Taking the Stage

Elevated Thought Leadership

Create a platform that will appeal to a business and technology audience that positions Amazon Go and its associated retail/tech as an entity with the potential to transform.

The Opportunity

The Platform:

The Technology Transformation of Brick and Mortar – How Technology and Data Innovation are Paving the Way for the Future (Societal Implications for the Underserved)

November 30 – December 1, 2021
Half Moon Bay, CA

Target Speaking Opportunity:

Why Fortune Brainstorm Tech:

Fortune Brainstorm: Tech combines the best of both worlds – business leaders, technology transformation agents – with a focus on the impact on the larger world around us.

Those that attend and participate are among the best and brightest in the industry – ensuring that Amazon Go spokespeople are seen, heard and noted by those in the industry influencing the agendas of other events, conversations and trends.

Dilip Kumar

Proposed Spokesperson:

Why Dilip:

Dilip has a proven track record in the media that can command the stage at Fortune Brainstorm: Tech, which typically attracts the C-suite. For a company of Amazon’s size, and the impressive role that Dilip has played in this new venture, we believe he would be able to be considered as a worthy thought leader on a stage shared with CEOs and founders.

As the primary spokesperson for Amazon Go and retail/tech related ventures, Dilip has already established himself as the go to at Amazon on the topic. This is exemplified by the diverse coverage he receives – from company/product announcements that he himself breaks to conversations on the technology powering the experience at Amazon Go stores.

Given he hasn’t had a large presence on stages, we can exploit in a good way to ensure he is sought after and only appears on the highest caliber of stages.

Building Our Case

The Way In: We would start with pitching Dilip for a 1:1 with Michal Lev-Ram, one of Brainstorm: Tech’s co-chairs who has a background not only in technology, but an interest in retail and payments. This time becomes a critical opportunity to provide an overview of how Amazon Go is performing in context to the societal implications and transformation of the brick and mortar store as we know it – all powered by technology. The pitch would focus not just on the experience, but on the implications that increased technology adoption will have for the communities that the technology is deployed and the ways that increased use of this technology will actually help drive a resurgence of brick and mortar stores, which are critical to communities.

Take The Stage

Dilip would participate in a fireside chat with Michal Lev-Ram on the main stage focused on:

Data and trends we are seeing in already launched Amazon Go stores; identifying what the technology is enabling and where there are challenges and how Amazon is addressing these.
Moving beyond present day, Dilip will futurecast how technology and data innovation is going to help drive a resurgence in brick and mortar stores – which are necessary for community development, especially for underserved communities that may not be adopting the technology of online/ecommerce delivery as quickly as other demographics.
Leading into this, we can paint a picture of how brick and mortar stores, long thought to be lagging technology indicators, will actually help underserved populations adapt and adopt technology, therefore bridging a very serious technology gap in the United States that is growing. By combining where Amazon Go and its retail technology is today, with the societal implications in a post-COVID world for the underserved, we believe we can kick off a successful thought leadership platform at Fortune Brainstorm: Tech in December.

Taking the Stage – Elevated Thought Leadership

Surround Sound

Amplification Strategy:

Paired with Dilip’s presence on the main stage, we will work in advance to ensure that content is published in tandem on owned and earned sites. An op-ed from Dilip on the steps that Amazon is taking to build communities with Amazon Go and its potential would be published in a site that reaches critical policy/culture influencers like the Washington Post or Axios.
This will be followed with a “State of the Amazon Go Tech Adoption” data brief pitched to retail and tech reporters.
Additionally, Fortune will provide a complete media list of all virtual attendees, who will be pre-pitched and introduced to Dilip for follow up articles after he speaks on the main stage.

Plus Plus

We believe this platform for Dilip has real legs to move beyond a single technology speaking opportunity. Our recommendation is to build this platform beyond Fortune Brainstorm: Tech and participate in follow up conversations at shows like CES and owned Amazon properties.

Our CES story would look through a consumer’s lens – what technologies are changing the brick and mortar store and how adoption is going and where we see it going. We can build a virtual store that shows the possibilities that data innovation and computer vision will provide the brick and mortar store of the future, paired with a prediction of the community implications on tech adoption, especially in the underserved.
Building on CES momentum, Amazon would launch an ongoing series of virtual discussions on community impact of brick and mortar stores and trends the company was seeing in tech adoption. This would include experts in the retail and tech industry, as well as other influencers and reporters in the space. By creating ownership of the topic, Amazon would create a following and establish the platform with media, influencers and policy officials.