Talking with Meabh Quoirin

Ahead of her appearance at our Annual Conference on November 25th, Meabh Quoirin, MD, The Future Foundation talks to Elen Lewis about why brands need to get emotional and the importance of talking to strangers.

What brands today do you believe are ready to face the future and why?
I'm really impressed with brands that capture the moment in a way that breaks down barriers in the future. These are the brands who are braver than the rest and pushing boundaries. There are three brands that I believe are doing this right now.

1. Guinness
   Guinness's latest campaign, 'Never Alone', features the story of Gareth Thomas, the former captain of the Welsh Rugby team player and how he struggled to hide his sexuality. When he eventually came out, his team mates were hugely supportive. This campaign is well thought through.
    
2. Kik
   Kik is a Canadian, messaging social network that's younger than Facebook and Snapchat. It does lots of one-to-one advertising, more like conversations and only if and when appropriate. They're using artificial intelligence to create a way of talking to consumers that feels conversational, because it only happens when the consumer requests the information.
    
3. Barclays
   We work with them and they have recognised their own strengths around how they position their brand around technology. For example, Digital Eagles, their initiative to help people acquire skills they didn't have before is not about the tools but about skill acquisition. They equipped people to be in control rather than dominated by technology.

What three things can brands do now to prepare for the future?

1. Think about personal rather than personalisation and developing an emotional connection with consumers beyond advertising.
2. Think about who is control. Consumers are looking for more autonomy.
3. The concept of concierge these days is almost an attitude rather than a service. It's one of the only ways that consumers can distinguish a brand's personality. New technology like AI, development of virtual conversation, how we handle showrooming and advice can all help to support this.

What do all brands need to know about the consumers of the future?
That they are obsessed with control, although they don't realise it themselves. There is so much evidence that people are looking to be seen to be in control at all times. It's a response that comes from more budgetary awareness and new financial savvy around technology, a desire to be more skilled for social purposes. In this world your ego is on show whether you like it or not. You can't really hide from this - there are so many ways for the world to find out about you. There's an element of consumers saying to brands: 'Show me how to have the most optimal life and give me the ways to be my best self'.

What do all marketers need to know about the future of business?
Return to the basic 4 Ps of marketing - product, place, price and promotion. People want tools and services that make their lives easier.

What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?
Fall in love more when you're young.

How do you want to be remembered?
As an optimistic person who always wanted to meet the world. I love talking to strangers and I do it all the time. I love random conversations and small world stories. And I think a futurologist needs an optimistic side to embrace everything we’ve yet to discover.

What's the best advice you've ever received?
In my professional life, it came from Melanie Howard, our chairman: only ever hire people that you think are better, smarter than you. People that want your job. She is right.

The other advice I try to live by every day comes from my mother - be present to yourself and to your day. When you juggle so many things it's so easy to think about what you're not doing. You miss things if you're not present in this moment.

If you hadn't been in business, what would you have done?
I've always wanted to run my own Arthouse cinema; this is of course deeply unrealistic, but, I love cinema. I did a Masters in cinema in France and worked part-time in a cinema when I lived there.

What are you reading?
I always have three books on the go, a novel, some non-fiction and a book of poetry. At the moment, I'm reading, Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, Elizabeth Bishop's  poetry and a French book about the meaning of the world, Le monde – a-t-il un sens? by Jean-Marie Pelt. It's an exploration of how community and collaboration is an answer to both environmental and economic problems.