Schindler Parent > Blog > The 2016 E3 Meeting in Mechelen
Members of the E3 network meet twice a year to exchange their knowledge. The individual agencies also report on current developments, trends, and cases from their countries. This mutual exchange offers the possibility to look beyond one’s own nose, to broaden horizons, and to support each other with questions and problems.
It was time again from 27 to 29 October 2016. The meeting took place at the E3 partner agency BBC in Mechelen, Belgium with representatives of agencies from China, Israel, Great Britain, Austria, Germany, and the US. The agencies gave exciting impulse presentations follwing the meeting’s motto “Digital Transformation”. The highlight was a lecture and workshop given by consultant and bestseller author Jo Caudron. His talk titled “Digital Transformation Management” revealed that the digital transformation entails much more than just topics like website, SEO, and social media.
He mentioned how digitalisation and technological progress quickly generate new business models that completely turn existing established structures and value chains upside down. Examples that need to be mentioned are Spotify, from the music industry, Uber, from the passenger transport sector, and Airbnb, from the hotel industry. But this aspect also takes on a key role in the B2B sector and can be expected to become even more important in the future. The redesign of the value-added chain will be a crucial topic, as there will be a chance that customers might skip intermediaries to obtain their goods directly from manufacturers.
The conclusion of the talk was that companies need to rethink their business models and brand management now already, while things are still running smoothly. It is better, after all, to act by setting the course for success, than to react when it is already too late.
If you have any questions about the conference, the E3 network, or individual topics, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sascha Schmidt
Consultant
sascha.schmidt@schindlerparent.de
