Insights success the 10 most innovative merchandising solution providers 13th nov 2017

The way of business solutions
Customer ‘N’ ovation
Should Innovation
be Customer-driven?
Customer ‘N’ ovation
Should Innovation
be Customer-driven? John Hans
CEO
NOVEMBER 2017
www.insightssuccess.com
Leading the Industry in
Innovation & Creativity
The Most10
Innovative
2017
Providers
Merchandising
Solution
The Astute Panel
Innovation: The
Catalyst in Human
Evolution
The Astute Panel
Innovation: The
Catalyst in Human
Evolution
Brand Talk
Essential Qualities of A
World Class Brand
Brand Talk
World Class Brand

n this fast-paced era of technology and disruptions, the retail
Imerchandising solutions providers strive to offer an entire gamut
of retail solutions including, retail analytics, inventory planning,
item pricing, pricing solutions, product management, etc. With an
aim to flexibility to the system along with reduced time to market,
provide these solutions also offer multichannel retailing solutions by
promoting and providing seamless customer experience across
multiple digital channels. So for user organizations to have a
comparatively strategic advantage, better go to market solutions,
reduced waiting times and effective promotion across channels;
collaborating with a merchandising solution provider is must.
The retail, wholesale, and distribution industry has arrived to a period
of transformation. Many companies are looking for ways to increase
profit while escalating growth and market share. For a good business
model to succeed, its backbone must address four catalysts that drive
disruption: the economy, enabling technologies, platforms, and
consumer mindset.
No technology strategy, including sophisticated customer
engagement systems (CRM) or digital marketing software, cutting-
edge in-store gadgets or well-designed apps, and websites can act as
a substitute for inaccurate merchandising decisions or poor product
offerings. Retailers should provide distinctive, high-quality, and
trusted products to consumers at the right price while continuing to
remain laser-focused on getting the basics right.
The retail disruption is largely driven by technologies such as
Artificial Intelligence, augmented reality, cognitive intelligence and
machine learning. AI is at an evolutionary stage and the technology
has been already embedded in our daily lives beyond ones'
imagination. Consumers currently encounter elements of purposely
designed AI while using voice-activated virtual assistants such as
Microsoft Cortana®, Amazon Alexa®, or Siri® voice recognition
software to provide directions, play music, find restaurants or make
suggestions for lifestyle changes. Since the tech-giants Google, IBM,
Amazon, Apple Inc., and Microsoft are engaged in an AI arms race, it
is expected to push the technology into the market at an innovative
speed.
It is estimated that two-third of the U.S GDP comes from the retail
industry. And while the trends may wax and wane and changing
economic circumstances will drive profitability, we live in a
consumer dominated society and people will keep on buying. The
interested entrepreneur with a discerning eye can find incredible
opportunities among this immense and diverse industry. Thus,
businesses in the retail, wholesale, and distribution industry can
prepare themselves for a range of probabilities by reinventing brands,
enabling technology, and exploring new business models.
Editorial
The Industry
has a lot to Give.
Are you ready
for Disruption?
Poonam Yadav

sales@insightssuccess.com
Database Management Steve
Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil
Circulation Manager Robert
Research Analyst Jennifer
Andy, David, Peter,
Kevin, John, Brian
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal
Ariana LawrenceSenior Editor
Co-Editors
David Smith
Art & Design Director Amol Kamble
Co-designer Alex Noel
Visualiser David King
Business Development Manager Mike Thomas
Business Development Executives
Marketing Manager William
Nick Adams
Art Editor Shweta Shinde
Picture Editor Vijaykumar Dudhbhate
Managing Editor Poonam Yadav
Abhijeet Parade
Insights Success Media Tech LLC
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November 2017
Copyright © 2017 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form
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Sourav, Ajit, Neha, Kedar, Poulami
Contribution

CONTENTS
Leading the Industry
in Innovation & Creativity
08
16
26
IOT Business will Boost
Economy in the Next Decades
Cover Story
Technology Innovation:
An Indispensable
Factor in Business
The Astute Panel
Innovation: The Catalyst
in Human Evolution
38
Articles
Should Innovation be
Customer-Driven?
30
Costomer ‘N’ovation
Mentor’s Perspective
Expert’s Opinion
Brand Talk
World Class Brand
22

20
24
32
34
40
42
2020 Companies:
The Premier Brand behind
Every Brand
ApplyBoard:
Connecting Students to their
Dream School in Flat 60 Seconds
EDITED:
The Real Time Business Caterer
GreenMile:
Advanced Cloud-based
Technology for Merchandising
LivePOS:
Hybrid Cloud POS Software Solution
with Multi-store and Access Levels
NextOrbit:
Building the Perfect AI Universe
for Retailers and Brands

n today’s era, retailers try to create immersive in-store experiences, to better engage the customers. A broad
Ispectrum of undertakings includes product packaging, advertisement techniques, and strengthening of brand
messages, which are crucial in boosting sales. Consumers of the current generation are more likely to visit again if
the retailers offer a responsive customer engagement and superior in-store experience. It’s the unexpected nature of the
experience that also differentiates a winner from the high-street competition.
Additionally, the shopping experience can be further improved with retail analytics, pricing strategies, inventory
planning, product and shop floor management, and merchandising displays. There’re ample of software vendors that
deliver strategic advantages to the retailers. Our special issue of ‘The 10 Most Innovative Merchandising Solution
Providers 2017’ brings forth the leading market players who are at the forefront of providing advanced merchandising
solution and are transforming the retail merchandising environment.
Our cover story features Imagine!, who is leading the industry with innovation and creativity. Imagine! is a consumer
insights-driven, holistic visual communications partner, delivering innovative end-to-end marketing solutions that
enable their clients to create breakthrough experiences, establish meaningful brand connections, and drive enduring
consumer loyalty.
We have also featured 2020 Companies, which is one of the premier outsourced sales and marketing agencies in the
United States; ApplyBoard, an online platform for international students to find and apply to the best institutions in the
USA and Canada; EDITED, which is a retail technology company used by the world’s best brands and retailers to have
the right product at the right time, at the right price; GreenMile, a leading cloud-based platform and mobile solutions
company that provides location-based software to manage mobile resources for distributors around the world;
LivePOS, a cloud solution, initially designed to put up the multi-location, multi-store retail operation, wherein all store
information is aggregated and displayed in a simple, cohesive manner on the dashboard, making it easy to get a real-
time snapshot of the business; and NextOrbit, a cloud platform designed to predict, eliminate uncertainty and create an
opportunity at every step in the retail business based on concrete data and insight.
So, flip through the amazing folios for insights on organizations striving hard to keep-up with the market needs. Do not
miss out on some important executive acumen and articles from our in-house editors.
Happy Reading!
Innovation that Transforms the Retail
Merchandising Environment

In today's fast-paced, evolving
world, both marketplace and
industry are continually compelled
to develop new and creative ways to
engage with consumers. Consumers
are increasingly demanding products,
services, and spaces to be more tightly
focused around their personal lifestyle
and interests, driving retailers,
entertainment providers, and service
industries to respond with more
personalized and relevant marketing
and merchandising. With this direct
correlation between consumer
experience and brand loyalty,
balancing consumer expectations,
brand image, and budget has become a
real challenge for marketers.
Visual communications are highly
effective when you understand your
consumers, invest in-fit-for-purpose
tools, and have a clear strategy to
ensure success. Your visual solutions
must go beyond simple messaging to
deliver interesting, unique, relevant,
and memorable content and
experience. That's where Imagine! has
really found its niche, becoming an
invaluable partner by helping
marketers go beyond run-of-the-mill
campaigns to achieve more meaningful
impact, influence, and wins in the
marketplace.
Based out of Minnesota, Imagine!
provides full-service visual marketing
solutions for clients across the retail,
entertainment, gaming, quick-
serve/fast casual restaurant, and CPG
industries. The Imagine! Companies
are comprised of Imagine! Print
Solutions; Imagine! Express;
Midnight Oil Agency; and Classic
Graphics. As a family of visual
communication experts, Imagine!
leverages its complementary skills and
capabilities in order to design, produce,
and deliver meaningful experiences
and successful consumer outcomes for
its clients.
Imagine! Print Solutions
Imagine! Print Solutions offers one of
the broadest arrays of print processes
and finishing options in the nation. The
platform strives to be the supplier of
choice for customer engagement by
providing end-to-end solutions for
complex, brand-based marketing and
design needs.
Imagine! Express
Imagine! Express specializes in fast
turns, short runs, and service beyond
imagination. From vibrant dye-
sublimated fabric textiles to variable
commercial printing to super-sized
environmental graphics, every project
is handled with the highest standards
and an eye on the deadline.
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil drives creative agency
offerings, delivering dynamic, inspired
solutions that invoke meaningful
connections and experiences. Based in
Burbank, California, near the epicenter
of the entertainment industry, their
passionate team works to influence,
shape, and redefine cultural values with
insightful messaging that elevates and
engages consumers.
Classic Graphics
Classic runs an award-winning
graphics communications
manufacturing operation, delivering
advanced technological capabilities
and cutting-edge expertise from their
strategic position in the Southeastern
U.S. With a comprehensive range of
services, they are dedicated to
protecting brands, optimizing budgets,
and delivering impactful results.
The Conception and Evolution of the
Company
Bob Lothenbach founded Imagine!
Print Solutions in 1988 with a single
borrowed press. His vision,
unwavering determination, and
commitment to outstanding service
allowed the business to defy all odds
and grow from local to regional and
national esteem.
Over the last thirty years, the Imagine!
family of companies has weathered
market and industry challenges without
losing focus on the customer, adapting
to meet increasing client expectations
and an ever-evolving marketplace.
Today, Imagine! has evolved from the
operation in Lothenbach's garage to
become a recognized industry
powerhouse and a leader in POP/POS
production for North America.
A significant portion of Imagine!'s
robust growth has included the
acquisitions of DigiGraphics (renamed
Imagine! Express) in 2012; Classic
Graphics in 2013; and Midnight Oil
Agency in 2016. As part of
Lothenbach's vision for continued
growth, he partnered with Oak Hill
Capital Partners, a private equity firm
headquartered in New York, in March
of 2016 to provide the additional
horsepower needed to drive Imagine!
further than ever before.
In addition, Oak Hill worked to
support Lothenbach's vision for
Imagine!'s future by transitioning his
role to a new leader. John Hans joined
the Imagine! family in 2016 as
enterprise CEO, bringing a proven
record of leadership success and broad-
based experience as a part of
companies like Proctor & Gamble,
IBM, Heinz, and Yum! Brands.
Beyond his commitment to achieving
superior operational performance,
Hans' primary aim is to position the
“Our customers
define the quality
and we build
around it”

Imagine! family of companies as
world-class visual communications
providers, delivering clients unmatched
service and innovation.
Delivering Value Creates Value
Imagine! prides itself in having the
people, the experience, the equipment,
the creativity, and the passion to bring
any project to life. Their holistic
capabilities, varied service offerings,
and trusted insights allow their clients
to depend on them as a single source
for every visual communications
challenge, question, idea, and
inspiration.
Team Imagine! prioritizes innovation
and invests in the newest technology to
help their clients continually improve
the efficacy and impact of their
campaigns. The company's equipment
acquisitions, technology initiatives,
and creative processes are directly
influenced by the needs of their clients
and the consumers they serve.
Well-versed in managing complex,
integrated marketing programs,
Imagine! approaches each challenge
with a solutions-mindset and a
determination to deliver impactful
executions that create traffic, increase
transactions, and build brand loyalty.
By treating clients as strategic partners
rather than buyers, Imagine! is able to
continually learn, grow, and improve in
accordance with their clients' needs to
deliver successful and relevant results
now and in the future.
Dedicated Services & the
Methodology to Thrive
The Imagine! Companies collectively
specialize in design-to-delivery
execution, providing innovative
creative expertise and from-scratch
structural engineering as well as high-
quality print manufacturing. Their
national print segments include point
of purchase, packaging, commercial,
flexography, textile, digital, UV, and
screen print. Beyond their design,
printing, kitting, and fulfillment
capabilities, the company provides
campaign management tools, insightful
thought leadership, and custom
solutions to help their clients design
more sophisticated go-to-market
strategies. A comprehensive view of
the organization's services is given
below:
Imagine! Print Solutions executes
high-profile national campaigns and
exacting brand standards on the
industry's tightest timelines—every
single day. Their wide range of
products includes: In-store signage,
Temporary POP displays, Permanent
signage, Displays & fixtures, Product
packaging & Commercial collateral.
Imagine! Express offers a complete
range of in-house print capabilities
designed to transform spaces and
elevate brands. Production specialties
include: Dye-sublimated fabric
graphics, Large & grand-format
graphics, In-store signage,
Commercial mailing & Marketing
collateral.
Imagine! FLEXO is an operating unit
of Imagine! Print Solutions, offering a
comprehensive suite of flexographic
solutions. Products include: Prime
Labels, Coupons, Onserts,
Specialty/Promotional (game pieces,
scratch-offs, etc.), Shrink Sleeves,
Flexible Packaging & Labeling
Equipment.
Midnight Oil is known for creative
expertise that brings brands to life,
goes beyond the bottom line, and
explodes the status quo. They provide:
Brand experience (360-degree
marketing strategy, website/platform
Everything we do is
geared toward making
your life easier and
your marketing
campaigns completely
stress-free

development, etc.), Digital (video,
social media, live streaming, etc.),
Creative, Promotional, and
Commercial content & Print services.
Classic Graphics serves top national
and international brands with a
sharpened focus on consumer
responsiveness. Their specialties
include: Commercial mailing, Secure
communications, Promotional signage,
POP displays & Data and digital asset
management.
Imagine! and its family of companies
has received numerous awards for
excellence in print quality and
innovation, and is nationally known as
one of the most progressive and
fastest-growing print companies. Rated
among the Top 15 Printers in the
nation, Imagine! has extensive
experience delivering solutions to
some of the most respected brands in
North America.
Serving as Brand Partners
Imagine! works directly alongside its
clients to thoroughly understand their
brand and meet their specific
marketing needs with value-engineered
services and custom, optimized
solutions. They have uniquely
positioned themselves as fully
integrated partners, leveraging both
dynamic agency capability and robust
production and deployment services.
Imagine! boasts a long and proud
history of delivering client-specific
solutions and managing complex,
integrated marketing programs. The
family of companies operates on a
never satisfied, flexible, client-first
business model that looks for
continuous improvement at every
opportunity. With a dynamic team of
strategic problem-solvers, creative
artists, and expert craftsmen, they work
to elevate brands and engage
consumers through meaningful
connections and experiences that
inspire.
Evolving Strategies with Changing
Times in Merchandising
With today's consumers increasingly
seeking more convenient, personal, and
exciting experiences, marketers are
continually compelled to develop new
and creative ways to engage with them.
In this rapidly changing marketplace,
Imagine! is a beacon of confidence and
leadership, always ready to adapt,
evolve, and innovate to meet their
clients' needs. Imagine! continually
strives to deliver insight-driven
creativity and design, value-engineered
products and services, and superior
execution of contingency and hyper-
local campaigns.
Imagine! works closely with marketers
to develop engaging and consistent
branding through full, coordinated
strategies that include insightful
concepts, dynamic structural displays,
smart merchandising, and relevant,
targeted messaging. They provide their
clients with effective, value-engineered
solutions, enabling them to create
immersive experiences, positive
impressions, and meaningful
connections between the consumer and
brand that ultimately increases
transactions and maximizes ROI.
Today and in the future, Imagine!
envisions positioning itself as a partner
that helps to drive consumer outcomes.
They continue to focus on ensuring
their capabilities and services tightly
align with the goals, objectives and
desired outcomes of their clients.
Envisioning Major Leaps through
Future Endeavors
Imagine! looks forward to continually
enhancing its core creative and print
manufacturing capabilities, staying
ahead of the competition with
investments in industry-leading
technology and innovation. In addition
to their ongoing commitment to
provide best-in-class POP execution,
they are emphasizing growth in their
agency and brand communication
capabilities through organic expansion
and strategic acquisitions.
Imagine! has several new equipment
acquisitions in the works, with an
emphasis on amplifying their ability to
produce high-speed, high-quality print
and allow their clients to take
advantage of high- capacity message
versioning for targeted, localized
marketing programs. The company
also envisions expanding their service
offerings at Classic Graphics and their
digital press capacity at their Midnight
Oil facility. Imagine! will continue to
work diligently to develop their
campaign management technology
offerings, allowing clients to design
sophisticated marketing strategies
around location, demographics, and
demand in order to deliver optimized
messaging to the right place at the right
time.
Imagine! will continue driving positive
consumer outcomes through broadened
solutions capabilities that bridge digital
and physical solutions to elevate
shopping experiences and connect
consumers to brands. Through greater
supply chain efficiencies, channel-
relevant insights, and immersive in-
store executions, they will continue
enabling their clients to create more
sophisticated marketing strategies.
Above all, Imagine! is dedicated to
embracing every future challenge as an
opportunity to provide service and
execution beyond limits, beyond
ordinary, and beyond print.
Providing service
and execution
beyond limits,
beyond ordinary,
and beyond print

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Management BriefCompany Name
2020 Companies
2020companies.com
Ross Wissner
Executive
Vice President
2020 Companies is one of the premier outsourced sales and marketing
agencies in the United States.
ApplyBoard
applyboard.com
Martin Basiri
CEO
ApplyBoard is an online platform for international students to
ﬁnd and apply to the best institutions in the USA and Canada.
Creative Agency
Services Team
castretail.com
John Paul Orr
CEO
EDITD
edited.com
Julia Fowler
Co-founder
EDITED is a retail technology company used by the world’s
best brands and retailers to have the right product at the right
time, at the right price.
Imagine! Print Solutions
imagineps.com
Zdenek Kratky
VP Marketing
Imagine! is a consumer insights-driven, holistic visual
communications partner, delivering innovative end-to-end
marketing solutions that enable their clients to create
breakthrough experiences, establish meaningful brand
connections, and drive enduring consumer loyalty.
Jesta I.S.
jestais.com
Moris Chemtov
President
Jesta I.S. is an international supplier of integrated software
solutions for wholesalers and retailers specializing in apparel,
footwear, accessories and soft-goods verticals.
LivePOS
livepos.com
Liad Biton
CEO & Co-founder
LivePOS, is a cloud solution, initially designed to put up the
multi-location, multi-store retail operation, wherein all store
information is aggregated and displayed in a simple, cohesive
manner on the dashboard, making it easy to get a real-time
snapshot of the business.
NextOrbit Inc
nextorbit.com
Kishore Rajgopal
CEO
Tattle
tattleapp.com
Alex Beltrani
CEO
Tattle is a full-function survey and feedback API disruptor that
offers customized, native survey experiences delivered to
developers to increase end-user interaction.
Cast deﬁnes and innovates the best-in-class standards and
processes.with three core competencies, World-Class Execution,
Scalable Expertise, and Technical Services.
NextOrbit is a cloud platform designed to predict, eliminate
uncertainty and create an opportunity at every step in the retail
business based on concrete data and insight.
Green Mile LLC
greenmile.com
Alexandre Souza
Director of Marketing
GreenMile is a leading cloud-based platform and mobile
solutions company that provides location-based software to
manage mobile resources for distributors around the world.

IoT
DECADES
BUSINESS
WILL BOOST
ECONOMYIN THE
NEXT
-By José Antônio Scodiero,
Director & Founding Partner of FAST COMPANY BRAZIL
The world of the Internet of Things promises to be
the main engine of the global economy in the next
years. In developing countries, such as Brazil, the
opportunities will be even bigger. Considering the size of
the local market and the pressing need that Brazil has in
increasing the innovation rhythm, technology usage and
development, the country can already be seen as a big
global player by companies from this sector. In this
moment, the more accurate motto for companies that want
to act or are acting in Brazil is “Innovate or Die.”
After a cycle of more than 10 years of continuous growth,
that put the country in evidence on the global landscape as
part of the select group of so-called BRICs (Brasil, Russia,
India and China) and that stressed even more its leadership
in Latin America, Brazil is now entering, in the past two
years, a moment of political tension that has reﬂected
directly in the economy. The moment now is of reviewing
and restructuring. But in spite of the perception of some
foreign executives and entrepreneurs that this is not a good
time to invest in the country, it is clear that Brazil had a
virtuous cycle of many years and reached a higher level. All
this indicates that, for sure, not all is lost. Far from it. The
time is for opportunities.
With the stabilization of the smartphone market, there’s a
great potential for the technology industry - especially in
the semiconductors area - in business involving connected
cars, agriculture, livestock, smart cities, among others. To
fully use this opportunities, it is necessary to understand in
which ways it is possible to develop the best technological
solutions to different regions. And the solutions to problems
from different countries can only be found locally.
Investing in the right time and in the right moment
Despite the low participation of Brazil in the
semiconductors industry, the country has a great potential to
use the Internet of Things and to develop in this sector. It is
a ﬁeld in which no one has the advantage yet: we are,
theoretically, in the same level as United States and China.
Besides that, a chip to a sensor for IoT is cheaper and easier
to develop than one made for smartphones. Therefore, it is
less costly to invest in IoT.
16 |November 2017|

José Antônio Scodiero
Director - Founding Partner of FAST COMPANY
BRAZIL
With over 30 years of experience in areas like
information technology, personal computing,
semiconductors, entrepreneurship and startups,
José Antônio Scodiero has already acted as a high
level executive in several big and successful
international corporations like: IBM; Apple
Computer; OkiData, where he was president of the
Brazilian subsidiary, and more recently; AMD,
leader in the semiconductors segment, where he
held the position of Vice-President for the Latin
America region. José Antônio Scodiero is
graduated in Electronics Engineering with
specialization in hardware and microelectronics
and has an MBA in Corporate Administrations by
Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP).
As an entrepreneur, he founded lots of startup
companies since the 90’s, having created his ﬁrst
company when he was only 24 years old. In 2009
he founded Fast Company Brazil, with the
objective of catapulting multinational
organizations, from sectors like digital technology,
semiconductors and software that are seeking to
install subsidiaries in the Brazilian and Latin
American markets. In 2010 he obtained the
certiﬁcation of Corporate Governance from the
Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance
(IBGC) and started acting as a consulting advisor
in companies in 2011. In 2012, he became
president of the task force of semiconductors of
AMCHAM - American Chamber for Brazil and
USA. Still in 2012, Scodiero was also elected
Director of SBMICRO - Brazilian Society of
Microelectronics, where he remains until the end of
2016.
17|November 2017|

In the technology world, the innovation chain has inverted itself recently, with the large domain of big multinational
companies giving space to startups and new entrepreneurs. This movement creates a pulverization of opportunities. It is no
longer something concentrated, in the domain of few big players like it used to be. There is space for companies from outside
the country and also for the appearance of new local players that can learn and develop their own systems and foment the
industry.
The technology giants, that lost a wave of opportunities that emerged with the mobile business (smartphones, tablets and
M2M), now are moving rapidly so they don’t miss out on the opportunities that the IoT segment will bring. There are several
examples in this direction and IBM is one of them, since its announcement, in December of 2015, to return to the consumer
electronics market, ten years after selling its computer division to the Chinese Lenovo. The problem is that there are a lot of
companies, big and small, repeating the same strategies in the search of its own space in the technology market. This needs to
change. The motto “Innovate or Die” also needs to be applied in the planning.
IoT as a transforming agent of an economy
As well as in great transformations of the past, the revolution caused by IoT will change the entire landscape of the career
scenario. It is estimated that in time, it will be possible to see 20 to 30 million jobs migrate, and some functions might
disappear, thanks to robotics, intelligent machines and artificial intelligence (AI), that will infiltrate in new corporate areas
and automate the positions that are repetitive and transitional.
But what it seems like bad news is in fact a readaptation, from work stations focused on operational to opportunities in areas
that demands data analysis, ability to solve problems, think creatively, innovate and work within a team. Nothing too distant
from the profile that today is comprehended as a good professional. It is an evolutionary movement, driven by technology.
If the job openings in operational work stations tend to drop, the opportunities to professionals that seek qualification and
even reinvention will grow a lot. It is a market that, according to IDC, will grow about US$1, 7 trillion until 2020. This
amount needs, and will be, shared among the professionals that manage to keep up with the demands of the market.
18 |November 2017|

2020
Companies:
The Premier Brand behind Every Brand
2020
Companies:
The Premier Brand behind Every Brand
Aconsumer electronics company wanted to gain
insight into why and how it was being
outperformed by the competition at home
improvement and appliance retailers. The firm that the
client chose to identify shortcomings, used its mapping
technology to split over 2,800 locations into geographical
routes. The firm then mobilized 729 field reps to physically
survey the inventory of 119 SKUs. Its team provided
pictures and critical insights from locations in 44 states and
1,497 cities, all within twelve days. In less than two weeks,
they had compiled over 300,000 retail insight data points
that allowed the client to focus on the right products in the
right markets. Meet 2020 Companies—a premier
nationwide outsourced sales, merchandising and marketing
agency that creates memorable sales- and merchandising-
focused experiences for its customers.
Delivering Optimum Brand Experience
2020 employs over 10,000 highly-skilled brand execution
and consumer engagement experts who specialize in
merchandising, sales, training, advocacy, and experiential
marketing initiatives.
This pioneering company has over 25 years of experience
serving the Consumer Electronics, Personal Audio, Home
Appliances, Consumer Packaged Goods, Sporting Goods,
Telecom, and Energy industries. It offers a collaborative
turnkey solution that engages and activates consumers
during the final leg of their purchase journey. Specializing
in visual merchandising continuity, project execution, and
audit services, 2020 delivers the optimum brand experience
wherever the consumer’s journey leads them.
It works with leading manufacturers and brands to develop
a custom go-to-market strategy including Consumer
Activation Ideation, Sales/Merchandising Territory Design,
Retail Coverage Modeling, POS Design and
Manufacturing, POS Logistics, and Retail/Competitive
Insights.
Utilizing its innovating A5 strategy, 2020 creates the
optimum talent solution to activate all brands. Whether they
are building interactive gaming displays in Best Buy or
designing and staffing pop-up retail locations for the
holiday season, 2020 is the perfect partner for every brand
and industry.
A Magnetic and Driven Leader
Christopher B. Munday, Chairman and CEO of 2020,
grew up in the projects of Kent, England and was a fierce
competitor even at an early age. His tenacity and drive,
coupled with his charm, make him a magnetic leader. Chris
Christopher B. Munday
Chairman & CEO
20 |November 2017|

leads the organization by empowering
his team and challenging them to
increasingly higher levels of
achievement. His perfect balance of
support in challenging times and
uncompromising drive during periods
of growth creates a cohesive team
environment that drives results.
After joining 2020 Companies in 2008,
Chris’s focus included assembling a
proven leadership team which included
Steve Peters, President, and Steve Zink,
CFO, in an effort to enhance culture,
innovation, structural capabilities and
client diversification. Over the next 24
months, the team put a plan in motion
which would lead the company
through a masterfully-executed growth
trajectory. Together, they transformed
the culture, reengineered the operation
and grew top line revenue and
EBITDA by over 3 times.
Together, Everyone Achieves More
2020’s involved leadership is
complemented by a world class
innovation team. They have built
custom business applications using
Salesforce to capture each moment of a
shopper’s journey; this translates into
business insights that will be used to
drive future brand initiatives for its
partners. Some of these solutions
include PULSE, Albert, Amplify360,
and Autogen. Over 10,000 remote
employees use these apps every day.
Some of the notable features and
functions of its innovative solutions
include territory management,
compliance, scheduling/people
logistics, on-demand video training,
gathering data (consumer, retail, and
competitive), business insights,
geolocation services, real time photo
gallery, and automated business
expense tracking. Where most
competitors take days and weeks to
drive new initiatives through their
team, 2020 Companies uses PULSE to
create instantaneous change to
schedules and activities.
2020’s solutions follow both
consumers’ and employees’ journey
across all channels to ensure that the
team delivers on the client’s goals
while delivering a brand-right
customer experience.
Allowing Maximum Activation and
Return on Investment
Because 2020 is the “brand behind the
brand”, it is relatively unknown in an
established industry. However, it has
built a best in class back office and has
the necessary infrastructure to support
and scale large accounts. The company
offers a well-balanced line of services
across multiple industries and works
with some of the largest and most
valuable brands in the world.
2020’s guiding principles are
collaboration, team work, flexibility,
and mutual respect. Each client
receives a brand champion and cross-
functional project team responsible for
discovery through deployment and
execution. Using PULSE, 2020
customizes brand engagement to
trigger maximum activation and return
on investment for each partner.
As one clients mentions, “I’ve had the
pleasure to partner with 2020
Companies for over 3 years, running
one of the largest merchandising
programs in the country. The overall
quality 2020 brings to the table is
unlike anything I’ve experienced in my
20 years in retail. They continually
bring new and innovative ideas to the
table resulting in reduced time to
completion and improved client
satisfaction.”
Moving Ahead with Innovation
2020 will continue to assist
manufactures and retailers through
dedicated teams to ensure that retail
standards are met for every client.
Expect to see 2020 Companies
crossing into new industries,
expanding services with existing
customers, and continuing to impress
with innovation.
“2020 Companies is perfectly positioned to grow in an ever-
changing world and retail landscape. We have put in place
the best systems, infrastructure, and people to support
exponential growth with existing and future clients”
21|November 2017|

A World Class Brand
According to many brand surveys, more than 50
percent customers prefer to buy a product from a
familiar brand, rather than a new brand, which
makes the life hard for new small brands and their
entreprenaures as most of the customers stay devoted to
their age old brand. That's why each and every brand has to
be different, especially in order to change the consumer
mindset. Already confused? Don’t worry, we are here with
the list, so that you can differentiate your brand from others,
which will eventually help you raise your brand value.
Awareness
The best brands in the world understand the market
thoroughly; they know everything from the target market, to
how they communicate and even what their interests are.
Understanding the target market and audience is the key, as
it helps to set the tone and the reach of a marketing
campaign, with the overall identity of a brand. Finding the
perfect target market always helps in creating the right
branding approach.
Uniqueness
To create a great brand appeal, one must make the brand
unique. For example, Tesla and Apple is renowned for their
innovative products, which are minimalistic in design but
when it comes to asthetics, then these two companies score
much more than others. Domino is used to provide a 30
minutes guarantee for their pizza or else it would be free.
Mobile phone brands such as Mi and OnePlus provides
flagship phone experience at a cheaper price.
Innovation
Given today’s hyper competitive market one must be
innovative to stay alive. The company should anticipate
what their customers want, and it should surprise its
customers with constant flow of innovation. For example,
Apple launched its personal assistant named Siri, even
before anyone anticipated. Apple also launched iPad, which
was the first tablet in the industry that later changed the
shape of mobile industry, Tesla’s self driving car was also a
great innovation for its time. So, with constant stream of
innovation, any company can be at the top of the priority
list.
Reliable Products
To be a best brand, one must create such products that are
reliable enough. If a product is innovative and unique but
lacks reliability, then it can hurt the brand’s image to a great
extent. As example one can easily look at Nokia 3310, the
phone was so reliable that Nokia sold almost 130 million
units of the phone, and even after a decade, some people are
using the phone without any problem.
Leadership
There’s always an influential leader who stands tall behind
every successful company. One has to step up and take the
steering in order to coordinate the efforts of team members
and guide a brand perfectly. A true leader always resolves
complications and works as a bridge between different
departments in order to maintain proper communication.
For example, Steve Jobs always wanted to create great
products at Apple and in order to maintain that, he wouldn’t
care about psychological damage of his employees. On the
other hand, Tim Cook has worked more for his employees
which has helped him improve the work culture of Apple.
However, it lacks the innovation, which has led to sales
drop.
Adaptibility
Strong brands also have to be adaptable enough so that they
can thrive even in the toughest time which can be anything
from changes in competition to, economic conditions or
of
Essential Qualities
Brand Talk
22 |November 2017|

market trends. A brand has to conquer all these and it has to stay relevant to consumer needs and interest. For example, we
can look at Blackberry and Nokia; these two companies tried to stay in the competition with their own OS when the whole
world was bending towards iOS and Android, and they failed to change themselves as per the changing market needs which
resulted in massive sales drop. Eventually, Microsoft acquired Nokia and rebranded Nokia smartphones as Lumia.
Friendliness towards the society
Those brands who understand the importance of doing social work often gets a special place in its consumer’s heart.
Additionally, brands that are involved with social causes are perceived as valuable as the customers understand that a certain
percentage of their spending is going for a social cause. For example, recently Philips has introduced some of its new ‘green’
healthcare products to improve patient outcome and increase access to treatment, which has helped increase sales for the
company. Another example is Toms Shoes, where the company has promised that they will donate a pair of shoes to a child in
need for each pair purchased.
At the end, one can say that a brand has to be relevant to meet all its consumer demands. In the last few years, there’s been
many hype about brands, many promises are made and broken about how a brand performed, how it's positioned and about
the real value of the brand. However, consumers are looking for something with long lasting life cycle, they always look for
quality, not for quantity.
23|November 2017|

ApplyBoard:
Connecting Students to their
Dream School in less than 60 Seconds
t’s easy to have a limited view of the world we live in,
Ibut international education can relieve you of this.
There are many personal benefits of studying abroad,
and ways to grow both professionally and personally. In
fact, choosing to study abroad can be one of the most
enriching, interesting, fulfilling, and educationally
stimulating experiences of your entire life.
One of the best things about studying in an international
environment is that it brings you into contact with people
from all over the world, empowering you to create a global
network of contacts. These international connections aren’t
just a source of new good friends; they could prove to be
invaluable, even years down the line, when it comes to your
career.
Fueling this educational insight enters ApplyBoard.com, an
online platform for international students to find and apply
to the best institutions in the USA and Canada. Founded in
2015, the website assists hundreds of students daily to apply
for some of the most esteemed colleges and universities in
North America.
The Commencement
ApplyBoard’s founders, Martin, Meti were both
international students who came to Canada to get a better
education. They knew how difficult the process is for
international students applying to study abroad, so they
designed ApplyBoard.com to help students through the
process of applying to schools in Canada or the USA.
The CEO and Co-Founder of the company, Martin
Basiri, is a persistent and intuitive technology impresario.
He has been thoughtfully innovating since a very young
age, and invented his first device at the age of 14. To date,
Martin has invented more than 25 devices and is the owner
of 10 patents, 2 of which are in the education market.
Martin won a gold medal at the Geneva International
Invention show and won second place at the National Youth
Invention Festival. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from
Shiraz University in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
and a Master’s degree in Mechatronics, Robotics and
Automation Engineering from the University of Waterloo,
in Canada.
At ApplyBoard, Martin uses AI and Machine Learning
Techniques to change the entire application process. His
passion goes beyond ApplyBoard. He aims to revolutionize
learning to help students become the best version of
themselves.
Application Process Made Easy & Efficient
ApplyBoard has partnered with universities, colleges,
language centers, and high schools across Canada and the
United States. Using AI, ApplyBoard helps international
Martin Basiri
CEO & Co-founder
24 |November 2017|

students apply to their partner
institutions. The process is assisted
through a fully integrated online
platform that uses the student’s
eligibility to match them with suitable
programs, thereby providing them a
96% chance of acceptance. Their
software and in-house team
collaborates to assist every student
who uses the platform in every step of
their application.
ApplyBoard supplies a one-stop shop
for the entire application process
through its online platform. Their
software allows a student to enter their
qualifications and field(s) of interest,
and a list of schools and programs is
generated to match their eligibility.
ApplyBoard also takes into
consideration other aspects, such as the
student’s English proficiency and
available funds. Their in-house team
assists with each applicant with
everything they need, including
homestay and travel arrangements,
airport pick-up, medical insurance and
the visa application with the help of
their partner companies.
ApplyBoard diversifies and enriches
their partner schools’ campuses with
highly qualified students through their
meticulous application procedure.
They also promote their partners
through their website and social media.
The Determination behind their
Exceptional Success
ApplyBoard is the first company to
involve AI in its software in order to
help students with the application.
Students have the ability to apply to
multiple schools with just one dynamic
application. Every aspect of the
application is streamlined and results
are delivered automatically.
Initially, ApplyBoard needed to
aggregate all the program information,
identifying the differences between
programs and their individual
applications. The software needed to
be adjusted and customized to suit
these differences. Another challenge
was ensuring that students everywhere
were introduced to the platform and
that there were team members who
could communicate with students who
spoke different languages.
ApplyBoard recognizes that students
from all around the world are using the
platform, so they need to take into
consideration aspects such as academic
grading systems. For example, a
student can enter their highest level of
education with their most recent scores
and their software will generate the
scores in the Canadian / U.S. grading
systems.
Future Endeavors
It is quite evident that college
education is becoming increasingly
essential in the modern-day economy.
In its future proceedings, ApplyBoard
expects to expand its markets and
make education more and more
accessible to anyone who wishes to
pursue it.
Currently they are connecting
international students with schools in
Canada and the U.S. and are planning
to partner with schools all across the
globe so students from Canada and the
U.S. will be encouraged to study
abroad as well. ApplyBoard leads in
education with their experience in
capital market and their constant
dedication to the future of academia
and to student success.
“We are empowering students from all over
the world to access the best education”
25|November 2017|

We used to say that the storytelling business is all
about the people. Talents from different fields –
writing, producing, editing, the list goes on –
come together to craft amazing video content that go on to
inform, inspire and entertain people through their television
sets.
These days, technological innovation plays a huge role in
not only democratizing the filmmaking process; making it
more affordable to tell stories at a professional quality. It is
also transforming what kind of stories we tell, where people
can get it and how they consume it. And it’s not just about
the television anymore, it’s the second screen, wait no, it’s
also the virtual screen. Technology is reshaping the very
face and fate of the content business and those who can
grasp its true potential early and make the brave leap
forward, could reap the rewards.
The factors are simply too compelling to ignore. In the
following paragraphs, I hope to give you a snapshot of how
embracing the convergence of storytelling and technology,
changed our business dramatically.
Jocelyn and I set up Beach House
Pictures 12 years ago to create
content that we are passionate
about. Sure, it was also important
that there was a gap in the Asian
marketplace for great international
quality programs, and that
Singapore supported the media in a
myriad of ways, but from the very
beginning, it has always been about
the storytelling.
We learned quickly that running the
company is like running a marathon.
You keep one eye on the future,
while you build on what you’ve got. So, while we were a
two-man team moving our own furniture, we kept investing
in diversification and scaling up. We learnt to remain
steadfast to our vision (great stories, globally), but to stay
flexible to adapt. Good thing too, because in the last 12
years, technology threw us curveball after curveball.
Within the first two years, a co-production for Discovery
Channel called Man Made Marvels challenged us to
upgrade from Standard Definition (SD) program deliveries
to High Definition (HD) deliveries, to keep up with
international benchmarks. For a small outfit with limited
resources, it was a tough learning curve. You can either turn
it into an opportunity to grow. Or fail and be viewed as
inadequate to compete with the rest of the world. The
choice was simple.
That transition paved the way for our next technological
leap – 3D filmmaking. Not too long ago, the world was
going ga-ga over Avatar and the latest 3D TV sets.
Manufacturers saw an opportunity to make a lot of money,
but making the content that would keep people glued to the
device was no easy task. The main
problem was making it fast enough, good
enough, affordable enough, and at
volume. We couldn’t compete with the
larger companies throwing millions at
mega-productions, but we could develop
cost effective methods of filming 3D that
achieved a documentary aesthetic (most
3D footage were slaves to a tripod, we
made ours handheld) and passed QC at
the highest levels. More importantly, they
had to be good stories. We made over 15
hours of content in just two years, which
was a great measure of success.
However, 3D TV eventually faded away
due to a lack of demand, with another
video format rising through the ranks –
Jocelyn Li le
Managing Director
26 |November 2017|
Expert’s Opinion

Donovan is a founding partner of Beach House Pictures and spearheads strategy and content
development. He also executive produces, writes and directs many of the company’s
international productions, and is overseeing BHP’s expansion into online content with the
integration of new technologies. One of Asia’s most experienced factual ﬁlmmakers, Donovan
has worked on award winning shows including Lonely Planet Six Degrees for TLC (Best
Entertainment & Best Editing – Asian TV Awards) and Megastructures: Singapore’s Vegas
for Nat Geo International (Silver World Medal – New York Festivals).
About the Author:
Donovan Chan
Crea ve Director
Beach House Pictures
27|November 2017|

Ultra-High Definition (UHD), commonly known as 4K. Within a space of a few years, we had to innovate again to stay ahead
of the curve. By this point, we had grown as a company from a two to twenty-man team. We had a growing business to feed,
yet we could not ignore the opportunities of UHD. A lot of effort and time was put into multi-tasking in both growth areas.
Culminating in successful early UHD deliveries to Nat Geo Wild (Otter Town) and Channel News Asia (Aerial India). With
Otter Town getting the nod as finalists at the 2017 New York Festivals for Best Nature & Wildlife and Best Sound Design.
As UHD looks set for explosive growth, another exciting new area of story-tech convergence came to our attention. And the
timing was too good to ignore.
By this time, we were a 70-man company with more resources to invest in the potential new revenue stream - Virtual Reality.
We believe that the ‘experiential’ content have come and gone and that VR (especially 360 video) need to be enhanced by
great storytelling and directed towards definitive user groups, like education. BHP soon became the first company that the
Ministry of Education allowed to pilot VR in Singapore schools and, in addition to the MOE we also worked with Samsung
for hardware. This single experience has led to even more opportunities, which could fundamentally change our business yet
again.
You could say that the moral of the story, is to well, stick to telling a great story, your story, while embracing change. Less
simply put, never ignore how seemingly divergent ideas could converge to transform your business. We live in a rapidly
evolving status quo. And while it can be very scary, it is also full of hope.
28 |November 2017|
Expert’s Opinion

Should
Innovation
be Customer-driven?
f Henry Ford had questioned people what they wanted, would they really have
Isaid ‘faster horses’?
In the realms of business and innovation, Henry Ford was one of the world’s
greatest innovators and a quotable aristocrat. Perhaps the most famous quote
credited to Ford goes: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have
said faster horses.”
But there are no such real evidences which could prove that Ford ever stated this,
but words applied to him still portray that true innovation is done without customer
input. Though one of the most successful capitalists in American
Costomer ‘N’ovation
30 |November 2017|

history had said it, it wouldn’t make
the proverb any more appropriate.
In fact, there is a possibility, that
customers might have told Ford
exactly what they wanted — explicitly,
a faster mode of transportation. They
might not have talked about the need
for a combustion engine, but that’s the
part of art and science of understanding
customer feedback.
The customers do not always know the
form factors that are available to them,
and that’s exactly where your
opportunity lies to innovate and cash
out your innovation as a businessman.
Clients often understand their problems
and communicate enough information
that you can use to grow your business.
Here are some insights on how to get
optimized customer feedback.
Enquire Thoroughly
Most of the times, customers know
what they want but are unable to
articulate it properly. So, you have to
ask precise questions that would allow
you to collect perceptions to be used
for your innovation. Studies show that
giving a client too many choices often
nets you poor and disorganized
feedback, but it’s also important to
give them the opportunity to bring up
something that you haven’t anticipated.
You should also ask about their
personal or business problems. Never
ask feature-based questions, if you are
selling and innovating with technology
for small businesses. Because, they
aren’t thinking about technology
features, they are more focused on
making money and saving time. So,
always ask questions around their
problem statement and then bridge the
gap with your talent and innovation.
Statistical Analysis of Numbers and
Behaviors
A trick to get more reliable feedback
indicators is to study the numbers and
behavior pattern of the client. If your
clients keep saying they love a product
in green, but instead, each time they
intent to buy blue, then always stick
with blue. Study your data and
behaviors persistently to make sure
that the customers’ words match their
actions.
Distinguish between Destructive
Critics and Constructive Critics
While it’s vital to consider all the
feedback, including the one from
online critics and also customer
services, you need to explore more into
who is giving that feedback. For
example, if you are receiving posts
about a problem, take a deep dig into it
and find out if it’s a real problem. If it
doesn’t exist, disregard it.
The same insight goes for wants. A
handful of individuals may go whiny
wheels for a personal want, but that
doesn’t signify that the broader base of
clienteles wants the same, so do more
research.
Also, keep a check on minions. These
are the same group of gofers that keep
probing for something or complaining
together. If such a thing is happening,
they might be just a co-dependent
group of trolls you need not worry
about. If you are observing different
patrons giving concerned response and
inputs around the same issues, that
would be considered more reliable
than many posts or inquiries from the
same group of people. The exception
to this could be when the group is
well-thought-out influential among
your customer base.
It’s always beneficial to solicit your
feedback through private surveys
instead of public ones so the vocal
minority doesn’t sway your
community.
Always Segregate the Relevant
Group
To get a broader scope of responses
and valuable feedbacks, reach out to
your best existing and desired target
customers. If you aren’t sure what and
how your customers think, select an
evocative number of people and ask
them. Surprisingly, customers are
more likely to provide you feedbacks
if you actually ask them. But, first
assure that they are true buyers of your
product — if the responders aren’t
going to buy your product, their
responses would neither help you nor
them.
Conclusively, innovation could be
customer driven most of the times, but
we need to play safe and keep our
visions clear. Bag in all the
constructive criticism since without
criticism there’s no success and
innovation.
31|November 2017|

EDITED:
The Real-time Analytics Platform
he merchandising industry is fast-paced and
Tincreasingly demanding; fulfilling customer
expectations irrespective of shrinking products is a
tough ask. Thus, analytical insights about product
opportunities and market trends are essential to flourish in
the industry.
In such a turbulent merchandising environment, EDITED
is a real time analytics platform that gives retailers
information about pricing, assortment, demand and
competitive metrics. These sit at the very core of retailing,
and is how all the value is created or lost in the industry.
The software is used by buyers, planners and trading teams
to generate a huge competitive advantage. The software has
fueled growth at a number of globally acclaimed brands
like Topshop, Ralph Lauren and Mango.
Since its establishment in 2009, EDITED now has offices in
New York, San Francisco and London, and has customers in
countries as diverse as Germany, Spain, Russia, South
Korea, the US and UK, to name a few.
Disrupting The Global Apparel Industry With Data
The apparel industry is constantly generating information
about types of products, how well they sold and at what
price point, which sizes or colors sold out quickest, and
whether that product was discounted or replenished. This
information is extremely valuable in helping retailers and
brands inform their future decisions.
The EDITED platform packages that data alongside visual
merchandising information and strategic insights to help
retailers trade more competitively. In the competitive
fashion industry, where one good decision can make you
millions, and a bad one can cost you just as much, EDITED
is the only solution that gives retailers the data they need to
get it right every time.
In retail, buying and merchandising teams are the most
important people, as their decisions dictate the entire
productivity of the business. Doing it well requires having
targeted, market-proven insights available in seconds.
Retailers like Zappos and Saks Fifth Avenue are bringing
around 1,800-2,500 new products to market each week -
impossible figures for a human to keep track of. Rather than
fruitlessly browsing competitors’ websites and manually
tracking the market, EDITED’s real-time data helps buyers
and merchandisers turn insights into action smartly.
Retailers are using EDITED in different ways. Buying
teams use the platform to comp shop and plan their ranges.
Merchandising teams use the Market Analytics technology
to plan their open-to-buy budgets and prepare trade reports.
Marketing teams use the Visual Merchandising feature to
strengthen their messaging and stories and fine tune their
promotional calendars.
It is an extremely effective tool for fast-fashion retailers
who use it to monitor trends and customer demand.
Geoff Watts
Co-founder & CEO
Julia Fowler
Co-founder & COO
32 |November 2017|

Meanwhile luxury brands use it to
track prices at their competitors, as
well as their own pricing at retailers to
make sure their wholesale contracts are
being honored.
The Initial Challenge
Initially, one of the biggest challenges
the company faced was helping the
apparel retail industry understand how
to trade better using analytics.
Consumers these days are better
informed, and efficiency in supply
chains and logistics have improved
dramatically, helping apparel retailers
go to market faster on new products,
and with a quicker cycle. As a result,
customers expect new products with
greater frequency. And more and more
they’re bringing technology into stores,
using their phones to compare prices as
they browse. To avoid being
overlooked in an already overcrowded
market, retailers need to make sure
they’re using the digital space to
always be ready with the right product
assortment, priced correctly.
AI Driven Platform That Makes It
Easier To Sell Online
The traditional merchandising model
involves manually analyzing the
market and identifying opportunities
(comp shopping). This process is
fraught with inaccuracy simply
because humans are incapable of
crunching the numbers at the rate of
the machine learning analytics tools
available today. As a result, EDITED
has been able to successfully position
as having an unparalleled level of real-
time data and insights for the apparel
retail industry.
EDITED analyzes more than 690
million products online adding more
than half a million every week. The
company applies machine learning,
neural networks and other statistical
models to help brands understand
competitor’s pricing, discounts and
promotional strategies.
“What keeps us innovative is our own
ambition to exceed and contribute to
what has been done with data and
analytics up to this point in other
sectors, like finance, manufacturing
and healthcare,” said EDITED co-
founder, Julia Fowler. “We’re huge
believers in software development,
data science and computer engineering,
so it’s second nature for us to
constantly be innovating and building
on what we’ve already done. No one
with as much experience as the people
in our tech teams wants to stay static.”
The company’s desire to constantly
better serve their clients has already
paid off. Retailers using their platform
have grown their revenue by an
average of 15.2% and one of the
biggest luxury brands in the world
reported gains of over 30% on the year.
The Founders
The people behind the innovative
solution are Geoff Watts, Chief
Executive Officer, and Julia Fowler,
Chief Operating Officer. Geoff was a
specialist software engineer having
vast experience in big data computing
and management, previously for
globally reputed brands like Fiat and
Fonterra. Julia’s background was as a
fashion designer, and the product was
borne out of her frustrations with a
lack of data in the fashion industry in
which to base decisions off. They built
the first version of the software
together, and the company is now
made up of over 100 people.
The leaders have been acknowledged
by many popular institutions for their
innovative product. Julia has been
listed in Forbes ‘Women Entrepreneurs
to Watch’ and is named on the National
Retail Federation’s ‘The List of 25
People Shaping Retail’s Future.’
“We help retailers have the right product,
at the right price, at the right time”
33|November 2017|

GreenMile:
Advanced Cloud-based Technology
for Merchandising
An essential factor to having an effective
merchandising program is ensuring that
merchandising services take place at an appropriate
time and for a suitable duration. GreenMile is a leading
cloud-based platform and mobile solutions company that
was started in an effort to help distributors better control
their last-mile delivery costs while improving customer
satisfaction levels. In doing so, it quickly became evident
that there were many hands involved in the customer
satisfaction and success process, and managing only the
delivery trucks didn’t address the entire problem in
last-mile distribution. Complete customer satisfaction is a
result of the distributor’s entire team being able to operate
together effectively, and a solution was needed that could
orchestrate and align the sales team, delivery team, and
merchandising team in concert. That’s what lead to
GreenMile’s turn-key Customer Satisfaction Solution,
managing everything from sales call frequency and time
onsite with customers, to efficient delivery windows and
service times, to streamlining the merchandising process
ensuring efficient in-store execution of the product to the
shelf. GreenMile is the technology backbone that provides
real-time information and visibility between all of a
distributor’s various departments to ensure effectiveness in
the field, resulting in the customer being serviced correctly.
It starts with Effective Leadership
With more than twenty years of experience in supply chain
and logistics software, James Frasier, Vice President of
Customer Success and a Co-founder of GreenMile, has
been helping to lead GreenMile down that path of success.
GreenMile offers a set of solutions and services that provide
companies around the globe with optimal logistics planning
and real-time visibility into last-mile transportation, helping
them become more efficient while improving profitability.
Over the past two decades, James has successfully applied
his business development skills to help GreenMile become
a leader in the logistics software market. James points out
that, “for distributors, merchandising is often directly tied to
customer satisfaction and increased retail sales, and
GreenMile is the key to managing all aspects of the
merchandiser’s day.”
The merchandiser is often the last person who touches the
product to put it into the best light before it goes home with
the consumer. The GreenMile Merchandiser mobile
application runs on any Android or iOS device and
facilitates all aspects of a Merchandiser’s day including
“clock in – clock out”, assigned or taken breaks, and lunch
are all captured and reported on. This timecard information
can also be seamlessly passed over to any time &
attendance solution being used by the distributor.
GreenMile has always exceled at retail data collection in
order to satisfy the growing appetite of wholesalers looking
for market intelligence data. GreenMile’s Smart Survey
functionality makes using the app as easy and effective for
front line employees as it is for the management team to get
James Frasier
Vice President of Customer Success
34 |November 2017|

the real-time data being passed straight
back from the field. Quantity data by
SKU and store location is easily
retrieved through GreenMile’s
reporting & dashboard tools. All of this
detailed data is augmented by photos
that are time and GPS stamped and
automatically filed into the customer’s
account profile in GreenMile’s cloud
portal. The customer’s photo albums
are particularly useful in seeing how
the products were merchandised,
helping to ensure a positive consumer
shopping experience. The app even
allows the Merchandiser capture a
signature for proof of service after the
visit is completed.
Wholesalers know that the key to
having a strong merchandising
program is making sure that
merchandising activities take place on
the correct day and time, and for the
required duration that was planned for
that service visit. GreenMile does just
that – automatically! Our
Merchandiser application helps
distributors verify that services have
been completed on the dates and times
prescribed in their service plan. Both
daily and weekly plans can be
managed using GreenMile; even
wholesalers without set merchandising
routes can leverage GreenMile’s
technology by automatically capturing
the customers visited in the
Merchandiser’s territory along with the
time spent on site at each account.
Oftentimes Merchandisers utilize their
own vehicles in the field, causing the
distributor headaches with having to
manage time & mileage tracking and
reimbursement for these employees.
Questions like, “Were all these miles
for company purposes?” Did she start
her day at home or her first stop?”, and
“Was the first stop a customer account,
or just a stop at the local convenience
store for a beverage?” are all answered
quickly and easily using GreenMile’s
technology. Accurate mileage data can
be seamlessly transferred to most
mileage reimbursement solutions, and
distributors that are able to capture
mileage information from GPS
typically experience 15 – 20% savings
over manual data capture methods.
In today’s competitive landscape,
being able to measure and manage the
“cost to serve” is of utmost importance
to the wholesaler. And that starts with
identifying all of the moving parts
involved in supporting the customer,
including Sales, Delivery, and
Merchandising. GreenMile provides
mobile applications to provide
visibility to these mobile workers as
well as help track and improve their
productivity while in the field. The
end result: increased sales and happier
customers.
“We are evangelists for helping our
customer base reduce their
transportation costs while helping
them to provide outstanding levels of
customer service in an ever-changing
and challenging business climate.”
-James Frasier.
The GreenMile Platform:
Technology Enabling Distributors to
Succeed
GreenMile Live- Effective route
planning is half of the equation.
Executing that plan effectively is the
other half. GreenMile Live is a
cloud-based solution that combines
route plan information with real-time
actual vs. planned data from mobile
and telematics devices to help your
company increase visibility, improve
performance and reduce the costs of
your mobile resources, whether they
are drivers, merchandisers, sales reps,
or technicians.
GreenMile Driver – Stay up-to-date
on route status, delivery status
(pending, delivered, cancelled,
postponed) and order updates as they
occur with GreenMile Driver.
Transportation companies’ field
resources can receive real-time updates
from dispatch while management gains
instant access to performance statistics
and on-time percentages.
GreenMile Merchandiser –Instantly
notify your merchandisers after a
delivery is completed so they can
service your customers more
effectively. GreenMile Merchandiser
efficiently manages a merchandiser’s
daily workload while allowing your
company to easily track mileage and
service times to better manage field
performance and improve customer
service levels.
GreenMile Sales – Provide your Sales
team with real-time access into the
delivery status of each and every one
of their customers right on their
Android or iOS device. Additionally,
the GreenMile Sales mobile app can
also track a salesperson’s miles and
activity level within their sales
territory, providing management
insight into top-line revenue efforts in
the field.
GreenMile Manager - Service &
delivery exception notifications can be
sent in real-time to any Android or iOS
device, allowing managers to see how
the delivery day is unfolding.
GreenMile Manager provides quick
and easy access into the delivery day –
helping your management team
measure performance metrics to better
manage delivery success.
“GreenMile is the technology backbone that provides
real-time information and visibility between all of a distributor’s
various departments to ensure effectiveness in the eld,
resulting in the customer being serviced correctly”
35|November 2017|

Catalyst
Human
Evolution
in
Innovation:
The
Where We Came From
The stroke of a rock against another rock gave early
humans the idea of stone tools. Man started designing stone
tools for hunting, farming and even for protection against
wild animals. Stone tools were also responsible for the very
first discovery of fire. When man discovered ways to
generate and control fire, it opened an entire new horizon of
capabilities. For the very first time, humans were not scared
to travel in the dark. It also opened an entire set of
gastronomic options in the form of cooking. Humans for the
first time were able to survive the cold. They started
building shelters to protect themselves and they had fire to
illuminate their interiors and keep themselves warm.
The invention of wheel was another ground breaking
revolution in the path to evolution of mankind. Man started
travelling long and far. This is the time when the explorer
instinct took charge in humans. Humans were brandishing
their reasoning skills. People living at different locations,
interacted with each other. They started having a whole new
perspective of how the world was working. The more they
saw, the more they learnt which contributed to a raised IQ.
The wheeled carts made it possible to carry more
belongings for longer distances. This eventually led to the
birth of trade and commerce. Of course, the wheels and
carts became much sturdier with the invention of the nails.
With nails, humans built one sturdy construction after
another. This led to the invention of massive ships that
allowed man to sail across the seas.
With all the innovations that had been made till then, man
was able to learn many things really fast. With the invention
of paper, came the invention of books. Maps do require an
honourable mention here. Of all the writing materials that
were available back then, paper really withstood the test of
time. Man started jotting down all his learning to share
them with those he met and with those he didn’t. The
Printing Press further boosted the rapid dispersion of
knowledge across the globe. Innovations were being made
around the globe. People found out about events and
personalities from far different places. The scenario was set
for more innovations. People were getting inspired.
The Astute Panel
38 |November 2017|

th th
We can safely say that the 18 and the 19 century were the
centuries of innovation. They brought about technical,
social and cultural revolutions in the journey of evolution.
The light bulb for instance was one such notable invention.
With the invention of the incandescent light bulbs, gas and
fuel powered streetlights were replaced by the longer
burning bulbs. People actually started having a night life.
Factories started introducing the night shifts with the help
of the bulbs. In order to bring the bulbs to common
households, power generators and power distribution
networks were devised. People started receiving electricity
in their homes. With the advent of electricity, came the
many home appliances at homes. Women were less tied up
with their household chores and were more involved in the
societal matters. This led to the concept of working women.
Countries started having more workforce and hence
increased production. Art and culture boomed. Many
women came to fore during that period. Many social
changes took place during this period. However, the biggest
contribution to the widespread changes in the world came
from the invention of engine. The internal combustion
engine gave rise to the automobiles and people had faster
mode of transport. The world was actually starting to get
smaller in size. This introduced the concept of weekly and
monthly journals and magazines that were published and
distributed to far off places. People were getting weekly and
monthly updates of the events occurring around the world.
The scientiﬁc world was taking huge leaps in medicine,
physics, chemistry and philosophy.
With the advancements in the communication systems in
the form of Telephone, Television and Telegraph; came the
need for advanced analytical processing systems. Thus, was
born the computers. In a few years, the internet was born
which took our world to the Digital Age that we see today.
Where we are heading to
Well, predicting from all the scenarios that have occurred
till now, we can safely say that all the future innovations
would be based on the advancements in the networking
technology. From interconnected vehicles to smart homes,
internet is going to play the most vital role in the lives of all
living and non-living beings on this planet. Transportation
& Logistics is set to become faster and cheaper with
advancements in fuel, vehicles and infrastructure.
With the rise in population and limited resources, advanced
methods of food cultivation and its sustenance would
dominate the research and the commercial ﬁelds of our
future.
39|November 2017|

LivePOS:Hybrid Cloud POS Software Solution
with Multi-store and Access Levels
The SaaS market is surging ahead with organizations
exploring various functions in several software
categories. Add to these, established players are
actively securing and incorporating the most promising new
services and CSBs are simplifying organizations’ path into
the cloud. Established in 2006, LivePOS is one such
Software as a Service (SaaS) provider of real-time cloud
Point of Sale (POS) solution for chains and franchises. The
company strives to develop and provide the best POS
system relevant to its customers’ needs, which are easy to
understand and use.
LivePOS is a Hybrid Cloud POS software solution that
offers and allows its customer and inventory management
users to view sales, track inventory and manage business
operations from anywhere with an available internet
connection. The system is suited for multi-location, multi-
store retail operations. The company is privately held and
employs over 150 people in its offices globally. Its
corporate office is presently headquartered in Sunny La
Jolla, California, while its other offices are sited in China,
Israel, and the Philippines.
Ground Breaking Services by LivePOS
LivePOS is designed to deliver cost-effective and simple
solutions to implement in small and mid-tier retailers,
chains and franchises, who wish to grow their businesses. It
can be used by a wide-variety of businesses, such as
clothing boutiques, cosmetics kiosks, sports shops, and
bookstores. As a Hybrid POS solution, it consists of two
parts; the store side and the admin site also known as
LivePOS online dashboard.
The online dashboard is the focal point in the multi-
location, multi-store retail operation. The centralized
dashboard allows its customers to manage inventory, update
pricing, employees, expenses and sales report anytime and
anywhere with any internet capable device such as mobile
phone, tablet or a laptop.
In the LivePOS online dashboard, all the store information
is collected and displayed in a simple and cohesive manner,
thereby making it easy to get real-time snapshot of your
business.
40 |November 2017|

The team at LivePOS works one-on-
one with prospective clients to assess
their needs and showcase the features
that would help in streamlining and
simplifying their businesses. On the
other hand, its tech support team is
available with its 24x7 support, hence
ensuring every feature of the software
is operational and the queries of each
and every customer is addressed on
time. In addition to the live support, it
also includes an online support center
that offers tons of helpful articles as
well as providing access to several
how-to videos, which is also included
in the monthly pricing structure.
Since, LivePOS is a real-time cloud
POS solution, POS requirements of its
customers are attended carefully i.e.
data is backed up on daily basis, while
version updates and new features are
free of charge and is automatically
available for customers when released.
LivePOS utilizes Amazon AWS, which
is used by thousands of brand name
companies such as Hulu, Netﬂix and
Waze.
Architect behind Evolution of
Hybrid Cloud POS Software
Solution
Liad Biton is the CEO and Co-
Founder of LivePOS, a technology
facing corporation, with over 15 years
of experience in the cloud, retail, and
tech space. Designed with a single
principle in mind, LivePOS is the
brainchild of Liad Biton.
Moreover, in his spare time, he
promotes STEM education by
introducing children to the world of
aviation from end-to-end small
airplanes and UAVs (Drones).
Initial Challenges leading to
Triumph
With the shift of credit card processing
towards EMV, customers wanted to
expand their payment options in order
to meet the new industry standards.
Thus, LivePOS helped to adhered to
the requirements of customer needs of
expanding the payment options by
creating integration with First Data and
its partners to allow customers the
ability to accept chip-based cards,
Apple Pay, NFC and other mobile
wallets using an EMV Pinpad device
from Verifone.
At LivePOS, the team works one-on-
one with its prospective clients to
assess their needs and showcase the
features that will help streamline and
simplify their business.
A Future Filled with New
Innovations
LivePOS team is preparing to launch
LivePAD—a mobile POS solution that
runs a full version of the LivePOS
software. With the imminent launch of
LivePAD, customers will no longer be
restraining behind the counter. Besides,
customers can receive a free VX 805
PinPad device from their partner
company.
“While LivePOS is a hybrid, it is primarily a cloud-based
software provider that also incorporates a locally-installed
front end app, allowing you to keep your register running
during a Wi-Fi outage” – Liad Biton
CEO & Co-Founder
41|November 2017|

NextOrbit:
Building the Perfect AI Universe
for Retailers and Brands
Have you ever stopped at a red light despite no
visible signs of any vehicles in your vicinity?
Have you ever been annoyed by people who do?
In hindsight, it is amusing to see we as human beings and
our judgments in daily matters that are prone to errors.
Being human requires us to separate the substance in our
life experiences from our emotions, moral and sentimental
values. Additionally, we also require knowledge about the
world in order to apply our life experiences and maximize
the output of our actions. Being human also demands us to
recognize that as a rule of thumb, we will fail more often in
this journey than we will succeed. But what if instead of
human beings, objective machines driven by real time data
were guiding us to be the best of ourselves? There is a new
kind of space race happening all around us and the new
universe human beings are chasing is the world of Artificial
Intelligence (AI). Some industry leaders like Mark
Zuckerberg, Elon Musk are betting big money on AI
because – it will revolutionize the way we understand and
apply ourselves forever.
NextOrbit is competing in this global race to reinvent the
world. Predictive algorithms in its cloud platform use
retailer data and relevant contextual information to uncover
insights into customer behavior and management.
This information is essential for three important business
objectives: To improve sales, to improve customer loyalty,
and, to optimize stock. NextOrbit works with fashion
brands and retailers to increase sales while significantly
reducing costs.
Challenging the Traditional Worldview
The business environment is becoming safer every day from
external factors, all around the world. Retail stores and
fashion brands experience three major issues which directly
compromisestheirbottomline:
Over-stock – The average brand has a full price sell through
of 60% at least once a year. This means that 40% has to be
marked down due to gross overestimations - this has a huge
negativeimpactonmargins.
Out-of-stock – The industry experiences an out-of-stock
situationin4-15%oftheirtotaloperationalhours.
Misallocation – Sending products to stores where there is
little or no demand. The product could easily satisfy another
customeratanotherlocationandearnbrandloyaltyinreturn.
Each of these areas requires significant improvements
because there is such a small margin of error before profits are
significantlyimpacted.
With the help of Next Orbit’s data analysis and cloud
technology, businesses will be able to accurately predict
future demand and improve stock allocation in terms of both
quantityandgeography.
Kishore Rajgopal
CEO & Founder
42 |November 2017|

Building an Innovative World
Many global companies are competing
for a share of the AI technology pie.
NextOrbit distinguishes itself by
adding various X factors to its analysis
and final evaluation.
NextOrbit data analysis takes into
consideration macro-economic factors,
local-national events, the weather and
social signals, all of which often have
huge bearings on the final outcomes for
businesses.
For example, Thanksgiving is a major
holiday in the U.S. By taking this
holiday into account, a machine can
analyze data from the previous year to
understand customer behavior on this
particular day. It can suggest items to
pre-order and even suggest the
optimum discount for each item to
achieve maximum profit.
Leadership
NextOrbit is venturing into areas of
data consolidation and analysis which
no other company has explored. This
requires a leader at the helm who can
navigate through practical hurdles
without losing sight of its future goals.
NextOrbit founder and CEO, Kishore
Rajgopal has both the experience to
deal with challenging situations and
the foresight to look beyond short-term
solutions. Mr. Rajgopal led the Retail
Technology Consulting department of
Infosys in the U.S. from 2000 to 2009.
This gives him and the company an
ideal vantage point from which to
predict, understand and address the
difficulties retailers face.
Mr. Rajgopal also has over 20 years of
experience in product development,
business development, business
intelligence and analytics. Potential
investors in NextOrbit will be
encouraged to know that he has co-
founded a successful similar venture
before, Crowdanalytix.
Crowdanalytix is a platform that led to
the development of predictive models
using a global crowdsourcing
approach; it received multi-million-
dollar Series A funding from reputed
Venture Capital firms.
The Road Ahead – The Road Less
Travelled
The cloud industry has proven itself to
be a trailblazer in many ways and ever
more companies are opting for cloud
technology to safely secure their data,
make it easily available for employees,
and for other practical and business
reasons. So, what makes the NextOrbit
cloud platform stand out from those of
its rivals?
NextOrbit CEO, Kishore Rajgopal
believes they have a lot more to offer
than just top-of-the-line AI technology,
“Our cloud platform is easy to embrace
and it has been designed to grow with
the needs of every retailer”.
The company’s focus on innovation
and the leadership of its founder makes
NextOrbit a delight to observe as the
company continues to craft inventive,
practical solutions to revolutionize the
way retailers do business.
“Our cloud platform is easy to embrace
and it has been designed to grow with the
needs of every retailer”
43|November 2017|

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IN TOWNAND
COUNTRY.
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www.mini.com
ADVENTURER
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