Karel Demeester

Speaker
Dutch
English
Photo of Karel Demeester

Who is Karel Demeester?

Through his fifteen years of international experience with leading sales & marketing firms, Karel has built up unique expertise in influencing omnichannel buying behaviour. Among other things, he successfully led the digital sales & marketing transformation at Coca-Cola European Partners and, together with leading retailers, developed numerous scalable innovations.

As a respected adviser and co-founder of Callebaut Collective, Karel accompanies manufacturers and retailers from various B2B and B2C sectors on their digital sales & marketing journey towards an effective go-to-market strategy 'from passion to purchase'. 
Karel is a passionate game changer who, as keynote speaker (at congresses and in-company) and guest lecturer (at the Vlerick Business School, UGent and Artevelde Hogeschool, among others), enjoys taking his audience on a journey through customer centricity, digital transformation and innovative sales & marketing techniques with an appealing story. 

His outspoken vision of how, as a business leader or marketeer, to deal with contemporary chaos has resulted in the book ‘ACT HUMAN, waarom succesvolle bedrijven investeren in langdurige relaties’ (Why successful businesses invest in long-term relationships) (Lannoo Campus, 2021), which he wrote, together with Jan Callebaut and Prof. Sarah Steenhaut. 

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    ‘Human encounters of the hybrid kind’: How the formation of human relationships provides guidance on the way forward in the post-covid retail world

    The Covid-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the retail world. Openness and resilience are needed for retail organisations to reinvent themselves and thus provide a response to the complexity that confronts us today. To remain relevant in the post-corona era, brands and retailers need more than ever to focus on human relationships. 
    This also requires a new look at the connection between the physical shop and the online world.

    In his keynote speech, ‘Human Encounters of the Hybrid Kind’ – indeed, a nod to the film classic, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (Steven Spielberg, 1977) - Karel explains how the focus on human relationships can provide guidance in the post-covid retail world. In the speech, Karel follows the main themes of his new book, ‘ACT HUMAN’, which he wrote with his co-authors, Jan Callebaut and Prof. Sarah Steenhaut.  
     

    Embrace the chaos, act human!

    We live and work in a ‘VUCA’ context (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous). Our trusted business models have been overturned by companies, such as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) and NATU (Netflix, Airbnb, Tesla, Uber). Besides that, customers have become more empowered, and expect us to help them save time to make their lives more enjoyable and easier. In doing so, we can use countless direct and indirect channels, tools and techniques … No wonder that as a manager we sometimes can’t see the wood for the trees!

    On the basis of a simple model, Karel sets out in this keynote how developing long-term human relationships can arm your organisation for the future, and why an increasingly complex environment does not mean that we have to make things complicated. With this, Karel is following the thinking model from his new book, ‘ACT HUMAN’, which he wrote with co-authors, Jan Callebaut and Prof. Sarah Steenhaut.   

    Let yourself to be inspired and learn from this keynote speech how to embrace the chaos and transform it into new opportunities for your company, your customers and our planet. 

    Omnichannel expedition/digital expedition: optionally tailored to your organisation with prior digital maturity screening

    Many brands and retailers are struggling with the digital transformation. “Deal with it as you would prepare for a mountaineering expedition”, is the approach of the experienced guide, Karel, who managed digitalisation at Coca-Cola for some years. In this inspiring and, at the same time, practical keynote speech, he illustrates how to manage such a digitalisation journey in the right way.  

    Some insights are offered and explained on the basis of concrete examples:

    1. “Digitalisation is a means, not an end in itself”
    First, you have to decide which mountain to climb, one that is in line with your ambitions, your experience and your abilities. Instead of focusing immediately on an app or a web shop, it is important that you first think about where you wish to go and then select the equipment you need. 

    2. “Think big, start small … with the basics first!”
    Naturally, you are not going to start climbing Mount Everest immediately. It is advisable to start small, with a versatile team. You will gain experience by starting small and constantly testing and learning. Success depends on the small details.  The right online packshots alone, for example, can make a huge difference in sales.”

    3. “Digitalisation has a bridging function”
    In the first place, digitalisation lays a bridge between the various touchpoints in the customer’s journey, from engagement to transaction. Just as mountain climbers must work well together to bridge difficult passages, digitalisation too constantly builds bridges between the different teams and stakeholders within and outside the organisation. Think of a bridge between marketing and sales, but also between suppliers, retailers and the end consumer. It’s all about co-creating and innovating.
     
    4. “Ready for your next mountain”
    Have you reached the top? After your first successful climb, you can start preparations for a higher mountain. “Step by step, you can now scale up your digital projects to more channels and categories. The digital team should not remain in a silo, but should become the guide that pulls the entire organisation along. 

    This keynote speech can be presented as a general recruiting story or adapted to the digital maturity of your organisation (on the basis of prior screening)