Conventional wisdom holds that the internet has made the world flat and erased the impact of the physical world on what we buy and where we buy it (online or offline).
Paradoxically, the rise of internet-connected devices and commerce innovation have made it more important to understand physical world geography and relationships, not less.
Drawing from his award-winning book, “Location Is (Still) Everything,” author, entrepreneur, scholar and President / Co-Founder of Idea Farm Ventures David Bell provides a powerful and practical metaphor, and framework for thinking about how real world-virtual world interaction drives business success.
In this presentation, David will share insights on how attendees can deploy a framework to:
- drive commerce
- leverage proven strategies for success from leading digital-first brands
- understand and capitalize on consumers’ behaviour – online and off.
The keynote will focus on how to win in the digital economy – and proceeds in two parts: Foundation and Application.
- To set the Foundation, David will illustrate four transformative business models (with examples) and finally, examine two case studies in e-commerce and omni-channel retailing.
- For the Application, David will outline a new practical framework for how to succeed.
Drawing on over a decade of investing and research, this structured approach brings together four core pillars into one simple and implementable system, beginning with the critical imperative of “Bonding not Branding” as a driving force in customer engagement.
Register today for this free event! And discover how real-world and virtual-world interaction can drive business success!
About the speaker
David R. Bell
David has been called the “guru of the DTC movement” and the “man who kick started the direct brand economy.” He is co-founder and President at Idea Farm Ventures (IFV), a permanent capital consumer and retail investment holding company based in New York City.
David was an early investor in several iconic new economy brands including Diapers.com (acquired by Amazon for $545m), Jet.com (acquired by Walmart for $3.3b), Bonobos (acquired by Walmart for $310m), Harry’s (private), and Warby Parker (private), among many others.
Prior to IFV, David had a 20-year academic career at the Wharton School where he was a Chaired Professor, an award-winning teacher and researcher, and responsible for starting the first courses on digital marketing and e-commerce for MBAs and undergraduates. He is a recipient of the Frank M. Bass Outstanding Dissertation Award, POMS Applied Research Challenge First Place Award, WISE Overall Best Paper Award, three John D.C. Little Best Paper Finalist Awards, and two INFORMS Long Term Impact Finalist Awards, among others.
David speaks globally on digital marketing and e-commerce for clients including Alibaba, Google, Haier, Nike, and Ralph Lauren. He wrote of Location is (Still) Everything: The Surprising Influence of the Real World on How We Search, Shop, and Sell in the Virtual One, a playbook for how to win in the digital economy. His academic research is published in all major peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Marketing Science, MIT Sloan Management Review and California Management Review.
David holds a Ph.D. (Business) and M.S. (Statistics) from Stanford University as well as a B. Com and M. Com (1st) from University of Auckland.
About Digital Main Street
Whether you’re just getting started, or you’re looking for ways to improve your digital strategy, Digital Main Street can help.
Government-funded programs and services, professional advice and digital transformation teams are available to help you adopt digital solutions – for free.
Apply to Future Proof your business today, and access a dedicated digital transformation team that can help make technology part of your business – quickly, easily and absolutely free.
This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
