7 interesting brands to watch at TNW2020

Although we’ve spent a big chunk of this year at home, that hasn’t kept innovators down. In fact, a lot of your most loved and followed brands have taken this time to debut new ideas and products that will break boundaries, disrupt outdated processes, and offer original solutions for the new normal we’re now entering.

Over 100 brands are set to showcase what’s been going on behind the scenes and take part in some of the biggest tech debates of our age at this year’s TNW2020.

Here are just a few on our radar this year.

Huawei

This year Huawei became one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. But to stay in the lead, it will need to offer up some exciting new ideas this year. And that’s exactly what we’re expecting from Global Chief Brand Officer Andrew Garrihy’s TNW session on seamless connected living.  

Love your devices but hate the clunky process of switching and sharing information between them? Remembering multiple passwords and messing with settings could be a thing of the past. Huawei’s vision for the future is one in which our devices are actually working together to make our lives easier. Find out more about what this could mean for you at TNW2020. 

Whatever happens in the next few months, it’s certain we’ll see interesting things coming from the tech giant. 

Polestar

Electric automotive brand Polestar made waves this year with the release of its first fully-electric car, Polestar 2. The much-anticipated car was unveiled at the end of February 2020… just as lockdown measures were introduced across its global markets. Despite this potential setback, the company quickly organized a plan to enable global, social distance-friendly test drives and virtual Q&As. And it seems these efforts paid off as automotive journalists have responded with positive ratings for the new model.

While riding high from its Polestar 2 success, the company did something quite unexpected. Last week, Polestar announced it would start publishing carbon footprint details of its electric cars in full. In a shockingly honest press release the company explained, “It’s tempting to assume that we can achieve a sustainable and emission-free future by simply getting everyone to drive electric cars. But the truth is a lot more complicated.” The company is calling on other automakers to release information about their carbon emissions, and, perhaps most importantly, their calculation methodology. You can read more about their transparency report here.

You can also hear more about the company’s Polestar 2 strategy and the radical transparency movement it started at TNW2020 this week.

Ikea

Everyone’s beloved Swedish furniture store has used lockdown to move forward with its plan to become fully “circular” by 2030. The idea is to eventually get to a point when all its furniture can be either repaired, reused, or recycled. To do this, Ikea teamed up with the Ellen MaCarthur Foundation in June, a non-profit focused on accelerating the transition to a circular economy. 

Some of its many plans to achieve this goal include opening its first second-hand shop later this year and introducing more sustainable designs. 

And that’s not all. Are you a fan of the famed Ikea meatballs? Well they’ve recently introduced a new fully plant-based version. As the company explained, “It has the same great taste and texture of the IKEA meatball, but only 4% of the climate footprint.”

ABN AMRO

Just like any other industry, the COVID-19 recession has made a major impact on the financial sector. But if any bank is poised to find a novel approach to the situation, it’s ABN AMRO, which is dedicating it’s computing power to search for cures and treatments for diseases, like COVID-19.

And while the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, the fight against financial crime continues. Did you know that every year more than € 2.4 trillion is laundered, worldwide? This money is then often used to finance drugs and human trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes. ABN AMRO has teamed up with a number of other banks and tech specialists to build sophisticated detection capabilities that will enable them to identify and prevent financial crime.

Join Robin de Jongh, ABN AMRO’s Managing Director Detecting Financial Crime, and Ivich Hoffman, Product Owner Connect for Detecting Financial Crime, for this fascinating session.

Smartly.io

Lockdown measures presented sudden and unexpected changes for businesses across the globe. Those that were already digitized and active in online marketplaces came out on top, while others had to hustle to find new ways to reach and communicate with customers. While some countries have since loosened restrictions, it’s clear that consumer behaviors have been reshaped for good by this experience. 

After winning a slew of “Best in 2020” awards this summer from the user ratings platform G2, social media advertising company Smartly.io is joining the list of TNW speakers. As the tool of choice for the likes of Uber, Under Armour, Zalando, eBay, and more, the company’s speakers are sure to provide valuable insights into the post-COVID world of social media marketing.

Adobe

Your inner creative will be happy to hear that Adobe will take the virtual stage again this year with some intriguing sessions. From guarding your content against malicious content manipulators to maintaining brand consistency across remote teams and departments, join in for a dose of inspiration (or several).

Whatever the company has been up to these last months, it’s certain they’ll have come up with some exciting new tools and functions to make our work and creative lives so much better. (Simple but effective, my personal favorite is its recent ‘liquid mode,’ a tool that can finally reformat PDFs for mobile. Thank you, Adobe!) 

Contentstack

Last but not least, in the hyper-competitive virtual marketplace we find ourselves in, we’ll need to step up the digital experiences we’re providing to our customers. As we saw during the confinement, more and more retailers are experimenting with emerging tech like VR, AR, and MR technology. From virtual fashion shows to Augmented Reality fitting rooms, some of the biggest fashion brands brought their designs straight to people’s living rooms. 

But it’s not just major brands with larger experienced tech teams and budgets who can benefit from this technology. 

Contentstack is one of the hottest CMS providers to watch right now, coming up with new solutions that are helping the likes of Sephora, Riot Games, and Chase take advantage of new tech. The company is set to speak at a joint session with their client, Valtech, about how retailers can create a proof of concept for their own Augmented Reality experience in a matter of weeks. Don’t miss it! 

Check out the Schedule and Speaker List for more of what’s to come at this year’s TNW2020. If you haven’t registered for a ticket yet, it’s time to get moving. Inspiring talks, interesting side chats, and lucrative 1:1 networking opportunities await. Sweatpants not only welcome but applauded.