Biography

Michael Solomon partners with marketers and leaders to help them understand the minds of today’s consumers in our volatile economy. Nothing keeps business leaders up at night more than knowing how quickly their brand can be negatively impacted.

Michael “wrote the book” on understanding consumers.  Literally. Hundreds of thousands of business students have learned about marketing from his books, including Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being — the most widely used book on the subject in the world.

Regardless of the size of a company, fully understanding consumer behavior is paramount to not only surviving in today’s market but also thriving. This is exactly why Michael is THE go-to expert when it comes to knowing the psychology of the buyer, he’s been studying consumer behavior for decades, across all generations. He understands that today’s buyer is NOT your cookie-cutter consumer.

Michael’s presentations provide a visual excursion into the minds of consumers and what influences them to buy. Michael’s latest book, The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization, recently won the NYC Big Book Award for the Marketing & Sales/PR category.  The book stitches the trends of today into the future of consumerism in a way that is both provocative and inspiring.

The marketing guru Philip Kotler summed it up when he stated, “Solomon has the mind of a scientist and the writing flair of a journalist.”

Michael advises global clients in leading industries such as apparel and footwear (Calvin Klein, Levi Strauss, Under Armour, Timberland), financial services and e-commerce (eBay, Progressive), CPG (Procter & Gamble, Campbell’s), retailing (H&M), sports (Philadelphia Eagles), manufacturing (DuPont, PP&G) and transportation (BMW, United Airlines) on marketing strategies to make them more consumer-centric. He regularly appears on television shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America, and CNN to comment on consumer issues, and he is frequently quoted in major media outlets such as The New York Times, USA TodayAdweek, and Time.

As a Professor of Marketing (in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia) and an industry consultant, Michael combines cutting-edge academic theory with actionable real-world strategies. He helps managers get inside the heads of their customers so they can anticipate and satisfy their deepest and most pressing needs – today and tomorrow. An executive at Subaru said it best: “The man is a scholar who is current and street-wise.”

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PROFIT FROM DISRUPTION: TEAR DOWN MARKETING’S OLD WALLS TO SEE THE FUTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Fundamental categories that form the bedrock of marketing strategy and customer insights simply no longer exist. You need to understand the new landscape of consumer behavior so you don’t get left in the dust.

In this fast-moving 45-minute program you will learn:

- How you can reach today’s consumers, who plug into a “hive mind” that tells them what to buy.
- Why the debate about “offline versus online” marketing strategies is useless.
- How to market with rather than market to your customers.
- Why your customers rely upon your brands to tell them who they are
- How to develop new killer products and services by demolishing your industry’s walls

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: CAPTURE THE HEARTS, MINDS AND WALLETS OF MILLENNIALS

We’ll dive into key ways that Millennials think about products and stores, and we’ll identify emerging tech solutions that sync with young consumers’ lifestyles.

In this keynote you will learn:

- How Millennials think
- Why brands matter to them — and don’t
- What you can learn from “World of Warcraft” and other online video games
- Why “haul videos” and other consumer-generated content will transform the way you think about customer insights
- How cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality will revolutionize the shopping experience

THE MANY FACES OF AI: WHAT (OR WHOM) WILL CONSUMERS TRUST – AND OBEY?

vEveryone is buzzing about Artificial Intelligence these days, as well as they should. Machines that “think” for us already are transforming how we work, play – and shop. McKinsey tells us that some 29 million U.S. homes used some form of smart technology last year, and that number grows by over 30 percent a year.

Many organizations now deploy robots, avatars and chatbots to perform tasks we used to ask flesh-and-blood people to do. This suddenly makes the age-old question of what makes us human much less theoretical. Self-driving cars threaten to replace truck drivers. IBM’s Watson beats chess masters and veteran Jeopardy game show contestants. Movies and TV shows like Blade Runner, Westworld, and Humans that focus on the civil rights of synths, replicants and androids are center stage in popular culture. Alexa and Siri are our new guardian angels.

Where does the person stop and the machine start?

Marketers need to grapple with this question, and soon. As customers increasingly interact with machines instead of people, there are huge ramifications for the way we think about sales interactions, communications strategies, product design and marketing channels.

Will consumers more readily accept a product recommendation from an AI agent if an attractive avatar delivers the message? Will customers become loyal to an intelligent agent, much as some do with their favorite salespeople now? Will shoppers prefer to see computer-generated models in advertising rather than real people?

Very soon, the rise of the machines will become the race of the machines. Don’t be left at the starting line. In this thought-provoking presentation we will ask:

- How does the physical appearance of a robot or avatar sales advisor affect the likelihood that customers will trust and follow its’ recommendations about what to buy?
- How will chatbots and affective computing (where software detects a consumer’s emotional state) impact sales interactions?
- As advertisers use machine learning to generate artificial images for their messages, how will AI influence ideals of beauty and the fashion industry?
- What will be the impact of dating apps, sexbots and other smart devices on interpersonal relationships?
- How will facial recognition and wearable computer technologies meld with AI to create “markets of one?”

Testimonials

I hope you were able to see how many in the audience – and on the dais – were taking notes. We were extremely delighted with your presentation.
– International Furnishings and Design Association
Michael is a constant source of inspiration and knowledge for any professional in any relevant market who wants to understand consumer behavior more deeply. His work is constantly being updated and his presentations bring powerful ideas that take us out of our comfort zone and push our need to act with more strength to develop strategies able to transform the culture of the companies and make them customer-centric organizations.
– Jacques Meir, Chief Knowledge Officer, Grupo Padrao (Brazil)
I highly recommend Mike Solomon if you want your audience to be truly engaged as they learn about fresh, trend-setting consumer insights.
– Microsoft Advertising
Michael’s session was our most popular segment of the day. He provided insight into the consumer of the future and how manufacturers and retailers need to think about adapting their marketing and go-to-market strategies to meet the changing consumer…. His presentation was engaging, relevant and thought-provoking.
– Procter & Gamble
Solomon has the writing style of a journalist and the mind of a scientist.
– Prof. Philip Kotler
The man is a scholar who is current and street-wise.
– Subaru of America
Prof. Solomon…was able to make us think of new ways to use consumer behavior to frame our own activities…. He was able to inject humor to maintain attention yet did not deviate from the basic task at hand which was to educate and provoke thought.
– U.S. Cellular

Booksby Michael Solomon

New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization

Marketers, Tear Down These Walls!: Liberating the Postmodern Consumer

Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being

Game Changer: How to Be 10x in the Talent Economy

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