Maarten Schafer

What is it? This is something we have observed on our recent travels through South-East Asia: the rise of a new Asian luxury market. In the past, few people in Asia weren’t able to afford to shop at global luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Prada. …

Over the past years, I have been travelling the world and meeting ‘people with a vision’ and ‘brands with a purpose’ for my book, ‘Around the World in 80 Brands’. When I send people an email to arrange a first meeting, the first thing they do is Google me. “Who…

What is the Small World phenomenon? According to Wikipedia, it is “the principle that short chains of acquaintances, often no more than a handful of individuals, connect any two people on the planet”. The phenomenon is certainly not new — with writers and broadcasters already discussing it in the early…

We take the boat from Aqaba to Nuweiba in Egypt. From here we move into the mountains where we reach the desert monastery of St. Catherine’s within a couple of hours. …

If you asked a director whether they think their board should have a public reputation — one that is distinct from the company — most would respond with a resounding no. Boards of directors have historically operated behind closed doors, unseen and unknown to the outside world. However, proprietary research…

-Cannes Lions Festival 2012 We’re sitting on a terrace across the street from Le Palais des Festival in Cannes. “This is the best place to meet people,” I think to myself. “The perfect pastime. Sit, drink coffee, meet interesting people.” I can see Anouk coming across the road, apparently in…

We have all grown up listening to the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Why? Because it’s all about the content! Being a storyteller and keynote speaker, I value content above all, which is why I like to say — it’s truly all about the content! I recently…

An online presence is your digital sales force. Your online presence has huge potential to attract and retain interested prospects and customers to your various online channels. You are who Google Says you are Potential clients will Google you before doing business with you. Potential partners will Google you before…