Battle of Big Thinking part 1: Creating unique brands; Changing the world; Perth vs Sydney
Yesterday saw the APG’s Battle of Big Thinking. The first session covered big business ideas.
Speaker: Peter Williams – CEO, Deloitte Digital
Topic: The formula for changing the world
Quote: “Any match in the box can start a fire.”
His argument:
That rather than chasing influencers, brands need to understand that when a population is ready to go through a phase transition anything can be a trigger if you understand it.
Using a home experiment involving a bottle of beer from the freezer, he showed how once one molecule of beer freezes (or changes phase), the transition moves to the next.
He also challenged the audience to clap in unison, and with no other obvious organisation, the room fell into rhythm within about a second.
He argued that formula for changing the world is simply having a self-influencing population that is ready to make that phase transition, and a trigger.
A further example was the launch of the Apple iPhone, and the apps ecosystem that goes with it.
My take: Peter’s argument that we spend too much time working out who are the influencers, rather than what the buttons are for the whole population was well made.
Speaker – Jessica Irvine – Economics writer, Sydney Morning Herald
Topic: Perth will replace Sydney as the effective capital city of Australia
Quote: “Sydney’s transport system is pretty much stuffed. Successive state governments have failed to plan for a growing population.”
Her argument:
That despite NSW premiere Kristina Keneally’s perky hair, the state government is still run by the same factions who are unable to plan for a growing population, leading to increasing transport congestion and people voting with their feet.
This will be underpinned by massive structural change to the Australian economy, driven by WA’s resource boom – much like the 1850s when Melbourne was bigger than Sydney.
My take: Although it was amusing, the argument went not much further than the SMH’s current (and probably true) line that the NSW Govenrment is rubbish and can’t be relied on to build for the future. I really wnated to hear a compelling argument for why people would be drawn to Perth, but it wasn’t there.
Speaker – Jon Bradshaw – (Incoming) Brands director, Lion Nathan
Topic: Creating unique brands in a homogenised world
Quote: “God forbid Africa should get its shit together and India starts to look like an expensive place to put a call centre.”
His argument:
Despite the cliches about people being a company’s biggest asset, the closer the world moves to economist Adam Smith’s state of perfect competition, the more the only thing left to distinguish a company or brand is the brains inside the company. As he put it: “The problem with perfect competition is that removes strategic differentiation. How do you find the elusive point of difference? The beautiful thing about people is they are unique. Nothing against HR directors but they’re the last people to look after the last bastion of strategic advantage.”
he argued that people should be top of a company’s agenda, and if needs be the mdoel shiould be changed to do this. “Why not buy 30% of your shares back and give them to your top talent? Imagine if you made people management capabilities what you prized management for.”
My take: The problem with writing a summary is that it makes a well argued presentation sound trite. And the reason that people trot out the “people are our greatest asset” cliche is ebcause it is true.
My vote: Jon Bradshaw
The voting result: First Jon Bradshaw (60%); Second Peter Williams; Third Jessica Irvine
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Cant wait to see how you summarise the crazy dude with the short hair and the SA accent – (Sauerman)
What a good idea this event was. Something different at last!
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I thought it was a pretty good and inspirational event. Only a couple speakers disappointed in their preparation but overall I would rate this 8.5/10 which based on Richard Sauerman’s speech IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH 🙂
I also noticed Sauerman has a Youtube channel with a few of his videos published in there https://www.youtube.com/user/RichardSauerman
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Thanks Tim for your vote and for attempting to summarize my rambling! True dedication to your craft. I would continue to argue that whilst I am in serious danger of becoming a cliche I am not and never will be anybody’s f&$king asset. Cheers.
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It was a great afternoon overall! if nothing else, watching 15 speeches in a row taught me a lot about how to (and how not to) engage an audence. Loved The Sauerman’s inspiring speech a, got a tingle from Tim Noonan’s soothing voice and enjoyed hearing from Nake’s Jon. The Perth vs. Sydney debate really did little to convince me, they’d have to cut Australia in thirds, remove the middle section and sew the two halves back together to make Perth more accessible to the rest of Australia for it to be even considered. I intermittently laughed and frowned at the ‘nibbler’ duo at the thought of having an online thing continuously nibbling (hehe) my life into a conglomerated ball that I could consult on-line to find out which friend I should speak to in real life when I need to feel happy. Are human brains and feelings likely to become redundant in the next 10 years?
As far as Peter’s speech, who does he think started the group clapping in unison; he was the influencer…
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