As a key element of the Futureminded event framework, our series of Futureminded Masterclasses will provide delegates with actionable market insights and an opportunity to engage in debate with thought leaders in the food, wellness and hospitality industries. Featuring a carefully curated line-up of speakers, topics to be discussed include how to design a compelling next-generation brand and how to influence important peers into positive action.
Among the most - quite-literally - future minded of these speakers is Ibrahim Ibrahim, who will focus on the changing retail landscape and what it takes for brands to fulfil fast-evolving consumer expectations. As the CEO of Portland Design, a leading strategic branding and retail design business, he specialises in the concept of future readiness and is a master of rethinking and reimagining the consumer experience.
An expert in his field, during his 32 years in design consultancy he has worked with clients globally including Mondelez, Nestle, CNN, SSP, Heathrow Airport, Inter Ikea, ECE, Corio, Hammerson, Westfield, British Land, Coach, Selfridges, Harrods, Luxottica, Travelex and Arcadia, among many others.
What to expect?
Futureminded masterclasses are designed to provide ready-to-action insights, thought-provoking solutions and unconventional ideas to help future-proof both established brands and start-ups. Ibrahim Ibrahim will discuss the importance of reinventing convenience, redefining loyalty, reimagining experience and repositioning value in order to stay relevant for consumers of the present and the future.
Drawing on both his many years of experience, and the most up-to-date research and insights from Portland, he will talk through exactly what customers demand of brands today and how businesses can live up to these expectations: “The future is today. As a business innovation is not what you do, it’s the way you are. It’s not about technology; it’s about anthropology, it’s about people.”
About Portland Design: Experts in Futureproofing
Working on a broad range of projects including retail, F&B, consumer brands, shopping centres, mixed use developments and urban regeneration, Portland Design create solutions that are sustainable, and will futureproof brands, experiences and places.
An unrivalled understanding of consumers’ relationship with brands and their engagement with branded physical and digital environments lies at the heart of their work, underpinned by a Strategic Insights team, who specialise in forecasting the future behaviour and mindsets of consumers.
About Ibrahim Ibrahim
Ibrahim originally trained as an aeronautical engineer and is a post-graduate of the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a seasoned speaker at conferences and a frequent contributor to journals and trade press. He has written regular pieces for The Economist ‘Insights’.
Ibrahim has two children and when he is not overseeing the ‘ideas fuelled’ environment at Portland he is normally with his family, mountain biking, making furniture or managing a woodland whilst riding his tractor!
Ibrahim will be delivering his pitching masterclass at Futureminded on 30 October 2019. If you're a next generation brand and are interested in attending, get in touch.