Is your brand looking far enough into the future? Valerie Jacobs sits down with This Is DesignIntelligence to talk trends and what it takes to lead a next-gen creative consultancy.
In today’s marketplace, if you’re not looking far out into the future, you’re doing your brand a disservice, says Valerie Jacobs, Chief Growth Officer and head trends forecaster at LPK. In a new episode of This Is DesignIntelligence, a podcast on leadership within creative organizations, Jacobs talks with host and DesignIntelligence principal, Bob Fisher, about the invaluable role of trends for brand relevance and growth.
“You must be thinking about the future and the context of tomorrow when you’re designing today.”
“If you are not thinking about the world of tomorrow by the time your business, your brand, your innovation comes into materiality, it will be obsolete,” Jacobs says. “You must be thinking about the future and the context of tomorrow when you’re designing today.”
LPK is leading this work for brands of all kinds—from iconic CPGs to B2B and service brands. “We’re designing ‘the meaning under the hood’ and how that gets expressed to the business marketplace,” she explains, which is a long-term endeavor by design. “Architects take a long time for a building to go from a blueprint to a space out in the world. Same thing with brands and new offerings.”
“Part of being a futurist is getting our next leaders ready to run the agency of the future.”
Jacobs goes on to discuss how she built LPK’s Trends & Foresight team and her dual role as Chief Growth Officer. “I believe the Chief Growth Officer is helping to grow the people. Part of being a futurist is getting our next leaders ready to run the agency of the future.”
To listen to the full episode of This Is DesignIntelligence, head here.
