Michael R. Solomon, Consumer Behavior, Lifestyle Marketing

Synopsis

Speaker:          Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D.

Topic Title:

1. Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D., AI, Authority on Consumer Behavior and Lifestyle Marketing,
   Branding, Consumer Behavior, Marketing, Sales

Professional Fees subject to change without notice

• $$ = between $10,000 – $15,000
• $$$ = between $15,000-$25,000
• Expenses:    As incurred
• Travels from:      USA – Pennsylvania

• Expenses for Travel, (air and ground) Accommodations, Meals, Traveling Companion, and Incidentals are not included in the above fees.
• Discounted Fees:  Under rare and special circumstances speakers may discount their fees at their discretion. i.e., booking multiple events with the same client.  Non profit organizations may also qualify for a discount.

Biography – Michael R. Solomon, Consumer Behavior, Lifestyle Marketing – 

Michael R. Solomon “wrote the book” on understanding consumers. Literally. Hundreds of thousands of business students have learned about Marketing from his books including Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being — the most widely used book on the subject in the world.

Much in demand as a keynote speaker, Michael often is asked to provide briefings to global executive teams who want significant increases in their bottom line and who understand that’s accomplished by a deeper connection with their customers.

Michael R. Solomon’s mantra: We don’t buy products because of what they do. We buy them because of what they mean. He advises global clients in leading industries such as apparel and footwear (Calvin Klein, Levi Strauss, Under Armour, Timberland), financial services and e-commerce (eBay, Progressive), CPG (Procter & Gamble, Campbell’s), retailing (H&M), sports (Philadelphia Eagles), manufacturing (DuPont, PP&G) and transportation (BMW, United Airlines) on marketing strategies to make them more consumer-centric. He regularly appears on television shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN to comment on consumer issues, and he is frequently quoted in major media outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Adweek and Time.

As a Professor of Marketing (in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia) and an industry consultant, Michael R. Solomon combines cutting-edge academic theory with actionable real-world strategies. He helps managers get inside the heads of their customers so they can anticipate and satisfy their deepest and most pressing needs – today and tomorrow. An executive at Subaru said it best: “The man is a scholar who is current and street-wise.”

Michael R. Solomon’s most requested keynote, “Earth Shaking Trends: What You Need To Know Now About Keeping Your Top Consumers,” will help you to reach – and engage – fickle customers. He will show you how to harness the power of collaborative consumption. He will inspire you to turn customers from pawns into partners as you develop new products and communications strategies. Michael also shares his insights about current issues and challenges in consumer behavior in his other speeches:

• The Young and the Restless: Capturing the Hearts, Minds and Wallets of Millennials
• The Psychology of Fashion
• The Future of Social Media and Shopping
• Gamification and Other Ways to Energize Sleepy Customers (and Employees)

Michael R. Solomonl is passionate about the extraordinary world of the ordinary consumer. He brings humor and arresting visuals to his keynotes to show how everyday behaviors are much more meaningful than you thought – and an essential pathway to grabbing the attention and loyalty of your customers. The marketing guru Philip Kotler summed it up when he stated, “Solomon has the mind of a scientist and the writing flair of a journalist.”

Topics Consumer Behavior – Michael R. Solomon, Consumer Behavior, Lifestyle Marketing

Walk a Mile in Your Customer’s Shoes

The customer is king (or queen). Yet the best product or service will fail if consumers don’t have a positive encounter when they consume it. That’s because what you sell is NOT a product – it’s an experience that consists of the core offering plus everything that goes with it. This includes the physical or digital environment where shoppers find it, the people who sell it, and even how others react to the purchase. This experience is what attracts – or repels – the customer. With so many options available, he or she will quickly walk away from a negative encounter. But he or she also will reward organizations that provide satisfying experiences with long-term loyalty.

At the end of the day, it’s vital for marketers to become more consumer-centric – to understand the experience from the customer’s perspective rather than just the manager’s perspective. And, that challenge is even more daunting when we understand that today’s consumer is changing dramatically as he or she finds new ways to interact with companies.

This fundamental insight is what is drives increased interest in customer experience management (CEM or CXM). A growing number of organizations now recognize the importance of tracking every interaction with customers as if it is their last – because it could be. You’ll get a through overview of today’s consumer, and the major issues we need to understand in order to create and maintain a positive customer experience over the long-term.

At the end of this presentation, you will understand:

1. Today’s consumer experience and how it is changing due to technological and cultural disruptions.
2. What determines a shopper’s level of satisfaction with a consumer experience and how to increase engagement with the organization.
3. How an organization can gather insights about its customers’ experiences in order to improve them.
4. How to design an outstanding customer experience and emerging techniques that will help you to bond with your customers for the long-term.

The Many Faces of AI: What (Or Whom) Will Consumers Trust – and Obey?

 

Everyone is buzzing about AI these days, as well as they should. Machines that “think” for us already are transforming how we work, play – and shop. McKinsey tells us that some 29 million U.S. homes used some form of smart technology last year, and that number grows by over 30 percent a year.

Many organizations now deploy robots, avatars and chatbots to perform tasks we used to ask flesh-and-blood people to do. This suddenly makes the age-old question of what makes us human much less theoretical. Self-driving cars threaten to replace truck drivers. IBM’s Watson beats chess masters and veteran Jeopardy game show contestants. Movies and TV shows like Blade Runner, Westworld, and Humans that focus on the civil rights of synths, replicants and androids are center stage in popular culture. Alexa and Siri are our new guardian angels.

Where does the person stop and the machine start?

Marketers need to grapple with this question, and soon. As customers increasingly interact with machines instead of people, there are huge ramifications for the way we think about sales interactions, communications strategies, product design and marketing channels.

Will consumers more readily accept a product recommendation from an AI agent if an attractive avatar delivers the message? Will customers become loyal to an intelligent agent, much as some do with their favorite salespeople now? Will shoppers prefer to see computer-generated models in advertising rather than real people?

Very soon, the rise of the machines will become the race of the machines. Don’t be left at the starting line. In this thought-provoking presentation we will ask:

• How does the physical appearance of a robot or avatar sales advisor affect the likelihood that customers will trust and follow its’ recommendations about what to buy?

• How will chatbots and affective computing (where software detects a consumer’s emotional state) impact sales interactions?

• As advertisers use machine learning to generate artificial images for their messages, how will AI influence ideals of beauty and the fashion industry?

• What will be the impact of dating apps, sexbots and other smart devices on interpersonal relationships?

• How will facial recognition and wearable computer technologies meld with AI to create “markets of one?”

Earthshaking Trends: What You Need To Know NOW About Keeping your Top Consumers, Consumer Behavior

For years, marketers put customers into tidy little boxes, such as age, income or gender groups. Consumers don’t like boxes! Fundamental categories that form the bedrock of marketing strategy and customer insights simply no longer exist. You need to understand the new landscape of consumer behavior before the earth shifts on its axis again.

The top earthshaking trends that will dramatically change how you think about your customers:

• How consumers plug into a “hive mind” that tells them what to buy
• Why “offline” versus “online” marketing strategies are useless
• How our bodies are product delivery platforms
• Why yesterday’s customer is today’s subcontractor
• How we play at work and work at play
• Why your customers want to rent what you sell rather than own it

Consumer Behavior – The Young and the Restless: Capture the Hearts, Minds and Wallets of Millennials

U.S. Millennials spend $600 billion per year, but their choices change faster than Lady Gaga changes her outfits. How can you adapt to connect with these “always on” but always changing shoppers? We’ll dive in to key ways that Millennials think about products and stores, and we’ll identify emerging tech solutions that sync with young consumers’ lifestyles. Discover best practices to develop brand loyalty with a notoriously fickle group. After this session you will understand:

How Millennials think:

• Why brands matter to them – and don’t
• What you can learn from “World of Warcraft” and other online videogames
• Why “haul videos” and other consumer-generated content will transform the way you think about customer insights
• How cutting edge technologies like virtual reality will revolutionize the shopping experience

Consumer Behavior – A Moving Target

When we try to figure out consumers, there’s only one thing we can count on: We can’t count on anything. Consumer behavior is a moving target, but understanding how “deep meanings” influence customers worldwide will improve your aim. In this session you will learn how to connect with the most diverse consumer base ever – Millennials, Third Genders, Omniculturals, Creatives, Mass Class and others worldwide.

You will understand that:

• Advertising is a mirror that reflects a culture’s hidden tensions and desires
• Marketers succeed only when they seize the moment and sync their brands with the path of popular culture
• A “global consumer culture” sways your customers no matter where in the world you sell
• The forces of fashion rule all products (not just haute couture)
• Colors, shapes and symbols send very different signals around the globe
• “Fortress brands” succeed because they help us to perform primal rituals
• Brands play a starring role in a culture’s myths that surface in movie and TV plots, holidays and even fairy tales.

Testimonials – Consumer Behavior

I knew Michael’s presentation was a big success when our attendees took out their phones and started snapping photos of his slides! Michael’s presentation includes a mix of history, pop culture and statistics that kept the room engaged. We thank him for this high quality seminar!

– Karen Giberson, President,
Accessories Council

The man is a scholar who is current and street-wise

– Joe Barstys, Manager, Customer Satisfaction,
Subaru of America

Prof. Solomon…was able to make us think of new ways to use consumer behavior to frame our own activities…. He was able to inject humor to maintain attention yet did not deviate from the basic task at hand that was to educate and provoke thought

– David Friedman, V.P. Marketing,
U.S. Cellular

…an enlightened resource on consumer motivations and shopping habits…. he brings forth new consumer insights that resonate with our diverse audience… I highly recommend Mike Solomon as a speaker if you want your audience to be truly engaged as they learn about fresh, trend-setting consumer insights that are impacting how marketers can use technology to better connect with today’s consumers.

– Libby S. Johnson, Market Engagement Manager,
Microsoft Advertising

I hope you were able to see how many in the audience — and on the dais — were taking notes. We were extremely delighted with your presentation.

– Kathleen Frederick,
International Furnishings and Design Association

I found Dr. Solomon to be a great asset to the programme through his willingness to adapt the focus and content of his presentation to suit the audience as well as the timely delivery of the presentation in advance of the conference…. I wouldn’t hesitate to ask Dr. Solomon to speak at future events as I am confident that he would deliver excellent value for the conference.

– Fiona McCallum, Global Events Manager,
NCR Corporation (Prague)

I highly recommend Michael Solomon to be a speaker at any event where you want to educate and entertain your audience. Michael has a wealth of knowledge in the consumer space that was very relevant to our audience of retailers. Not only was he poignant with them, but I received overwhelmingly positive responses from the attendees. The use of media in his presentation also added some flair that took the data from your standard presentation to something memorable.

– Sally Stephens, Sr. Channel Marketing Manager, Consumer Marketing,
Symantec Corporation

Michael was perfect for what we were looking for. He was a great mix of academia and practitioner. He was flexible onsite with timing issues and that was greatly appreciated. Many from the Audience gave great feedback and referenced thought provoking examples that they could use. Many would recommend Michael to others.

– Taylor Alas,
The Frontier Project

“Michael Solomon’s perspective is exactly what 21st century marketers need to succeed. His presentation at HOW Marketing Live provided a relevant and easy to understand foundation for a world where the lines between marketing and design are blurring and everyone needs to think like a marketer.

– Ilise Benun,
Speaker, Author and Programming Partner for HOW Design Live

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