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Aarron Spinley
Fellow, Field Bell Institute (with an independent advisory and speaking practice) at Field Bell Institute
Melbourne, Australia
I teach customer science, economics, and disciplinary management practices - restoring customer asset performance. I am a founding partner and teaching fellow at the Field Bell Institute, and author of one of our core texts, 'The Customering Method' (Routledge & CRC Press, New York and London).
My solo work can be viewed at spinley.co
My work at the Field Bell Institute can be viewed at fieldbell.co
Available For: Advising, Consulting, Speaking Travels From: Melbourne, or LA
Speaking Topics: Complex Economics, The Engagement Stack, Growth Theory, Marketing, CX, Futurology
Speaking Fee
$10,000 (In-Person)
Aarron Spinley
Points
Academic
85
Author
148
Influencer
125
Speaker
172
Entrepreneur
120
Total
650
Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.
Thought Leader Profile
Portfolio Mix
Company Information
Field Bell Institute
Fellow, Field Bell Institute (with an independent advisory and speaking practice)
The State of Education in Customer Management
Field Bell Institute
September 02, 2024
Managerial competency in the customer base as an economic asset has not kept pace with 21st-century dynamics. We wanted to understand the perspectives of those overseeing customer operations and those with careers in the field. The foundation study of the Field Bell Institute initiated in 2023.
The Customer Engagement Stack
SPINLEY.CO
June 22, 2023
More so than ever before, the executive leadership face a crisis-like state in the field of customer service.
Unlike its close cousin, marketing, it is not supported by a sustained academic inquisition. Absent any mainstream study of the field, it lurches from one unsupported area of practice to the next, and many of the activities that do endure, do so out of popularity, and a failure to test the theory.
Chief among the contemporary misadventures has been a general confusion between marketing and customer operations, an obsession with and yet broad incomprehension of the term "experience", a distorted reliance on the culture of data, and the over-indexing on surveys, in lieu of technical know-how and broader critical insight. And yet, the social sciences, aspects of marketing science, and quality independent studies and models in various associated fields, already provide so much rich knowledge.
In this report, we return to the basics, whilst maintaining a contemporary context. Readers can expect to learn about the following:
The historical context
The critical elements of the modern Customer Engagement Stack (c)
Key characteristics separating Service from Experience - and their component parts
The roles of choice architecture, customer journeys, and individualization
Case studies & operating principles
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Disruption, Marketing
Research: The Rise of Journey Management as a Platform for Customer Engagement
Thunderhead
November 17, 2021
The shifts in behaviour as accelerated by pre, and through, COVID-19 have coincided with a greater global focus on improving service and retention. To understand how these shifts impacted customer engagement, this Thunderhead research, conducted with MyCustomer, surveyed 200 service, customer experience and marketing leaders.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Future of Work
66 Article/Blogs
For Marketing and Customer Teams, Lecturers, and Event Organizers: Exclusive Packages on The Customering Method
LinkedIn
October 09, 2024
So... I would love your support as we bring this important message to the industries it affects: marketing leaders, digital and technology teams, contact center and customer service teams, recovering CXers, executive leaders and of course - academic institutions. We've developed preferential packages for you that I'm delighted to share here.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Marketing
The Platforming of Innovation Psychology
LinkedIn
January 18, 2024
In the last decade, the topic of emergent technologies has triggered a near-constant refrain for another topic, that of innovation. But is the assumed relationship warranted, or of value?
Tags: Digital Disruption, Emerging Technology, Innovation
Survey Request (2–3 mins)
Import from medium.com
August 17, 2023
Calling all those working in customer management / CX. I would so love your views and I have 10 questions for you.The rise of technology has acted as a major disruptor to society, and therefore to how consumers interact with brands. Customer service has been forever altered, fuelled by evolving con
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Personal Branding
The Dangerous Iceberg Effect on Marketing and Customer Management
THE HEADWAY
August 01, 2023
Campaigns (marketing management) and customer interactions (customer management) are at the very end of two highly technical marathons in applied expertise and science. Yet, most practitioners operating in these respective fields remain untrained and see only the tip of each iceberg. An exploration.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions
Burn The Map
LinkedIn
January 16, 2023
Journey mapping has become a routine part of customer service operations and a big money spinner for various "CX" consultancies. It survives, largely, out of habit. But things have changed since its inception, and now, that habit is hurting us. It's time to #burnthemap
Are Drug Dealers More Trustworthy Than Brands? The Socially Unacceptable Truth
THE HEADWAY
March 16, 2022
Unlike so many of my peers in “the industry”, I offer that trust is not emotional, or better put emotive, and that likewise, making a values-based judgement — like “drug dealers are evil” — has absolutely nothing to do with it either. In fact, I suggest many companies could learn a thing or two from common drug dealers.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Personal Branding
The Big Problem With Big Data
Forbes
March 07, 2022
In a highly fragmented and hyper-connected culture, the very best of advertising is not in the data, it’s in the creative. It’s in the behavioural, the psychological and the individual.
Future Growth
The Investment Times
February 21, 2022
In Chandigarh India, The Investment Times is quietly growing its exciting business. Now reaching over 1 million people per edition, it was an honour to be included in its February 2022 edition.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Marketing
What the metaverse means for you and your customers
ZDNet
February 15, 2022
Once again, Thunderhead's Aarron Spinley provides the kind of thought leadership that has some real meaning. He's a paradigm for executives on how to be an internal thought leader who has an external impact. This piece is particularly germane. - Paul Greenberg.
The Good, The Bad, and The Fugly: 2021 Edition
THE HEADWAY
January 05, 2022
Through the fogginess of COVID that engulfed these last 2 years, it is easy to lose sight of what actually happened. And I’m not going to help. Not much anyway. But for posterity's sake, this little offering provides a record of sorts, of the year that was, in limited edition. Take “limited” how you will.
The Real Cost of Failing to Report the Customer Franchise in Corporate Risk Registers
THE HEADWAY
December 02, 2021
Many company boards are feeling outmatched by the ferocity of changing technology, emerging risks, and new competitors. And yet diversity of experience is at the root of it. One the casualties, aside from effective governance itself, are key professions, like marketing.
The Real Cost of Failing to Report the Customer Franchise in Corporate Risk Registers
Import from medium.com
December 01, 2021
The business blindspot & the lost fuel of marketing maturityPrologueNot many of my readers will know that I spent a portion of my career advising companies on risk. From tech risk consultancy, and later leading the business risk advisory practice at the world’s largest broker, running behaviou
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Personal Branding
The Moral Highground is Still a Prerequisite for Leadership
THE HEADWAY
November 15, 2021
There have been a bunch of casebook scandals in recent years haven’t there. The Enron Incident, the Sanlu Company Melamine Incident, BP in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal — just to name a few. Then there’s Wall Street’s complicity in the GFC. The advertising industry's complicity in Facebook's many crimes. Facebook itself. Where do you even start?
iOS15 and the Big Email Panic
LinkedIn
October 26, 2021
The facts. The "problem". And duh.
Today if you talk to almost any marketing ops person, they’ll tell you that email is their number 1 “channel”. Now, I know that many regard this as kind of incongruent with a single-directional messaging tool and that a lot of people think it's just spam, but nevertheless, it's true for many, many companies.
The Hidden Fight of Transformation
THE HEADWAY
October 08, 2021
As organizations across industries as far afield as banking and insurance, to retail, media, utilities, and telco all grapple with “transformation”, or more honestly in most cases, simple process-modernization; many are creating something of a fight club. And you do NOT talk bout fight club.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
The Hidden Fight of Transformation
Import from medium.com
October 07, 2021
The big problem that no one talks aboutEdward Norton in ‘Fight Club’. Credit 20th Century Fox (1999)“The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!”As the boards of organizations across industries as f
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Personal Branding
Making Industries Safe — The Calling of our Generation
THE HEADWAY
September 16, 2021
The failed moral tests of tobacco, coal, and industrialized advertising, and the PR playbook common to them all. The latest article from marketing anthropologist Aarron Spinley calls for an ethical re-think.
Making Industries Safe — The Calling of our Generation
Import from medium.com
September 15, 2021
Making Industries Safe — The Calling of our GenerationThe Marketing Playbook for Big Tobacco, Dirty Coal, and Digital Advertising is Depressingly SimilarCredit: GettysIf you’re a parent, you will have noticed those signs at playgrounds, telling oblivious children to “Play with Caution”.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Personal Branding
Empathy is Not a Strategy
THE HEADWAY
September 01, 2021
Over and over and over and over. We have operationalized the very opposite of customer-centricity at an industry level, all while professing a values system that the accepted model is incapable of delivering.
A Futures Triangle for the Marketing Profession
The Headway
July 30, 2021
Why has marketing, despite its love of anything digital, been so resistant to core change since the industrial era? In applying the foresight methodology, 'The Futures Triangle', Aarron Spinley proposes an answer to that question and suggests an alternative future for the profession.
A digital advisory, strategy and marketing consultancy, and investment vehicle. Aarron was a founding board member in May 2015 and served until February 2020.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Lean Startup
1 Executive
Thunderhead expands APAC footprint with hire of industry thought leader Aarron Spinley, VP ANZ
PR News Wire
December 08, 2020
Thunderhead, the global leader in real-time customer engagement announce the appointment of Aarron Spinley as SVP APAC. Aarron was recently named a top 10 global thought leader in both Customer Experience and Brand Loyalty according to Thinkers360, and is prominent on its leaderboards for Marketing, CRM, and Culture.
A new publication, combining the ideas from leading thought leaders from around the world with the tagline: "Clinical growth theory for the intelligent marketer".
Aarron Spinley is leading growth futurist and analyst who observes culture, society, & technological evolution. Combining digital provenance and economics with the social sciences, Aarron is renowned for his work on designed experience to unlock mutual growth.
He writes, consults, and speaks internationally in the fields of business growth and customer engagement, and his work has been coined: "Experience Anthropology".
As management strategists and investors for the digital era, we work to deliver both traditional business value and disruptive outcomes. We are known for our work in concept development for monetisation, product strategy, business modelling, sales and marketing, capital raising, and risk management.
Tags: Business Strategy, Digital Disruption, Risk Management
1 Infographic
The Agenda Blender
LinkedIn
December 11, 2023
Exposing the agenda-based research that is so rife in the industry.
Part of Aarron's ILLEGIT series, which pokes fun at some of the shenanigans that pass as normal in the Wild West of the populist CX movement and digital marketing. Sometimes, you either laugh or cry. The former is better!
Tags: Business Strategy, Digital Disruption, Risk Management
15 Keynotes
Science Versus Superstition
The Martech Weekly
June 06, 2024
The populist CX movement has spectacularly failed. It was always going to. Based on vested interests and an evangelic dogma resembling the pre-scientific era, it is the very opposite of a profession. There is no evidentiary basis, no disciplinary clinical language, no educational infrastructure of standing, and no barriers to entry. In this address to the inaugural Martech World Forum, I explain the impacts of this failure upon digital and martech teams - and the very real economic calamity upon the global economy.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Marketing
The Marketing Exchange Forum 2022
Marcus Evans Group
July 07, 2022
A cautionary message to delegates about the trend toward generalist marketing and customer technologies in service of specialist and nuanced operations.
Personalization is Dead. Long Live Personalization.
YouTube
September 25, 2020
The Diamond Keynote given virtually in September 2020 to delegate of the Retail Leaders Forum. The short keynote unpacks the history of personalization, and the imperative to adopt "Personalization 4.0" to reclaim societal brand engagement, and to protect and sustain revenue.
Tags: Business Strategy, Digital Transformation, Innovation
Human Connection Through Mobile
App Commerce Virtual Conference
September 02, 2020
In the age of customer engagement, this talk to the App Commerce delegates across the UK and Asia, breaks down the unique opportunities that present in mobile and the key pillars of engagement strategy that mobile marketers must understand.
What Exactly is the Experience Economy?
YouTube
November 27, 2019
An intimate talk to select executives on invite from SAP, on the economic and behavioral markers of our time, and the call to action for brands to deepen - and humanize - their engagement with customers.
Huge returns, but huge investments: real-time decisioning engines
mi-3 Media
August 01, 2023
Huge returns, but huge investments: Why Commbank, Suncorp, NAB, BUPA and more are betting on real-time decisioning engines; marketing clouds can't compete, for now
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
Digital Obsession Cruels Customer Service, Says New Analyst Report
mi-3 Media
June 26, 2023
"In the industrial space, you are applying technology to well-understood and well-tested work processes created over decades. In digital marketing, they are just throwing whiskey all over the floor."
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Disruption, Marketing
The Difference Between Experience and Service
Digital Nation
May 26, 2023
In a post-pandemic world, customers expect more from brands in terms of a good experience. But to deliver that good experience, brands need to understand the relationship between service and experience.
Comments for Digital Nation
Digital Nation
May 16, 2023
Digital Nation asks Aarron to comment on the differences between Experience and Service, and the state of customer innovation in Australia compared to the US.
Full article: https://www.digitalnationaus.com.au/boardroom-impact/customer-experience-in-a-post-pandemic-world-595840
14 Ways Businesses Can Leverage Chatbots To Facilitate Conversions
Forbes
May 31, 2022
Multiple studies have shown that chatbots can facilitate conversions, but it’s important to ensure they are being leveraged in the right way to create the best results. Forbes asked for my view on what that looks like.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
14 Ways Marketers Can Optimize A Brand For The Digital Space
Forbes
May 06, 2022
Asked to comment on brand optimisation in digital only, I make the point that markets and customers consider (and experience) a brand far more broadly than a single channel....
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Marketing
Forget Stunts And Tricks: 14 Ways Marketers Can Connect With Gen-Z
Forbes
May 02, 2022
Asked to comment on the newest consumer generation, I take a polite swipe at the over-generalisations and laziness of marketers that treat an entire generation as a "segment".
14 Tips For Handling An Unpleasant Conversation
Forbes
March 25, 2022
Asked to offer my "No. 1 tip" for professionals heading into an unpleasant conversation, such as delivering bad news to a customer or announcing negative news about the company.
13 Ways E-Commerce Retailers Can Avoid Late-Stage Cart Abandonment
Forbes
March 21, 2022
Asked to comment on the issue of shopping cart abandonment in the world of e-commerce, and the wider - less visible - causation that most miss in their diagnostic.
Research: The Rise of Journey Management as a Platform for Customer Engagement
Thunderhead
November 17, 2021
Interviewed in a webinar on the key lessons for APAC businesses from our research into the rise of advanced journey management in leading marketing and customer engagement teams globally.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
Narrowing the Customer Expectation Gap through Data-driven Experiences
CMO Australia
August 31, 2021
In this panel interview, Aarron contributes analysis of the infinite loop between societal and technological development, and the impact of COVID-19, on customer engagement.
Making Sense of Martec: Explaining Experience
The Martec Weekly
March 07, 2021
Interviewed by The Lumery's Juan Mendoza discussing how the marketing industry misses the mark on the concept of "experience", and a wide range of related issues.
Building Trust Through Consent Is An Essential Part Of Improving Share Of Wallet
Which-50 Media
October 27, 2020
You can learn two things about a company that takes the privacy of its customers seriously, and gives them the opportunity to consent to how their data is used, says Aarron Spinley, Growth and Innovation Evangelist.
Privacy and the Bear
Which-50 Media
September 03, 2020
“Cloud computing became mainstream, smart mobility took off, social media emerged and thrived, and companies all over the world changed how they engage with the markets and the regulators.
"Remember, from a competitive advantage perspective ... when you're being chased by a bear in the woods, you don't have to be faster than the bear. You have the faster than the other guy".
Media Coverage: Research from independent analyst Aarron Spinley.
Mumbrella
June 23, 2023
Spinley’s new report, The Customer Engagement Stack, introduces an alternative to the modern “technology paradox” of the digital era, where the everyday customer service imperative has been compromised by digital culture taking over more considered strategy.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Disruption, Marketing
Research: The Rise of Journey Management as a Platform for Customer Engagement
Thunderhead
November 17, 2021
The shifts in behaviour as accelerated by pre, and through, COVID-19 have coincided with a greater global focus on improving service and retention. To understand how these shifts impacted customer engagement, this Thunderhead research, conducted with MyCustomer, surveyed 200 service, customer experience and marketing leaders.
An Invitation to Participate in Customer Management Research
SPINLEY.CO and ENTERPRISE MARTECH
August 17, 2023
"An exploration of customer Management (or "CX") and its Relationships to Education, Management Theory, and Technology". First phase only: a 3-minute survey.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
4 Panels
Data Driven Experiences
CMO
August 18, 2021
Honoured to be invited to share my thoughts on this most understood of modern marketing topics. An event chaired by Nadia Cameron, Editor of CMO Magazine.
A panel interview on the subject of trust, its collapse, and the pillars of brand trust going forward.
Interview conducted by: Award winning journalist: Mike Gee.
Other panelists: Camilla Cooke, CMO of Xinja Bank and Luke Shaw, Head of Commerce at Sigma Health
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Customer Experience
3 Podcasts
Explaining Experience
TMW Media
March 07, 2021
In this episode, Juan has an indepth conversation with Aarron Spinley on one of his recent articles discussing how the digital industry defines the concept of "experience" which was in the top three clicked of TMW #026.
Listen in to growth futurist Aarron Spinley and global guests as they navigate the experience economy and the challenge of digital Darwinism. From senior executives, academics, career creatives, marketers, industry analysts, authors and global thought leaders.
The de-Industrialisation of Marketing and Customer Operations: Telstra Case Study
Forrester CX
May 10, 2022
The dominant practices and technologies of marketing, customer experience, and service operations are based on industrial era production line models that don’t support sustained engagement. In this talk, I take a closer look at the macro-historical context, the problem it creates, and then explore a case study into what Telstra (Australia's largest telecommunications company) is doing about it.
MASTERCLASS: The Modern Engagement Stack
AARRON SPINLEY
January 01, 2022
Aarron's updated Masterclass is foundational to customer strategy, covering the economic eras, offering and choice architecture, and the complex economics of untamed customer journeys.
Tags: Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Marketing
19 Videos
Book Trailer - The Customering Method
Field Bell Institute
September 23, 2024
In partnership with Routledge & CRC Press (London, New York), Field Bell Institute releases "The Customering Method: From CX Dogma to Customer Science" by Aarron Spinley.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Business Strategy
EVOLVE with Sohail Inayatullah | S1 E6
YouTube
May 08, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Dr. Sohail Inayatullah, recipient of the 'Laurel All Time Best Futurist Award' for his invention of the Causal Layered Analysis, a futures methodology taught around the world, and now the Chair of UNESCO at the United Nations. Aarron believes that these methodologies are one of the great untapped opportunities for growth strategists and can change the way we think about harnessing customer engagement technologies.
EVOLVE with Camilla Cooke | S1 E5
YouTube
April 23, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Camilla Cooke, the Chief Marketing Officer of XINJA BANK, about the DNA, culture, and leadership of challenger brands. Camilla also talks passionately about ethical business, and advancing the customers cause. A deeply insightful conversation that every leader will get value from.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Business Strategy
EVOLVE with Mark Oliver | S1 E4
YouTube
April 09, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Mark Oliver, the Chief Executive Officer of digital services provider INLIGHT, about the vexed issue of creativity in the enterprise and its role in growth. Mark takes us through the internal versus external agency cycle, the “commoditization of innovation”, who a “creative” really is, and lastly; the role of mental health to creative culture.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Business Strategy
EVOLVE with Ursula Ringham | S1 E3
YouTube
March 19, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Ursula Ringham, Global Head of Influencer Marketing at SAP. After creative and marketing stints with Adobe and Apple before joining SAP, Ursula is regarded internationally as a pioneer in the B2B influencer marketing domain, and a passionate ambassador of human centered marketing.
Tags: Customer Experience, Marketing, Business Strategy
EVOLVE with Paul Greenberg | S1 E2
YouTube
March 04, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Paul Greenberg, the Godfather of CRM, famous for his pioneering work in the CRM category in the early 2000s and subsequent critical thought leadership as an independent analyst since. Through his first book, "CRM - Speed of Light" published in 4 editions across multiple languages, to his latest offering "The Commonwealth of Self Interest" his work continues to lead the industry.
EVOLVE with Joe Pine - PREMIERE
YouTube
February 20, 2020
Aarron Spinley talks with Joe Pine, Partner at Strategic Horizons, famous for discovering the Experience Economy, and co-authoring of the seminal book on the subject 1999, with editions 2011, and again in 2019. Joe is an author many times over, and co-founder of the European Centre for the Experience Economy.