Will Higham

Biography

William is a Futurist and global authority on Future Business Strategy. An experienced Marketer, he takes a practical approach to the future: inspiring audiences while offering them tangible advice they can apply the minute they return to their desks. His talks leave audiences excited to face the future: armed with new, practical ways to handle tomorrow’s consumers and employees.

He reveals what customers, employees and clients will want and expect from companies tomorrow: and the strategies businesses must adopt to attract and retain them. His data-led approach means he’s as comfortable speaking on the future of work as tomorrow’s ethical consumer or how the Metaverse, Web3 and AI will actually impact business.

An engaging and inspiring speaker, his talks have inspired thousands globally to face the future without fear, from Texas to Korea. He’s spoken at conferences for FT and Barclaycard, leadership events for Walt Disney, BT, Jaguar and Colgate.

William’s led popular consultancy Next Big Thing since 2003. He’s worked with clients in multiple sectors: Amazon to Vodafone, HSBC to MTV. He can be seen in Netflix’s new ‘Future Of’ series. He warned the drinks industry of the New Sobriety; saw Wellbeing Consumers a mile off; and championed ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ (‘Dancing With The Stars’) to BBC.

He wrote the first practical handbook for UK trend strategists: ‘The Next Big Thing: Forecasting Consumer Trends for Profit’ (Kogan Page, 2010), which has since been translated into five languages. He’s been interviewed across media: BBC to Bloomberg TV, Fast Company to The Times. He has presented a TV show for CNBC, and written for The Economist, Advertising Age, The Director. He’s helped Cambridge University Innovation Forum and judged WARC and IoD innovation awards.

He first made his name in the music industry. Working at Sony, Virgin and Universal, William ran PR campaigns for artists from Michael Jackson to Motorhead, and marketing campaigns from Rolling Stones to The Cure. He won a Music Week Award for his campaign for Meat Loaf ‘Bat Out Of Hell 2’.

His fascination with music consumers led him to the trends sector, starting as a trends consultant for brands like Levis, BT. He spent a year as MD of online research company OnePoll, attracting clients from Kelloggs to Findus.