Ipsos launches Global Business Influencers survey

Good morning everyone and welcome to the launch of the new
Ipsos Global Business Influencers survey. For those of you who
don’t know me my name is James Torr and I’m a Senior Director
at Ipsos.
In terms of this morning I’m going to spend about 20 minutes
talking about the Global Business Influencers survey, looking at
some of the findings.
1© Ipsos Connect 2016

The peppered moth, which some refer to as Darwin’s great
discovery, is a good example of evolution…
During the industrial revolution light surfaces became darker
due to the pollution and the peppered moth’s camouflage,
which protected it from predators, became less effective.
So over time the peppered moth’s colouration became darker
adapting and evolving to it’s changing surroundings.
So why am I talking about the peppered moth?

Well, just like the peppered moth, senior business executives
have also changed and evolved. We’ve therefore adapted how
we go about reaching and understanding them.
We’ve been doing it for over 40 years and – while there
continues to be a need from advertisers, agencies and media
owners to understand, reach and communicate with this
audience – it’s how we help you do this that has changed.
Just like the moth who has darkened we have gone from
regional surveys to global surveys; printed surveys to digital
surveys; from platforms to brands. GBI fits perfectly into the
media and advertising world we now exist in.

The survey’s 100% online. It reaches those most senior business
executives in companies with 50+ employees.
Media brands are ubiquitous across platforms so we ask about
audience measurement and engagement from a brand centric
perspective. So, brand centric means first asking about which
media brands they consume at an overall level regardless of
platform. We then look at the platforms on which they consume
that brand – whether that be a TV set, a printed publication, a
computer, tablet or smartphone.
There are then four key pillars we look at in more detail to help
us understand this audience further; business, travel, finance
and luxury.
Lastly, as well as demographics, we can also help you
understand their personal interests.
© Ipsos Connect 2016
4

By definition the Global Business Influencers are a very niche
group representing less than 1% of the population. But as we’ll
see, taking into account their influence, spending power and
budgets they control, they are a disproportionately important
audience for B2B marketers and represent the key to
profitability for sectors such as finance, luxury goods and cars,
airlines and hotels.
And we speak to them across 16 markets – from the US, to
Europe, to Asia and China.

So that’s a little bit about the survey. Now lets look at what’s
been going on in the world this year when we conducted the
survey and see how the business influencers are reacting to this.
It’s worth noting at this point we’ll initially draw on some global
data from our GBI Barometer survey which surveyed over 600
business influencers globally and then we’ll focus on the main
European GBI dataset which has a sample of 2,335.

Brexit and the rise of Trump are not just driven by economic and
inequality woes, there’s a backlash from the population against
too-fast cultural change.

While we’ve always had immigration, there’s a heightened focus
on it given what’s happening in the Middle East. In the UK we
know from historic data that concern about immigration is at
the highest we’ve ever seen.

And looking at some data from the Ipsos Global Trends Survey
we see in the western world there’s a fear of change of what is
happening; people would prefer their country to be the way it
used to be. An air of patriotic nostalgia exists.

And all this is compounded by the speed of technological
change; while Moore’s law is reaching saturation point, we’re
now seeing the Internet of Things rapidly develop.

And it’s not just the general population who think the world is
changing too quickly. Almost three quarters of the Global
Business Influencers also think this.
However, the context in which the general population think
about change is very different to that of the Global Business
Influencers. Just thinking about the last few years – they’ve had
to manage their businesses through an unprecedented amount
of change; there’s been a global recession and technology has
flipped how business is run on it’s head. They also exist in an
evermore globalised and competitive world where information
travels quicker than ever.

But you know what – as part of their daily lives, they deal with
change continuously so are used to it.
They embrace it and adapt to survive. They’re not unlike the
peppered moth, who now, as pollution levels have decreased,
have returned to their mottled colour.
And they recognise that while change comes with its challenges
it also brings many opportunities too.

And we see they’re very much embracing the changing, and
increasingly globalised world we live in…

And to quote Darwin… “It’s not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that
is most adaptable to change”.
The Global Business Influencers understand this; if they don’t
adapt, their businesses will struggle to exist.

Looking back at some of the challenges that senior business
executives have seen – and have had to adapt to – there has been a
lot going on.
As the financial crisis hit in 2008 we saw an immediate focus the
following year on volatile markets.
As time went on economic uncertainty remained a challenge but it
became part of the norm.
So attention turned to business fundamentals; attracting and keeping
top talent, and also technical advancements. These are two attributes
that allow innovation and companies to remain competitive and
profitable.
And in 2014 the digital world was fully upon us; data ruled, and being
able to safeguard this and your company’s reputation was critical.
This continues into 2016, but it also heralds the challenge of taxation
starting to emerge; the recent ruling on Apple and numerous news
stories around this make it very top of mind.
Looking further ahead to 2021, there’s more change… governments
will play an increasingly prominent role in the private sector as
demand for greater regulation grows.

Another change they are having to adapt to is Brexit.
A recent Ipsos study showed that the general population in the
EU are worried about Brexit, but further afield outside the EU
there is less concern. However, it’s different for Global Business
Influencers; working across regions they see the economic
consequences as far reaching. Almost two thirds of Asian Global
Business Influencers and 6 in 10 US Global Business Influencers
say it will affect their business.

We’ve just seen that now and in 5 years time the big challenges
cited included cyber-security, tech and innovation. GBI allows us
to look at 31 different business decision making areas by spend
and looking at Europe specifically it’s the tech area where the
most money is being spent.
Investing in technology is key to creating a more effective and
efficient company.

But that’s just what they spend on technology. They have total
budgets in Europe of almost US$2 trillion - that’s a huge
amount of money they’re in control of. It’s across a variety of
areas from finance to corporate to operations.

The reason they control these big budgets is because of who
they are… They’re the most senior execs in medium and large
companies; 65% are c-suite and they exist in companies with an
average size of over 1,400 employees.
These are the top execs who authorise the spend! For any B2B
communications and marketing you need to be speaking with
these people.

Given many of the companies they work in are global, we see
well over two thirds involved in international business activities
– ranging from sales and marketing to manufacturing to foreign
direct investment.
They truly are global citizens.

Even as technology makes it easier to connect, 8 in 10 Global
Business Influencers still say it’s important to travel for face-to-
face meetings. Having this human interaction allows us to foster
personal interactions that are key to business.

And Warren Buffett really hit the nail on the head when he said,
"You will never see eye-to-eye if you never meet face-to-face.”

So of course – they’re travelling frequently and are responsible
for taking 5 million round trips in the past year.

And when flying 54% travel in first and business class. Even
though those travelling at the front only account for 12% of
passengers, they represent about 50% of airlines’ revenue.
They’re a disproportionately important audience that airlines
want to speak to.

Thinking about reasons why they travel at the front of the
plane… Of course there’s the comfort, a restful journey and
saving time at either end. Many cite rewards programmes that
earn them miles and that coveted gold or platinum frequent
flyer status.
So status is important, but we also know that getting
something back is important too…

Now this is Mr Liu. He’s a Chinese billionaire, and I've spoken
about him before. He’s here with his Ming Dynasty tea cup that
he reportedly purchased for US$36m – and he does actually use
it! That was back in 2014, and he’s been spending again - just
last year he purchased Modigliani’s ‘Reclining Nude’ at Christie’s
for US$170m.
When he buys these items though he apparently puts them on
his Amex card for which in return he gets millions of points. Him
and his family then use these points to travel the world!

And when travelling, we see that the Global Business Influencers
business and personal lives blur. They’re doing business with
more and more countries and it’s therefore very important for
them to be able to understand different cultures.
There’s a recent trend, coined as ‘doubling down on local’. It’s all
about travellers wanting to be immersed in a destination; they
want to understand from insiders who can give them the real
lowdown on what’s going on – it’s not enough anymore just
getting the facts from a guide. They want a real authentic
experience!

But of course while they still want a sense of place, that doesn’t
mean staying in a shack with no air conditioning; it’s rather a
hotel they can use as a base from which to go and explore their
surroundings.

And they can afford to do this. They have big salaries so can
spend without consideration – they can buy what they like, just
like Mr Liu.

And many are high net worth individuals. These are the people
that the banks want to speak with and we can help you do that.

They hold varied financial portfolios and are really savvy
investors. It’s interesting that we see investments such as cars
ranking fairly highly and there’s a good reason behind this…

This picture is not that dissimilar to a poster I had on my
bedroom wall when I was growing up. I still absolutely love this
car! It’s the McLaren F1.
As well as being pretty quick, it would actually make a pretty
good investment too.
And it’s turned out that if you had the money – which some of
the Global Business Influencers will have – this would have
made a pretty good return on investment… In 2013 you could
have picked one up for about US$5m. However, now, you could
sell it for about US$10m.

When purchasing luxury items they also think about it as an
investment.
Lots of luxury items contain precious metals that will only gain
value. But a lot of people have greater concerns than their
status and money; they view some luxury items as a meaningful
family heirloom that can be passed down to last for
generations.

Now some of you will probably recognise this person – he’s
called Malcolm Gladwell. And, many years ago he released a
book called the Tipping Point. He described the tipping point as
‘that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour
crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.’
In this he identified three types of people that help facilitate
this:
Connectors; those people who bridge social boundaries.
Mavens; those people who are very knowledgeable.
Sales people; those who have the ability to influence.
People that do all three are thus very valuable to brands. The
Global Business Influencers – being who they are fit this very
well. We therefore added some questions to the survey that
allow you to identify these people in business, finance, travel
and luxury…

So, back to luxury… Taking those people who agree with all of
these statements we can create a group of people who are
highly connected, knowledgeable and very persuasive in the
luxury sector.

And when looking at them they’re much more likely to be very
high end consumers of luxury goods. Incidentally, they’re also
much more likely to be planning on purchasing these luxury
items in the future too.
These are those people that luxury companies love to speak
with; they won’t just spend big, they’ll also help spread your
message.

In terms of what they look for when purchasing luxury. We’ve
seen a resurgence in Métiers d’Art who use their craftsmanship
skills to create unique pieces. It’s all about having something
that’s different.
And Burberry’s a great example of heritage having been
founded in 1856; their famous raincoat was developed during
the first world war. It’s got a long and rich history – a real story
behind it; this is what luxury purchasers value.

In terms of how people are purchasing luxury, we’re seeing a
big shift to online. You can even purchase Chanel online now
and McKinsey have estimated that by 2025 online luxury sales
will be worth about €70 billion.
There’s a much bigger level of trust in purchasing luxury online
now. And you’ve got brands like Mr Porter offering bespoke
services to help with sizing and outfit inspiration.

So we know we’re talking about a very important group of
people here; but we need to know how to reach and
communicate with them.

Reaching anyone these days and getting their attention is
harder than ever… Attention spans are dwindling.
In the past 15 years, the average human attention span (when
presented with multiple stimuli) has fallen by a third from 12 to
8 seconds. That now puts us behind goldfish.
So knowing how to get attention is vital – and this is where we
can help you.

Given who the Global Business Influencers are, keeping up to
date with what is happening is critical to them. To do this they
are consuming lots of content across multiple platforms.
We can look at their total brand consumption over different
time periods and then understand the platforms via which they
consume.

And it’s from a variety of brands – 14 on average in the last
month.
So we can help you to understand those brands that they
engage with and then the platforms on which they access the
content.

But you know what, they’re really engaged with brands – they
spend on average 33 minutes with a media brand when
consuming content.

There’s been a big growth in multi-screening amongst the
general population – we’ve seen data in the UK from the IPA
TouchPoints5 study that places it at 54% of adults.
The Global Business Influencers are way ahead of this though.
And thinking about what they have to juggle in their positions
and the fact they’re constantly connected it’s probably not
surprising the amount they multi-screen.

So that’s nearly it from me. But, if there’s just three things you
take away form this morning – make sure it’s these:
1. Global Business Influencers survey is the only survey that
reaches this disproportionately important senior business
audience on a global scale across Asia, Europe, the US and
China.
2. While they represent less than 1% of the population, taking
into account their influence, spending power and budgets
they control, they’re your best customers for a variety of
sectors including B2B, finance, luxury goods and cars,
airlines and hotels.
3. We know the Global Business Influencers constantly adapt
to and embrace the changing world – whether this be how
they run their businesses or consume media. This survey is
unprecedented in allowing you to track how their behaviour
is changing.

Lastly, I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank you all very
much for listening – I hope you found the presentation
informative and insightful.
Thank you.

Ipsos launches Global Business Influencers survey

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