Eric Alper

At 24, Eric Alper is the Vice-President & Head of Strategy at Montreal-based creative services emporium SID LEE. In that capacity, he leads cross-disciplinary strategic planning efforts that touch advertising, product development, experiential design and corporate strategy for some of the world’s most progressive brands, specifically: adidas, Cirque du Soleil, ING Direct, MGM Mirage, Red Bull, Tourism Montreal, Winners and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Alper brings to these pursuits an irreverent and youthful approach that emerges at the intersection of human and marketplace insights, with a healthful dose of intuition.

An active student of both Business and Sociology, Alper is most interested in the dialogue that occurs between acts of consumption and human identity. Uniquely positioned to reflect on the cultural significance of consumption given his membership among the most consumption-obsessed (and imbued) generation, Alper speaks actively about how brands can reach, touch and engage people by creating compelling experiences.

The insights gained from this work and travels are shared in a book Alper recently co-authored. Published by the Financial Times Press, Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About is a best-selling business book now released in four languages around the world.

Alper challenges companies to think beyond the blind paradigm of satisfaction.  Often preached in seminars on service, marketing and branding, this notice of satisfaction has become so well-traveled as to be neutered and devoid of meaning. Instead, he challenges firms to think beyond satisfaction and to question fundamental assumptions around what they do and why they do it. All to create experiences that are infinitely meaningful and that consumers willingly share among peers. Importantly, he works not just to enlighten the consumer side of the equation, but also how that translates into operations and marketing actions.

Originally from Texas, Alper is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal.

• 6. Research Lessons from a Bad Date

  Have you ever been on a date where the other person couldn't stop talking about themselves? This is marketing in the modern world. Except that the consumer almost never responds.
  
  Today, marketers are increasingly reliant on marketing research to identify and read the signs of a bad date. The problem is, most marketing researchers only reflect what people say. But what people say tends not to reflect what people think. You know how it goes; you listen because you're forced to, nod along and then end with the infamous, "it's not you; it's me." This talk is about avoiding that plight and learning how to make research useful to address marketing problems and identify compelling opportunities.

• 5. Beyond the False Prophets of Social Media

  Everyone's talking about it; no one knows what it is. People (especially the self-purported experts that seem to pop up around every corner) tend to equate social media with channels. "Get your tweet on; start a Facebook Group; create a YouTube channel and presto, in no time, people will be tweeting about, friending and sharing your brand." We all know that isn't true and yet so many marketers embrace this "wisdom." In this session, we'll dispel myths and misconceptions about social media and share guiding principles and actions to foster conversation around great brands in the digital space.

• 4. In the ‘Hood: Youth Culture and Consumption

  Youth are the most attractive, most sought-after consumers in the modern world. The young and young at heart are fickle, and ultimately hard to reach, much less engage. Connecting with youth is about more than looking the part and talking the talk. Based on my research I'll share how you and your brand can work to understand, reach, touch and engage pockets of youth culture.

• 3. The Art of Being an Outsider

  Many firms are hamstrung by myopia, or worse, self-obsession. To become or to enforce your position as a great brand, you have to think like an outsider, even when you’re an insider. This talk is about doing just that — learning from a generalist consultant how to think like an informed outsider.

• 2. Buzz is Bunk

  Buzz. The world is abuzz about it. Bad news: Buzz is bunk. It's the equivalent of putting a super-model next to a beater car; people will talk about the model, not the car. So if buzz isn't the right strategy for generating word-of-mouth what is? Together we'll find the answer lies in crafting the right experience through certain key drivers and delivering it through the right channels.

• 1. The Consumer is the Brand; Marketers Are the Audience

  The broadcast paradigm is wrong. And what's worse is that it's being replicated by marketers through social media. Words like audience, messaged & storytelling are old hat. Today, it's about realizing that the consumer is and owns the brand; marketers are the audience. We'll talk about how every consumer interaction is an opportunity for learning, generating and amplifying conversation, and by extension, building brands.

• Eric is a compelling and captivating public speaker who challenges organizations to become more disruptive, inventive and progressive. Rather than talking at his audiences, he involves them and compels them to share relevant ideas, experiences and challenges. His approach is rooted in atypical and highly actionable content rather than the typical world of inspirational fluff. Moreover, his speeches always tie back to his expertise in creating and communicating branded experiences that market themselves by giving rise to word-of-mouth. Having had Eric speak at Red Bull on a few occasions, I’d say Eric is undoubtedly a valuable addition to any conference or meeting, whether it deals with communications, product development or business strategy.

  Red Bull

• Thank you so much for participating at Understanding Youth yesterday.  Your presentation was great and very well received.  We know how busy you are and truly appreciate you taking the time to contribute to our event.  We look forward to working with you on future conferences.  Congratulations also to Sid Lee's growing global success.

  Strategy Magazine

• Eric Alper and Christian Manchester from Sid Lee took to the stage, and proceeded to challenge those assembled to join them on their Adidas Originals journey, which quickly became an adventure and then a star-studded tour de force of what it is to truly understand youth; transcend the mundane via uniting creativity with commercial purpose and dance between the raindrops to successfully market to, and with them. And challenged they were, as Eric proceeded to passionately, provocatively and with the conviction of the righteous; demonstrate vivid, irrefutable and relevant example after example of precisely why the previous emperors have no clothes. To say that Eric’s fervour, perspectives and approach are convention breaking in North America is an understatement.  They are actually iconoclastic, and we as marketers are beholden to embrace and demand more thinking of this ilk if we are to truly realize the potential of this next golden age of advertising.

  Publicis

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  August 2008

  Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About

   

  For all the books that speak of the value of consumer advocacy, few indicate how to create it to begin with. Armed with a compelling set of examples from their own work in fostering leading brands, the authors reveal the triggers of word-of-mouth and a process to embedding them in your own products, helping you create stuff people love to talk about.