A ReD Associates Podcast
Humanising business strategy through the human sciences
Available on:
Apple podcast | Spotify
Season 3
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It’s one thing to come up with a great strategy in theory, but leaders often get stuck when it comes to execution. In the first episode of our brand new series Leading with Perspective, we welcome renowned strategic thinker Professor Roger Martin – named the number one management thinker in 2017 – to talk through how to overcome some of these challenges and what good strategy creation and implementation looks like in practice.
With ReD partners Filip Lau and Iago Storgaard, they delve into the questions such as: Why do many companies develop grand ambitions but fail to execute them? How should leaders navigate the transitions between what companies are doing today and what they want to do tomorrow?
While in the second part, Roger and ReD’s managing partner Mads Holme explore the role of culture in strategy: What does good leadership culture look like today? And what are some of the concrete ways leaders can actually mobilise change when it comes to cultural transformation?
Hosts: Mads Holme, Filip Lau and Iago Storgaard
Guest: Roger Martin
Introduced by Matthew Janney
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What are the do's and don’ts of mobilising change within an organisation? In today’s episode, ReD’s Charlotte Vangsgaard sits down with one of Denmark’s most experienced executives, Mads Ryder, an expert in change management and transformation.
Currently CEO of LeDap, an international group of padel companies, Mads has previously served as CEO of Rosenthal, one of Europe's largest porcelain manufacturers and retailers, and has also held executive and leadership roles within Royal Copenhagen, Weight Watchers and Legoland Parks.
From theme parks, to porcelain, to fashion, he delves into the most common pitfalls that companies make across these industries, shares his recipe for success when it comes to making change that is lasting, and tells us why it’s important to admit one’s mistakes as a leader.
Host: Charlotte Vangsgaard
Guest: Mads Ryder
Introduced by Matthew Janney
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How to embrace uncertainty and channel chaos as the leader of a legacy brand? In this episode, we are joined by Alvin Lu, CEO of Kodansha USA Publishing, fresh from the opening of Kodansha House – an immersive space where people can experience all things Manga – which runs throughout October in New York City.
Kodansha USA Publishing, or KUP, is a subsidiary of Kodansha, one of Japan’s largest and oldest publishing houses primarily known for being an industry leader in Manga, Japanese comics from which most anime is based off.
Joined by ReD partner Maria Cury, Alvin speaks about manga’s shift into mainstream Western culture, how Kodansha's dedication to quality and creativity has been fundamental to its success, and the art of balancing personal intuition with deep audience understanding as a leader.
Host: Maria Cury
Guest: Alvin Lu
Introduced by Matthew Janney
Season 2
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Post-lockdown, there is renewed enthusiasm and excitement around cities. Urban development and innovation, however, often feel chaotic and atomised and miss the mark on how people actually experience the city.
Eliot and his guests Ian Dull, a partner at ReD, and Jeff Risom, chief innovation officer at Gehl Architects, discuss the high stakes for businesses to get the future of the city right.
What are some common errors companies make as they try to innovate for the city? How can a more systemic perspective help businesses avoid these pitfalls and create cities that are more meaningful for their inhabitants? And finally, what does a discarded electric scooter in Copenhagen tell us about designing the urban spaces of tomorrow?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Ian Dull and Jeff Risom
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From fashion brands to Silicon Valley giants, virtually every company is trying to make algorithms work for their business. But many algorithms are built on questionable assumptions about the way people think and live.
To unpack this further, Eliot speaks to ReD Partners Maria Cury and Brendan Muha – along with Eleonora Maria Mazzoli, researcher at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.
When do algorithms get us right and when do they get us wrong? How is our relationship to algorithms changing and how can these insights help businesses make better strategic decisions? And finally, what do user hacks around algorithms tell us about human aspirations?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Maria Cury, Brendan Muha, Eleonora Maria Mazzoli
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The luxury industry excels at selling desire. But in recent years, it has also successfully weaved sustainability into its appeal to consumers, altering people’s assumptions about what can be considered valuable, authentic or desirable. In this episode, Eliot speaks to fellow ReD partner Charlotte Vangsgaard and Dr. Stéphane Girod, a professor at the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development, about what other sectors can learn from the luxury industry on making sustainability desirable. Where has the luxury industry got things right? How has a deeper understanding of communities helped brands connect more meaningfully with their consumers? And what strategic challenges are the world's biggest luxury brands still grappling with when it comes to sustainability?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Charlotte Vangsgaard & Dr. Stéphane Girod
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Belonging is in crisis. While it is seemingly easier than ever to build connections with people - either online or IRL - we are lonelier and more fragmented than ever. When we talk about the mental health crisis, political polarisation, or how to build a meaningful workplace culture, what we're really talking about is belonging. In this episode, Eliot is joined by ReD partners Maria Cury and Mikkel Krenchel to unpack why our sense of belonging is in decline, how the sources from which we derive belonging are shifting, and what businesses need to know and consider about these changes. We are also joined by David Sikorjak, author of the recently published Fans Have More Friends, to unpack what we can learn from the sports industry about fandom and building community across the social divide. What are the priorities for businesses who want to cultivate a sense of belonging for their consumers? And how can focusing our efforts on cultural understanding help us build deeper bonds between individuals and communities?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Maria Cury, Mikkel Krenchel, David Sikorjak
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Discussions around mental health are everywhere. But as different industries ask themselves how to get mental health right, our research points towards the need for a shift in how we understand its causes and, by extension, deliver solutions. In this episode, host Eliot is joined by ReD partner Anne Mette Worsøe Lottrup and Emily Mendenhall, medical anthropologist and professor at Georgetown University, to discuss moving beyond a biological and individual understanding of mental health. How do the social sciences help us get to the social, environmental, and cultural factors underpinning psychological distress? What new opportunities for public and private players does this widening in our understanding afford? And how might a more holistic approach to care offer new approaches to solutions and a way out of our current mental health crisis?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Anne Mette Worsøe Lottrup, Emily Mendelhall
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People use brands to shape social identities. We see this time and again in our work, as we help brands figure out how to deliver more value to their consumers. But what role fundamentally do brands play in people’s lives, and why do some resonate better than others?
In this episode, host Eliot Salandy Brown is joined by ReD partner Filip Lau, to share ReD’s latest thinking on brands, the shifting perceptions around them and the different expectations consumers have of brands across categories and sectors. Eliot is also joined by Matt Johnson, PhD – a neuroscientist, speaker, and author of Branding That Means Business and Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains – to discuss what neuroscience can teach us about brand perception and how the latest science challenges the core views of many marketeers. What are the key questions brands should ask themselves to better connect with their consumers? What lessons might brand giants take from small, nimble players about approachability? And finally, what can a study about popcorn teach brands about the power of context on consumer behaviour?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Filip Lau, Matt Johnson
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Why the finance sector is out of sync with people’s experience of money, and what to do about it.
Money is one of the great stressors of our age, and learning to manage our finances one of our most important life needs. So why do the financial products we are offered still feel so out of sync with how we really experience money?
In this episode, host Eliot Salandy Brown sits down with Martin Gronemann, a partner at ReD Associates leading our work in finance, and John Dalton, Vice President of Research at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, to unpick how social science is helping banks build richer interactions with people.
How do some executives misunderstand young people? What are the key emerging financial practices to watch? How has the digitization of financial tools made managing money even more overwhelming? And how might introducing productive friction help us make better and more informed financial decisions?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Martin Gronemann and John Dalton
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Since the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the Western world has been obsessed with representations of sex. And within this historical explosion of sexual imagery, many companies capitalised on the powerful narrative that consumption could deliver sex appeal and in turn, increase one's chances for finding a partner.
More recently, however, we're seeing a shift where sex appeal is becoming increasingly dissociated from the idea of romantic love and folded into a wider and varied set of personal narratives.
To unpack this further, host Eliot Salandy Brown sits down with Sandra Cariglio, a partner at ReD Associates, and Polly Rodriguez, co-founder and CEO of sexual wellness brand Unbound, as part of our ongoing special series on our evolving relationship to flesh and the body.
Together, they tackle big questions such as: Does sex still sell? How are behaviours and values around intimacy changing? And if the desire to seduce isn't driving consumption in fashion and beauty like it used to, what will take its place?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Sandra Cariglio, Polly Rodriguez
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Companies use the word “strategy” more than ever, while strategy consultants with MBAs march the halls of companies penning sensible “strategic plans” that boards enthusiastically approve. Yet companies with a unique perspective on why customers spend with them and how they will win in their chosen space are in the minority. In this special edition of the podcast we speak about strategy with Roger Martin, one of the most influential minds in business and a trusted strategy advisor to global CEOs. In conversation with ReD partners Filip Lau and Iago Noguer Storgaard, Roger outlines the sorry state of strategy today and explains why it is in danger of becoming a lost art. What is the difference between a “strategic plan” and an actual strategy? Why are traditional strategy consultancies actually selling project management services? And how might revisiting the teachings of Aristotle help us come up with better strategies in today’s business world?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Filip lau, Iago Noguer Storgaard, Roger Martin
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While there are still many questions about what the metaverse of the future will look and feel like, nearly everyone is in agreement that it’s a big deal. And while the metaverse has been well covered from a technological angle, what is often missing from the debate are questions about the human and social implications of its evolution.
In this episode, Eliot is joined by ReD partner Iago Noguer Storgaard and Jacob Wachmann, a former ReD employee and now strategy director for games and metaverse experiences at the LEGO Group, to discuss the possible directions the metaverse might take, and what that means for businesses as they look to build strategies and technology roadmaps for the future.
To what extent does the metaverse mark the next paradigm shift in how we work, play, and learn as humans? How might science fiction be misleading us as to how it will change our lives? And what false assumptions are executives across industries making on features such as immersion and interoperability as they develop metaverse strategies of their own?
Listen in as we also share the best books to dive deeper into the topic, from sci-fi to contemporary nonfiction to 1960s theoretical philosophy.
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Iago Noguer Storgaard and Jacob Wachmann
Season 1
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In the first episode of Phenomena, the team at ReD Associates asks: What is a generation, anyway? And how do companies successfully study and understand cultural signifiers in order to capture the spirit of a generation? Eliot Salandy Brown and Sandra Cariglio discuss what Greta Thunberg's followers teach us about Gen Z, why the Ford Mustang has staying power through generations, and how we might interpret differences about generational identity across cultures.
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown and Sandra Cariglio
Writer and Producer: Alexander Eve
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What can we learn about the phenomenon of “selection bias”—by exploring the world of conspiracy theories? How can we know we’re getting at the truth, when we inevitably come at the world with various biases? Eliot Salandy Brown and David Zax explore the phenomenon of “selection bias” by visiting with two people who hold very different views of the world: a conspiracy theory debunker, and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Can ReD help the debunker better understand the people whose minds he’s trying to change?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Writer and Producer: David Zax
Assistant Producer: Hai-Li KongSpecial Thanks: Lynda Hammes, Christian Madsbjerg, Millie Arora, Michael Marcusa, Rebekah Park, Brendan Muha, Joanna Zhang, Stefanie DeAngelo
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The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a tidal wave of interest in remote collaboration. But the problems emerging from the crisis will test team problem-solving on a whole new plane: highly complex interdisciplinary collaboration.
ReD Associates put together this episode of Phenomena to explore what kinds of problems require interdisciplinary collaboration and how teams get it right when experts are coming from radically different world views. Drawing from a recent project with Facebook Reality Labs, we reconvened our research team composed of an anthropologist, cognitive scientist and machine learning expert to share their experiences of learning together and collaborating.
Host: Sandra Cariglio
Roundtable participants: Eryn Whitworth, Friederike Schurr, Maria Cury
Writer and Producer: Hai-Li Kong
Assistant Editor: David Zax
Special Thanks: Lynda Hammes, Avinash Rajendran, Mikkel Krenchel, Hanna Masaryk
About
How is the world around us changing – and what does this mean for the ways that people think, how they behave, and what they strive for in life?
This podcast harnesses the social sciences to analyse fundamental questions about our society and their implications for business strategy. Each episode dives deep into a specific phenomenon – for example, “generations” – taking a critical look into what the phenomenon actually means in order to better understand the world around us.