To Truly Delight Customers, You Need Aesthetic Intelligence

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2019

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Pauline Brown, former chairman of North America for the luxury goods company LVMH, argues that in additional to traditional and emotional intelligence, great leaders also need to develop what she calls aesthetic intelligence. This means knowing what good taste is and thinking about how your services and products stimulate all five senses to create delight. Brown argues that in today's crowded marketplace, this kind of AI is what will set companies apart -- and not just in the consumer products and luxury sectors. B2B or B2C, small or large, digital or bricks-and-mortar, all organizations need to hire and train people to think this way. Brown is the author of the book "Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond."

Transcript

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0:00.0	Kurt Nick is here from Ideacast. I want to tell you about the Big Take
0:05.1	podcast from Bloomberg News. Each weekday they bring you one important story
0:10.0	from their global newsroom like how AI will upend your life and why China's
0:15.4	targeting the US dollar. Check out the big take from Bloomberg wherever you listen. Welcome to the HPR Ideacast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard.
0:52.0	Trader Joe's grocery stores, Disney theme parks, Voove Klico Champagne,
0:54.0	ESE nail polish, Aveda shampoo, AirB&B, Legos.
0:59.0	Apart from being both popular and profitable, what do all of these products and services have in common?
1:05.3	Our guest today says they're all created with something she calls aesthetic intelligence.
1:10.6	Pauline Brown is a former chairman of North America for the luxury goods company
1:14.4	LVMH and also previously worked at Cosmetics Company Estay Lauder.
1:18.4	But she's talking about more than making gorgeous handbags and fancy makeup.
1:23.2	She's also a Wharton MBA, a former Bain consultant,
1:26.2	and a former managing director of the private equity firm,
1:29.2	the Carlisle Group.
1:31.0	After decades in business, she's come to believe that her kind of AI can help any
1:35.0	organization to be more successful. She says it can be developed in
1:39.2	individuals, teams, and entire companies. She's even taught a class on it at Harvard Business School.
1:45.3	Her new book is Aesthetic Intelligence,
1:47.6	How to Boost it and use it in business and beyond.
1:50.8	Pauline, thanks so much for coming on the show.
1:53.0	Thank you for having me, Allison.
1:57.0	So here at HPR, we know intelligence, emotional intelligence,
	...

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