Founded in 2017 by former Australian army officers, Craig Cowdrey, Peter Burnheim, and Christopher Marr, Sonder is a company focused on providing active care services through its responder network and technology platform. Utilized by Woolworths, PWC, Allianz, Team Global Express and other organizations, Sonder has made an impact across Australia and New Zealand, and it’s working to take its mission global.

Vivaldi spoke with Chris Marr, Sonder’s Chief Commercial Officer, about building a care network, meeting the demands of Gen Z, and the limitations of bots in addressing human challenges.

——-

Christopher Marr, CCO, Sonder

How would you describe Sonder and the benefits it offers?

We consider Sonder a single entry point for care — and there’s a lot that those few words speak to. It recognizes that the health landscape across safety, medical, and mental health is really disparate. It has typically existed in silos; individual services or point solutions, that may, when aggregated, deal with a broad spectrum of issues, but actually there’s no ecosystem around that. We understand at Sonder that issues don’t exist in isolation, they’re conflated. For example, if you’ve got anxiety, it often doesn’t exist on its own, it exists because there’s an underlying issue. As a single entry point to care, we make it really simple for people to engage with health solutions, increasing access to care, and ultimately making impact on the health of people around the world.

Understanding how all of those things work together might be a differentiator from what else is out there.

If you think of the landscape, it’s all point solutions and it’s really hard to even understand that they exist, let alone understand what’s the best way to access them. Together they present serious hurdles for people to access help, so that’s the problem we’re solving. We’re decluttering this otherwise really complex landscape to make it really simple and highly accessible in order to help people.

Who participates in the Sonder network?

Up front we have the digital interface, it’s an app focused on building earlier intervention pathways and help-seeking behavior. It does that through clinically based wellbeing and mental health assessment tools that enable you to get personalized support for your unique needs.

The mobile interface is also a mechanism to get you through to our care specialists, and that’s where the heart of the business exists. Our doctors, nurses and psychologists are there 24-7 to listen and, because we know that issues get conflated, to try to understand the holistic picture for a person and put together a bespoke care plan.

Pillar number three is our care pathways — these might be our medical, safety, or mental health teams, financial or legal support programs, internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, a whole host of different programs. You don’t just get filtered into one of them, the plan recognizes the depth and significance of the issues, challenges or opportunities that people are facing. It also includes our responder network. Throughout Australia and New Zealand we can be by someone’s side within an hour. That provides huge peace of mind.

The fourth aspect is the data and insights. We’re a healthcare company, so all the records are medically credentialled. It’s completely anonymized, aggregated data, but it allows us to look at population trends. It lets us understand what issues are burgeoning.

Was this idea for aggregating data built in from the beginning?

In order to make sound business decisions, we needed to be data-led. By understanding the data and insights, by understanding the levers we can pull, we can ultimately have the best affect on someone’s health, and the health of a population generally.

You started with a safety focus, why is that one of the core pillars of what you offer?

Safety sits as the foundation for all the higher order needs or requirements. By being a company that has a foundation in providing safety, it gives the stepping stone to explore higher order needs. We give that platform for people to ultimately get to a place where they can have confidence and trust in the solution in order to engage on something more sensitive like mental health conditions, anxiety, depression, perhaps in its most extreme suicidal ideation.

I think many of the legacy providers that are focused on high-grade mental health are supposing that someone can jump through all these steps independently. We just don’t think that that’s how people behave. We don’t think that’s how to build trust, and if we want to make an impact on the problem and help people, then we ultimately need to provide that platform for them to move through that process themselves.

How do you see the future of the health, wellness, and safety space evolving?

We see Active Care as the future, where people have got the power to engage on their own device, in their own time, on demand, and relevant to their specific requirements, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. We need to have modern solutions that will recognize complexity, and ultimately simplify care programs for people so they can get the results that they need to crack on with life.

Are you seeing the priorities of Gen Z changing how these pieces are integrated into daily life or work life? How are they impacting where things are going?

I think they’re really demanding, and that’s a wonderful thing. The more recent generations have been exposed to some of the most sophisticated technologies. They understand what good design looks like, they understand that their needs and requirements are fundamental to good output. To the Active Care point, Gen Z are going to continue to demand that services are accessible to them on their own device on their own time for their specific requirements, and they want to have a wonderful experience. You won’t be successful without offering a world class experience because there’s just no patience for anything less.

A lot of businesses think about wellness as critical to employee retention — how are you thinking about that during these more challenging or unpredictable economic times? How do you talk about that with businesses or employers?

It’s a really critical discussion because there are so many providers now that say that they can make impact on productivity, on engagement, on staff churn, but it’s very difficult for them to draw a correlation between input on the left and outcome on the right. I think this is why the data and insights from Sonder are so important. By virtue of the program that we’ve built, the Active Care model that has a foundational focus on safety, it ultimately drives activation and utilization to levels that typically exist between 10 and 20 times the legacy providers. That’s a significant impact.

How do you think about delivering care and what makes your method different than using a chatbot or AI tool?

Sonder uses real people. We don’t use bots. The technologies as we understand it are not sophisticated enough to achieve real impact against real human problems. A chatbot ultimately can’t have empathy. Our business is about supporting people, often in their most vulnerable state. I think when it gets down to the fundamentals of the service, human to human interaction is what we’re all craving. It’s a fundamental aspect to our wellbeing.

What can we look forward to next?

Our expansion into the United Kingdom. Sonder has achieved really significant growth and impact in the Australian and New Zealand markets. We are now expanding into the UK and then other global markets. We want to take the lessons we’ve learned in how to engage and motivate and make more productive people around the world.

—-

Christopher Marr, DSM, is the Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Sonder. He has dedicated his life to serving others, previously serving 20 years as an Australian Army officer, including 10 as a leader and commander in the special forces. His role at Sonder is to lead the commercial strategy and growth of the company, both domestically and internationally. He is committed to addressing the world’s burgeoning health crisis by disrupting the way people get help.

The post Sonder’s Mission to Provide Active Care Services appeared first on Vivaldi.

For 2022, Vivaldi was selected for our work with McGraw Hill in igniting their direct-to-consumer EdTech business, developing an app that fundamentally changes how users learn existing and new McGraw Hill content.  

Based on a holistic market assessment and primary student insights, the concept and app, Sharpen., were developed to address unsolved key pain points, including staying on track, focusing and fitting learning into students’ hectic lives. The Sharpen. app allows students to interactively learn textbook knowledge and prepare for tests at their own pace. 

“Sharpen. is a ground-breaking way for students to access trusted McGraw Hill content.” — Markus Zinnbauer, Senior Partner, Vivaldi

The aim was to target the student market with a brand new student-focused learning application that mirrors how students process learning today, and which sets the stage for what learning will be in the future. To work on a project of this magnitude, Vivaldi assembled a diverse project team, with skills in professional business, marketing, education, and design/UX, led by experts Anne Olderog and Markus Zinnbauer.   

At the ceremony on November 29, the award was presented to Vivaldi Senior Partner Björn Sander and Director Stefan Kluß.  

This marks the fifth time that Vivaldi has been honored with this award.  

WirtschaftsWoche recognizes companies in the following categories: Marketing & Organization, Competitive Strategy, Innovation & Growth, Supply Chain Management, IT Management, Digitalization, Public Sector & Sustainability, Restructuring, Financial & Risk Management, and M&A. 

Photo by Frank Beer.

The post Vivaldi Awarded “Best of Consulting” By WirtschaftsWoche appeared first on Vivaldi.

We have reached an inflection point right now, not least due to the pandemic, which has accelerated digitization and companies need to consider a different, more agile strategic approach and different business models not only to survive but also to grow. Here are the four recommendations about innovation, transformation, value creation, and cultivation that our experts left us with:

INFLECTION POINTS – YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT DESTINED TO FAIL  

Innovative companies need to discover when and how to pivot their businesses, especially in the current social and economic climate. Building resilience for companies against the known and the unknown requires planning techniques and leadership recommendations. Rita McGrath gave us insights into avenues of innovation opportunity, the centricity of trust in value creation, and salvation from the discovery-driven approach.

THE INVERTED FIRM – PLATFORM IS THE NEW NORM 

As consumerism migrates online en masse as a result of the inflection point, businesses turn to digital transformation as an imminent need. The movement promotes the idea of the inverted firm and how Platform Strategies can allow swift responsiveness and adaptation. Geoff Parker gave us insights into looking at scaling your business with a different lens, how traditional metrics of evaluating business growth may not apply in the platform economy, and how businesses can learn to operate in this Post-COVID world.

BRINGING STRATEGY BACK TO LIFE  

Transforming to the digital platform through the inverted firm presents new obstacles that the old practice of Strategy does not address. Harvard Business School professor with research emphasis on corporate strategy, industry analysis, and global competition, David Collis invited us to think about the different value types and what strategy really is today. He shared insights into modernizing strategy, tackling digitalization problems, and how value should not just be about capture but also creation and realization to achieve business success.

IS YOUR BUSINESS SMART ENOUGH TO GROW? 

Growing your company while acclimating your business to the digital platform may seem impossible, but you may come out a champion if you know the paths to get there. The key element of what helps the best companies grow today is taking advantage of internal and external levers to position themselves for explosive growth. Tiffani Bova taught us the importance of focusing on getting the job done, fostering company culture, working with competitors, and the positive business outcomes of social responsibility.

CONCLUSION 

Adapting to the modernization and digitalization of businesses requires new approaches, leadership, and strategies— especially in the pandemic era. Identifying inflection points is critical for leadership to steer the ship towards innovation through phased trial and error. As businesses join the digital platform economy, shifting traditional to digital strategies provides new opportunities for production alterations, rapid reception, and customer reach. With a growing progressive audience, thinking in different value structuring types will allow businesses to become resilient as the landscape continually evolves. Growing during digital development may seem daunting, but by positioning your business in the ecosystem through co-opetition and customer co-creation, your business will successfully transform and dominate the field.

This was the recap of The Interaction Field Series of our LinkedIn Live Events. Please connect with us on our LinkedIn page to stay updated with our upcoming conversations.

The post “The Interaction Field” Book Launch Week Recap appeared first on Vivaldi.

Here are some of the key principles from Rita McGrath:

1. Directing your attention to the supply chain helps you pivot your business. Rita explains how crucial it is to understand the difference between the two supply chains that run parallel with each other within companies. It is not only the product that is produced that could host the area of innovation, but it can also stem from one of the multiple supply chains down their main product’s pipelines.

If a company labels itself as a “grocery business” or a “restaurant business,” it limits its room to innovate. Framing your business in the interaction field opens companies to many opportunities when it positions itself within the network of the ecosystem and not within the constraints of its specialized category.

“One of the most dysfunctional things the pandemic has revealed is how brittle and how non-resilient so many parts of our very financed and very efficiency-driven economy has become.” – Rita McGrath

2. Shared value creation is built on trust. Putting the customers in the center and building solutions around them promotes a synergic relationship. The brand’s reputation is measured by its ability to solve problems, facilitate engagement, create participation, and commitment in following through with actions.

The manifestation of trust becomes a source of competitive advantage. Listening and tuning into emotions of the communities built around the product becomes a treasure trove of demand signals for companies.

“If you think about platform businesses, so much of it has to do with trust. I have to trust that you’re not going to be trading in some way. I have to trust that you’re going to be an honest broker. A lot of it really is about human connection.” – Rita McGrath

3. The discovery-driven approach allows making early significant changes and avoiding blind big leaps towards innovation. It is a common assumption from spectators to expect innovation leaders to know what they are doing within their field, but in reality, there is no platform for predictable information to draw upon.

Instead of committing to the traditional process of laying out a grandiose plan, it is more efficacious to communicate an ambitious goal. Having multiple checkpoints allows leaders to see what works or doesn’t work, and eventually redirect and audit the process to reach the desired outcome.

“Most organizations with traditional processes encourage people to continue with anything that they started all the way through just naturally. It leads to a lot of confusion.” – Rita McGrath

Tipping points are innovation opportunities. Here are ways to approach them:

• Solve for the bigger problem, not just the product line growth or bottom line: Taking the perspective of the “bigger problem” we are attempting to solve is critical for businesses today. Asking more introspective questions about your customer’s problems and solution allies opens the doors for innovation. Companies also need to understand and take control of their business assets and investment portfolios.
• Don’t confuse confidence with competence: Humility in uncertainty goes a long way. The answers to the company’s most pressing problems reside in the organization’s edges and not at the top of the hierarchy. Leadership should see beyond themselves and respond more to the collective through empathy. Leadership will be able to mitigate biases by not allowing personal reactions to dictate the most optimal outcome.
• The right time to act upon inflection points: Inflection points happen when companies see the problems or signals bubbling up and simmering before it boils over. These events are irreversible and if not acted upon, it gives other companies an open invitation for dominance. Businesses must have a pulse on their current portfolio of projects and strategies before encountering the inevitable pivot points.

Conclusion

Even though events such as the pandemic cannot be predicted, leadership should allow themselves to take improbable scenarios into account. Determining inflection points helps companies call for innovation and build strategies for pivot and action points. The challenges may be daunting for leadership, but harnessing empathy towards both the customers and the employees will clear the path towards solutions.

Watch the full event here:

• 6:26 – The right time to think about Strategy, emphasis on storytelling, qualitative metrics vs. traditional methods 
• 8:36 – Platform businesses have a lot to do with trust and human connection 
• 10:24 – Explaining Inflection Points in the context of the pandemic 
• 14:21 – Knowing where to begin with inflection points and the steps to take and learning from innovation flops 
• 15:29 – Addressing inflection points: Declaring the purpose 
• 19:15 – Respecting the parent company 
• 29:27 – Looking into your supply chains to pivot your business after identifying inflection points 
• 30:57 – Framing your business in the interaction field 
• 32:35 – Discovery-driven approach 
• 37:30 – Leadership will evolve in the post-pandemic world 
• 42:24 – Solving complex problems rather than the product 
• 44:28 – Controlling your portfolio of investments 

This segment was part of The Interaction Field Series of our LinkedIn Live Events. Please connect with us on our LinkedIn page to stay updated with our upcoming conversations.

The post Inflection Points with Rita McGrath: Your Business Is Not Destined to Fail appeared first on Vivaldi.

In recent years, consumers have grown increasingly cognizant of corporate social responsibility – in fact, in a Marketing Dive study, 63% of consumers prefer to purchase from purpose-driven companies that take stands on social, cultural, environmental, and political issues that they care about. In another study by Unilever, 63% of American consumers were looking to businesses to take the lead on social and environmental change.

In the past, brands and businesses have taken a sideline to many topical, controversial issues, for fear of ostracizing some consumers. However, in the groundswell of political and social consciousness among consumers, the pressure to meet these new expectations of brands is exigent and can have real implications for businesses and their bottom lines – to stay silent on these kinds of issues today can have the same ostracizing power that taking a stand did decades ago.

Among the top concerns for consumers is the desire for companies to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious, in how they manufacture their products, in their philanthropic endeavors, and in their marketing efforts. According to an international study by Unilever, a third of consumers are now choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing environmental good, transitioning from brands that do not reflect these ideals.

The scale of this opportunity for brands has been borne out by those who have early on striven to meet the demands of a more eco-friendly world, including Dove and Ben & Jerry’s. Both have made sustainability a cornerstone of their businesses and mission statements, something analysts attribute as an element of their continued growth and high levels of brand approval among customers.

However, as the trend of becoming increasingly socially and environmentally conscious rises among brands, many have been faulted for what consumers consider “woke-washing,” or the idea that brands are exploiting social justice to increase profit. For example, 2017’s notorious Kendall Jenner-Pepsi advertisement – which co-opted protests generally, and specifically, the relationship of Black Lives Matter with law enforcement – came under fire for this very issue of taking advantage of political and social movements for the sake of profitability, an issue that hurt their brand reputation.

Thus, while opportunity certainly exists in every industry for companies to capitalize on growing trends of environmental consciousness that are reflected in consumer behavior, actions speak louder than words: those companies that superficially promote these ideals without walking their talk will suffer in brand loyalty, casualties of the phenomenon of “woke-washing.” On the other hand, those that substantively lead the way like Patagonia, Allbirds, and many others by achieving truly sustainable business practices where their mission statements are more than simply words will see an increase in brand loyalty and purchase preference.

The post Sustainability: An Asset to Brands if Done Right appeared first on Vivaldi.

Expanding an Empire: Relishing the Reign of Burger King

How does a newly-appointed, 32-year-old CEO begin his rule over an already established Burger Kingdom? For Daniel Schwartz, regal wisdom was found in the kitchen itself, as the former Wall Street prodigy cooked up Whoppers and even cleaned the bathrooms in order to get a deep-dive understanding of the business. From the ground up, the young chief pulled no punches in drastically cutting down on expenses – from office supplies to the royal corporate jet – and simplified the menu in order to streamline the entire enterprise. Schwartz also sent thousands of employees to the guillotine, reducing the corporate headcount from nearly 40,000 to a scant 1,200. Under his firm but fair monarchy, the company’s market share has risen threefold with a stock price 35% higher in just four years. A key piece of advice from the young sovereign? “You have to work really, really hard to put yourself in a position to get lucky” – certainly solid counsel on how to have it your way.

Sound Strategy: The Innovation Imperative

In our modern world fraught with daily disruption, companies of all kinds have jumped on the breakthrough-building bandwagon. But simply pouring resources into every “random act of innovation” isn’t enough, as can be seen by the struggling 65% of companies investing a whopping 15% of their revenue into the initiative. So take a tip from PwC’s Strategy&, and be sure to align the innovation strategy with the business strategy with these three main approaches: 1) be a need seeker, focusing on the customer demands in order to create new ideas; 2) be a marker reader, focusing on incrementally enhancing those products that have already proven themselves in the market; or 3) be a technology driver, relying on the strength of your internal tech opportunities to develop truly new products. No matter which you choose, the key is to be specific and explicit about your chosen avenue, and make sure the entire organization is all on the same page for success.

Talking Tactics, Tête-à-Tête: Flexing the Marketing Muscle

Overseeing 150 locations across four major cities, how does the CMO of Town Sports International juggle all those gyms? You can keep your own firm fit with a tip or two from this Q&A with Michelle Ryan:

• On the secret to selling fitness: “You have to ask, ‘How do we make sure that we’re accommodating to the member and making sure that we’re customer-focused?’ We’re here to improve lives through wellness and must make sure we stay true to that.”

• On the challenge of localization and a unified experience: “Other gyms are closing every other day, and trust is lost. We’ve been priding ourselves on this neighborhood gym that we train our local dry clean owners, the Starbucks employees…that’s really important to us and drives the neighborhood feel.”

On attracting a Millennial membership: “They don’t care about logos. They don’t care about the status. So we make sure to give them an experience when they’re in the club and create a connection.”

Powerful Partnerships: Amazon’s Latest Acquaintances

It wouldn’t be a week of business and branding news without a power play (or two) from Amazon. First up: the sweet smell of Swedish simplicity might soon be available with 2-day shipping, as IKEA begins testing and piloting new online sales methods with an as-yet-unnamed partner. The tricky challenge will be facing the high cost of shipping furniture without doing too much damage to the bottom line. But the bigger news came today as the massive online marketplace announced plans to purchase Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, sending competitors Walmart and Costco into a tizzy over the retailer’s relentless domination in seemingly every category. Looks like Alexa’s got her work cut out for her, as soon there may be nothing that can’t be bought with the mere sound of your voice…

Video Victory: Cream of the Crop at Cannes

That’s all for this week! With next week’s Cannes Lions on the horizon, we’ll leave you with this look at the very best commercials of the last 15 years, showcasing the power of the Prix…

The post This Week in Business and Brands: Burger Barons, Muscle Mavens, and More appeared first on Vivaldi.