Future of Food Retailing, food industry trends, consumer lifestyles. Re...

Food industry trends in retail - small food outlets to major retail chains. Food sales are all about emotion and consumer passion: quality, health, flavour, additives, colourants, natural food, organic food, preservatives, sourcing of animals, animal welfare, sustainable fisheries, fair trade, kosher, hallal, vegetarian, vegan - there are already hundreds of niche food markets. Expect this diversification to continue - with specialist retail food stores, and also with sub-brands inside major stores such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour or Tesco. As we have seen in recent food scares, customers are deeply worried about food safety - especially parents who are concerned about the health of babies or their young children. Therefore expect more regulations about food quality and healthiness, more food labelling, more food safety checks - and more sensational news stories about food safety lapses. Comment on future of food industry by Futurist keyntote conference speaker Patrick Dixon in presentation to retail clients of Hermes at corporate event.

Future food shortages: consumers, retail, farms, energy industry, biofue...

Future food crisis and why there are global food shortages. Population growth is often blamed but we have enough food to feed the world without hunger of famine. Food price crises of 2007-8 and 2011-12 were caused by many factors including flood, drought, failed harvests, damaged crops, disease - but the biggest single change was burning food as biofuels. In 2011 over 40% of all wheat grain grown on farms in America was burnt in vehicles. Over 5% of all petrol / gasoline / diesel sold in Europe is now biofuels, much of it made from food. Biofuels have linked energy prices with food prices with land prices with forestry prices. We have one global market now for energy and food. So if energy prices rise, more food gets converted into energy - or biowaste, or trees.... but all these things affect land use at the end of the day. So if you expect (as I do) continued energy shortages, and rising oil prices, then it is logical to expect rising food prices. The trouble is that while wealthy nations suffer a little, individuals in the poorest nations suffer hugely. History shows clearly that rises in food prices and hunger amongst the population are the fastest ways to destabilise government. No surprise then that in 2007-8 we saw food riots in 33 nations and the fall of one government, and that in 2011 we saw riots and revolution in many nations (Middle East - so-called Arab Sprint). One of the factors that brought street protests was that ordinary people were finding food price rises were the last straw on top of so many other hardships, partly linked to to the global economic downturn, national debt crisis and banking crisis which in turn followed the original US sub-prime crisis. Lesson: global trends are complex, interlinked and minor trends can be amplified rapidly by globalisation and the digital village into radical forces for change. What does this all mean for farming, farmers, agriculture and land ownership? Expect prices for farm land to rise, in line with energy prices. Expect many farmers to switch crops from those supplying food direct to retail food chains, to crops which will find their way into biofuel manufacturing. Video of retail industry future trends by Futurist keynote conference speaker Patrick Dixon - for UK retail industry executives at client event organised by Hermes.

Future Shopping Malls - and death of smaller outlets - Future Retail Tre...

For every retail outlet that opens in a new Mall, another has to close somewhere else - a corner store, high street shop, or market stall. Huge planning implications for town centres, following massive growth of big shopping centres. Impact on consumer choice. How small stores can survive and thrive in niche markets, competing against large retail chains and multinational super brands, by offering unique products and services with outstanding insight into what their customers want, and attention to detail. That means more than market research - a deep intuitive grasp of how customers think and feel, what they are likely to be drawn to. While high street shops are threatened by the big shopping Malls, the Malls too will be increasingly threatened in turn by severe online price competition, mobile price comparison. Expect the largest Shopping Malls, biggest retail centres to focus more on the total leisure experience, creating relaxing locations, entertainment, with a sense of theatre, destinations in their own right for all ages and for a wide range of interests. Shopping in physical stores needs to be a pleasurable, engaging experience which appeals to all the senses - touch, sound, smell, taste. Crowds matter: people watching is part of the fun of the shared experience - seeing what others are doing, what they are wearing, choices they are making. Future retail in physical stores needs to be very personal, since such outlets will tend to be undercut by online price aggregators. Clever branding, marketing and selling promotions will not be enough. Conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon - giving presentation to UK retail industry on key high street trends and the future of ecommerce - for clients of Hermes.

Retail impact of online price comparison using mobile devices, smartphones, aggregator sites. Shopping patterns and customer behaviour. Online sales growth from retail sites, where customers compare prices in stores or shopping malls and then buy online or from a competitor store nearby. Aggregator sites will grow rapidly, creating strong price competition, eroding viability of physical retail outlets, especially in electronic consumer goods, white label products, computers, textiles / fashion and in any other area where customers like to try before they buy.

Five seconds to win a customer. Moments of Truth: Future Trends in Retai...

Why every second counts in retail - and how companies lose customers faster than they realise. Vital trends for the future of retailing from Futurist keynote speaker Patrick Dixon. Marketing and selling to customers should be fast, easy, convenient and satisfying. Keep your customers happy, listen to them, keep close to how they are really thinking about your products and services. In a time-poor world, customers are increasingly fed up with companies that waste time, make them wait, keep them on hold, make them stand in line. Premium customers expect instant service, rapid help, total commitment, expert advice and 100% delivery on your promises.

How to win customers! Better Call-Centres, What is CRM? Customer service...

Future marketing, brands and campaigns -- keynote speaker and Futurist Patrick Dixon. Future trends in the retail industry, presentation for UK clients of Hermes. Targetting customers in a world which is overloaded with marketing messages. What is CRM - customer relationship management. How to run call centres to win sales, improve customer satisfaction and engagement, customer loyalty, retention and reduce numbers of complaints. How many corporations are blind to unmet customer needs, lacking true insight into how customers actually feel about how they are being treated. Most executives hate robot automated answering systems when they are customers themselves, yet are happy to alienate their own customers by forcing them to use exactly the same technologies. Why the tone of voice on the end of the phone is one of your most important brand elements, for companies who never physically meet their customers - or rarely do so.

Futurist Marketing: Competing with noise! Customers, Brands - Marketing...

Future marketing, brands and campaigns -- keynote speaker and Futurist Patrick Dixon. Future trends in the retail industry, presentation for UK clients of Hermes. Targetting customers in a world which is overloaded with marketing messages. How to make your key marketing messages stand out in a multichannel, multitasking world with mobile devices, smartphones, ipads and tablets being used increasingly to get information, read social networking comments and compare prices. Future marketing strategy: how to develop a more effective marketing plan which includes online marketing, direct marketing, social media marketing, latest market research, search engine marketing and internet marketing. Consumers are increasingly intolerant of marketing campaigns which are not personal, invade personal life, waste their time, interrupt their TV viewing. For more see http://www.globalchange.com

Rejuvenation therapy - revitalize, renew, stop ageing, getting old - lat...

How scientists are discovering the secrets of eternal youth in animals -- and potentially in humans. How to stop getting old, turning off the normal physiology of ageing processes in human cells. Lessons from whales, rockfish project, turtles and parrots as well as other animals with longer lifespan. Impact on future life expectancy -- life insurance, pensions, unfunded pension liabilities, annuity rates, government debts, corporate pension fund valuations. Conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon.

Digital Marketing - crisis for real estate agents. Multichannel customer...

Future of marketing -- Impact of multichannel marketing on customer behavior. Why old selling patterns are driving customers away. How to alienate consumers rapidly. How to engage customers with your products and services. Lessons from online property aggregator sites and virtual real estate marketing. Future of mobile search, location sensitive marketing, and importance of video in selling. Why 1 in 6 of all Estate Agents lost their jobs last year in Australia. What is the future of real estate agents? How to promote your property, and sell your own home online. Easy ways to get customers to view your property and make a great offer to buy. Impact of Google Maps and other location-based Apps on marketing. Growth of mobile search requests. Lessons for marketing directors and retail executives. Patrick Dixon, conference keynote speaker on future of marketing, multichannel marketing and related trends.

Future of Singapore - and rapid growth of emerging markets across Asia -...

Singapore -- a hub of innovation, energy, infrastructure for business across Asia, able to broker deals, host headquarters. Why Singapore will continue to thrive as an ultra-connected transport hub, with highly skilled workforce. Video comment on Asia future trends by conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon. Singapore is a small nation -- with barely 5 million residents -- so is a relatively neutral base from the political point of view. Singapore has strong legal systems, is stable and an easy place to do business, with many 5 star hotels and a vibrant, dynamic and entrepreneurial culture. Singapore is an easy nation for visitors from the Northern Hemisphere to feel their way around. The country still shows many signs of its British Colonial era -- with newly restored historic buildings, square pin plugs, English-model educational system, and influences on legal and parliamentary systems. Singapore is West-facing and East-facing. Most of the city's up-market Malls are dominated by Western-label brands, with streets that look familiar in style to European or American travellers, while Chinatown is a relatively small area of low-rise shops, eating places and offices with a traditional ethnic feel. Singapore has a great future, and so it is hardly surprising that the numbers of people wanting to work there is growing faster than the government is comfortable with. Work permits are becoming harder for some groups to obtain.Singapore's greatest limitation is land mass: one large island and many small ones. And linked to that is a serious water shortage, which means that despite many new projects, the country remains dependent on buying water from Malaysia.

Patrick Dixon has given keynote presentations on a wide range of issues in Central America, Latin America, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Baltic States, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and South East Asia. Countries include Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, China, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Estonia, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

Global Economc Crisis 2007-15 - looking back from year 2100

When historians look back in 100 years time -- what will they make of the sub-prime crisis and all that followed? What links will they make between the rise of China as a mega-industrial nation, buying huge amounts of dollars, keeping their own currency low, and costs of borrowing low for developed nations. Of course we are talking about a wider issue than China, but China is a dominant force in this regard. The fact is that China's willingness to buy dollars and euros in the 2000s provided a very welcome boost for developed nations -- providing a lot of money at low interest rates. Both governments and individuals took advantage of this to spend on things they thought were important at the time -- running up huge debts, and driving these economies into a long boom, creating local jobs, improving infrastructure, health care and education. Video comment by conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon

Why so many marketing directors hate marketing - join the revolution. M...

Most marketing directors find other people's marketing messages irritating, whether TV ads, direct mail campaigns, SMS marketing, outbound call-centre marketing, billboards, press ads, mobile marketing. Consumers are increasingly fed up too. Get ready for the biggest shifts in marketing strategy for a generation -- forced on the industry by the ever-growing influence of social networks, coupled with online search, impatient and intolerant consumers, and by massive overload with general advertising noise. Getting noticed means more than shouting louder. The future is about personal relevance, information and revelation as you become a consumer guide along their journey of life. It means a radical rethink about command and control, blockbuster campaigns. Impact on marketing strategies -- what every marketing director needs to know. How to prevent your campaigns from bombing and looking last-century. How to keep pace with the mood of your customers, using technology sensitively and wisely to position your products and services at exactly the right time and in the right way, reading the mind and emotion of your customers with deep insight and accuracy. Comment by Patrick Dixon after his conference keynote presentation on the future of marketing at DED2011 Mediamind event in Singapore.

Future of marketing, mobile, technology, multichannel, digital brains - ...

Creating a better world -- Tetrapak Food + Drink Packaging innovation - ...

How Tetrapak food and drink packaging is creating a better future for consumers across the world, particularly in low income, emerging nations, saving lives and providing healthy food which needs no refrigeration. Motivational keynote speech by Patrick Dixon for Tetrapak Global Leadership Team. Food and Drink industry trends.

Future of Retail - 20 key retailing trends - UK consumer changes - Herme...

Retailing trends - in high street, shopping malls, retail outlets, online / e-commerce, mobile marketing, ethical shopping, older consumers, supply chain and logistics, telesales and customer support, home delivery. Retail conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon - at client event organised by Hermes.