About

Canvas8 is delighted to present the third in a series of free events for the design, creative and branding communities. Sizing up today's retail consumer: the new rules of engagement will be on Monday November 16 at BDP, Clerkenwell. 

At the last Canvas8 event David Bausola spoke about brands successfully amplifying consumers’ conversations in order to engage them.  Following the deepest recession since the 1930’s there has been much discussion of the long-term changes to people’s attitudes and behaviour.

We  are delighted to welcome three fantastic speakers - Canvas8 Thought Leaders, Professor Michael Solomon, Dr Alex Gordon and Alan Moore. They will look at the impact of these changes on people’s relationships with brands and offer their thoughts on how brands can best re-connect and re-engage effectively. 

Format

Really straightforward - 3 x 20 minute talks with 15-minute refreshment breaks in between.

Doors open at 6.30pm, with speakers to start at 7.00pm sharp.

Tickets are strictly limited so if you can't make it please let us know by email or twitter @canvas8

Confirmed speakers

Professor Michael Solomon
Michael will be flying in from Philadelphia where he is the Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Consumer Research in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University. He also is Professor of Consumer Behaviour at Manchester University’s Manchester School of Business and was awarded the Fulbright/FLAD Chair in Market Globalization by The U.S. Fulbright Commission and the Government of Portugal.

His primary research interests include consumer behavior and lifestyle issues, branding strategy, the symbolic aspects of products, the psychology of fashion, marketing applications of virtual worlds and the development of visually-oriented online research methodologies.

Michael is a Canvas8 Thought Leader and sits on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour, the Journal of Retailing, and The European Business Review. His most recent book, The Truth about What Customers Want, was published in October 2008 by FT (Financial Times) Press.  

He’s been consulted on consumer behavior, branding, services marketing, retailing and advertising for clients including Gap, H&M, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, United Airlines, Black & Decker, eBay, Visa, Timberland, and Calvin Klein


Dr Alex Gordon
Alex is a cultural detective and semiotician, part time poker player, Canvas8 Thought Leader, lecturer and Managing Director of branding and semiotics consultancy Sign Salad.

Alex has a PhD in Semiotics and Identity Politics. He was Associate Director and in-house semiotician at qualitative agency Flamingo International, and founded Sign Salad, an agency specialising in Semiotics, creative development, cultural insight workshops, mythology management, identity integration, discourse analysis and brand badging.

Sign Salad's remit is helping clients understand the meaning and cultural capital behind a brand, how brands are affected by socio-cultural change and channels of communication between brands and consumers.

Alex has applied semiotics and cultural branding techniques to marketing brand and communication challenges for a range of clients including PepsiCo, Diageo, Unilever, T-Mobile, Premier Foods, UK Civil Service & Govt, Nokia & advertising, market research and design agencies.

Alan Moore
Alan Moore is the originator of the term Engagement Marketing and Communications and his consultancy SMLXL advises on better customer engagement.

He is currently working on his next project: No Straight Lines: An advanced living course for the networked society. A project that describes the complex interwoven relationship between: people, identity, communications technology, commerce and society.

Alan is a Canvas8 Thought Leader, executive director of Mass Niche Media, a board director of the Social Marketing Intelligence Company Xtract and is on the advisory boards of the mobile IPR and patent company CVON and mobile marketing company, Qustodian. He teaches mobile commerce and communications at the Oxford University for Continuing Education and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

About BDP

BDP is the largest interdisciplinary practice of architects, designers, engineers and urbanists in Europe. They work closely with users, clients and the community to create special places for living, working, shopping, culture and learning across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Founded in 1961, they now employ more than 1,200 architects, designers, engineers, urbanists, sustainability experts, lighting designers and acoustics specialists in 15 studios across the UK, France, Ireland and Netherlands.

They combine expertise across disciplines, locations, sectors and all major building types to deliver a truly integrated way of working — resulting in high quality, effective and inspiring built spaces.

BDP’s projects include NikeTown London; Vasco de Gama Centre Lisbon; Victoria Square Belfast; and ABC Beirut and the 42 acre regeneration masterplan of Liverpool ONE shortlisted for UK’s Premier architectural award – the  Stirling Prize 2009.