Taking place on 20 March 2012 at 14.00 - 17.30, delegates are invited to participate in this pre-conference workshop, focusing on assessing the overlap of industry mega trends, including the sustainability paradigm, and how this overlap is creating new connections and will give rise to innovation opportunities in the cleaning products industry that will accelerate a move towards a sustainable global economy.

Part one - how do megatrends affect companies and industries

• What are megatrends and why should you anticipate their impact on your industry
• Where megatrend assessments fit into your corporate strategy: discover new opportunities, anticipate new threats
• Concrete examples of how companies from other industries benefit from or are threatened by megatrends
• Interactive deep-dive into trends that affect the cleaning-product industry in Europe:
  o Sustainability and environmental trends
  o Shared value and social business innovation
  o New business models
  o Looking beyond the obvious: trends that might have an indirect impact on your industry

Part two - how to assess the impact of megatrends on your company and sharpen your future strategy based on its findings

• Introduction to the in-house megatrend exercise, step by step
• Forming think-tanks to discuss megatrends internally - some key advice
• How to segment and present megatrends in such a way to draw conclusions for your strategy
• How to use this exercise to enhance your impact on multiple stakeholders
• As a close: key advice to shape your future strategy based on megatrends

What's in it for you?

At the end of the workshop you should be able to:
1. Understand how megatrends affect your business directly and indirectly, sometimes in an unpredicted way;
2. Assess the impact of megatrends and present it in conclusive ways to make strategic decisions based on this assessment;
3. Conduct an in-house megatrend exercise to draw meaningful conclusions to sharpen your future strategy or produce ideas for innovation.

Who should attend?

This workshop is relevant for any corporate strategic decision taker, researcher, market intelligence professional or persons involved in innovation projects.

Your workshop leader

Frederic De Meyer is the founder of the Institute for Future Insights, an organization that assesses the impact of long-term trends on companies and industries, and helps companies to adapt their strategy based on these findings.

Previous to this, Frederic lead the European market intelligence team of technology company Cisco for over 10 years, focusing on industry research, long-term trends and emerging markets. Before joining Cisco, he held a number of positions as Consultant and Business Development Manager at research company IDC, PR consultants WeberShandwick and education companies IIR and EFE.

Frederic also shares his research and findings on megatrends and their impact on businesses on his successful blog fredericdemeyer.com.

All workshop attendees will also receive a copy of Frederic's book 'The impact of megatrends on your business - how to assess the impact of megatrends on your company and adapt your strategy to ensure long-term success'.