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WTM LONDON BRIAN SOLIS


® BRIAN SOLIS


Brian Solis is a principal analyst at Altimeter Group.


He is also an award-winning author, prominent


blogger/writer, and keynote speaker. A digital analyst, anthropologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and infl uenced the effects of emerging technology on business and society. His research and books help executives, and also everyday people, better understand the relationship between the evolution of technology and its impact on people and also the role we each play in evolution. As a result of his work, Solis also helps leading brands, celebrities, and startups develop new digital transformation, culture 2.0, and innovation strategies and that enable businesses to adapt to new connected markets from the inside out. His new book, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, introduces the importance of experiences as the new brand, bringing the worlds of CX, UX and BX together to re-imagine the customer journey and lifecycle.


The highly anticipated keynote speech by Brian Solis didn’t disappoint as the leading digital analyst left his Inspire Theatre audience with plenty to think about. Solis told the packed venue that they needed to understand technology’s impact on people. To focus on the key focus of user experience. In a talk full of soundbites, Solis ranged widely on the thorny subject of ‘disruption’ and barriers to innovation and change within a work environment. “I tried to be innovative, but I got stuck in meetings” was an all too familiar refrain for many in the audience. As Solis explained that “innovation [often] happens outside of your industry”. In short, that the travel industry was no different to other


sectors in needing to look elsewhere for many of its future ideas and trends. “Even Google feels like they were about to be disrupted. All too often companies confuse iteration with innovation”, explained Solis. “Iteration is doing the same things


better, innovation is doing new things that unlock new value. Only one of those two things leads to disruption which is doing new things that make old things obsolete.


Moving onto the concept of Generation ‘C’ – the ‘connected’ generation – Solis said that they are narcissists “because every tap is teaching them they are the most important person in the world”. This was a generation that made decisions in a different way to any consumers group that has gone before.


Recent research had found that people were looking at their phones 1,500 times a week. Spending 177 minutes day on their mobile. As others have observed, there is one word for your 2017 marketing: Mobile. Ignore mobile at your peril. Solis added: “Experience is the new brand. No amount of branding is going to infl uence the experience someone has. You are in the experience design business. That becomes the brand.”


56 WTM London Review 2017


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