5.00 of 5
Top rated!5 of 5
Great working with Will. His presentation at our sales conference perfectly fitted the tone and context we were aiming for. His thought provoking, engaging style set an agenda for change.
Mike Hulse
Sales Director, Philips
William Higham is a global authority on Future Business Strategy and Innovation, specialising in Growth and Resilience. He’s run strategic consultancy Next Big Thing for 20 years, helping clients future-proof their strategies: from Amazon to Walt Disney, HSBC to MTV. He reveals what customers, employees and clients will want and expect from companies tomorrow: and the strategies businesses must adopt to attract and retain them. As an experienced Marketer, he always takes a practical approach to the future: inspiring audiences while offering them tangible advice, applicable the minute they return to their desks.
As a keynote speaker Willian Higham's talks leave audiences excited to face the future: armed with new, inspiring and practical ways to handle tomorrow’s consumers and employees. His data-led approach means he's as comfortable speaking on the future of work as on tomorrow's ethical consumer - or how generative AI, the Metaverse or Web3 will actually impact people’s businesses.
An engaging and inspiring speaker, his talks have inspired thousands globally to face the future without fear, from Texas to Korea. He's spoken at conferences for FT and Barclaycard, leadership events for Walt Disney, BT, Jaguar and Colgate.
William’s led popular consultancy Next Big Thing since 2003. He’s worked with clients in multiple sectors. He can be seen in Netflix’s new ‘Future Of’ series. He warned the drinks industry of the New Sobriety; saw Wellbeing Consumers a mile off; and championed ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ (‘Dancing With The Stars’) to BBC. He wrote the first practical handbook for UK trend strategists: ‘The Next Big Thing: Forecasting Consumer Trends for Profit’ (Kogan Page, 2010), which has since been translated into five languages. He’s been interviewed across global media: BBC to Bloomberg TV, Fast Company to The Times. He has presented a TV show for CNBC, and written for The Economist, Advertising Age, The Director. He’s helped Cambridge University Innovation Forum and judged WARC and IoD innovation awards.
He first made his name in the music industry. Working at Sony, Virgin and Universal, William ran PR campaigns for artists from Michael Jackson to Motorhead, and marketing campaigns from Rolling Stones to The Cure. He won a Music Week Award for his campaign for Meat Loaf ‘Bat Out Of Hell 2’. His fascination with music consumers led him to the trends sector, starting as a trends consultant for brands like Levis, BT. He spent a year as MD of online research company OnePoll, attracting clients from Kelloggs to Findus.
5 of 5
Great working with Will. His presentation at our sales conference perfectly fitted the tone and context we were aiming for. His thought provoking, engaging style set an agenda for change.
Mike Hulse Sales Director, Philips
5 of 5
William's talk was a great way to start our strategy conference. He brought new, provocative insights and inspired the audience to think of new ways to serve tomorrow’s consumer.
Matt Houston Director of Strategy, Primark
5 of 5
William gave us great insights into how consumer attitudes are changing, and how the audience will need to adapt.
Michaela Ridgeway Senior Content Editor, Financial Times Global Conferences
5 of 5
William has the unique ability to identify those trends which are important and translate them back into a commercial opportunity for your business.
Alex Owens Head of Insight, Sainsbury’s
5 of 5
Will spoke in a compelling and entertaining way, convincing delegates to rethink their approach to customers.
Jim Hodgson Project Implementation, Department for International Trade
Watch William Higham in action!
Watch William Higham in action!
Watch William Higham in action!
It’s not just a passing phase. Hard data suggests the world really is getting more uncertain. According to one analyst, we’re moving from a VUCA world to a BANI one: Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear and … Incomprehensible! Consequently, it’s getting harder to create mid/long-term strategies with any confidence.
But there is a way to make it easier. Business futurist and author William Higham has helped multiple clients (Amazon to Vodafone) navigate an uncertain business landscape. In his new talk he reveals how uncertainty and opportunity are like two sides of the same coin. If you handle it right, a volatile landscape can actually provide more opportunities for growth than a predictable one.
Takeaways:
Designed for: Leadership across all sectors. William can also tailor it to suit a specific industry or department.
Today’s increasingly unpredictable world is unsettling: not just for business owners but for consumers too. As they lose faith in governments, institutions - and even the future itself - customers are looking for support, advice and peace of mind wherever they can find it.
This offers businesses a golden opportunity. By providing their customers with support in all areas of their daily lives, companies can create a community of loyal superfans. Experienced business futurist and author William Higham has helped multiple clients - from Amazon to Vodafone - anticipate shifting consumer expectations. In this talk, he reveals the types of support tomorrow’s customers will be looking for: and how businesses can deliver it.
Takeaways:
Designed for: Leadership across all sectors. William can also tailor it to suit a specific industry or department.
In today’s more unpredictable business environment, companies need to be able to adopt new strategies quickly and confidently. But few companies are set up to do so. This talk provides practical advice to anyone struggling to help their workforce be more “change-friendly”.
Business is increasingly unpredictable:
Frequent disruption is inevitable today: yet 43% of leaders say their business is not set up to navigate change confidently (Magnetic, Dec 2023)
Employee engagement, mental health levels are down: conflict and resignations up. Workers are struggling to adapt: not even senior management is immune.
Companies must find a way to make their staff, managers and systems more “change-friendly” if they’re to survive in this new world.
Benefits 3 distinct audiences:
Audiences will learn how to:
2024’s proving another highly volatile year for business. Many executives are uncertain how to proceed. But they don’t need to be.
William has created a talk that distils all of my experience of Uncertainty Management into 6 practical processes you can adopt to help you, your teams and your company thrive in a VUCA world.
The talk shows how to embrace uncertainty: and how to find multiple growth opportunities within it. I’ve helped leaders manage uncertainty for 10+ years: William has learned how embracing volatility is actually a great way to boost growth and gain Uncertainty Advantage. As Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna said: “You can’t overtake 15 cars in sunny weather. But you can when it’s raining.”
The talk will suit three distinct audiences.
Companies that actively promote a culture of innovation are 3.5x more likely to outperform their peers. And 87% of executives believe innovation is essential to their organisation’s success and growth (McKinsey). Yet just 36% of today’s businesses are actively innovative (DTI).
If you’re finding it hard to create an innovation culture within your company, this talk will help. Over the last 20 years, William has identified four practical things companies can do to become more innovative.
William shows you how to use these in your business – to create innovative new products and processes that’ll keep you a step ahead of the competition.
In tomorrow’s uncertain business landscape, the most successful companies won’t be those with the best products or marketing teams. They’ll be the ones that can best adapt to new circumstances. The ones with the best organisation: the most efficiently run offices, smartest workflows and resource allocation, inspiring cultures and engaged, productive employees.
But legacy environments and reporting structures are really hampering many companies’ productivity, engagement and efficiency. The introduction of hybrid was a good start – but much more needs to be done.
In this talk, William looks at what CEOs and CHROs can do to rebuild the enterprise: creating environments and organisational structures ready for the future. How to create structures that give individuals flexibility while fostering a collaborative, engaged community across hybrid workforces. That build flatter, results-driven hierarchies with a common purpose. That use new technologies like AI and IoT to empower individuals and improve workflows.
