The Buyer
Top new speakers announced for 1st One Step Beyond conference

Top new speakers announced for 1st One Step Beyond conference

New speakers and panellists have been added to the breakthrough new conference being held in March that looks to give the drinks industry a front row seat to better understand the most disruptive changes in consumer behaviour, driven by advances in smart technology, that are transforming the way we all behave as individuals and as consumers. The One Step Beyond event is being held on March 4 and is a joint project between The Buyer, Sophie Jump, the Wine & Spirit Trade Association and is supported by Emetry, the digital insights experts for the drinks sector.

Richard Siddle
22nd December 2019by Richard Siddle
posted in Conference,Insight,

Drinks industry experts and commentators will join a line-up of experts speakers at the first One Step Beyond conference on March 4.

For those growing up from the sixties to the nineties, the biggest changes in technology were usually revealed in the latest James Bond movie, and even then we rarely saw them develop and be used in our every day lives. The car that can drive underwater? A magnetic watch?OK we had the digital watch but it was never as good as the one in Live and Let Die.

We’ve come a long way since any new gadget or technology breakthrough was first unveiled in the latest James Bond movie

Now let’s look back over the last decade. Any big change in technology is usually announced at a major press conference of a big IT company, retailer or games business and will go on to radically change the way we live our lives – instantly.

Try these on for size: in 2010 we saw the arrival of the iPad; in 2013 Playstation 2 and the XBox were launched, and a new generation of gamers was born; 2015 was the year we were introduced to voice assistants and the arrival of Amazon’z Alexa and Echo; the Apple Watch arrived in 2018.

Throughout the decade we have become more and more embedded and reliant on social media, we’ve seen the obsession with selfies and Instagram. We’ve watched how virtual reality has morphed into augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to the point where we can’t be sure what we are seeing is real, or has been created.

All of which has thrown upside down how we go about choosing and buying the products we want. Be it to wear, eat, drink or put in our homes. A pace of change so fast it is hard to keep up with the last trend but one, never mind be looking ahead at what is coming down the line.

Stop, listen and learn

Which is what the One Step Beyond conference wants to do. To help anyone involved in the drinks industry, from producers, brand owners, importers, suppliers, retailers, or bars and restaurants, stop, listen and look ahead to the future and assess where it is they are in understanding and tackling the biggest changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes.

To do so the event has been designed to do two things: give the industry advice and insights from experts from outside the drinks sector who are specialists in their own field of technology or consumer behaviour; to then take those thoughts and invite drinks industry experts and insiders to assess how they can practically be applied and used effectively in the drink industry.

Speakers

The experts lined up to speak and their topics include:

Polly Hammond: there to help wine businesses who don’t know where to start when it comes to a digital strategy

  • How to use digital to drive a more effective marketing and comms strategy with Polly Hammond, a self-described “black sheep marketer” who spends her days desperately trying to drag traditional wine language, communication, and branding into the digital age. Her agency, 5forests, works with wineries around the world to help them embrace the profitable way to transform to digital, from strategy to social media to online sales.
  • Future trends in e-commerce, omni-channel retail and role of social: Hugh Fletcher, Naji Al Arifi of Wunderman Thompson Commerce.

Learn all about voice search with James Poulter

  • How voice and new technology is shifting consumer behaviour and business life: James Poulter, Vixen Labs.
  • Direct to Consumer and how the subscription economy is changing the world: Paul Mabray, Emetry.

Nikki Sherlock

The world of Stranger & Stranger

Stranger and Stranger’s Kevin Shaw

  • The experts panel of speakers now also includes the highly influential Kevin Shaw, founder of the Stranger & Stranger design agency, that has been the creative talent behind so many of the designs, bottles and looks and feels of leading drinks brands around the world. Shaw will give his own assessment of how packaging and design is still paramount to a brand’s success and what new challenges and opportunities there are for brands in the future.

Drinks Panellists

The charismatic Illy Jaffar

  • Illy Jaffar, Kinetic Communications. The former Pernod Ricard executive who was one for the first marketers to set up an experiential team for a major drinks company. Jaffar now offers consultancy and support for drinks companies looking to develop more effective marketing and brand campaigns.
  • James Balcazar, digital and social media manager, EMEA, for Treasury Wine Estates. James currently heads up the digital and social media marketing at Treasury Wine Estates in Europe, covering brands as wide ranging as Penfolds to Blossom Hill. He has also worked on projects like rolling the Living Wine Labels AR app and the innovative 19 Crimes brand. Previous to his role at TWE, he looked after digital marketing at the E&J Gallo Winery for the EMEA region for Barefoot, Apothic, Dark Horse and New Amsterdam brands. And during his time at Mondelēz International he looked after the online presences for Green & Black’s and Candy Brands Portfolio. James also spent time within the entertainment industry at VUE Entertainment working on digital campaigns alongside partners like Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Universal.

  • Lucy Auld, head of marketing for Freixenet Copestick. After a marketing career in the FMCG grocery sector in a number of roles including Premier Foods and Allied Bakeries, Lucy Auld joined initially Copestick Murray in 2016 to help spearhead its marketing as it looked to push its flagship brands, most notably I Heart Wine, more above the line with high profile campaigns supporting ITV’s Love Island. She is now heading up the marketing for the newly combined Freixenet Copestick business.
  • Robert Joseph. A hugely influential and insightful commentator on wine, consumer and business trends, editorial consultant with Meininger’s Wine Business International, but also a wine producer in his own right with a number of international brands, most notablyLe Grand Noir and Greener Planet.

Liam Hirt, right, will be joining the panels at the first One Step Beyond event

  • Liam Hirt, Circumstance Distillery. A cardiologist, turned craft distiller, Liam Hirt has helped create one of the UK’s most dynamic and innovative craft distillery business, initially from his own basement, it has developed into launching new concepts such as its own cryptocurrency for its brands and what it claims is the first gin to be made with artificial intelligence.
  • Rollo Gabb, Journeys End and London Restaurant Group. Rollo Gabb is an acclaimed and successful winemaker and producer of the Journeys End range of wines in South Africa. He is also one of the directors of the dynamic and growing London Restaurant Group that includes Quo Vadis and Barrafina in its stable.

Sophie Jump organises thought leadership conferences around the world for the International Wine Club Association

  • Sophie Jump has nearly 20 years experience working in the wine sector focused on brand building, direct marketing, press relations and commercial development in key European markets, specifically for Argentinian wineries. Specialist in running and managing international conferences.

  • Richard Siddle, editor-in-chief, The Buyer, over 25 years experience as a B2B editor with particular focus on consumer trends and their impact on different industry sectors.

Working together

The 2020 – One Step Beyond conference is a collaboration between the The Buyer and Sophie Jump, in association with the Wine & Spirit Trade Association. Its headline partner is Emetry, the US-based data analytics business for the wine trade. It is now also being supported by the digital marketing agency, 5 Forests.

“Keeping ahead of changing consumer trends and technology has long been the achilles heel of parts of the drinks industry, particularly the complex, largely unbranded wine sector. The 2020 – One Step Beyond event looks to provide a new platform to address the most challenging and important changes in consumer behaviour and help better understand the advances in technology that are driving so much of this disruption,” said Richard Siddle, co-founder of The Buyer.

Sophie Jump added: “Having organised 20 conferences for the International Wine Clubs Association over the past decade I appreciate how hard it is for companies to keep up with new technology whilst managing the day to day of business. It’s key to communications and sales that they do so. 2020 – One Step Beyond aims to provide practical insights for the present and future.“

Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, said: “Understanding and keeping ahead of consumer trends and the new technologies driving them is crucial for the future of the wine and spirits industry. The WSTA is excited to be part of a conference that aims specifically to address, interrogate and provide practical solutions for its members and the drinks industry.”

Leading US digital analytics expert, Paul Mabray, has signed up to the event as a keynote speaker and headline partner through his data analytics business for the wine industry, Emetry

Paul Mabray, founder of Emetry and one of the keynote speakers said: “The wine industry in seeped in tradition and moves slowly while the world is changing around us faster than ever. One Step Beyond is a much need and essential forum to connect our industry to the experts and thought leaders who will help guide our brands safely into the future. Richard and Sophie are amazing wine industry leaders and are collecting some of the world’s greatest minds in the same room as attendees, speakers, and sponsors to look into the future. I’m excited to see what they unveil and play my small part in it.”

  • The One Step Beyond 2020 conference is being organised by The Buyer, Sophie Jump in association with the Wine & Spirit Trade Association. Its main platform partner is Emetry and it is also being supported by 5 Forests, a marketing and comms specialists. It will include specialist talks on breakthrough technologies such as voice and augmented reality from technology experts and examine what impact they are having on e-commerce, the subscription and experience economy and traditional retailing. Top industry figures will then assess how best to implement and make the most of these disruptive technologies in the drinks industry. The event takes place at The Other Palace Theatre, 12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA between 9.30am to 5pm on March 4. It will also include a drinks reception sponsored by Freixenet Copestick.
  • Tickets are available priced at £195 per person (plus VAT). Places are limited to 100 people so early booking is vital. To register click here.


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