 The Chief Strategy and Analytics Officer at Momentum, Alina Cloud. Gosh, good morning, everyone. Afternoon, everyone. I don't even know what time zone I'm in. How are we? I love the post-lunch session. I know everybody's perky and ready to hear lots of information and lots of data and sites, and I am here to deliver. I am so pleased to be here today to share with you some initial results from our research we know experiences. This is a survey that we launched end of last year into this year. We spoke to over 5,000 consumers across the world, went on 100 experience journeys, all to figure out what was going on in the world of experiences. And as experiential marketers, I feel like that's very near and dear to our hearts. Before I get into the results, though, I want to share a little bit about the genesis of why we did this research in the first place. We actually undertook this research five years ago, and at that time, the world and the industry looked a little bit different, at least for us. We were getting a lot of questions about why experiences, why experiential, does that even matter? And so we decided to take on that question and figure out what is the value of an experience? And so we did this research and we came out with a lot of interesting insights, some of which will be no surprise to you as you've heard it before. Experiences mattered. People were valuing experiences over things. And now this seems very commonplace, but back then, it was fresh and new thinking. Fast forward five years later, 2019, we're here and we're kind of still citing the same research and the same data, which may be fine if experiences haven't changed, right? But we suspect that it has. And so we wanted to find out new data, new insights, and more importantly, what is the role of experiences in the lives of our consumers today? And so that was the big ask. Now, I'll steal a bit of the conclusion, it's changed. And so I'm going to talk to you about the research, very high level, because there's a lot of data here. So if you want more, you're gonna have to come talk to me afterwards. I only have 20 minutes. We're gonna talk a little bit about the past. What experience is meant to people a little bit ago? What experiences mean today? And what that does in terms of performing where experiences are going tomorrow? And I'm going to walk you through that journey. We're gonna talk about how experiences back then said a lot about who you were. And that's still the case, but we're seeing an evolution. Today, experiences are about what they do for you. And we'll unpack that. And finally, what we're seeing the future go to is where experiences go tomorrow and become you. But before I dive into the data, first a little pop quiz. Can you guess the year? It was the year of the ALS Bucket Challenge. It was the year that a little movie called Frozen was driving mom and dad's crazy across the globe. The new hot social network was Google Plus. And a little platform called Snap had just added a video capability. If you guess 2014, I see someone going, ah, it's okay, we're not taking a, we're not grading you. You were right. And that's when we did the research. And back then, as I explained before, we wanted to unpack what is the value of experiences. And a lot of interesting insights came out of that. First and foremost, at that time, we saw the rise of the experience economy. And again, if you refresh your memory, 2014, we were coming out of the big, great recession. People and millennials in general were recalibrating what was important in their lives. And what we found overwhelmingly was, experiences mattered more than things. Again, to this crowd, no shocker. But back then, it felt fresh. We also asked people, what was the value to them when it came to an experience? And they came up with the three E's. Exclusivity, it being ephemeral, the fact that it didn't last forever made it valuable. And the fact that it was an external badge, if you will, that people were carefully curating the types of experiences they went in to say as much about who they were to themselves as it was to the world. And hence, they were posting on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, et cetera, et cetera. And certainly that laddered into the stat that we also saw 71% of people would rather tell people about something they had done than something they had bought. All contributing to this premise that experiences, we're creating a badge of honor, a bit of bragnet, they could brag about it. And that was the core premise. Experiences equal status. In that new world, experiences conferred a status more than material things. In addition to that, we also saw another role for experiences. And that was utility. We asked consumers back then, what were the top brands providing the best brand experience? And you can see up above, aside from Coca-Cola, there were a lot of technology hardware brands. Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Sony, they were all rising to the top. And the question became why? Well, the fact of the matter is, these hardware providers were providing software services. The likes of Airbnb, Uber, and Seamless, again, today, seem commonplace. But back then, refreshed and new, and energizing people in a way they had never seen before. They were providing utility. They were transforming the everyday aspect of their lives from travel to food ordering to where they stayed. And people really valued that. And we know this because we asked them, what makes you love a brand? And the number one reason they gave was, provides me with something useful. Makes my life easier, makes me happy. So while status was an important piece in terms of the role of experiences, we saw utility being an important piece as well. Now, where are we? What has changed? We asked that question again, what do you think happened? We saw a shift. Utility dropped by 50%. And inspiration, which didn't even hit the top five last time we asked the question, rose by 200%. What this means is that, it's not that utility doesn't matter. Utility is table stakes. People have become accustomed to the experience that the software providers are giving us. And they're expecting more from brands. On that note, we also saw another huge shift. The expectation that people had of brands to help with their emotional well-being. Back then, we asked them, whether or not a brand could alter their mood. Only 23% thought that was the case. Today, 86% of the people believe it's important that a brand lift their mood and make them feel better. So why are we seeing this shift? The answer lies in the macros. Our macro environment has changed. It looks completely different than that of 2014. We are seeing, if you're a strategist or someone who deals in data and research all day, you're seeing tons of indicators of this, right? You're seeing the rise of stress, pole after pole. Not just, I mean, Americans, yes, we're super stressed, but generally the world is very stressed. We're seeing a lack of distrust in the transparency of our institutions, from political institutions to public institutions to social institutions. Facebook. In 2014, Facebook was the great enabler connector. Today, for some people, it's a necessary evil. We also see disconnect, whether it's from the feeling that there's a rise in hate, xenophobia, nationalism, certainly propelled by technology investments. People are retreating. People are retreating to their corners, their Twitter bubbles, their spheres to protect themselves. And in so doing, we're seeing people feel alone, more disconnected than ever before. And when people feel like they can't trust the institutions they would normally turn to to fix that, they look elsewhere. And so people are seeking a remedy. And this is the opportunity for brands and through-brands experiences. Because 83% of people believe it is important, not just optional, important for brands to eliminate stress and anxiety. And that's where experiences come in. The role of experiences in the lives of our consumers today and the opportunity for brands. The remedy lies in what experiences can do, which we're calling ExperienceRx. So the prescription. We're gonna talk about it. Inspiration. Meaning. Connection. Again, this will feel intuitive. And yet when we hear the research about experiences, when we talk about trends of experiences, we're often led by the technology innovations, this thing, this thing. And that is important. We are a big believer that as an agency. But I like to think we should anchor always on what the consumer truth is. Because that's what's going to endure. And the consumer truth is people need help. And they're looking for brands and through them experiences for the answer. So let's dive in. 82% of people believe experiences can help them find new possibilities. Inspiration, we saw that increase by 200%. And we know that works. And in fact, a lot of brands have started to recognize that and are doing something about it. This is an example of Alexander McQueen. They remade an entire VIP floor and put it up for young designers, fashion designers. And brought the public in through talks. And in so doing, they're inspiring a new set, a new generation of fashion designers, and helping people get inspired about the things they love. Meaning, 81% of people welcome brands that encourage celebrating little moments. There's another stat out there that we saw in our research. 76% believe that through experiences, they can be enriched and find out new information about themselves. And this all ladders into the belief that people are in search of meaning and experiences and brands can help them do that. This is an example of Ancestry.com pairing with a culinary tour provider to provide food tours, not just to have wonderful food, but for people to learn something about themselves and their heritage. Experiences intersecting with meaning. And connection. People believe 80% of them believe that experiences can help them connect with friends and family, especially in this very disconnected world. And Heidingkin did a lovely thing last holiday where they brought together a group of strangers who normally would have been alone during the holiday season to celebrate and be together, showing as an example how brands can play a meaningful role through the service of experiences. So that's just a quick look in terms of what's going on today. Experiences are the remedy for many people in terms of treating some of the major challenges we face today. It's not to say the status and utility have gone away, it's just evolving and building on top of it. What does that mean for tomorrow? Tomorrow is interesting. Tomorrow is being fueled by certain trends. Ambient data, whether it's coming from your phone, your home phone, your Siri, your Google, your Alexa, it's all happening out there, leaving a lot of digital breadcrumbs, if you will. The rise of AI and machine learning are helping to structure, analyze, and action that data into predictive models. And that means the experience itself is going to change into something that we call the Omni experience. It's pervasive, it's minute, it's highly personalized, it's anticipatory, it is your very life. And that means the new luxury from an experienced perspective is not one that you opt into, it's one that you choose and you control. So, in summary, experiences are changing, and they're evolving, and they remain, and even more so for this audience, essential part of our consumers' lives, whether they represent simply status and utility, whether they are helping to fill a gap that consumers and people desperately need, or whether they become the bleeding edge of how people live their lives tomorrow. And before you leave today and in your next roundtable when you think about what the next creative idea is or strategy, give yourself and your experiences this self-diagnosis. Are you inspiring people in an age of distrust? Distrust. Are you helping people connect in a world of division by meaning or purpose? And we've seen some great examples, by the way, prior to this session of people doing just that through techniques like VR. So it's happening. And are you future-proofed for the next wave of what we see as anticipatory experiences when it comes to omni-experiences? It's really exciting, but there's a lot to do. Reality is, though, a lot of brands are doing it already. Thank you very much.