your investment in employees?
• How to inspire Millennial and Gen Z employees to want to work with you and build your business?
• How to create a culture that attracts and keeps the brightest talent and makes them more productive?
• How to avoid a brain drain by competitors that hurts your business?
• How to inspire Millennial and Gen Z employees to promote your organization and build your business?
• How to inspire Millennial and Gen Z employees to talk about your organization on their own social media channels?

5. Sustainability: Reimagining sustainability to drive business growth.

Sustainability is table stakes within almost every industry today. Yet few organizations know how to tell the story of their sustainability efforts in a way that builds their reputation, inspires employee advocacy and drives customer loyalty. But what if your sustainability works could become a business driver with real bottom-line benefits? What if it helped to build employee satisfaction, retention and productivity? What if it served to differentiate your brand from competitors and inspired long-term customer loyalty?

What You Will Learn:

• What is the business case for organizations becoming more sustainable?
• How to create a culture that inspires employees to participate in your sustainability programs?
• How to engage, inspire and reward employees for participating in your sustainability programs?
• How to share your sustainability programs in ways that build your organization’s reputation and business?
• How to carve out a competitive advantage in a crowded sustainability marketplace?
• What is the future of sustainability storytelling?

6. Corporate Communications: Serving business, community and customer growth.

As the media landscape becomes more fractured, organizations are necessarily becoming much more singular in their communications. This places a new burden on corporate communications to align leadership, marketing, sustainability, CSR and foundation messaging. But what if there was a way to position your organization that ensured all communications were pointed in the same direction? That ensured that employees, customers and consumers were clear about what your stand for no matter what channels are used? That provided marketing efficiency and cost savings by guaranteeing that each piece of communication reinforced all others because they came from the same communications strategy?

What You Will Learn:

• How to ensure leadership, marketing and employees speak with one voice across your organization.
• How to guarantee your employees know what your organization stands for.
• How to define a message that employees, customers and consumers want to share.
• How to guarantee that your corporate communications, marketing and social media work well together.
• How to inspire employees, customers and consumers to build your reputation and business.
• How to position your organization as an industry and cultural leader.

7. Consumer Engagement: Inspiring consumers to build your brand with you.

Reaching today’s consumer is harder than ever. Their expectations, behaviors and technologies are constantly changing. This makes it difficult to capture their attention and earn their loyalty over the long term. But what if there was a way to make your target audiences feel like part of your organization instead of customers? To motivate them to build your business and reputation? To use their own social media channels to share your mission, services, and products?

What You Will Learn:

• Who are your new audiences and what do they want.
• How to ensure Millennial and Gen Z consumers build your business with you.
• How to engage consumers using the latest digital, social and mobile channels.
• How to inspire Millennials and Gen Z consumers to promote your organization using social media.
• How to build a self-sustaining consumer community.
• How to lead a consumer movement that will build your reputation and business.

Bio:

Simon Mainwaring is the founder and CEO of We First, a leading brand consultancy that provides purpose-driven strategy, content, and training that helps companies to lead business, shape culture, and better our world. Clients include Coca-Cola, Sony Pictures Television, TOMS, VSP Global, Darden, ConAgra Foods, Consumer Reports, Tupperware, Lincoln Financial Group, as well as many start-ups and high growth companies.

He is a member of the Executive Committee of Sustainable Brands, the Business Alliance for the Future and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London. He contributes to The Guardian, Forbes, and Huffington Post.

Simon’s book, We First: How brands and consumers use social media to build a better world (Palgrave Macmillan) is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestseller and Strategy+Business named it the Best Business Marketing Book of the Year. He’s been featured in TIME, The Guardian, Advertising Age, Adweek, Inc., AMA, Fast Company, GOOD Magazine, Mashable and the cover of the National Speaker’s Magazine, as well as appearing on the BBC World News, Business News Network, CBS, CBC, and BNet.

Prior to starting We First Simon was an award-winning advertising writer on brands such a Nike, Motorola and Toyota and received over 60 international awards including the Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio’s, Kelly Awards, and D&AD. 

If you’d like to book me as a speaker, email Mike@Speaking.com and I look forward to sharing thinking that will build your business, company culture and social impact.