Behind the Scenes: 2014 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference
The 16th annual Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference (CGBTLC) lived up to its reputation last week, touting a blockbuster lineup of knowledgeable and entertaining speakers and a highly engaged audience of consumer goods business and technology executives. The event's theme, "The Connected Company: Making Strategic Initiatives Work Across the Enterprise", really resonated with attendees who are challenged to break down barriers within their organizations in order to drive change and achieve growth goals. Inspiring presentations and the resulting conversations forged common bonds between members of the CGT community on which they can build beneficial business relationships. On behalf of CGT, thank you to the speakers, sponsors and attendees who continue to make CGBTLC the premier industry event for consumer goods community leaders. Here is a recap of the event's many highlights, and be sure to visit CGT's newly launched Consumer Goods Video Network for exclusive session videos and speaker interviews.
- MIT Media Lab Instructor and Author David Rose delivered a keynote address, titled “The New Vanguard for Business: Connectivity, Design and The Internet of Things”. By comparing fairytale fiction to invention, he described how products are poised to become services, and how we will be creating new user experiences, not new technology. Instead of staring at our iPhone screens, we will be surrounded by simple and user-friendly objects that respond to our needs, come to know us, and learn to think on our behalf. "Enchanted objects are ordinary things that have extraordinary capabilities," said Rose. "Our devices can be a lot simpler and the interaction to them can be a lot simpler... Enchanted objects are about adding motion and adding magic to our everyday lives and experiences."
- During the day-two opening keynote, Kimberly-Clark Corporation Chief Marketing Officer Clive Sirkin, who received CGT's CMO of the Year Award in June, discussed the changes taking place in marketing and the impact those changes are having on the consumer goods industry. "We don't do digital marketing — we do marketing in a digital world," said Sirkin, who also presented challenges and opportunities for connecting marketing with counterparts in other areas of the organization, including the office of the CIO. "Organizational investments in the status quo are like wearing lead boots on a railroad crossing," he urged. "We look for talent that can operate in this world and drive change."
Additional popular sessions included:
- Kevin Hartley, Chief Innovation Officer for Keurig Green Mountain talked about breaking barriers with innovation.
Alexia Howard, Equity Research Analyst, Sanford C. Bernstein,
on how the connected company is positioned to optimize new trends in the U.S.
- Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt's Co-Founders on acting like an SMB to blur the lines between departments
- Starbucks on creating transparent connections between TPM and CRM
- Gartner and Kellogg Company added real-world context to the findings of the 2014 Tech Trends Report
- A closing keynote presentation on The 2020 Imperative, featuring executives from Conair, Tyson Foods and InnovationEdge
Plus, CGT revealed the winners of the 2014 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Awards and announced its 2014 CIO of the Year.
Click here to learn about CGT's full lineup of consumer goods industry events.
- MIT Media Lab Instructor and Author David Rose delivered a keynote address, titled “The New Vanguard for Business: Connectivity, Design and The Internet of Things”. By comparing fairytale fiction to invention, he described how products are poised to become services, and how we will be creating new user experiences, not new technology. Instead of staring at our iPhone screens, we will be surrounded by simple and user-friendly objects that respond to our needs, come to know us, and learn to think on our behalf. "Enchanted objects are ordinary things that have extraordinary capabilities," said Rose. "Our devices can be a lot simpler and the interaction to them can be a lot simpler... Enchanted objects are about adding motion and adding magic to our everyday lives and experiences."
- During the day-two opening keynote, Kimberly-Clark Corporation Chief Marketing Officer Clive Sirkin, who received CGT's CMO of the Year Award in June, discussed the changes taking place in marketing and the impact those changes are having on the consumer goods industry. "We don't do digital marketing — we do marketing in a digital world," said Sirkin, who also presented challenges and opportunities for connecting marketing with counterparts in other areas of the organization, including the office of the CIO. "Organizational investments in the status quo are like wearing lead boots on a railroad crossing," he urged. "We look for talent that can operate in this world and drive change."
Additional popular sessions included:
- Kevin Hartley, Chief Innovation Officer for Keurig Green Mountain talked about breaking barriers with innovation.
Alexia Howard, Equity Research Analyst, Sanford C. Bernstein,
on how the connected company is positioned to optimize new trends in the U.S.
- Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt's Co-Founders on acting like an SMB to blur the lines between departments
- Starbucks on creating transparent connections between TPM and CRM
- Gartner and Kellogg Company added real-world context to the findings of the 2014 Tech Trends Report
- A closing keynote presentation on The 2020 Imperative, featuring executives from Conair, Tyson Foods and InnovationEdge
Plus, CGT revealed the winners of the 2014 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Awards and announced its 2014 CIO of the Year.
Click here to learn about CGT's full lineup of consumer goods industry events.