Keynote SpeakersWilliam Higham is a global authority on Future Business Strategy.
He can tell you what your customers, employees and clients are likely to think, do, want and expect from you tomorrow: and the best strategies you can adopt to attract and retain them.
William covers all aspects of the future. As a futurist speaker, he is as comfortable talking about the future of work as he is about tomorrow’s ethical consumer or how the Metaverse, Web3 and generative AI will impact business.
William has led the popular consultancy Next Big Thing for the last 20 years. He’s worked with clients across multiple industries: Amazon to Walt Disney, HSBC to MTV.
He is currently seen in Netflix’s ‘The Future Of’ series.
He is the man who warned the drinks industry of the New Sobriety, saw the Wellbeing Consumer coming a mile off, and championed ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ (‘Dancing With The Stars’) to the BBC.
His keynotes and seminars have inspired thousands globally, from Texas to Korea: from conferences organised by the Financial Times, Barclaycard and Harvard Business Review to corporate events for L’Oreal, Colgate, Primark, BT and Jaguar Land Rover.
William wrote the first practical handbook for UK trend strategists: ‘The Next Big Thing: Forecasting Consumer Trends For Profit’ (Kogan Page, 2010), which has since been translated into five languages.
He’s been interviewed across media: BBC to Bloomberg TV, Fast Company to The Times. He has presented a TV show for CNBC and written for The Economist, Advertising Age and Huffington Post.
He’s participated in academic programs like Cambridge University Open Innovation Forum and been a judge on prestigious panels like WARC and IoD Innovation Awards.
William first made his name in the music industry. Working at Sony, Virgin and Universal, William ran marketing communications for artists from Michael Jackson to The Rolling Stones.
His fascination with music consumers led him to the trends industry. He began as a trends consultant for brands from Levis to BT. He spent a year as managing director of online research company OnePoll, attracting clients from Kellogg’s to Findus.
William Higham Futurist and Trends Speaker:
He is an engaging and inspiring speaker. His talks excite audiences and leave them ready to face the future: armed with new, practical ways to handle tomorrow’s consumers and employees.
Popular speaking topics include:
How to Thrive in a Downturn
How will consumers respond to the growing economic uncertainty? And what new strategies will businesses need to adopt if they’re to attract customers over the next three years? Will has created a brand-new talk to help companies answer this question – and build an effective strategy to reach tomorrow’s “cash-poor customer”.
Okay Millennial”: the Rise of Gen Z and Alpha
Despite multiple commentators describing them as young, most Millennials are now in their 30s. The future of Youth products is all about the younger end of Gen Z and their even younger siblings Gen Alpha. Find out what tomorrow’s young consumers will likely want and expect from brands. And three guaranteed ways you can appeal to them.
Attract and Retain Tomorrow’s Best Employees
Given the uncertainties in the world today, you’d think people would cling to any job they can for safety. Yet, as we’re all too aware, we’re seeing an unprecedented wave of resignations and rising employee expectations & demands. So, what’s happening? And how can you encourage the best staff to come to you, stick with you – and put their heart and soul into the organisation?
Brand Communities: the Future of Loyalty
Customers today are less loyal than they’ve ever been. But trends suggest that, for the right brands, this could be about to change as consumers place more value on the community. William shows audiences how to build a Brand Community that unites employees and consumers and creates a positive loyalty cycle.
The Household of the Future
In recent years, talk about household composition has focused on the shift to smaller households. But as children stay home longer, dependent grandparents move in, and the focus shifts to the local community, we’ll see household size grow. William reveals what that’ll mean, not just for construction and property but industries like insurance, FMCG and automotive, and how they should react.
