In the third episode – curated by Annie Markitanis and co-hosted by Daniel Gava and Annie Markitanis, we are joined by Richard Benson, Creative Managing Director at Fjord @fjordnet part of Accenture Interactive @accentureinteractive
This talk revolves around the different lives, faces, and dimensions of experiential design: From deciphering the essence of a great customer service today — a sum-up of discovery, research, market analysis, and differentiation, to the current trends for designing experiential environments a lot of which have been shaped by our globally shared experience of the pandemic. From Metaverse bridging the virtual experience with the real-world experiences, and places that interact with the digital world to discussing such notions as the value of authenticity, inclusivity, diversity, and the art of getting to know your customer/brand. From sustainability and how it has become fundamental that a brand’s ethicality is directly reflected in the habitat that represents it, to the essence of being interactive and the variability in being so via technological advances and newly formed expectations on information.
We extend our talk to today’s knowledgeable and conscious user being both a blessing and a challenge with people being less patient, immediacy having the upper hand, and overall witnessing less tolerance in the value customers give to products and spaces that do not deliver, or waste their most valuable asset — their time.’ From micro-moments — a service design term referring to intent-rich moments when decisions are made and preferences are shaped, to the role interior design serves today’s retail spaces in responding to shoppers’ desires, as well as creating differentiated experiences and concepts via a given appearance and usability of an environment
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This podcast series is a sequel to the homonymous article written for the festival’s catalog by Brand Strategy Advisor to the Architecture and Design Industry, Daniel Gava. The concept revolves around how the environments we interact with are sought to enhance as much as possible the ideal experience we want to get from them. Given that today interior design is progressively becoming the perfect candidate to achieve this ambition, the series sees guests from the cultural, design, and architecture sectors who examine the different facets of design, and the changes signaling it through time via topics pertinent to their work and experience.
Featuring original music composed by Rosita Kèss, “Obikè” from her upcoming album “Yèlèma”. www.rositakessmusic.com
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About Richard Benson:
30 years experience in the creative industry Richard has spent the past 22 years specialising in experiential design for Financial Services, Retail and Telco’s clients at Allen international, now the space design practice of Fjord I Accenture Interactive.
With a background in graphics, retail interior architecture and brand design, Richard has worked on establishing innovative propositions, brand identities and design solutions for a wide range of international brands.
Since joining the leadership team of Accenture Interactive and becoming the Lead of the Fjord Studio in London, Richard has founded new capabilities and offerings including Workplace Experience, blending a deep knowledge of agile design principles and technology, space and brand cultures to create rewarding, productive innovation experiences for organisations and their colleagues.
Richard has most recently been developing with the team new experiences for the Metaverse that harness the power of Extended Reality to make rapid prototyping in virtual platforms, as well as creating global team collaborative experiences in VR worlds unique to the brands Fjord & Accenture partner with.
A continued passion for creating unique physical experiences, brand propositions and above all else; customer experiences that surprise and delight, are driving factors in Richard’s career.
“The power of design to solve problems, create new commercial opportunities and differentiate the brands we work with continues to amaze, inspire and fuel me. To combine creativity and lateral thinking to produce memorable experiences from simple interactions, across 3D, 2D and digital media. Working as part of a creative team with such a diverse range of specialist skills and expertise, each at the top of their game, all with a unified goal to shape the propositions of leading and emerging brands. To build design strategies, environments, graphic communications, and brand identities that will resonate with consumers on a practical and emotional level, inspiring and transforming behaviours in the staff that represent the brands…nothing could be better!’ (Richard Benson).