James Chung

James Chung is the president of Reach Advisors, a NY-based strategy and research firm focused on emerging shifts in the consumer landscape. Reach Advisors serves some of the nation’s largest and most innovative organizations ranging widely from the Smithsonian Institution, Town of Vail (Colorado), ventures backed by Kleiner Perkins, and a number of other leaders in their fields.   

Chung has the rare combination of being an astute analyst, hands-on strategist, and a charismatic speaker.  Not only is he deeply engaged in the subjects he speaks about, his ability to offer extemporaneous commentary and context is extraordinary.

As the driving force behind the innovative quantitative and qualitative research, Chung’s probing analysis of demographic and market data for which Reach Advisors is known and respected.  His strong strategic and tactical foundation allows him to deliver insight that translates into specific action and impact for his clients.  Chung has an intense interest in digging far deeper than is expected to find the most complete answer to critical questions no one else has yet thought to ask.

Chung founded Reach Advisors in 2002, following his experience as a client searching for game-changing insight.  Despite tapping into a sizeable budget that bought the services of the top research and strategic forecasting organizations in America, he found their work to be like looking in a rear-view mirror. He simply could not find advisors who could pick apart the key drivers for future shifts, deliver truly strategic work grounded in operational reality, and set a course leading to the intended impact. Reach Advisors was created to fill that need for strategic change.  

Before launching Reach Advisors, Chung founded a targeted media and research firm that was acquired by a division of a Fortune 200 company. Prior to that, he served at one of the nation’s leading advertising agencies, where he helped one of the world’s largest marketers deploy advanced marketing analytics and plan for how the next decade in media and marketing would unfold.

Chung is a writer, analyst and recurring source for media organizations ranging from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Museum, Travel + Leisure, Sports Illustrated, NBC Nightly News, among many others. He is also the co-author of Life Stages of the Museum Visitor, published in 2009 by AAM Press.

Chung earned his AB and MBA degrees from Harvard University.

• 7. The Reverse Gender Gap: The Truth, the Falsehoods, and How It Will Reshape Consumer Markets

  This presentation shares some of analysis from a multi-year research project identifying what changes in an era when we have an entire generation of young women who are 1.5 times more likely than young men to graduate from colleges and universities.  The presentation will present the data on the outcomes so far, the drivers behind those changes, and how consumer markets will likely have to adjust to this generation.

• 6. Looking Forward: Change and the Future

  This presentation is driven off of exclusive research and analysis fielded by Reach Advisors to help various industries anticipate what the next 15-25 years will bring.  This presentation draws on various disciplines ranging from demographics, economics, technology, geopolitics and globalization, education, gender analysis, etc.  While many of those topics appear on the surface to have little to do with consumer behaviors, the presentation will raise awareness of how those shifts can create significant opportunity for organizations that can anticipate change…and turmoil for those who wait for it to happen to them.  This presentation will lead into an open dialog about what these changes mean for a specific organization and industry as we look ahead into the rest of the decade and beyond.

• 5. The 2010s: The Decade of Total Wellness

  This presentation shares exclusive Reach Advisors consumer survey work and analysis about how shifts in consumer attitudes towards health and wellness have shifted in each decade over the past half century, and how a large segment of the American population is ushering in an entirely new decade focused on the Decade of Total Wellness. This presentation will look at the drivers behind the shifting attitudes; how the actions are showing up in consumer behavior and spending patterns; exactly which consumer segments are embracing this shift (and which aren't); and how this is reshaping how those consumers are trying to integrate their healthcare, wellness, and fitness concerns.

• 4. Talking About My Generation: Differing Values and Marketplace Conflicts

  This presentation shares exclusive Reach Advisors consumer survey work and analysis of consumers segmented by generation.  The presentation will show expected and unforeseen consequences of what happens as Baby Boomers age, Generation X raises families, and Generation Y moves through their formative years of adulthood.  This presentation will share examples of organizations that have used their understanding of generational shifts to gain market leadership, dissect stories of organizations overwhelmed by the shifts, and raise awareness of emerging shifts that will reshape the markets served by the audience.

• 2. Four Macro Trends for the 2010s and the Implications

  This presentation shares exclusive Reach Advisors analysis of various demographic, economic and social trends that will reshape markets for the rest of the decade.  This presentation draws on various disciplines ranging from demographics, economic, technology, geopolitics and globalization, education, gender, income dynamics, etc.  The four macro trends for the presentation will be selected based on relevance to the audience.   

• 3. The Shifting Landscape of How Americans Live: What Will Be Different After the Downturn

  This presentation shares exclusive Reach Advisors consumer survey work about how Americans live, play and buy, and melds it with the firm’s other data sets to determine what shifts are cyclical, and what shifts are permanent.  The presentation can include an open dialog on examples of organizations using this kind of insight to their advantage, organizations overwhelmed by these kinds of shifts, and critical shifts most relevant to the audience.

• 1. Demographics of the Next Decade: Preparing for the Post-Downturn Market

  This presentation shares some of the comprehensive analysis compiled by Reach Advisors about the most important demographic shifts that will reshape consumer markets.  Key shifts this decade include the impact of a rapidly aging population, the continuing shifts in racial composition, and an emerging reverse gender gap among young women, each of which will change the balance of power in the marketplace.  At the conclusion, this presentation will lead into an open dialog about what these changes mean for a specific organization and industry as we project how various demographic shifts will reshape the rest of the decade

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  May 2009

  Life Stages of the Museum Visitor

  This title offers a rich array of new data about how and why museum visitors behave as they do at different stages of their lives, and how museums can respond to the changing needs and perceptions of their audiences. With smart and engaging analysis, authors Wilkening and Chung point toward the goal of creating museum advocates for life.