LUNCH WITH AN OLD FRIEND: The ECD Lunch Benelux II in Amsterdam

After 1,182 days of postponing live events, the ECD came back with the second installment of the ECD Lunch Benelux in the wonderful Hotel Arena in Amsterdam. And it met our expectations.

But what made the ECD Lunch Benelux special, and for that matter, the ECD itself as a community that continues to bring brands and retailers together to meet, connect and engage on a game-changing level? Let’s take a moment to elaborate.

The ECD is about meeting people the right way. That’s it.

The ECD is the mixer, party, social gathering, face-to-face commodity that is now, more than ever, still in demand. Now that it has returned, the community has proven it has absolute value for players. Plus, the fact that in-person meetings are paramount for building strong relationships as well as for loyalty and trust.  One of the ECD’s core beliefs is “Platform Business is People Business” – bringing people together nurtures networks and even friendship building therefore creating significant business opportunities. It’s as simple as that. Over 80 guests excitedly attended the lunch on the hottest week in Amsterdam at the Hotel Arena, a beautiful location nestled east of the center-city channels. There was great energy from the start, and the sunshine definitely helped start the day off with laughs, good food and some excellent opportunity making.

The ECD is neither a fair, nor a a trade show. It’s about topics and sharing knowledge.

Conversation is the key. Getting into a dialogue with your vis-à-vis and starting the connection with a smile. All in a casual, relaxed atmosphere without the usual standard format of booths and sales pitches. It provides a space where new ideas evolve from listening and learning, from making a point in an exchange. The ECD fosters this business approach because people do things better if they feel passion and professionalism on a personal level. In Amsterdam this setting was in full bloom, right from the start.

The ECD is honestly sincere about engagement.

Doing business with someone we know and can relate to is the ECD way. Gone are the days where you hand out your business card after some mindless small talk over the buffet table. Here, as part of the main stage presentation, comes a simple, yet powerful way to get to know the person behind the logo. In ECD’s new interview style format “10 Minutes with…”, the guests on stage were asked a questionnaire of both personal and business related questions. Every single one triggered an organic thought, a smile or sparked a special moment. Like the snap answer from About You’s Felix Meintrup when asked to describe About You in five words: “We help consumers discover brands”. On point, Felix, throw that authenticity with your brand strategy as the new slogan pitch please!

You can truly connect to a much larger network and diverse ecosystem of powerful game changers.

As a business opportunity, the ECD is on point in its diverse attendance. Thus, connecting Benelux to the rest of Europe for the ECD Lunch Benelux II was not only a good idea as the market is expanding, but a conscious step in providing limitless business opportunities for those who attend. The ECD connects a wide range of players from many area of digital platform business, such as keynote speakers, DIY, niche players – as well as a smorgasbord of digital experts from around the world. There were many fantastic contributions to the day, for example from Seven Senders’ Thijs Boots, Managing director of Benelux, who states that their goal is to work with all-sized customers, make cross-border shipping possible and help them grow among European cross-markets. From small to tall, crossing borders and pushing boundaries – the ECD reflects the sheer endless opportunities of digital commerce.

An ECD event leaves you thinking and challenging yourself to be a better player.

Alex’s powerful speech opened the lunch with the idea that the platform business is no longer a plug and play and leave be business. It needs more tenderness, care and a plethora of components to successfully run and grow. It’s “multicolored”, full of complex systems to manage and with the demands of the new normal, it summons not only transformation but also good people with a multitude of skills. From integration to steering and how to turn components of services into usable tools and skills to optimize is the direction of the natural way of transformation. And the truth being that DTC and platforms are now leading the game and that the question is no longer if you do platform but how you do platform.

While revisiting and reconnecting, it is important to reassess what is working and what is not. The ECD Benelux II delivered and what is more, it created a purpose. The day was full of new insights, new connections and of course a fabulous end of day BORREL. Danke Je Wel, Amsterdam – the ECD will be back!

The next game-changing event is the ECD GLOBAL LONDON on September 15th 2022. in London.

Visit the ECD website at ecd.de for more information.