James H. Gilmore literally wrote the book that spawned worldwide interest in experience design, customer experience management, and experiential marketing. He is co-author of The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage, which demonstrates how goods and services are no longer enough and companies must now offer experiences - memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way. A bestseller and a revolutionary blueprint for corporate success, it was named one of the "100 Best Business Books of All Time" by 800 CEO Read.
Jim is Co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, where he is a "professional observer" sought by enterprises around the globe for his expertise in conceiving and designing new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. His ideas have been featured in numerous articles on business strategy and innovation for such publications as the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Investors Business Daily among others. A compelling speaker, effective workshop facilitator and skilled executive coach, Jim provides Fortune 500 companies with the tools and techniques to stay on top in today's hyper-competitive marketplace.
Jim Gilmore will share his perspective on excellent design, and how successful design necessarily varies for goods, services, and experiences. He will share his perspective on the design appeal of the (experience) enterprises that have won Pine & Gilmore’s Experience Stager of the Year (EXPY) award, but then present examples of the physical things (goods) and intangible activities (services) that he most admires for their design distinctions, and the principles he detects that create their appeal.
One of the privileges for Jim Gilmore as result from the success of The Experience Economy is the number of entrepreneurs who contact him for feedback about the launch of their experience-based ventures. In this session, Jim will walk through ten start-up businesses that have approached him in recent years in search of advice and/or capital. Jim has secured permission from each new venture to share their basic business concept. The audience will then vote on which they think is most viable. In a shockingly unexpected finale to the talk, Jim will share his perspective on the role Reality TV played in conceptualizing each new enterprise!
A fundamental shift is occurring in the very fabric of our economy. Today, what people desire are neither goods nor services, but something very different in kind, namely experiences that engage them in a personal and memorable way. Such experiences will increasingly command a premium fee and provide the basis for generating new revenue growth in for individual businesses and overall prosperity for both advanced and developing nations. In this provocative session, Jim will describe the nature of this emerging Experience Economy and outline principles for staging compelling experiences.
In a world filled with ever more mediated and staged experiences, an increasingly unreal world, consumers are now making decisions based on how real they perceive various offerings to be. As a result, enterprises must become adept at rendering authenticity. Finding ways to tap into this emerging sensibility will become essential for success in the years and decades to come. This new challenge can be defined best as the management of the customer perception of authenticity. To be blunt: you must get real and not just claim you’re real.
