ipsos connect global business influencers usa 2016

Good morning everyone and welcome to the launch of the new

Ipsos Global Business Influencers survey. For those of you who

don’t know me my name is James Torr and I’m a Director at

Ipsos.

In terms of this morning I’m going to spend about 20 minutes

talking about the Global Business Influencer survey, drawing on

some of the key findings and insights.

1© Ipsos Connect 2016

The peppered moth, which some refer to as Darwin’s great

discovery, is a good example of evolution…

During the industrial revolution light surfaces became darker

due to the pollution and the peppered moth’s camouflage,

which protected it from predators, became less effective.

So over time the peppered moth’s colouration became darker

adapting and evolving to it’s changing surroundings.

So why am I talking about the peppered moth?


Well, just like the peppered moth, senior business executives

have also changed and evolved. We’ve therefore adapted how

we go about reaching and understanding them.

We’ve been doing it for over 40 years and – while there

continues to be a need from advertisers, agencies and media

owners to understand, reach and communicate with this

audience – it’s how we help you do this that has changed.

Just like the moth who has darkened we have gone from

regional surveys to global surveys; printed surveys to digital

surveys; from platforms to brands. GBI fits perfectly into the

media and advertising world we now exist in.


The survey’s 100% online. It reaches those most senior business

executives in companies with 50+ employees.

Media brands are ubiquitous across platforms so we ask about

audience measurement and engagement from a brand centric

perspective. So, brand centric means first asking about which

media brands they consume at an overall level regardless of

platform. We then look at the platforms on which they consume

that brand – whether that be a TV set, a printed publication, a

computer, tablet or smartphone.

There are then four key pillars we look at in more detail to help

us understand this audience further; business, travel, finance

and luxury.

Lastly, as well as demographics, we can also help you

understand their personal interests.

© Ipsos Connect 2016 4

By definition the Global Business Influencers are a very niche

group representing less than 1% of the population. But as we’ll

see, taking into account their influence, spending power and

budgets they control, they are a disproportionately important

audience for B2B marketers and represent the key to

profitability for sectors such as finance, luxury goods and cars,

airlines and hotels.

And we speak to them across 16 markets – from the US, to

Europe, to Asia and China.


So that’s a little bit about the survey. Now lets look at what’s

been going on in the world this year when we conducted the

survey and see how the business influencers are reacting to this.

It’s worth noting at this point we’ll initially draw on some global

data from our GBI Barometer survey which surveyed over 600

business influencers globally and then we’ll focus on the main

US GBI dataset which has a sample of just over 1,400.


Brexit and the rise of Trump are not just driven by economic and

inequality woes, there’s a backlash from the population against

too-fast cultural change.


While we’ve always had immigration, there’s a heightened focus

on it given what’s happening in the Middle East. And closer to

home here in the US Trump has focused a lot of his rhetoric on

immigration too. In the UK we know from historic data that

concern about immigration is at the highest we’ve ever seen.


And looking at some data from the Ipsos Global Trends Survey

we see in the western world there’s a fear of change of what is

happening; people would prefer their country to be the way it

used to be. An air of patriotic nostalgia exists.


And all this is compounded by the speed of technological

change; while Moore’s law is reaching saturation point, we’re

now seeing the Internet of Things rapidly develop.


And it’s not just the general population who think the world is

changing too quickly. Almost three quarters of the Global

Business Influencers also think this.

However, the context in which the general population think

about change is very different to that of the Global Business

Influencers. Just thinking about the last few years – they’ve had

to manage their businesses through an unprecedented amount

of change; there’s been a global recession and technology has

flipped how business is run on it’s head. They also exist in an

evermore globalised and competitive world where information

travels quicker than ever.


But you know what – as part of their daily lives, they deal with

change continuously so are used to it.

They embrace it and adapt to survive. They’re not unlike the

peppered moth, who now, as pollution levels have decreased,

have returned to their mottled colour.

And they recognise that while change comes with its challenges

it also brings many opportunities too.


And we see they’re very much embracing the changing, and

increasingly globalised world we live in…


And to quote Darwin… “It’s not the strongest of the species that

survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that

is most adaptable to change”.

The Global Business Influencers understand this; if they don’t

adapt, their businesses will struggle to exist.


Looking back at some of the challenges that senior business

executives have seen – and have had to adapt to – there has been a

lot going on.

As the financial crisis hit in 2008 we saw an immediate focus the

following year on volatile markets.

As time went on economic uncertainty remained a challenge but it

became part of the norm.

So attention turned to business fundamentals; attracting and keeping

top talent, and also technical advancements. These are two attributes

that allow innovation and companies to remain competitive and

profitable.

And in 2014 the digital world was fully upon us; data ruled, and being

able to safeguard this and your company’s reputation was critical.

This continues into 2016, but it also heralds the challenge of taxation

starting to emerge; the recent ruling on Apple and numerous news

stories around this make it very top of mind.

Looking further ahead to 2021, there’s more change… governments

will play an increasingly prominent role in the private sector as

demand for greater regulation grows.


Another change they are having to adapt to is Brexit.

A recent Ipsos study showed that the general population in the

EU are worried about Brexit, but further afield outside the EU

there is less concern. However, it’s different for Global Business

Influencers; working across regions they see the economic

consequences as far reaching. Almost 6 in 10 US Global

Business Influencers say the it will affect their business.


We’ve just seen that now and in 5 years time the big challenges

cited included cyber security, tech and innovation. GBI allows us

to look at 31 different business decision making areas by spend

and looking at the US specifically it’s the tech area where the

most money is being spent.

Investing in technology is key to creating a more effective and efficient company.

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But that’s just what they spend on technology. They have total

budgets in the US of US$2.5 trillion - that’s a huge amount of

money they’re in control of. It’s across a variety of areas from

finance to corporate to operations.

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The reason they control these big budgets is because of who

they are… They’re the most senior execs in medium and large

companies; 74% are c-suite and they exist in companies with an

average size of almost 2,000 employees.

These are the top execs who authorise the spend! For any B2B

communications and marketing you need to be speaking with

these people.

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Given many of the companies they work in are global we see

half involved in international business activities – ranging from

sales and marketing to manufacturing to foreign direct

investment.

They truly are global citizens.

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Even as technology makes it easier to connect, almost 9 in 10

Global Business Influencers still say it’s important to travel for

face-to-face meetings. Having this human interaction allows us

to foster personal interactions that are key to business.


And Warren Buffett really hit the nail on the head when he said,

"You will never see eye-to-eye if you never meet face-to-face.”


So of course – they’re travelling frequently and are responsible

for taking 6 million round trips in the past year.


And when flying 60% travel in first and business class. Even

though those travelling at the front only account for 12% of

passengers, they represent about 50% of airlines’ revenue.

They’re a disproportionately important audience that airlines

want to speak to.


Thinking about reasons why they travel at the front of the

plane… Of course there’s the comfort, a restful journey and

saving time at either end. Many cite rewards programmes that

earn them miles and that coveted gold or platinum frequent

flyer status.

So status is important, but we also know that getting

something back is important too…


Now this is Mr Liu. He’s a Chinese billionaire, and I've spoken

about him before. He’s here with his Ming Dynasty tea cup that

he reportedly purchased for US$36m – and he does actually use

it! That was back in 2014, and he’s been spending again - just

last year he purchased Modigliani’s ‘Reclining Nude’ at Christie’s

for US$170m.

When he buys these items though he apparently puts them on

his Amex card for which in return he gets millions of points. He

and his family then use these points to travel the world!


And when travelling, we see that the Global Business

Influencers’ business and personal lives blur. They’re doing

business with more and more countries and it’s therefore very

important for them to be able to understand different cultures.

There’s a recent trend, coined as ‘doubling down on local’. It’s all

about travellers wanting to be immersed in a destination; they

want to understand from insiders who can give them the real

lowdown on what’s going on – it’s not enough anymore just

getting the facts from a guide. They want a real authentic

experience!


But of course while they still want a sense of place, that doesn’t

mean staying in a shack with no air conditioning; it’s rather a

hotel they can use as a base from which to go and explore their

surroundings.


And they can afford to do this. They have big salaries so can

spend without consideration – they can buy what they like, just

like Mr Liu.


And many are high net worth individuals. These are the people

that the banks want to speak with and we can help you do that.


They hold varied financial portfolios and are really savvy

investors. It’s interesting that we see investments such as cars

ranking fairly highly and there’s a good reason behind this…


This picture is not that dissimilar to a poster I had on my

bedroom wall when I was growing up. I still absolutely love this

car! It’s the McLaren F1.

As well as being pretty quick, it would actually make a pretty

good investment too.

And it’s turned out that if you had the money – which some of

the Global Business Influencers will have – this would have

made a pretty good return on investment… In 2013 you could

have picked one up for about US$5m. However, now, you could

sell it for about US$10m.


When purchasing luxury items they also think about it as an

investment.

Lots of luxury items contain precious metals that will only gain

value. But a lot of people have greater concerns than their

status and money; they view some luxury items as a meaningful

family heirloom that can be passed down to last for

generations.


Now some of you will probably recognise this person – he’s

called Malcolm Gladwell. And, many years ago he released a

book called the Tipping Point. He described the tipping point as

‘that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour

crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.’

In this he identified three types of people that help facilitate

this:

Connectors; those people who bridge social boundaries.

Mavens; those people who are very knowledgeable.

Sales people; those who have the ability to influence.

People that do all three are thus very valuable to brands. The

Global Business Influencers – being who they are fit this very

well. We therefore added some questions to the survey that

allow you to identify these people in business, finance, travel

and luxury…


So, back to luxury… Taking those people who agree with all of

these statements we can create a group of people who are

highly connected, knowledgeable and very persuasive in the

luxury sector.


And when looking at them they’re much more likely to be very

high end consumers of luxury goods. Incidentally, they’re also

much more likely to be planning on purchasing these luxury

items in the future too.

These are the people that luxury companies love to speak with;

they won’t just spend big, they’ll also help spread your

message.


In terms of what they look for when purchasing luxury. We’ve

seen a resurgence in Métiers d’Art who use their craftsmanship

skills to create unique pieces. It’s all about having something

that’s different.

And Burberry’s a great example of heritage having been

founded in 1856; their famous raincoat was developed during

the first world war. It’s got a long and rich history – a real story

behind it; this is what luxury purchasers value.


In terms of how people are purchasing luxury, we’re seeing a

big shift to online. You can even purchase Chanel online now

and McKinsey have estimated that by 2025 online luxury sales

will be worth about €70 billion.

There’s a much bigger level of trust in purchasing luxury online

now. And you’ve got brands like Mr Porter offering bespoke

services to help with sizing and outfit inspiration.


So we know we’re talking about a very important group of

people here; but we need to know how to reach and

communicate with them.


Reaching anyone these days and getting their attention is

harder than ever… Attention spans are dwindling.

In the past 15 years, the average human attention span (when

presented with multiple stimuli) has fallen by a third from 12 to

8 seconds. That now puts us behind goldfish.

So knowing how to get attention is vital – and this is where we

can help you.


Given who the Global Business Influencers are, keeping up to

date with what is happening is critical to them. To do this they

are consuming lots of content across multiple platforms.

We can look at their total brand consumption over different

time periods and then understand the platforms via which they

consume.


And it’s from a variety of brands – 16 on average in the last

month.

So we can help you to understand those brands that they

engage with and then the platforms on which they access the

content.


But you know what, they’re really engaged with brands – they

spend on average 33 minutes with a media brand when

consuming content.


There’s been a big growth in multi-screening amongst the

general population – we’ve seen data in the UK from the IPA

TouchPoints5 study that places it at 54% of adults.

The Global Business Influencers are way ahead of this though.

And thinking about what they have to juggle in their positions

and the fact they’re constantly connected it’s probably not

surprising the amount they multi-screen.


So that’s nearly it from me. But, if there’s just three things you

take away form this morning – make sure it’s these:

1. Global Business Influencers survey is the only survey that

reaches this disproportionately important senior business

audience on a global scale across Asia, Europe, the US and

China.

2. While they represent less than 1% of the population, taking

into account their influence, spending power and budgets

they control, they’re your best customers for a variety of

sectors including B2B, finance, luxury goods and cars,

airlines and hotels.

3. We know the Global Business Influencers constantly adapt

to and embrace the changing world – whether this be how

they run their businesses or consume media. This survey is

unprecedented in allowing you to track how their behaviour

is changing.


Lastly, I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank you all very

much for listening – I hope you found the presentation

informative and insightful.

Thank you.


ipsos connect global business influencers usa 2016

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