For audiences: corporate management, marketing teams, department and divisional managers, sales teams and, entrepreneurs.

This speech was designed as the keynote address to the World Marketing Congress held in November 2018, to introduce the Congress theme: Futuristic Marketing. In this speech Ed encourages strategic thinking by showing the numerous challenges marketeers and managers face. He shows by example how information overload can blind us to crucial situations, how lies and distortions must be filtered from the truth and how technological and sociological change affect marketing plans. Ed is by nature a positive person so having pointed out the risks, Ed suggests solutions to the dilemma of crafting business and marketing strategies in a disruptive world. He shows by example how companies can be adaptable, customer centric and communicative to deal with future unpredictability.

For audience: Executive, division and branch management, marketing and brand managers, marketing
and sales teams, entrepreneurs, all mangers and staff who interact with the public

Brand and reputation are important assets to any organization. A strong brand and a good reputation bring benefits like attracting talent, lifetime customers, access to funding and strong growth. Brands are easily damaged so reputation management is crucial. Brands can be damaged by an action by a single employee, by carelessness and by not responding to consumer issues. In this speech Ed shows that brands are built and damaged in the minds of the market.
To a very large degree your brand is dependent on your actions which can boost your reputation or cost you millions in reputational damage. Ed uses examples to show how threats to brand have been contained by customer centric responses, and how they have been massively damaged by denial or inaction. He provides suggestions for proactive reviews of structures, policies communications and processes to build an organization that is capable of address problems and seizing opportunities timeously.