At last, Customer Expo 2019 is underway! Industry leaders from across the globe have gathered at the Indianapolis JW Marriott to discuss the latest and most relevant topics in customer experience. The first day began with Loyalty360 member-only roundtable discussions, an exclusive perk for those who have chosen to join our community.
First off, Roger Dooley gave a presentation on his book Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing, a fascinating look at the intersection of neuroscience and marketing. We also heard from Brian Venuti, Vice President of Global CRM for Luxottica, who shared his wisdom about experiential retail.
Later, Don Smith, Chief Strategy and Analytics Officer for Brierley+Partners; Kim Welther, Vice President of Marketing Strategy for Baesman; and Pam Ehrlichman, Chief Marketing Officer for Jebbit, gathered to share their views on the state of customer experience. Next, the conference held a roundtable discussion in which A.J. Schneider, Executive Vice President for Wheaton Van Lines, addressed customer experience in the relocation industry.
Each presentation featured invaluable thought leadership and touched on the challenges faced by many brands in 2019. Each was followed by a lively question and answer session. Also, during the conference’s planned networking breaks, we saw leaders across verticals engaged in further discussion of CX innovations, loyalty marketing, and more.
At 5:30, the preconference roundtables came to an end. At that point, Customer Expo 2019 opened to non-members, starting with a cocktail reception. During the reception, brand representatives, vendor representatives, and other industry leaders had a chance to network and interact.
Overall, we heard from a number of customer experience innovators during the first day of the conference. On the second day, we’re certain to hear from several more. Excitement is also building for the finalist presentations on the final evening of the conference.
Loyalty360’s mission is to build a community of brands and to facilitate dialogue that leads to insight. At this conference, we have done just that by bringing together leaders from across verticals to learn from each other. Hopefully, this will enable customer-centric, loyalty-focused marketers to address the myriad challenges brands currently face. We also hope to encourage meaningful discussion and provide leaders with a collaborative environment.
In total, the 2019 Customer Expo conference has started off swimmingly.