Social theorist John Gerzema set out to learn what the next generation of entrepreneurs will be like.
After traveling nearly four times around the world, surveying 64,000 people and conducting on-the-ground interviews from Columbia to Bhutan, do you know what he discovered? "The most innovative people are deploying feminine strengths and values to recover from economic and social crisis and create a more hopeful future." Today the TEDxKC speaker and author of The Athena Doctrine: How Women (And Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the Future talks with guest host Maria Carter about the leadership traits normally attributed to women that can make the world a better place.TEDxKC will take place 6-9 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City. The event will belive-streamed, and due to demand, TEDxKC has announced a second showing of the event Aug. 29 at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Kansas City.Tickets for the second showing are $6.
John Gerzema is a world-renowned social theorist on consumerism and its impact on growth, innovation and strategy. As a consultant to corporate leaders in many of the world’s most admired companies, Gerzema is a pioneer in the use of data to identify social change and help companies both anticipate and adapt to new customer interests and demands. Described as a “marketing guru” by Google, “consumer expert’” by The New York Times and a “brilliant presenter” by The Economist, Gerzema co-founded Account Planning at Fallon before overseeing strategy for the Young & Rubicam Companies as Global Chief Insights Officer. As Executive Chairman of Brand Asset Consulting, he guides a global management consultancy with expertise in corporate, brand and marketing strategy and BrandAsset® Valuator, the world’s largest consumer survey with data on over 40,000 brands in fifty countries. Gerzema’s bestselling book The Brand Bubble identified the beginning of changes in consumer attitudes that preceded the financial crisis. It was named one of Amazon’s best business books of 2008 and best marketing books by Strategy + Business of 2009. His second book Spend Shift with Pulitzer-Prize winner Michael D’Antonio explores consumerism after the Great Recession, is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, a Washington Post best-seller and one of Fast Company and Inc.’s Best Business Books of 2010. Gerzema’s extensive research and writing has garnered critical praise from The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Huffington Post, Forbes, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, USA Today and CBS Sunday Morning News. Fast Company describes his insights as “the future of commerce”, while CNBC credits his understanding of new marketplace trends as “a new revolution”. The Boston Globe says Gerzema ‘breaks trends down to a very relatable, human scale while providing a heavy dose of education”. U.S News & World Report describes his thinking as backed by “heavy duty consumer research." A highly sought after analyst on innovation and social marketing, Gerzema is a board advisor to several companies and writes regular columns for Inc. Magazine and PSFK . He has been published in management journals around the world and his article ‘The Trouble With Brands’ was named as one of ‘The Fifty Classic Management Articles’ by the Strategy & Business Editors. Based in New York, Gerzema lectures on consumerism for The Columbia Business School and MIT/Sloan School of Business and is an in demand public speaker. He has run panels at Cannes and South By Southwest and his TED talk — “The Post Crisis Consumer” — has been viewed by tens of thousands of people.
