Sense and simplicity – the Philips story

BrainJuicer’s John Kearon (or, since he founded the company, maybe it should be John Kearon’s BrainJuicer?) introduced the pre-lunch keynote from Geert van Kuyck, senior V-P of global marketing management at Philips – a company, said John, with an archetypal R&D culture, albeit one not traditionally very connected to consumers.

Indeed, Philips has been the creator of a number of landmark devices and technologies since its birth in the late nineteenth century, including the electric shaver, VCR and (with Sony) the compact disc. But despite the inherent advantage of developing and fathering these ideas, it's rarely maintained market leadership.

But, said Geert, in a smooth and confident presentation during which he strode purposefully around the stage, all that began to change in 2004 with the introduction of its ‘Sense and Simplicity’ initiative,