LVMH And Its Latest Moves In Innovation
Bernaud Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH was just named as a freshly minted as a member of the $100 billion club joining the ranks of businessmen Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. It could be said that much of Arnault's wealth is due to his savvy to anticipate trends and position the company as a leader among cultural shifts, especially that involving technology.
Recently LVMH, once again, took the lead of innovation over competitors and by collaborating with prominent advertising agency Publicis to create a strong conference around technology in Paris, France.
IBM's Ginni Rometty on stage at Viva Technology
COURTESY: MEERO/VIVA TECHNOLOGY 2019
Various other stages featured simultaneous panel discussions and fireside chats with executives from telecommunications giant Orange to retail titan Carrefour and many, many others all discussing the intersection of technology and their various arenas. Chief Brand Officer of Procter & Gamble, Marc Pritchard flew in to, among other business, be interviewed on stage about the company's work in re-thinking advertising and branding as that task converges with technology and culture. Oh yes, and Rwanda President led the charge for Africa interests in technology while later in the day former U.S. former Secretary of State John Kerry also gave a talk, all making for a veritable tech power oasis.
The exhibit floor also included the mega-watt names in tech from Google to Cisco to Facebook and others but there were also areas representing startups clusters from China, Korea, Africa and more. Nielsen and McKinsey offered several invitation-only events in secluded parts of the venue. Robots glided around the floors interacting with humans while luxury group LVMH easily took the prize for sexiest exhibit area showcasing technology around its various brands such as Bulgari while also housing a chic talk space complete with a high-end juice/water bar where even the company's CEO, Bernard Arnault, actually paid a visit and interacted with various tech demos at his company's area while surrounded by hulking bodyguards.
Yep, there's more than a lot going on here. Think CES's younger European cousin which approaches a tech summit in a way that could only be created by a savvy, culturally-aware powerhouse like Publicis Groupe, along with French media group, Les Echos with the support of LVMH, as opposed to that of a professional association of globally commanding forces in technology today. Viva Tech with its various satellite conversations and pacing creates an atmosphere for thought-leadership and a bit of reflection and intimacy. This conference is, perhaps, about the seductiveness of possibility and future collaboration in tech with the actual technology itself as the underpinning force while CES is the inverse. Both visions are equally needed in an era that is filled with complexities at every turn as we all move deeper into the fourth industrial revolution.
Robot Making The Rounds At VivaTech
COURTESY: MEERO/VIVA TECHNOLOGY 2019Indeed, much of the activity on the exhibit floor was centered around all the tech flashpoints-of-the-moment. The XR Park sponsored by Oracle hummed with visitors. There was also a Green Tech Park and Gaming Park. Fintech startups such as Youse and high-computing company Atos were among the many companies that took the opportunity to make announcements during the conference as well.
Evening events included investor-startup cocktail mixers in the sophisticated atmosphere of several open-air cafes in the style for which Paris is known offering the perfect romantic backdrop for discussions about power, money and innovation. The evening of the second night offered a massive dinner-party-of-sorts held at Station F (which I wrote about here the day it was announced nearly two years ago), Paris' extremely cool tech incubator campus-of-sorts that rivals nearly all other similar venues in the world with its size.
Awards were also given and Aerobotics, one of 50 startups showcased from Africa, scooped up the President Macron Africa Tech Award demonstrating the growing spotlight on the continent as a new hotspot for tech investments. Indeed, President Macron seems more than passionate about the area of technology and France's position within it. Macron spoke energetically about the vision to position France as not just a market but a product when it comes to the technology world, the need to increase the country's budget for AI investment and government's role within the in tech industry as a packed audience, which also included great spill-over onto areas with screens outside the venue, listened with rapt attention.
President Macron on stage (center) with various tech founders at Viva Tech
COURTESY: MEERO/VIVA TECHNOLOGY 2019Such is the event that provides the opportunity for thought, interaction and digi-cultural trend tracking. Though victim to a few snags with long entrance lines and the typical conference glitches, Viva Tech will probably be on the must-attend list for global players as the future of technology continues to unfold.