We’ve interviewed Rupa Ganatra, Co-Founder of the first edition of the Millennial 20/20 Summit to understand why there was a surge to launch an event about Millenials. The event will take place at the iconic Art Science Museum in Singapore on 7th and 8th of September! Meet us there!
IEV: Was there a particular event or instance that caused the ‘lightbulb’ moment to launch the Millennial 20/20 event?
When I left the investment banking industry and began investing in companies several years ago, it became increasingly apparent that the consumer was drastically changing at a faster pace than ever before. The evolving consumer landscape has had an impact on every aspect of business from marketing, product design, brand engagement, retail design and data to CRM strategy.
We launched the Millennial 20/20 Summit with an intention to cover these key pillars in relation to the digitally savvy consumer. The millennial generation has a very active role in reshaping our commerce marketplace and the summit brings together some of the world’s most influential brands and personalities under one roof to ignite conversations that are paramount to help brands and businesses adapt and stay relevant in one of society’s most influential movements.
The event is curated to reflect the standards that millennials value and we hope to deliver an experiential, immersive and personal experience for all attendees.
IEV: What do you think businesses should focus on as their key learning points from attending the Millennial 20/20 event?
We want everyone to leave the event with inspiration, new networks and ideas for their businesses. The summit offers three key stages. The Centre stage provides a curated agenda of industry-shaping inspiration; the Fast Track Solutions stage casts the spotlight on thought leaders in the industry and will be indispensable for businesses to learn more about what their competitions are doing; and the third stage is an exemplary exhibition showcase of some of the world’s most cutting-edge technology and service providers in retail, Marketing, Mobile, Advertising, Payments, Big Data, CRM, Ecommerce, Social Media and Video.
So whether a business is coming to understand their consumer better, gain some inspiration, explore new commerce solutions, discover the most disruptive retail and marketing start-ups and or network with leading brands, retailers, corporates and start-ups, there is something for everyone.
IEV: Thoughts about the Asian millennial? Do you think that there are significant differences from the West?
Millennials are changing the way we do business and this is a fact. We introduced the Millennial 20/20 Summit with a firm belief that millennials are a mindset rather than a demographic. This mindset extends into consumer patterns and behaviors that are in an evolution and having a revolutionary impact on businesses across the globe.
We premiered earlier this year in London, with Singapore being a natural second stop with its robust infrastructure, communities and innovation capabilities. What is evident was that the same traits are seen globally, regardless of geographical location. It is fuelled by the always-connected consumer who has grown up with a mobile device, thinks differently than previous generations and has social media embedded in their DNA.
The summit provides a platform for businesses to understand this millennial mindset and exposes them to a network of movers and shakers, or industry innovators and disrupters who have been successful in localising their propositions to create valued solutions for consumers. For example, Snapchat is a platform of choice in the West but its Korean competitor Snow has been gaining popularity in the East. Deliveroo, Just Eat, Hubbub and Ocado are amongst the UK’s food delivery disrupters but in South East Asia we have Food Panda, Deliveroo, Red Mart and Happy Fresh.
We are in a millennial-driven marketplace and companies large or small need to start thinking about disruption, technology and innovation as key components of their future.
IEV: What do you hope to see businesses do after the event? E.g. Launch innovation labs, experiment with social platforms, etc.
We have different elements to our events and we want businesses to walk away with inspiration, education, new networks and commerce ideas.
IEV: What is your opinion about the emerging trends for consumers that have been started in Asia?
The consumer landscape in Asia is constantly changing but the Millennial 20/20 Summit brings into focus some of the key trends and movements across some of this generation’s most revolutionary sectors.
A.) Growth in direct-to-consumer business models and approaches
Millennial consumers are demanding increased authenticity, convenience and uniqueness from the brands that they choose to consume. Start-ups like Pomelo and Grana are some of the companies leading the charge on this in South East Asia and FMCG brands like Mondelez are transforming their campaigns to answer to this. Ganesh Kashyap, Director eCommerce, Mondelez International will be sharing the case study where a recent personalisation activation tripled their purchase conversion from an industry average in China.
B) Evolving food consumption habits
Fast-changing technologies are reshaping the consumer’s future spending habits and in turn creating and unraveling the opportunities, economics and challenges of Asia’s current delivery boom.
C) Millennial entrepreneurs
We are witnessing the rise of the most entrepreneurial generation in history and these founders are driving some of the biggest disruptions out there. There are several sessions at Millennial 20/20 that will showcase how millennial founders are changing the way we shop, travel and consume food – they are willing to embrace change, face the fast-paced world of technology head-on and aren’t fearful or pushing boundaries.
D) Rise of phygital and the emergence of a new retail business model
There was an era where it was about physical stores, then it became all about e-commerce and now it’s increasingly about bridging the gap between the online and offline customer experiences and blending the physical and digital to create an ecosystem between the brand and consumer across the two words. Retailers in Asia and globally are already embracing this and the summit offers opportunities to hear from retailers like Zalora, Lego and Decathlon that have embraced this concept.