Building Cultural Capital Through Customer Experience

Building cultural capital through creativity delivers commercial advantage, said Mr Danny Lattouf, Regional Head of Retail – Y&R ANZ. Mr Lattouf was the guest speaker at the monthly dinner of the Australian Arab Business Council, held on Wednesday 21 February at the Waterview in Bicentennial, Homebush.

On the topic of the current retail climate and the challenge of being successful, Lattouf said “It is absolutely critical to create conspicuous experiences for customers. Experiences that stand out, that are memorable, that make impact. Essentially, you will be either interesting or nothing. There is no middle ground and the middle of the road is a very dangerous place to live.”

Mr Lattouf delivered a lively presentation about the transformation of the traditional retail and shopper experience of leading world business icons and brands into a distinct advantage, said Mr Hassan Moussa, President of the Australian Arab Business Council. “Our members need to adpat to the new reality of consumer experience and appetite”, he added.
On traditional retail and the emergence of new technologies, Lattouf believed “There will always be disruption and no industry, category, marketplace is protected from disruption. We’re seeing a complete new retail shelf being invented with contextual and conversational commerce and whilst that is confronting to traditional retail, it certainly will not be the end of disruption.”

Mr Lattouf has had a wealth of experience and proven results in the retail space. He worked with retailers and brands all over the world, having lived and worked in London, Singapore and Sydney for global and local brands across several marketing disciplines. He worked with leading brands such as Myer, Woolworths, Telstra, Petbarn, Australia Post, Sony, Microsoft, Dell, Suncorp, Adidas, Sony Pictures, Jamaica Blue and many more. For the last three years, Danny has lead the retail experience offering for Y&R, both as Managing Director of the IdeaWorks business and now as the Regional Head of Retail, Y&R ANZ.

Mr Moussa, acknowledged all the sponsors of the AABC, and in particular corporate partners the National Australia Bank and platinum sponsors: The Merhi Group and Sam the Paving Man. The February dinner was sponsored by Lefand Group.