Americus Reed

One of the burning questions is how will artificial intelligence affect our lives as consumers, marketers, and society? In this talk, Americus Reed unpacks the power of understanding how humans interface with technology and what the evidence based research says about how to deploy A.I. into the market place in a way that

1. preserves its effectiveness
2. lowers consumer fear and uncertainty through information/education efforts
3. protects society from its dark side potentiality.

Drawing upon THE latest cutting-edge research conducted at his home institution (The Wharton School) and its relevant centers focused on A.I. (human-technology interaction, health & wellbeing, creativity & innovation, education, policy, governance & ethics, and business solutions) he describes the best in class, best practices on how to optimize A.I. in the marketplace.

In this conversation Professor Reed takes you into the cutting edge logic of the Wharton School to explain the 6 key principals of the “New Consumer Engagement” paradigm. Gone are the days of one-way communication. The customer is now in an ongoing conversation with your product, service or organization and if you are not co-creating your tribe by innovative ways to enhance “Identity Loyalty,” you will be leaving money on the table, making yourself vulnerable to competitive risk exposure and not optimizing your brand as a symbol of self-expression. This strategy clearly requires a fusion of how tech innovation and marketing can converge to deliver on the new world order’s required value propositions which become much more mission critical during disruptive events like the current pandemic. Moreover, in this era of #SocialJustice, consumers can now pressure test what you believe your product, brand, service or organization stands for and will push you to reveal your “WHY”, i.e., the core values that underlie your brand and its business model and operating principals as a global citizen. Professor Reed will discuss and overview the newest approaches to this paradigm including cutting edge data collection methods, and channel and message delivery to the community of advocates you are trying to build.

Key Takeaways:

• Navel Gazing in the Pandemic: Your consumer is thinking about whether or not you are really critical in their lives, is this a danger to you? Or an opportunity?
• Transactional versus Relational focus: The Identity Loyalty Imperative will save many brands from post pandemic abandonment because self-expression is marketing nirvana and consumers are looking for connection and affiliation.
• The need to reimagine your business: You better become the Jane Goodall of your customers and understand how you fit into consumers’ lives from a 360 degree point of view, do you REALLY know what business you are in?
• Build the identity of your company from within: The authenticity of your “Why” is what rules the day. Human talent needs to be fostered around the vision and tech and marketing need to merge.
• The purpose of purpose: Taking a stand is what younger consumers expect you to do so be prepared to build and articulate your values. Even if they have nothing to do with making your widgets.
• Data is the new oil: But Data is not the same as insight. Just as knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. But wisdom is knowing NOT to put the tomato into a fruit salad.

In this talk, Americus Reed discusses the concept of “Identity Loyalty” and describes how it relates to creating a deeply emotional and lifelong connection with a customer. Identity loyalty is when a product, brand, service, or organization becomes internalized as part of who you are. In this talk, Reed describes how to create identity loyalty from scratch. How to monitor and nurture it over time and how to make sure that the brand can through word of mouth and advocacy, create a community of fierce loyalists who will protect the brand, defend it and do its marketing for free. The concept of Identity Loyalty is a powerful tool to utilize the psychology of affiliation, tribalism, and belonging to create a connection that becomes virtually impossible to sever. Reed describes this process, which is relevant to Fortune 500 companies, startups, services, and business-to-business relationships.

Most people lament having to do “a job.” Very few are able to tap into finding their true “calling.” In this talk, Americus Reed describes research in the areas of organizational culture and how companies can better help employees connect with their corporate values. Americus describes his own most recent research on effort, self-reflection, appraisal, and fusion—four areas that create the conduit for employees to be all they can be. How can a company build its brand from within first, making sure that those who work within the building have alignment with the mission and the values of the company? Reed takes the audience step by step through the psychological processes of how calling works, and how organizations can foster and build it over time. People will spend more than half their lives working, so figuring how to best create an environment of personal growth is key.