Author of Futuretainment and CEO of innovation research agency Tomorrow, Mike Walsh helps to prepare business leaders for what’s next.

Everything is changing. All the traditional industries we grew up with – media, communication, finance, professional services and retail – are all in the process of being turned upside down and re-invented. The force behind this revolution is not technology but rather consumer behaviour. After all, as interesting as it is when things change, the real magic happens when people do.

A leading authority on new media and the digital future. Mike’s unique approach is to scan the near horizon for what’s happening right now, then translate these movements into usable trends. Constantly traveling the world for the best ideas, consumer innovations and disruptive technologies – Mike distills the most relevant insights into tailored keynotes that allow any audience (including technophobes) to not only understand, but also start to influence the future direction of their industry.

Mike has devoted his career to being digital. He ran the market leading consumer insights house Jupiter Research in the Asia Pacific, and held senior strategy roles at News Corporation in both the Australian and Asian markets. Over the last few years, Mike has advised some of the world’s leading brands and corporations. He has facilitated insight workshops and coached senior executives at companies such as Star TV, the ABC, Fujifilm, DMG Radio, Foxtel and NineMSN.

With a dynamic and high energy presentation style, author and futurist Mike Walsh currently stimulates audiences around the globe with his analysis of the latest consumer trends. His presentations blend video, high impact visuals and mind blowing cases of innovation from his experiences in the cutting edge markets of Japan, Korea and China. Whether a conference, strategy offsite or an intimate boardroom discussion – Mike’s presentations will turn the overwhelming tidal wave of new media opportunities into practical strategy. Acting as a powerful catalyst for new innovation, strategic planning and brand inspiration.

“People are tired of stories of flying cars and weird science. What interests me is not the far future, but tomorrow. Somewhere in the world the future is already happening. You just need to know where to look.” Mike Walsh

Programs

FUTURETAINMENT
Yesterday The World Changed, Now It’s Your Turn

Welcome to the Revolution. From the wild copyright warzones of Asia to the newly colliding forces of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, there is a new generation of young consumers challenging what it means to live in a digital world. Smart, connected, and mobile – the ‘Naturals’ have never known a world without the Web. The big idea at the heart of Futuretainment is that we have moved from an era of broadcast networks to audience networks, through which consumers have now taken charge of how brands are discovered, shared and popularized. Forget technology – the future of your business will be being shaped by anthropology. For marketers and business leaders alike, understanding the new patterns of online consumer behavior will be essential for both success and survival.

In this session you will:

• Discover the top five consumer shifts with the potential to transform your industry
• Rethink your core business strategies to engage the next generation of consumers
• Leverage radical new thinking and digital business models from the emerging world

• Go beyond conventional social media tactics to harnessing the true power of ‘audience networks’
• Gain insights into the power of content driven, transmedia brand platforms.

THE DIVERGENCE
Why The Emerging World Will Rule The Web

What we think of the Web today is only a fraction of its future potential. THE DIVERGENCE marks the point where everything we know about the digital world will change. In the coming years, the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China will rapidly overtake the West not only in economic growth, but also as the dominant commercial and cultural influences on the development of the Web. Despite giving the world Facebook and Twitter, the US currently constitutes only 14% of the World’s internet population. How we interact, transact and entertain ourselves in the future will be shaped by new forms of consumer behavior never seen this side of Silicon Valley. Forget the Web of the West, and begin to understand the Web of the Rest. Tomorrow’s digital world will be a milieu of competing cultures – simultaneously a source of conflict and also unprecedented consumer innovation.

In this session you will:

• Learn the true emerging market origins of many of today’s core digital platforms from social networking to social gaming and group buying.
• Identify the 3 Crowns of Power that will secure growing influence of BRIC nations on the future of the Web
• Experience the stories of the children of the Divergence age, who have each grown up in connected worlds very different to the West
• Understand new models of innovation and why the most disruptive technologies and consumer behaviour models will come from unexpected places
• Leverage the success and survival strategies for companies targeting the post Divergence world

UBIQUITOUS
Engaging Tomorrow’s Mobile Consumer

While faster processors, bigger screens and more powerful features steal the headlines – the true mobile revolution plays out daily in its continuing impact on the way we live, work and play. The next generation of phone technology is less about innovative hardware, and more about providing consumers with ubiquitous, high speed access to our social, professional and entertainment networks. From location based technologies, to gesture based interfaces and integrated financial services – the future of your phone may be no phone at all. For advertisers and platform providers alike – the secret to understanding the mobile business of tomorrow is to understand how today’s consumer is already changing.

In this session you will:

• Experience a unique immersion format that tells the individual stories of five consumers in a mobile world
• Understand the next generation mobile technologies and their impact on your business and marketing strategies
• Examine the potential impact of new mobile applications and platforms evolving from China and other emerging markets
• Explore opportunities to extend your products and services as mobile applications
• Prepare for the next generation of disruptive mobile innovation

NEXTLAB
Unleashing the Future On Your Company And Competition

What does it take to not only be the best, but to also change the rules of the game? NEXTLAB is a high impact program designed to equip top managers with the insights, motivation and tools to transform the way they do business. The future is already here, you just need to know where to look. From social gaming in China to radical new low cost business models from India, next generation mobile banking in Africa and experiential brand platforms in Latin America – the best unorthodox thinking is taking place far from the traditional centres of innovation. The secret to seeing what’s coming next is to pay close attention to the spaces where all the rules are being broken. NEXTLAB is a fast paced global tour of the disruptive technologies and new consumer behaviours that will directly impact you and your industry. By the end of this action packed keynote you will not only know what’s around the corner, you will learn how to think like a futurist yourself!

In this session you will:

• Discover the disruptive enablers that are already changing the relationship you have with your customers
• Understand and identify the 3 Waves of Innovation
• Envision future consumer scenarios as a tool for product and service transformation
• Build an innovation radar for your company and identify the trends most likely to impact your core business
• Develop an internal scorecard to track how focused your company is on shaping the future