Elliott Ettenberg

Baby boomers have come but they will soon be gone, no longer the free spending, intensely coveted demographic in the marketing wars of the past decade. But after boomers, what? Will marketers suffer withdrawal? Will they have to change priorities once boomers dramatically cut spending? Elliott Ettenberg has the important answers.

A highly successful consumer marketing executive and entrepreneur, Elliott Ettenberg once helped companies around the world adapt to the baby boomer phenomenon. Now, he is helping them prepare for life after the boomers grow old and lose their status as the object of marketers' intense affection and competition. The Chairman and CEO of Ettenberg & Company Limited, a consultancy that advises consumer organizations how to develop a sustainable competitive advantage with their Best Customers, he is the former Chairman and CEO of three international advertising and marketing communications organizations.

Most recently, he has captured his knowledge and experience in marketing some of the world's best-known brands in one of the most talked-about business books, The Next Economy. The book is a practical guide to building customer commitment, loyalty and profits in the new, restructured North American marketplace. In a compelling narrative, he describes not only how business adapted to the Boomer phenomenon, and, more importantly, how it will have to adapt and restructure in the next ten years.

Over his career, Elliott has worked on some of North America’s best known consumer brands, including A&P, Hitachi, Revlon, Lucent, Modell’s, Courvoisier, Clairol, Gillette, The WIZ and Sears.  He is widely published on the topic of consumer marketing. His comments and opinions have appeared in numerous business publications including Fortune, Business Week, The Economist, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Elliott has keynoted regularly in North America, Europe and Asia on upcoming consumer trends and their impact upon business strategy.  He has appeared on CNN, CNBC, CBC, CTV and a number of radio shows in the US and Canada as a consumer expert.

An astute marketer and engaging presenter, Elliott Ettenberg has an important and powerful message that marketers must hear.

Program Topics

The Next Economy - This presentation is a practical guide to building customer commitment, loyalty and profits in the new, restructured North American Marketplace. Tracing the economic impact of the Baby Boomers from the late 1960's to 2000, the speech defines how this generation has forced business to adapt their business models to huge shifts in customer demands. When these Boomers retire in the next 10 years, they will once again radically alter business priorities as they withdraw from the marketplace, dramatically cutting back on spending. And, since consumer spending accounts for 2/3 of Gross Domestic Product, the impact of this restructuring will be more severe and of a longer duration than most businesses expect. The Next Economy Presentation traces the convergence of major socio-economic trends which are unstoppable and which together, will result in the largest power shift ever experienced in western economies. This business Armageddon is the result of a radical decrease in future demand, technology’s ability to arm customers with full vendor disclosure, the growing impotence of marketing and inability of the bureaucratic and political structure of most consumer goods enterprises to respond to growing customer demands. The result will be a total restructuring of the economy from supply side to demand side dominance. A shake-out, particularly of large corporations who are unable to react significantly to the emergence of the coming Service Economy, called The Next Economy.

Small is Beautiful - This presentation deals with the reversal of economies of scale as a competitive advantage. It discuses how in the coming decades, the Service Economy will strongly advantage those corporations which can get close to their Best Customers. In the Battle for sales, size doesn't matter. Small is beautiful. And profitable. Mr. Ettenberg reviews the hidden impact of Small business in the present economy and explains the reasoning behind this segments' expected boom. He goes on to provide a blueprint on how large corporations and adjust organizational structure to des facto turn themselves into a holding company of smaller businesses.

How to Double the Impact of Your Marketing Budget - This presentation appeals to corporations with large advertising and Marketing expenses and who are under some considerable pressure to reduce these costs. The presentation argues that Marketers must convert to effectiveness and abandon efficiency as the rational for Marketing expenditures. It goes on to explain why most marketing tactics employed today are impotent at affecting Customer behavior, resulting in a continuous loss of budget productivity. Instead, Mr Ettenberg proposes a set of new rules on how to spend Marketing dollars more effectively. He provides a blueprint on how to double the impact of any Consumer Marketing Budget thus giving Corporations the ability to use these funds more effectively.