Professor Day presented How Vigilant Organizations Gain an Edge.

The Reimagine Tomorrow series aims to bring experts together to share their latest experience with and research on strategy, technology and innovations, and insights. As we all navigate through these uncertain times together, we need more than just real data. We need knowledge that inspires us to look towards the future, thought leadership experience that sparks fresh ideas, a broader world view, and dollops of genius to help us connect the dots and move forward, relentlessly. Reimagine Tomorrow aims to get us thinking about tomorrow through innovative thought leaders sharing their experience, insights, and research. 

Professor Day’s presentation was based on his recent book See Sooner – Act Faster: How Vigilant Leaders Thrive in an Era of Digital Turbulence with Paul Schoemaker, published in 2019. While the book focused specifically on digital turbulence, the vigilance applications can – and should – be applied to help business leaders through all difficulties and challenges, especially the coronavirus pandemic. Digital will have a central place in future, but, as Professor Day says, “it will interact with a lot of other influences.” Through assessing our vigilance and responding sooner to problems, we can work to reimagine the future.

The Need for Vigilance

Vigilance is a collective capability, characterized by curiosity, candor, and foresight. It can be learned and cultivated. Vigilant companies have more freedom because they are constantly experimenting and testing their models; therefore, when the time is right, they can respond faster to problems because they have systems in place to overcome these challenges. While no one could have prepared for the coronavirus pandemic, having a strong digital presence offered a foundation for retailers to navigate the lockdowns and continue to reach their customers. Companies will also be better prepared when the coronavirus uncertainty subsides because they will have learned more about what works and what doesn’t for their customers. 

“Vigilance is deceptively difficult, but enormously important.” – Professor George Day of Wharton, University of Pennsylvania 

Why does vigilance matter? So businesses can seize opportunities as they arise. Companies with more vigilance are often leaders in their respective fields. Vulnerable companies leave themselves open to not meet customer expectations or demands, to not evolve with current situations, and to make mistakes that could have been avoided. Professor Day cites Forever 21’s bankruptcy as an example of a vulnerable company, as they prioritized their fast fashion agenda and missed signals that younger consumers were prioritizing sustainability.

Successful leadership teams are deeply curious, open to diverse inputs, and view their organization from the outside in. Leadership teams should look beyond their sales metrics or what product to push, but consider the perspective of their customers. Marketers practice adopting different personas and viewpoints to reach new consumers, but leaders of vulnerable companies do not. Vigilant leaders allocate about half their time to future thinking and planning, while vulnerable leaders worry about immediate issues.

What Makes a Vigilant Leader

Vigilant leaders change how strategy is made. Strategies should be flexible, made from learning from the past, interrogating the present, and anticipating the future. They look at the zones of uncertainty collected below and analyze the connections between the zones to look for areas of improvement and innovation:

Successful leaders maintain open dialogues, especially now during the coronavirus pandemic. They gather all the ‘misses’ and map out what happened to learn from the past and innovate a new way forward. Strong leaders are open to uncomfortable news from everyone, including employees, suppliers, global teams, and customers. And they encourage and celebrate an environment of open communication and knowledge sharing to welcome people to speak up.

To see with a vigilant eye, it is important to have curiosity and empathy, to stand in the shoes of customers and competitors. Looking at the world through another’s perspective can help illuminate pitfalls and potential oversights. 

Assess your Company’s Vigilance Quotient

The action agenda to assess a company’s vigilance includes leadership’s dedication to cultivating and encouraging vigilance, investing in foresight, changing how strategy is made, and aligning the organization. 

Leaders have a responsibility to create an environment that encourages and, most importantly, celebrates vigilance. This includes an open organizational flow of information and someone accountable for collecting and sharing this information. There should be a free discussion of anomalies and analysis of competitors to inspire employees to think differently.

Learn more about your company’s vigilance quotient by taking Professor Day’s Vigilance Assessment.

Vigilant networks play into the long game, embracing uncertainty and crises as opportunities. One of the biggest differences between vigilant organizations and vulnerable ones is how they approach innovation disappointments. Vulnerable companies see failure as an error.  Vigilant leaders figure out what went wrong and build something new on those insights.

“Vigilant companies see failure as a well-intentioned mistake or error and we can learn from it,” Professor Day explains. 

Tailor your vigilance to your reality because vigilance is constantly evolving and highly situational. Professor Day’s principles help each business create their own vigilant quotient based on where they currently stand against competition.

Vigilance evolves and adapts continuously, enabling us to reimagine a better tomorrow.

Additional Resources

Further reading from our Reimagine Tomorrow Series:

• Meet the Expert: George Day
• Reimagine Tomorrow: Opportunities in Times of Crisis
• Unlocking Technology and Data Science To Combat Covid-19 and Other Health Pandemics
• How Should We Reopen the Economy?

The post How Vigilant Organizations Gain an Edge appeared first on NetElixir.

Professor Day’s primary areas of interest are marketing, strategy making, organic growth and innovation, organizational change, and competitive strategies in global markets. 

He served as the Executive Director of the Marketing Science Institute and was the Founder and co-Director of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management. The Mack Institute seeks to ignite innovation by connecting business leaders with world-class Wharton scholars to transform research into real-world actions and impact. He has been a chairman of the American Marketing Association.

Because of his extensive experience and expertise, Professor Day has consulted for a variety of companies such as General Electric, IBM, Metropolitan Life, Unilever, E.I. DuPont de Nemours, W.L. Gore and Associates, Boeing, LG Corp., Best Buy, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and more. 

A prolific writer, Professor Day has authored nineteen books on marketing and strategic management. His most recent books are:

• Strategy from the Outside-In: Profiting from Customer Value with Christine Moorman, 2010
• Innovation Prowess: Leadership Strategies for Accelerating Growth, 2013
• See Sooner – Act Faster: How Vigilant Leaders Thrive in an Era of Digital Turbulence with Paul Schoemaker, 2019

Two of his articles are among the top 25 most influential articles in marketing science from the last 25 years.

George Day’s awards include:

• Charles Coolidge Parlin, 1994
• Paul D. Converse, 1996
• AMA/Irwin/McGraw-Hill Distinguished Marketing Educator Award, 2003
• Mahajan Award for career contributions to strategy, 2001
• William L. Wilkie, Marketing for a Better World, 2017

Most recently, in 2020, Professor Day received the Sheth Medal, given every two years for distinguished contributions to marketing and strategic management.

Learn to see sooner and act faster with Professor Day’s informative webinar, based on his most recent book with Paul Schoemaker. Schoemaker and Day introduced the concept of peripheral vision of organizations, which later became constructing vigilant leadership.

Reimagine Tomorrow with George Day

NetElixir’s Reimagine Tomorrow Lecture series seeks to provide you with the opportunity for a live discussion with leading experts in various fields to help you navigate through the coronavirus crisis. We bring together academic and leadership thinkers to share their knowledge on strategy, technology and innovation, and insights.

Professor George Day joins NetElixir’s Reimagine Tomorrow series for our third installment. Next week, on Thursday, July 9th at 2 PM ET, Professor Day will present How Vigilant Organizations Gain an Edge. He will discuss:

• What makes vigilance a collective organizational capability
• A leadership action agenda for improving the vigilance quotient of companies
• How to cultivate foresight to see opportunities and problems sooner in order to react faster

In founding the Mack Institute, Professor Day knows how to translate theory into actionable goals to help your business succeed and thrive. He will give examples of vigilant companies and share their success stories, as well as lessons from companies who weren’t vigilant enough – remember RadioShack? This webinar will help your business thrive.

Join our live discussion with Professor Day.

Professor Jerry Wind of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania joined NetElixir in June to present Opportunities in Times of Crisis. Our first Reimagine Tomorrow expert in May was Professor Anindya Ghose of New York University, who shared insights and research on using technology for predictive analytics to model the coronavirus outbreak, using cell phone location data for contact tracing, understanding the extent of American social distancing during the early outbreak of the virus, and more.

Additional Resources

Further reading from our Reimagine Tomorrow Series:

• Reimagine Tomorrow: Opportunities in Times of Crisis
• Unlocking Technology and Data Science To Combat Covid-19 and Other Health Pandemics
• How Should We Reopen the Economy?

The post Meet the Expert: George Day appeared first on NetElixir.

We begin our webinar with a moment of silence to remember George Floyd and all those who have suffered and lost their lives to senseless violence and systemic racism. We believe in creating a world that celebrates kindness and inclusiveness and welcomes differences with open arms.  We celebrate diversity.

NetElixir was joined by Professor Jerry Wind, The Lauder Professor Emeritus and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Our hearts go out to those suffering from coronavirus and those suffering from what Wind calls, “the second virus of senseless violence.”

Reimagine Tomorrow Series

Professor Wind joins the second episode of our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series, which brings in leading and global thought leaders for a discussion to begin to look forward to the future. Last month, we featured Professor Anindya Ghose, who spoke on Leveraging AI, Data, and Tech Platforms to Understand Health Pandemics.

As we all navigate through these uncertain times together, we need more than just real data. We need knowledge that inspires us to look forward to the future, thought leadership that sparks fresh ideas, encouragement to consider a broader world view, and dollops of genius to help us connect the dots and move forward, relentlessly.

The world is shifting to a new reality, inspired by fights for justice, equality, and innovations to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus crisis specifically has prompted a restricting of the workforce to accommodate remote working and learning.  Social distancing has become part of our behavior. We are accelerating toward a digital transformation by advancing an era of digital relationships and communication.

Professor Wind’s presentation on creating Opportunities in Times of Crisis helps leaders to capitalize on shifting their market dynamics, identify untapped opportunities within their organization, and challenge them to invest time and resources to explore the new opportunities which emerge.

Guidelines for Creating Opportunities

Capturing and creating opportunities during times of crisis will also help us cope with and survive the current situation, as well as anticipate solutions to future issues. Professor Wind outlines 10 guidelines for creating opportunities in times of crisis.

1. Change Your Mental Model

This is among the most critical of the guidelines because the right mindset can unlock an opportunity. Professor Wind urges business leaders to not return to the same models we had pre-pandemic and pre-protests.

Throughout the coronavirus outbreak, we have overall successfully transitioned to remote learning and working, as well as establish strong communication online. We need to take these experiences and what we learned and evolve them into the future.

Professor Wind notes, “We have an opportunity to rethink.” We can address fundamental societal issues and recreate our baselines to include our lessons and advantages we innovated during the crisis.

2. Speed Up Digital Transformation And The Creation Of A Digital Infrastructure

The coronavirus outbreak has accelerated the digital trend. Ecommerce is rising. Communications occur virtually, between zoom meetings and egreetings. By accommodating new technology and expectations of how we use that technology, we revolutionize the way we conduct people and connect with others in the future. There are opportunities to explore different technological platforms and innovations to see what works best for your business and situation. The changing digital landscape will spark even more inventions.

3. Create New Business Opportunities

Think about creating opportunities not just for the short-term immediate needs that need to be addressed during a crisis, but focus on long-term goals as well. Consider how, with your business’s capabilities and by connecting with your customers, how you can better the future. Create long-term plans for lasting change. Living and working post-crisis should be about transformations, based on what we learned by overcoming the crisis. 

4. Reexamine Your Talent Strategy And Adopt Open Innovation

As a business owner, you have to evaluate if your current workforce can meet your business’s needs. Professor Wind says that sometimes, the best talent to solve your problems are probably not part of your company. Businesses should take people from other disciplines to create a well-rounded workforce. By accepting open innovation and open talent from outside your business, you can excel from a myriad of backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives that will invigorate your creative problem solving team.

5. Undertake An Idealized Design Process To Guide Mergers And Acquisitions And Other Areas Of Opportunities

To achieve success, you have to visualize it. Professor Wind suggests crafting a story around what you want to achieve – say you want to win an award. Visualize yourself with that award and note which publication you want your story to be featured in. Write out the reasons you won that award. Now, you have a foundation to win that award, of milestones you have to hit and guidelines to follow. Evaluate acquisition opportunities to ensure everyone will help you achieve your goal.

6. Switch From A Shareholder-driven Organization To A Stakeholder-focused One And Engage Your Stakeholders

The most important facet of this guideline is to engage your stakeholders effectively. How can you meet the needs of society and offer positive social contributions? If governments will not solve our problems, what can you do to help your stakeholders?

Address your shareholder’s purpose and give greater weight to your employees, consumers, and other partners in your network. Companies who are silent during crises often fare significantly worse than companies who helped and advertised in meaningful ways during a crisis when the situation is over. The types of organizations that will succeed in the future are the ones who speak up, who take a stand, who offer relevant responses – especially those who address racial injustices and respond with sympathy, actions to take moving forward, and continued projects to address and combat racism.

7. Speed Up The Switch To A Network Orchestrator Model

No company can exist on its own. There are networks of employees, partners, suppliers, consumers, and stakeholders who make up a company. Competition won’t be between companies, but between networks that highlight the strength of partnerships. Evaluate who the members of your current network are. And then ask yourself if you can leverage them to create an effective network. By doing so – and doing so now, during multiple crises – you will also succeed in engaging your talent strategy and your stakeholders.

8. Assure Your Organizational Agility And Resilience By Enhancing Its Culture And Organizational Architecture

Your culture of values will work around the clock – both literally and figuratively represented in the cyclical chart to the left- so that everything aligns to propel your business forward. Greater agility will ensure your company can make better and faster decisions, which will therefore increase your resilience during difficult times. 

9. Reexamine Your Business Model And Operations For Increased Efficiency And Challenge Your Revenue Model To Identify Opportunities For Profitable Growth

During a crisis, cash is king, Professor Wind says. To effectively survive a crisis, a business must generate cash and eliminate waste, inefficiency, and redundancy. Reexamining your business model and efficiency at the onset of a crisis can help you save up to 20% of an operating budget. Reinvest this budget to cover your innovations and experiments that will help you cope with and overcome, rather than simply survive, a crisis and propel you further post-crisis.

10. Innovate And Adapt The Adoptive Experimentation Approach

To identity causal links of what was successful in campaigns, you have to experiment with small changes and study their effects. Continuous experimentation is key to emerging stronger from a crisis. Accept and encourage your team to go outside their comfort zones and allow them to fail for the sake of experimenting. Celebrate lessons learned from failures as much as you celebrate successes. Stimulate a creative culture with a talent strategy that will try new things to learn something.

For the other guidelines to be truly effective, you need to experiment to create opportunities for your success.

Tidbits On Creating More Opportunities

In our Q&A section, Professor Wind offered additional insights into our current situation.

• What contributes to a company’s success is how close to the market and consumer the company is, its agility, communication skills, and ability to quickly implement change.
• Company leaders should be agile, and listen to their customers, as well as open to hearing about marketplace trends.
• The coronavirus crisis has shifted our work schedules and allowed for a more flexible work structure. We are moving toward more virtual organizations, working during individuals’ convenient hours, and working on more passion projects (which will inspire innovation and experimentation).
• Everyone is responsible for innovation, to think how they can do better and if they are doing the right thing the right way.
• Companies are realizing and reimaging who they are as consumer sentiment is changing. McKinsey & Company has a selection of consumer sentiment surveys from around the world.
  • Consumer sentiment is shifting as they readjust their priorities in the wake of the coronavirus upending much of what was considered normal, as well as regarding how companies respond to and combat systematic racism and bigotry.
  • Understanding the wants and needs of the consumer is critical, especially as consumers are adopting new behaviors.

“We are not going to go back,” Professor Wind says. “In every given domain there will be integral change.”

The real value in overcoming crises is reflecting on what you learned. Select one thing to start experimenting with to improve it. 

“We have a unique opportunity for change,” Professor Wind says. 

Professor Wind’s guidelines aren’t just a crisis lifeline, but a way of reframing business models and strategies. We change our values and priorities and take actions to reduce racism, bigotry, and other forms of hatred. And together, we can design our future.

Additional Insights

Our next speaker in our Reimagine Tomorrow series is George Day. Professor Day will speak on How Vigilant Organizations Gain An Edge on Thursday, July 9 at 2 PM ET. Register at https://stage.netelixir.com//experience/. 

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. Our sixth installment, Road to Recovery: Business Insights & Lessons From Ecommerce Leaders, will air live Thursday, June 18 at 2 PM ET. At this, we will continue to share real-time ecommerce data from June,and host a roundtable discussion with retail industry leaders.

Learn More about Ecommerce Updates During Coronavirus

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Meet the Speaker: Jerry Wind, from Monday, June 1
• Memorial Day Weekend Ecommerce Sales, from Friday, May 29
• SEO Content Creation Process: Methods, from Wednesday, May 27
• Ecommerce Sales And Online Shopper Behavior Trends On The Road To Recovery, from Friday, May 22

The post Reimagine Tomorrow: Opportunities in Times of Crisis  appeared first on NetElixir.

One of the original Legends of Marketing, Wind had an 8-volume anthology published by Sage in 2014. He has edited top marketing journals, published over 300 articles and 25 books, and consulted with over 100 companies. Professor Wind is one of the most cited authors in marketing and globally recognized and honored. He was inducted into the inaugural group of AMA Fellows and received the four major marketing awards: Buck Weaver, Parlin, Converse, and AMA/Irwin Distinguished Educator Award. He is a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. Professor Wind is also the Co-Founder of The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel’s first private, non-profit university and the Co-Founder of the Purple Project for Democracy and of the Reimagine Education global competition and conference.

Currently, Professor Wind’s research explores reinventing advertising, creativity and innovation, challenging our mental models, and marketing-driven business strategy, the Network Challenge. He has a forthcoming book called Transformation in times of Crisis.

NetElixir is honored to have Jerry Wind join us again for an informative and empowering presentation on Opportunities in Times of Crisis.

Rethink Innovation: X=Experience 2019 by Jerry Wind

In 2019, Wind was a featured speaker at NetElixir’s annual X=Experience. There, he conducted an Innovation Workshop and shared his perspective on:

• Why legacy firms can rarely come up with breakthrough innovations
• The case for change and the importance of challenging one’s Mental Models
• 12 suggested guidelines to enhance and reinvent the innovation engines of legacy firms
• The relevance of the guidelines for the participants and importance of developing a set of individual action plans

Meet Professor Jerry Wind below:

 Reimagine Tomorrow with Jerry Wind

Our monthly webinar series, Reimagine Tomorrow, brings you scholars and thought-leaders to share their expertise, experience, and research on strategy, technology and innovation, and insights to help you navigate the ongoing crisis. NetElixir aims to prepare you for whatever comes next by connecting you with these experts for live discussions showcasing their recent research. We aim to equip business leaders with the knowledge and resources they need to make educated decisions during this uncertain time. You can register for this interactive and thought-provoking webinar at https://stage.netelixir.com//experience/. 

Professor Jerry Wind will present Opportunities in Times of Crisis this Thursday, June 4th at 2 PM ET.

Professor Wind offers 10 guidelines on creating our own opportunities in times of crisis. The coronavirus outbreak has accelerated the digital trend and shifted many companies to a customer outreach approach. Wind’s guidelines include:

• Speed up your digital transformation and the creation of digital infrastructure
• Reexamine your talent strategy and adopt open innovation
• Assure your organizational agility and resilience by enhancing its culture and organizational architecture

The guidelines posited by Professor Wind are not purely for the coronavirus crisis. Because businesses must be proactive, not reactive, these guidelines will help business leaders identify opportunities that lie within this current global crisis and overcome problems small and large. Professor Wind’s presentation will help you to innovate and adapt your market dynamics, identify untapped opportunities within your organization, and challenge you to invest time and resources to explore the new opportunities which emerge.

These 10 guidelines will help us design our own future and develop a set of individual action plans to expose opportunities that lie within each organization.

Join the conversation on social media by using #KnowledgeInspires.

Additional Insights

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. Our sixth installment, Road to Recovery: Business Insights & Lessons From Ecommerce Leaders, will air live Thursday, June 18 at 2 PM ET. At this, we will continue to share real-time ecommerce data from June,and host a roundtable discussion with retail industry leaders.

Looking for additional insights and information for your specific category? Email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com.

Learn More about Ecommerce Updates During Coronavirus

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Memorial Day Weekend Ecommerce Sales, from Friday, May 29
• SEO Content Creation Process: Methods, from Wednesday, May 27
• Ecommerce Sales And Online Shopper Behavior Trends On The Road To Recovery, from Friday, May 22
• Road To Recovery: Year Over Year Ecommerce Sales And Online Shopper Insights, from Wednesday, May 20
• SEO Content Creation Process, from Monday, May 18
• How Should We Reopen the Economy?, from Friday, May 15

The post Meet the Expert: Jerry Wind appeared first on NetElixir.

A recent poll by Adweek shows that customers may be hesitant to return to stores even if they do reopen soon. In the ever-increasing digital landscape, an eCommerce future  might stick. Apparel stores, already one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, may continue to face uncertainty as stores reopen. Surveys indicate ambivalence toward visiting stores in-person; foot traffic reveals different data, reports the Washington Post, as out-of-staters traveled to Georgia to enjoy sit-down restaurants and hair cuts.

Reopening the economy will come in small steps.

Anindya Ghose, Heinz Riehl Chair Professor of Business and Director of the Masters of Business Analytics Program at NYU’s Stern School of Business, studies internet marketing, mobile marketing, digital analytics, social media, and more. He joined NetElixir as our first expert presenter as part of our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series. Part of his presentation covered how technology, AI, and data science monitor and predict the spread of the coronavirus. Based on his research, he also discussed considerations for reopening the economy based on how consumers frequent retail locations.

Why Reopening the Economy Will Be ‘Experimental’

In considering reopening the economy, Professor Ghose warns that we have to be careful and assess the risks. “Gains we accrued over last weeks of isolation can be undone,” Ghose says if we open too early. 

Asymptomatic people constitute between 52% and 86% of cases. They can easily continue to spread the coronavirus if we open too much too quickly.

Ghose’s considerations take into account the probability of exposure to the coronavirus (by looking at the frequency of visits made to the business and the level of contact within that space) and the length of time on average someone would spend within that business.

For example, sit-down restaurants could pose a high threat of infection rate. Restaurants and bars draw large crowds who spend a few hours on average within these confined spaces. Thus, exposure risk to the coronavirus is high:

In creating effective policies, Ghose recommends looking at epidemic models and accounting for other possible economic interests and externalities. The opening of some businesses will call for the opening of others that may not be the safest move.

So, which businesses should we patronize?

The optimal businesses to open first are those with a low level of contact and those with outdoor areas. Currently, parks have been among the first places to open in many states and beaches are set to open next.

The separation of retail stores, however, will be difficult. The type of retail store often dictates the length of time people may linger. For example, time spent in book, toy, and game stores is often much longer than that of say, flower and gardening shops, Ghose explains.

Professor Ghose presented data which showed that restaurants are open, but at a much lower capacity than pre-pandemic. There is also little economic activity in shopping malls due to the risk of exposure.

Ghose also believes that we “could still see natural, organic social distancing,” even as more businesses open in the future. Businesses could temporarily be at 30-40% of their pre-pandemic capacity until a Covid-19 vaccine is produced. Reduced capacity could be a combination of people willfully social distancing, as well as people not being allowed to enter as frequently as they desire due to mandatory reductions.

Reopening the economy is a balancing act, as described by McKinsey, but planning ahead can lead to inspiring innovations.

Innovations During Times of Crisis

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of all invention. And Ghose says, “This pandemic is as big a necessity as it gets.”

The SARS crisis led to an ecommerce boom in China. Ghose says that there was no meaningful ecommerce landscape before 2003, but after the SARS outbreak, there was a boom in Asia. We have already seen the coronavirus shift the ecommerce landscape and drive more consumers to online shopping.

Digital achievements will also speed up – and we have already seen the digital landscape rapidly evolve and grow. Brands will continue to connect with consumers via social media and their ecommerce platforms. 

As the coronavirus continues, people may be more willing to use data to ensure their safety. Thus, location data from mobile phones will help in not only monitoring the spread of the coronavirus, but giving people access to retail deals near them.

Ghose predicts, “Mobile, online, digital will continue to play a big role in the retail space.”

Additional Insights

The next expert in our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series is Professor Jerry Wind of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. On Thursday, June 4 at 2 PM ET, Wind will present Opportunities in Times of Crisis. Join the conversation on social media by using #KnowledgeInspires.

Our partners at BWG Strategy present Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales and Online Shopper Behavior on Tuesday, May 19 at 11 AM ET. Founder and CEO of NetElixir Udayan Bose will discuss a path to a successful economic recovery and the continued impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales, online shopping behavior, and hot products.

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. Our fifth installment, Road to Recovery – Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales & Online Shopper Behavior, will air live Thursday, May 21 at 2 PM ET. 

Looking for additional insights and information for your specific category? Email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com.

Learn More about Ecommerce Updates During Coronavirus

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Reimagine Tomorrow: Meet Our Speaker, Anindya Ghose, from Monday, May 11
• Digital Learning in a Virtual Classroom, from Friday, May 8
• Resources to Continue Navigating the Coronavirus Crisis, from Wednesday, May 6
• In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2020, from Monday, May 4

The post How Should We Reopen the Economy? appeared first on NetElixir.

joined NetElixir Founder and CEO Udayan Bose for our first installation of our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar expert series. Based on his extensive and global experience in researching the mobile economy and AI advancements, Ghose spoke on how technology has been used for predictive analytics in monitoring Covid-19, privacy considerations during global crises, and how location data has been used to analyze the extent of American social distancing.

As a digital marketing agency, NetElixir focuses on helping companies find, acquire, and engage their high value customers. As the coronavirus accelerates the shift toward a digital landscape, shoppers are turning more toward ecommerce. An ecommerce understanding is important in navigating this digital landscape. However, as the coronavirus is an unprecedented global threat, we need more than just digital knowledge and real-time shopper behavior insights to overcome this. 

We need knowledge that inspires us to look toward and plan for the future. We need thought leadership experience that sparks fresh ideas, encourages a broader world view, and shares dollops of genius to help us connect the dots and move forward, relentlessly.

NetElixir’s Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series aims to get us thinking about tomorrow through innovative thought leaders sharing their experience, insights, and research. Begin to believe that we will get through this and we will have an improved tomorrow when we do.

How Technology and Data Detected COVID-19

Artificial intelligence is used in predictive analytics to chart the spread of the coronavirus. Ghose noted that at the end of December, a Canadian AI startup called BlueDot spotted a pneumonia cluster nine days before WHO was alerted about beginning coronavirus infection. By using statements from public health officials, social media channels, airline data, and more, researchers charted predictive paths of how the virus could spread.

Data scientists have used Google’s DeepMind to analyze the protein structure of COVID-19. 

Baidu, one of the largest AI and internet companies in the world, was able to used infrared and AI-powered facial recognition software to screen people for fever in China. They could screen up to 200 people per minute.

Ghose champions technology for use as consumer empowerment, not just for businesses means to a revenue end. As contact tracing develops, there are apps available that let people check if they have taken the same flight or train as a COVID-19 patient. In Taiwan, the FaceMask App shows where consumers can find masks based on inventory tracking.

Technology offers us deeper insights into the movement and structure of viruses, which will help us to better monitor and fight outbreaks. Sophisticated technology like we currently have access to was not available during previous health crises like SARS or H1N1. While there is still much we don’t know about COVID-19, we have, as a collective, quickly developed new technology to help us understand the situation. Our innovation has only grown during the pandemic, as we unite to alleviate suffering and find solutions.

Measuring Social Distancing and Contract Tracing

Geo-location data from smartphones, CCTV surveillance footage, GPS data from cars, offline credit card transactions, ATM banking records, and more help some countries monitor social distancing compliance.

High fatality rates in the early days of Italy and Spain’s outbreaks are partly attributed to people not complying with social distancing methods. According to Ghose, research has shown that COVID-19 transmission occurs between people who are within 1 meter of each other for 15 minutes or more. The average number of infected droplets people spread increase the more people breathe, cough, and speak. This is why social distancing measures are essential in limiting the spread of the virus and helping to flatten the curve.

Contract tracing is important in tracing incidents and backtracking how infections spread and where they could have originated. It is also useful in predictions. By using travel information, contract tracing can predict the next city vulnerable to a wave of infections.

Insights from Mobile Location Data

Anindya Ghose’s body of work rests heavily in the power of smartphones and the mobile economy. Location tracking unlocks how well people followed social distancing measures. 

Ghose and a team of researchers have looked into the trade-off between privacy and location tracking as mobile phones become more prevalent. During the current crisis, research has found that Americans are willing to sacrifice some privacy for the greater good, such as monitoring the spread of COVID-19. 

However, there was still a small, but meaningful political divide evident in response to privacy concerns. Cities that leaned toward Democratic beliefs were slightly more likely to keep their location on, evidenced in the chart below. The dotted line marks official stay-at-home orders by President Trump on March 13. From there, we see a steep decline in people opting out of turning off location data (meaning they kept their locations open).

Compliance with Social Distancing

How well did Americans comply with states’ initial implementation of social distancing measures?

Those who were compliant with social distancing measures were more likely to share their location data than those who were not actively complying. On average, people were more likely to opt in to continuing location tracking after the crisis became prominent. 

As the days wore on, however, America did unite in trading some privacy measures for the greater good. “Prosocial behavior manifested itself during the crisis,” Ghose says, continuing that people “sacrifice a tad bit of privacy for greater social good.”

Additional Insights

The next expert in our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series is Professor Jerry Wind at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. On Thursday, June 4 at 2 PM ET, Wind will present Opportunities in Times of Crisis. 

Our partners at BWG Strategy present Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales and Online Shopper Behavior on Tuesday, May 19 at 11 AM ET. Founder and CEO of NetElixir Udayan Bose will discuss a path to a successful economic recovery and the continued impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales, online shopping behavior, and hot products.

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. Our fifth installment, Road to Recovery – Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales & Online Shopper Behavior, will air live Thursday, May 21 at 2 PM ET.

Looking for additional insights and information for your specific category? Email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com.

Learn More about Ecommerce Updates During COVID-19

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Reimagine Tomorrow: Meet Our Speaker, Anindya Ghose, from Monday, May 11
• Digital Learning in a Virtual Classroom, from Friday, May 8
• Resources to Continue Navigating the Coronavirus Crisis, from Wednesday, May 6
• In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2020, from Monday, May 4

The post Unlocking Technology and Data Science to Combat COVID-19 and Other Health Pandemics appeared first on NetElixir.

NetElixir launches a new webinar series called Reimagine Tomorrow. Here, we welcome back speakers from our X=Experience events who are experts in various fields across academia and retail industry. Our monthly series will welcome a range of voices and perspectives on the current coronavirus crisis and prepare us for the post-pandemic world. World-class thought leaders will share their insights, opinions, and strategies to help business leaders navigate this crisis and come out of it stronger. Our schedule is as follows:

• Tomorrow, May 12 at 2 PM ET
  • Anindya Ghose presents Leveraging AI, Data, and Tech Platforms To Understand Health Pandemics
• Thursday, June 4 at 2 PM ET
  • Jerry Wind presents Opportunities in Times of Crisis
• Thursday , July 9 at 2 PM ET
  • George Day presents How Vigilant Organizations Gain an Edge

Explore the full lineup at netelixir.com/experience.

Meet Anindya Ghose

Anindya Ghose is the Heinz Riehl Chair Professor of Business and Director of the Masters of Business Analytics Program at NYU’s Stern School of Business. He specializes in advising companies on the business value from IT investments, internet marketing, mobile marketing, digital analytics, social media, and more.

Published works by Anindya Ghose

In 2017, he published TAP: Unlocking the Mobile Economy, a best-selling double winner of the 2018 Axiom Business Book Awards. TAP, according to its Amazon description, considers “how the smartphone can become a personal concierge (not a stalker) in the mobile marketing revolution of smarter companies, value-seeking consumers, and curated offers.” Businesses can tap into the data trail left on consumers phones to capture some of the mobile economy (valued at more than three trillion dollars).

Your phone can act as your butler, serving you relevant and tailored mobile advertisements. Ghose identifies nine forces that shape consumer behavior, examining how these forces operate in conjunction and separately. An effective mobile ecommerce offer can reach those staying at home, who are learning how to shop online during this time.

The coronavirus can expedite the trend toward digital shopping and learning. Cell phones are becoming essential in monitoring contact tracing of the virus throughout different countries. 

X=Experience Event

In 2019, Ghose joined NetElixir’s annual X=Experience event. Ghose spoke on using AI and blockchain to monetize the mobile economy. As a speaker and consultant at events, conferences, businesses, and start-ups around the world, Ghose has extensive expertise in how AI and technology helps companies evolve and grow. America is leading AI research, while China leads AI implementation. Global connections will be beneficial to all of us, as we work together to use technology to improve our condition. 

The mobile economy is constantly growing, especially as the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the move towards digital. Ghose says winners of the mobile economy rely on predicting the known needs of their known customers – and maintaining this into the future relies on predicting the unknown needs of unknown customers. Last year, Ghose spoke on a shift in the consumer’s mindset regarding data exchange with firms for a better, more personalized shopping experience.

Because the coronavirus dramatically and quickly changed consumer shopping behavior, we could see a steady rise in online shopping. Ghose will explore how cell phones and location data are being used to monitor the spread of the coronavirus crisis. Our smartphones could become butlers not only in curating a better shopping experience, but in controlling the spread of diseases and keeping officials informed.

Live Discussion with Anindya Ghose

As part of our Reimagine Tomorrow webinar series, Ghose will look at how technology and AI can help us better understand, monitor, and fight health pandemics. His discussion will cover:

• How tech has been used for predictive analytics to model the Covid-19 outbreak;
• The means of using cell phone location data for contact tracing;
• Understanding the extent of social distancing in America based on location data;
• How researchers have used random sampling, genomic science, and AI based nanosensors to identity undetected or asymptomatic cases;
• The debate between public good and civil liberties in the context of privacy trade offs;
• Recent empirical research.

As our first speaker in our Reimagine Tomorrow series, Anindya Ghose will look at the evolution of the coronavirus outbreak since December, 2020. He has extensive expertise in using mobile phones to track consumer spending to improve marketing and engagement; Ghose will explore how mobile phones help measure compliance with social distancing by using location data to see where people actually traveled to during the outbreak. When did the average travel distance first fall below two miles? How did Spring Breakers in Fort Lauderdale spread the virus?

Additionally, Ghose will discuss reopening the economy. Which businesses should open first and which should open later? By assessing the ease of spreadability, space, number of people, functions of air conditioning, and more, Ghose will consider what types of businesses pose the greatest risk of increasing infections. By using data available from around the world, Ghose will compare the response of America with that of China, Germany, and South Korea.

Our live webinar presentation offers an exciting opportunity to ask Ghose questions, discuss the future of AI and technology, and learn more about how the coronavirus spreads and is contained.

Additional Insights

Our partners at BWG Strategy present Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales and Online Shopper Behavior on Tuesday, May 19 at 11 AM ET. Founder and CEO of NetElixir Udayan Bose will discuss a path to a successful economic recovery. He will detail the continued impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales, online shopping behavior, and CPC’s.

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. The schedule is as follows:

1. March 11: Our first webinar on tracking the impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales and online shopping behavior
2. March 26: Meet our first Retail Superhero, Parag Shah, the Vice President of Grocery at Wakefern Food Corporation for Shoprite. Learn over a month’s worth of research
3. April 9: Our third update featured UPS’s President of SMB and US Marketing, Gerard Gibbons, for a live Q&A
4. April 23: We detailed over two months’ worth of research. Kaki Zell, Co-Owner and Vice President of Ames Walker shares a story of innovation in the apparel industry
5. Our fifth installment, Road to Recovery – Real Time Data on eCommerce Sales & Online Shopper Behavior, will air live Thursday, May 21 at 2 PM ET.

Looking for additional insights and information for your specific category? Email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com.

Learn More about Ecommerce Updates During Coronavirus

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Digital Learning in a Virtual Classroom, from Friday, May 8
• Resources to Continue Navigating the Coronavirus Crisis, from Wednesday, May 6
• In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2020, from Monday, May 4
• Brief Ecommerce Sales Updates, from Friday, May 1
• Brief Retail Analytics Updates Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, from Wednesday, April 29

The post Reimagine Tomorrow: Meet Our Speaker, Anindya Ghose appeared first on NetElixir.