The document discusses opportunities for premium brands in a changing global economy. Rapid technological changes are disrupting industries and enabling new business models like platforming, which allows greater access to previously expensive goods and services. Brands must understand cultural trends at a micro level and leverage tools like blockchain to build trust and directly connect with consumers. To succeed, brands should create premium experiences and journeys that appeal to basic human needs through inspiring, thoughtful products and interactions. The future requires thinking beyond current models to the opportunities of a trust-based sharing economy.

1. OVERTURE
2.0
Connect the
dots of the
premium
economy

2. CONTENTS FOREWORD 1
TRAVEL AS LUXURY 4
SUMMITS & CLIFFS 2
PLATFORMING EVERYTHING 3
LUXURY AS A JOURNEY 5
THINK BIG 6

3. The pace of change is more rapid than
ever before. Entire industries are shrinking
while others exponentially growing with
innovation. Emerging economies,
disruptive technologies, and distribution
advancements present new opportunities
that threaten the conventions on which our
companies were built. Advanced is word
reserved for those who understand and
harness the shifting definitions and
parameters of global business.
Disparate worlds are no longer an ocean
apart, but a community away. Connecting
the dots is how we unlock communities;
Not simply by inserting products, but by
implementing a culture and dialog
between consumers and suppliers. The
future is the seamless cycle of creation,
continuous improvement and feedback
hardwired into every product, service, and
experience.
Foreword
A CHANGED WORLD

4. Brand Proliferation
There will be more brands, strong organic brands with competitive
products giving everyone from Unilever to LVMH a run for their money.
Microcosmic Ecosystems
Move beyond demographics to understand how cultures and
communities continuously drive demand.
Democratization of E-Commerce & Digital Marketing
The confluence of supply chain advancements, IoT maturation, and
increasing access to powerful digital tools and insights as well as the
increasing demand for privacy will create opportunities for new
technology conglomerates and the demise of those previously thought
to be infallible.
Decentralization of Fashion & Luxury Goods
The transition from cyclical trends to permanent collections with
capsule releases will be difficult. Institutional brands will be required to
develop and execute robust omni-channel strategies putting
downward pressure on historically superb margins. Stakeholders will
face unprecedented pressure to create while shareholders feel the
crunch resulting in uncomfortable circumstances for many. Menswear
and accessories is wide open for better segmentation as well as
consolidation opportunities. Women's athletic and work wear niches
will continue to expand.
Global Pricing
While price sensitivity is extremely important, price is becoming less of
a valuable indicator of competitive advantage. Customers are able to
compare prices of substitutes almost instantaneously thanks to AI.
Billions of global conversations, reviews, chats, ratings, likes, and
reactions are exposing what customers value and why across brands,
products, and services. Clearly differentiated, value-added products
will take center stage.
Offline Experiences
Like it or not most of us in advanced economies are shackled to our
devices. With the imminent uptake of VR and AR, the ability to unplug
will be challenging. Consumers will react and brands will take note,
providing privacy as a premium service.
Overture 2.0 | Connect the Dots of the Premium Economy 2
SUMMITS & CLIffs

5. Yes, platforming often results in
disruption, however for brands
this should not necessarily be
the goal. The goal is to provide
premium products, services, and
experiences to the greatest
number of people with nominal
additional investment beyond an
average product, service, or
experience.
Everything
Overture 2.0 | Connect the Dots of the Premium Economy 3
PLATFORMING
More people than ever before can afford
experiences previously reserved for high net
worth individuals thanks to technology and
innovative startups bent on disrupting
everything from private jets (Jet Smarter) to
socks (Stance). The cost to supply these
products, services, and experiences is
decreasing.
If premium is the optimal convenience or
exclusivity of a service, platforming is creating
accessibility to premium goods and services
that were otherwise cost or design prohibitive.
Buying the album of every one of your favorite
artists used to be cost prohibitive until Spotify.

6. Travel
Luxury
Overture 2.0 | Connect the Dots of the Premium Economy 4
as
Airbnb has ousted the world’s largest inventory-based hotel
companies as the largest hotelier in the world by providing a
platform. This means of mass access provides users with an
alternative to hotels and traditional pricing and lodging models
making travel a more accessible experience.
According to Visa, households making more than 20,000 USD
account for more than 90 percent of international travel. By these
figures, nearly half of all households globally will be part of the
traveling class by 2025.
Hotels must compete in unprecedented ways to win the
affection, loyalty, and dollars of its consumers by reaching
them in their social, professional, and lifestyle
contexts. Competing for a piece of the
1.5 trillion USD pie by 2025
requires understanding the
current and future desires
of consumers today and
creating the brands, products, and experience
to captivate their interest and discretionary dollars.
Brands who choose to invest in making travel more
convenient, luxurious, exciting, and/or unique will
be rewarded by consumers globally.

7. as aLUXURY
Journey
People want to capture, share, post, like, and
embark on quests to find new sites, activities,
products, people, and cultivate new interests.
There is an extreme amount of noise and stress
around us daily: social media updates, extreme
weather, global tensions, and catastrophes.
People need to think, explore, and be inspired.
Travel represents this opportunity for many if
not most.
Brands have an opportunity to create an
authentic journey not only enabling customers
to getaway, but to explore themselves and what
makes them sentient. Small things, interesting
things, unexpected things, inspiring
environments, empathetic interaction with
others and the world around them. Appeal to
basic needs and desires in elegant, thoughtful
packaging – as a journey, as exploration.

8. Overture 2.0 | Connect the Dots of the Premium Economy 6
BIGBlockchain^Quantum Computing=Trust Economy
THink
With the ability to assign and track
instantaneous value and ownership of any
object to any person using low cost
platforms, smaller companies and brands
will be able to operate at a scale previously
unimaginable. Social platforms will become
more powerful than ever connecting buyers
and sellers at an unprecedented rate,
bridging the information and computing
gaps between supply and demand.
Consider the case of Daniel Wellington
watches, an aspirational brand that
amassed $200m in sales selling
inexpensive, luxurious-looking, Chinese-
built timepieces. There is even greater
opportunity for brands to scale high-quality
products with unique narratives using
readily available social, digital, and
experiential tools.
Brands must think beyond the sharing
economy and embrace the less obvious
opportunity: the trust-based economy.
Cultivate brands that are organizationally,
operationally, and philosophically trust-
worthy.

9. Connect
the Dots.
CREATE THE
FUTURE.
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