Will Higham helps clients prepare for the future

By predicting new consumer behaviours, he enables them to:

New technological, social, and financial innovations typically create new consumer and citizen demands, and these need new commercial strategies. The importance of drivers like community, convenience and social awareness, for instance, have blossomed in the last five years. There is increasing demand for everything from slower lifestyles and better sleep to increased protection and shareable facilities.

Will predicts such demands long before they hit the mainstream, guiding client organisations to:
  • Pick winners. Discover which new behaviours, audiences and investments offer the biggest opportunity.
  • Foster champions. Develop more successful new products, services and communications campaigns.
  • Build loyalty. Improve customer experiences across platforms and encourage allegiance.
  • Outpace competition.Implement innovative new strategies ahead of industry competitors.
To find out more, check out our Consultancy services or email us to hear more .

Businesses and govts are living with a disruptive present, and heading to a SciFi future. In the next 10 years, businesses will face a new wave of disruptors: AI  and IOT to new financial and funding models. Tomorrow’s customers and citizens will have very different expectations. To identify successful strategies, organisations need to understand the future. But today’s challenges rarely leave time to think about tomorrow.

Will removes this problem. He gives clients a clear vision of the future, helping them:
  • Prepare for the future What will life be like in the shopping malls and workplaces of the future?
  • Predict demand.Reliably anticipate customers’ expectations, media platforms and purchase drivers.
  • Future-proof strategy. Answer key questions e.g. Will shops survive? How will tech impact supply chains?
  • Avoid me-too strategies. Innovating, not following, is becoming the key to profitability.
To discover the ways we can help, check our Consultancy page or email us.

Without experienced guidance and data-driven foresight, organisations can make dangerous assumptions: about who their future customers will be, or what they’ll want. These can lead to costly mistakes, from failed products to loss-making acquisitions.

Will provides robust, insightful futures data that helps his clients:
  • Avert failed products. Ensure NPD is informed by what tomorrow’s customers will actually want.
  • Avoid falling behind. Be more aware of potential challenges from inside and outside the client sector.
  • Fend off lost credibility. Safeguard brand values against changing market attitudes.
To find out how we can future-proof your company, check our Consultancy page or email us.

The ability to innovate quickly and constantly is key to future proofing the organisation. In fact, according to PwC, innovation now ranks as the most pressing CEO concern. This means getting the right people on board, the right systems in place and developing a resilient, experimental workplace culture.

Will supports clients to:
  • Embed innovation. Develop an innovation culture, agile approach and effective foresight pipeline.
  • Improve efficiency. Capitalise on cost-effective new production, distribution and funding models.
  • Develop skills. Ensure the workforce has the right abilities to thrive in the future.
  • Save money. Capitalise on cost-effective new production, distribution and funding models.
To find out what we can do, email us - or check our Consultancy page.

About

About

Will Higham is one of the world’s most respected behavioural futurists.

He’s informed 1000s of business leaders via his talks, consultancy, articles and book ‘The Next Big Thing’. He’s spent almost 30,000 hours over the last 15 years analysing consumer trends and their implications for business.

Will founded consultancy Next Big Thing in 2002. The company’s worked on strategy and futures for clients from Amazon to HSBC.

Will is also a popular speaker at conferences for brands, media and industry: Barclaycard to Retail Week.

He’s been interviewed across media – BBC to Fast Company – and written for publications from The Economist to Ad Week.

He’s taken part in academic programmes like Cambridge University’s Open Innovation Forum and acted as a judge on prestigious panels such as WARC Innovation Awards.

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Contact Will:
020 3542 1900
info@next-big-thing.net
@next-big-thingco

Consulting

Will's consultancy Next Big Thing uses its understanding of future behaviours to drive growth across the whole organisation

  • Sales – providing data to drive lead generation and commercial strategy
  • R&D – inspiring successful product development and innovation
  • Marketing – predicting future markets and consumption demand
  • Communications – identifying effective channels & PR-able trends
  • Finance – improving investment and diversification decisions
  • HR  – driving talent acquisition and employee engagement.

Consulting

Will's consultancy Next Big Thing uses its understanding of future behaviours to drive growth across the whole organisation

  • Sales – providing data to drive lead generation and commercial strategy
  • R&D – inspiring successful product development and innovation
  • Marketing – predicting future markets and consumption demand
  • Communications – identifying effective channels & PR-able trends
  • Finance – improving investment and diversification decisions
  • HR  – driving talent acquisition and employee engagement.

Packages for every need

Next Big Thing has developed five future-proofing packages designed specifically to answer clients’ key strategic concerns:

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How do we predict the future?

Behavioural changes are typically triggered by attitude changes, which themselves are triggered by specific (environmental) events.

By identifying an attitude change - or, better yet, identifying an event that’s likely to trigger an attitude change - you can confidently predict a behaviour change ...

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Next Big Thing Quiz #1. Test your trends skills.

In 2005 25% of Brits said they like to be first to try something. What's the figure now?

35%

What proportion of Chinese consumers now view slowing down as a luxury?

82%

What percentage marketshare did Nokia lose in just one year in the early '90s?

93%

“William really stands out from other futures specialists. He translates trends into commercial opportunities.”

Alex Owens, Head of Insight, Sainsbury’s

Speaking

Will Higham is one of the UK’s most popular and trusted speakers on Futures and Strategy.

He combines passion with usability and strategic inspiration with reliable insights. He paints practical pictures of tomorrow’s business and consumer landscapes, and explores the implications.

Will chairs, moderates and speaks at a wide variety of events, run by global brands, industry bodies and media leaders: Barclaycard and ABTA to The Financial Times and Retail Week. Events this year took Will from Manila to Austin TX.

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To book Will to give a talk, or find out more, click here

Will’s inspiring talks:
  • help audiences make friends with change: identifying the commercial opportunities disruption offers
  • act as a powerful wake-up call: alerting audiences to unexpected threats, disruption and competition
  • offer insights and examples from multiple industries and 15 years of trends experience
They address key concerns:
  • price vs privacy vs convenience
  • skills needs and shortages
  • online vs offline vs omnichannel retail
  • ownership vs access-ship
  • new luxury and premium drivers
  • how to appeal to new consumers

Make friends with change.

Will’s talks explain:
  • how to take advantage of new opportunities
  • ways to embed innovation into the enterprise
  • how to anticipate and head off outlier competitors
  • which trends will impact specific industry sectors

“Will gave us great insights."

Michaela Ridgeway, Financial Times Global Conferences

Showreel

Audiences come away from Will's talks:

  • More informed about, and prepared for, the business future
  • With practical growth strategies they can action immediately
  • Confident that neither they nor their company will get left behind
  • Excited, inspired … and ready to start innovating

Showreel

Audiences come away from Will's talks:


* More informed about, and prepared for, the business future

* With practical growth strategies they can action immediately

* Confident that neither they nor their company will get left behind

* Excited, inspired ... and ready to start innovating

“Will got the brief exactly and delivered just the speech we wanted.”

Laura Kozasvili, Head of Events, British Property Federation

Talks for all occasions

Will speaks knowledgeably on strategy across many sectors. To explore his top four keynotes, just click on the titles below . To book one tailored to you, send an email.

Email

Businesses today are experiencing unprecedented levels of change. No industries today are immune from disruption. No audiences can be relied upon. Traditional business models, revenue streams and routes to market are becoming outdated. But change can offer profitable opportunities as well as dangerous threats.

This talk helps business leaders adapt their strategies to new consumer trends:
  1. Understand the importance of innovation to performance, longevity, brand and infrastructure.
  2. Learn about the biggest emerging consumer trends and the threats and opportunities they pose.
  3. Discover practical ways to utilise them to create appealing new products, services and marketing campaigns.
To enquire about a bespoke version of this talk, click here

Consumers are becoming more empowered, technologically and socially. But their trust levels are falling. As a result, they seek greater control over the purchase and consumption journey. And they’re developing a new set of attitudes, expectations and behaviours accordingly.

This talk helps audiences anticipate and appeal to tomorrow’s new ‘Smart Consumer’:
  1. Discover what will motivate and appeal to your customers in future.
  2. Learn how to create products, services and strategies which they will want.
  3. Gain actionable insights to implement into marketing, communications and strategy.
To enquire about a bespoke version of this talk, click here

Employee attitudes to work environments, schedules, hierarchies and rewards are shifting radically, especially among the young. New technology is driving employee empowerment and disrupting traditional ways of attracting and retaining staff. This talk provides practical insights into hiring, motivating and retaining the new ‘smart employee’.
  1. Better comprehend the future wants, needs and drivers of your workforce
  2. Obtain a practical roadmap to improved employee motivation and efficiency
  3. Discover how to future-proof your hiring, retention and rewards policy.
To find out about booking a bespoke version of this talk, click here

Innovation has never been more vital to company strategy. Organisations that innovate well today are likely to win out over those that don't. But while individuals will champion innovation, it's another matter to convince colleagues of its importance and really drive it through the enterprise.

Will shows businesses how to improve their innovative capabilities, giving the audience:
  • Examples of how innovation can improve the bottom line
  • Practical measures to create an innovation culture
  • Ways to build an effective internal foresight pipeline
To find out about booking a bespoke version of this talk, click here

Don’t be distracted by success. Success today is no guarantee of success tomorrow.

Clients

Will has worked with some of the world's biggest brands

His consultancy's helped many companies make key strategic decisions:

  • helped a Top 10 global telecoms company create a successful new broadcast strategy
  • inspired one of the world’s biggest banks to design products for the Boomer market
  • identified first ‘hipsters’ to help a Top 3 global beer co shed outdated brand image
  • created a luxury trends report that drove sales for an international media agency
  • identified new Youth attitudes that helped a global media owner boost ad revenues

  • helped a Top 10 global telecoms company create a successful new broadcast strategy
  • inspired one of the world’s biggest banks to design products for the Boomer market
  • researched early ‘hipsters’ to help a Top 3 global beer co shed an outdated brand image
  • created a luxury trends report that drove sales for an international media agency
  • identified new Youth attitudes that helped a global media owner boost ad revenues

To learn how we can help your company, email us.

Email

Testimonials

What Will's Clients Say

Wayne Garvie

Head of Entertainment Group / BBC
Will Higham’s insights into the attitudes and behaviour of UK consumers proved really useful for us ... And his book should be in the briefcase of any executive or entrepreneur hoping to stay ahead of the pack.

Natalie Malevsky

Head of Insights and Future Communications / Telefonica (O2, Movistar)
William helped us understand the macro and consumer trends set to influence future communication behaviour. His practical insights and in-depth analysis helped us kick off strategic decisions in several key areas.

Michaela Ridgeway

Senior Content Editor / Financial Times Global Conferences
William gave the audience great insights into how consumer attitudes are changing, and all the ways they'll need to adapt to anticipate and appeal to tomorrow’s new ‘smart shopper'.

Louisa Livingston

Group Insight and Innovation Director / Hachette UK (Hodder, Headline, Orion)
Will helped us embed trends research into the heart of our culture. I would definitely recommend talking to Will if your business has any requirement for future thinking. 

Alex Owens

Head of Insight / Sainsbury’s
Will has a deep understanding of consumers. He identifies those trends which are most important, and translates them into a commercial opportunity for your business, one that's both consumer-focused and economically viable.

Helene Venge

Head of Digital / Levis Europe
Will's really proficient in understanding changing patterns and tendencies in youth culture. He helped us develop a successful cross-media program for Levis based on youth trends.

Robert Wagner

Head of Consumer Insights and Global Trends / Siemens
William’s insights helped us learn a great deal about a wide variety of consumers. He really understands how consumers think and behave. I’m especially impressed with his mindset work: it rocks!

Brian Berg

Managing Director, TV / Universal Music
Will's consultancy Next Big Thing provided us with robust & practical research data over several years that contributed to many successful marketing campaigns.

Josh Sims

Senior Journalist / Financial Times, Daily Mail
William is an unfailingly reliable source of clever and provocative insights into cultural and business trends. Whatever the subject, he’ll be able to give it an alternative spin that adds a richness to the story.

Charlie Gower

Head of Insight and Research / Hiscox Insurance
Will’s presentations on future consumer trends, and the opportunities and threats for our industry, provided great food for thought: stimulating ideas for individuals, and providing the basis for strategic workshopping.

Laura Kozasvili

Head of Events / British Property Federation
William got the brief exactly, and delivered just the kind of speech we wanted him to. The feedback was all really positive, and I personally found him very easy and a real pleasure to work with

Celina Maguire

Director / Consolidated PR (HSBC, Standard Life)
The Next Big Thing are excellent to work with. I wanted someone who'd really understand our clients and their vision. Will definitely proved the right choice! Creative, insightful and inspiring, he gives his all, on time and budget.

Letitia Thomas

Campaign Director / Mission PR (Amazon, Puma, Peroni)
It was an absolute pleasure working with Will. He provided thought-provoking insights, met every deadline, and proved a very safe pair of hands as a media spokesperson. We’d definitely work with him again.

Jonny Bauer

Account Planning Director / BBH, New York
Will provides really fresh insight into what's going on out there and why. He has a knack of uncovering new values-based insights that feed directly into shaping communications plans.

Liz Haas

Research Director / Universal McCann EMEA
I’ve always really enjoyed working with Will. He goes out of his way to help his clients, delivering to often very tight timings, and is great at communicating the consumer’s viewpoint to marketers.

Jo Rigby

Global Head of Insight / Omnicom Group
Will is a rare talent, cutting through the hype to reveal what is really going out there and what's round the corner. For several years now he's presented us with an energetic blend of media and consumer trends: identifying client-facing global insights, and analysing the implications for businesses.

Jane Farmery

Marketing Controller / Hearst Magazines
William’s understanding of consumer motivations, and his dedication to the research, helped us create reports and presentations that have proven effective both internally and with clients.

Gail Cohen

Director General / UK Gift Card & Voucher Association
William was the best possible opening speaker for a conference looking at the future, and he got the conference off to a brilliant start. His participation in the panel later was also brilliant. The audience feedback was excellent.

Chad Wollen

Director of Insight, Foresight & Innovation / AOL
William really understand trends: what's happening around us and how businesses need to respond. His work helping AOL prepared the ground for our targeting and gave us a sense of creative direction. It was great work.

You can view change as a threat or an opportunity.
Successful companies view it as an opportunity.

Next Big Thing Quiz #2. Give it a go.

What proportion of citizens globally distrust their governments, businesses, or both?

80%        ** Companies and govts need to address trust issues **

What percentage of Spanish consumers typically sleep holding their handsets?

60%        ** Have we reached ‘peak tech’? **

Which company could have bought Netflix for just $50 million in 2000?

Blockbuster    ** Companies must look out for innovative new competitors**

Media

Will's appearances in the Media

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Our clients can step confidently into the future, knowing they're in safe hands and better prepared than their competitors

Next Big Thing Quiz #3. Try your luck.

How many requests per week does Apple’s voice-activated service Siri get globally?

One billion.       ** Voice activated assistance is a huge growth area **

How many Germans think social justice more important than the economy?

52%       ** In Europe, social issues are starting to compete with financial ones **

How many Americans say their ‘family’ now includes friends who aren’t relatives?

75%       ** ‘People like us’ are becoming increasingly important **

Blog

Will's writings

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FAQs

What actually is a behavioural futurist?

A behavioural futurist studies people’s evolving attitudes, and the influences on them, and predicts how consumers’ behaviours, expectations and needs are likely to change in future.

Can anyone predict the future?

Everybody forecasts the future to an extent. Predicting whether an event will be worth going to, a shopping mall will be busy or a supplier will deliver what we need. We make judgement calls based on the facts we have, our knowledge of human nature and our previous experience. Futurists take a similar approach. And like all skills, the best in class tend to (a) have a natural affinity for it and (b) spend a lot of time honing their craft.

How do we predict the future?

We analyse available data (from research reports to box office receipts), combine it with an understanding of social psychology and consumer behaviour and explore how similar situations have played out in the past, to build potential future scenarios of how consumers are likely to respond to changing environments, technologies and economic situations.

Have we ever got it wrong?

When Will first started, he’d sometimes get over-excited and expect trends to hit the mainstream more quickly than they did. But he soon learned that the leap from Early Adopter to Early Mainstream can take a long time. The trends we predict today have typically already begun somewhere: the skill is to tell our clients how quickly – and how widely – they’ll spread.

Do all our predictions come true?

No-one can guarantee the future. But we only highlight trends that are likely to occur. And to enable clients to manage risk, we base each of my predictions on most likely outcomes, and give a percentage chance of if/when/how strongly each trend might happen.

Will you get the same advice as everyone else?

No. Every client has different needs. So every project or presentation is at least partially tailored towards a client’s individual needs. Workshops, audits etc are almost entirely bespoke.

Will you be able to deal with Will Higham directly?

Yes. Will only takes on projects he has the time and knowledge to fulfil himself. When you hire him, you get him. But the team provides him with all the data, analysis and/or administrative assistance he needs. Scouts scan news, reports and other media to help identify trends.

Can your company afford to use Next Big Thing?

Probably. We offer a broad range of futures services, and are able to offer strategic benefits to suit most budgets.

Contact

To learn more, get a quick costing, or book Will to speak:

+44 (0) 20 3542 1900
info@next-big-thing.net


The Hub,
27 Dingley Place,
Islington,
London EC1V 8BR
United Kingdom

Contact

To learn more, get a quick costing, or book Will to speak:

+44 (0) 20 3542 1900
info@next-big-thing.net


The Hub,
27 Dingley Place,
Islington,
London EC1V 8BR
United Kingdom