David Kepron, vice president, global design strategies at Marriott International.
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NEW YORK—The power of creative thinking and its application in both the professional and personal realm was on full display at Vision Monday’s 10th annual Global Leadership Summit, held here Wednesday. The day-long event, billed as “BrainStorm,” attracted close to 400 top level executives from throughout the optical industry.

The program featured experts from fields as diverse as neuroscience, cognitive computing, retailing, wearable technology and music. Each speaker offered thought-provoking ideas about how to best utilize the incredible capabilities of our brains and leverage new discoveries about the brain, technology and leadership. The imaginative approaches they presented provided insights into the social, customer and patient experience.

Supported by Premier Sponsors Essilor and VSP Global, Signature Sponsors ACEP/ABS Smart Mirror, Adlens and Luxottica and Supporting Sponsors Alcon, CareCredit and The Vision Council, the VM Summit got underway with Marc Ferrara, CEO, Information Services for Jobson Medical Information. “There’s a gold rush going on around artificial intelligence.Today we’re focusing on the convergence of brain power and computing power, and it’s critical the two work together because that’s when true creation happens.”

Vision Monday’s Marge Axelrad, senior VP, editorial director said, “It’s Important to move beyond traditional thinking.The future is coming faster and change is coming from anywhere and everywhere. Today, we are literally trying to map the brain and understand how the brain works.You need to know what to do with all that data.”

In the opening session, David Kepron, vice president, global design strategies at Marriott International, and author of “Retail (r)evolution, Why Creating Right-Brained Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World,” set up the “BrainStorm” theme, by discussing how the physiology of our brains affects our behavior, particularly as consumers. “Our brains love novelty. Dopamine moves into the neural system and we love it.”

Kepron said retailers should use storytelling techniques to create novel, in-store “experiences” for customers that communicate a brand’s essence. “Brands love stories. Your brain is activated as if it’s in the story. It has the ability to stick you in space and time within the story.” He advised retailers and marketers, “If you want to push a new brand into market, tag it with experience.

Other VM Summit speakers included, Rachel Shechtman, CEO and founder of STORY; Peyush Bansal, CEO and co-founder of Lenskart; Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, at the University of California, San Francisco; Jim Marggraff is founder, chairman and CEO of Eyefluence; Ted Gioia, musician, author and expert on management and business creativity; Michael S. Weiner, MD, chief medical information officer of IBM Healthcare; Jim McGrann, president and CEO of VSP Global; Leslie Saxon, MD, a professor of medicine, clinical scholar, at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California; and Bill Charlap, a Grammy award-winning pianist, bandleader and educator.

Look for more photos and videos of the VM Summit coming soon to VisionMonday.com.