In recent years the Travel and Leisure market has been hit hard by several unexpected global events. 2020’s global pandemic is the worst event we’ve seen so far. These events are almost impossible to predict but the most resilient businesses will be prepared. Reacting quickly, and being flexible, to the needs of customers in a crisis will separate the best from the rest.

Globalization and the digital revolution have created more competition in the Travel and Leisure market than ever before. Many well established travel companies and brands have disappeared forever in the last few years. Having a clear purpose, being financially stable as well as being operationally and environmentally sustainable will help travel companies to survive and thrive.

The Travel and Leisure Industry leads the way in adopting new technology and innovative ways of working. But, many brands face challenges fully integrating their operational and digital experiences. Creating a seamless, joined up, digital journey and travel experience will cut costs while adding a smile to the faces of all your customers.

For the telecom sector the rate of change shows no sign of slowing down. Moving to 5G networks and more advanced hand-sets means customers will demand even more from their networks. This is a lot for telco companies to consider and keep up with. The most successful companies will be the ones who adopt, and adapt to the changes in a way that works seamlessly for them, and crucially, their customers.

For the majority of people their mobile devices or handsets are no longer just a piece of technology. They are a part of their life, their personal gateway to the world. This is how they socialize, pay bills, manage their connected homes, arrange transportation and of course communicate. Customers will be drawn to the companies who recognize this relationship and understand them as individuals.

The advances 5G promises means we can expect an explosion in customer demand following it’s roll out. Greater demand will generate even more data, a lot of it highly personal and potentially valuable too. Customers will be placing a huge amount of trust in telco companies to protect them and their data. The best companies will invest now to avoid paying an even greater price later if that trust is ever broken.

People are more environmentally aware, especially about their energy use and public services. Showing you are committed to being a sustainable and environmentally friendly, organisation is an important factor for your customers or service users. In customer management terms this means being efficient, cost effective and maximizing your digital capabilities.

Consumers have more choice than ever and their expectations are greater too. New players in the market along with new innovations like Smart Meters are shaking up the sector. Increasingly it is the customer experience, and the support services utility companies offer that will help them to stand out. The best utility companies will attract and retain customers with a fully connected, joined up, service.

As consumer demands and expectations in the private sector grow, the same consumers expect similar experiences from their public services. Public service providers need to redefine their user experiences in line with these new expectations. This means understanding service users more, personalizing their services while also creating new digital journeys and experiences for users to engage with.

The pace of innovation and the speed at which business models are being reinvented is ever increasing. Driven by the flexibility created by digitization, open architectures and increasing customer demands, high tech businesses need to be ever more agile in transforming their operating models.

Influenced by their experiences with high profile brands, business and individual customers have all raised their expectations of service and experience. Creating a seamless, highly personalized service is the key to deepen customer trust and loyalty in order to support retention and to unlock growth.

Customers want to engage with your brand online and offline, cross channel, and expect consistent experiences too. This means adopting an omni-channel approach. Digital platforms and marketplaces are also transforming how consumers and buyers view purchases. The rise of ‘as a service’ is becoming inexorable, bringing significant customer benefits such as flexibility, improved cash flow and cloud-driven scalability.

The number of patients with multi-chronic diseases is increasing, generating significant over-costs in the healthcare system, mainly due to poor adherence to treatment: 50% of the patients don’t abide by the terms of their prescriptions. Improving treatment adherence is one of the key issues for the years to come if we want to maintain the sustainability of our healthcare systems.

Pharma companies have to cope with government pressure to contain healthcare expenditure and declining growth trends: 1-4% is expected in Europe in the next 5 years vs 5% for the last 5 years. Innovative approaches will become mandatory in order to safeguard a sustainable growth in the industry.

Competition from generic drugs has become the norm: 90% of current Top 20 world drugs will compete against a generic or biosimilar drug by 2023 generating a loss of revenues of 120 Bn$ in developed markets (2019-2023).

Traditional promotion approaches based on products characteristics presentation by field reps are now obsolete. Governments, patients and HCP’s all expect pharma companies to bring added value support. Added value services such as Patients Support Programs are the new excepted model.

Fintech, neo-banks, 100% mobile banks… So many new players that have revolutionised the model used with the traditional players. In a sector that is still very much driven by cultural and social weight, the appearance of these new structures is pushing traditional models to innovate and be more agile, particularly in simplifying the customer journey.

In the financial services sector, regulation plays an important role and forces players to be agile and flexible. Working with an expert partner who is able to adapt to the different organisations enables you to seize the opportunities that legislation offers and to respond to the constraints it imposes.

One of the challenges for stakeholders in the sector is also to rethink their model to include digital at the heart of their strategy. Although some life projects still require a physical appointment, it is important to be able to offer a seamless experience at all points of contact through an omnichannel approach with the help of a specialised partner, to optimise and rationalise costs.

Fast fashion has disrupted the market. Not only for low cost brands but increasingly for high end and luxury brands too. Many of these luxury and high end brands followed the mass market trend by offering new products and collections every few months. But customer habits are changing as well as luxury brands: we are seeing a return to a more sustainable market with greater emphasis on quality rather than quantity.

Consumers are interacting with influencers, online marketing and social media around the world all day, every day. To stand out brands need to have a unified and global approach. This means unifying sub brands and having one clear brand identity. Successful businesses will concentrate their collections under one brand, with a streamlined and easy to recognize range of products.