Taddy Hall

In a world of accelerating change, new mindsets and skillsets are required to design and deploy growth engines that lead an organization into the future. Taddy Hall, senior partner at the global creative agency Lippincott, has lived, breathed and consulted on marketing, growth and innovation for his entire career. His rich research, coupled with his real-world consulting and advising expertise, has honed a proven framework for making innovation predictive – and improving its outcomes.

For more than two decades, Hall has coached entrepreneurs in emerging markets, consulted with corporate leaders facing existential growth challenges, and advised heads of state to spur market-creating innovation — giving each the mindset and toolset to unleash growth. “Most leaders approach innovation and growth the wrong way,” he explains. “Rather than looking for the white space in the market, they need to find the white space in people’s lives. Meaningful opportunities are tapped by creating new markets – not stealing share.” Through high-energy keynotes, Hall inspires new ways of thinking about the future, while his in-depth executive workshops immerse leaders in innovation-based approaches to growth. Drawing from extensive marketing experience, Hall also helps audiences of all levels and across every business better understand how consumers make buying decisions. Highlighting case stories from companies as diverse as Intuit, Barclays UK, Virgin, SNHU, Chobani and others, Hall offers leaders actionable insights and provides strategic guidance for what they must do to thrive in the near term while simultaneously creating a future that is different from the past.

Formerly, Hall was the principal at growth strategy consultancy The Cambridge Group, which is part of The Nielsen Company. From 2012-2016, he was the primary author of the annual “U.S. Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation Reports,” known as the ultimate marketer’s guide to innovating and improving performance in a crowded marketplace. He also headed the company’s Breakthrough Innovation Project and led its global expansion.

For 15 years, Hall collaborated with the late Harvard Business School Professor and global innovation authority Clayton Christensen, including on the publication of “The Innovator’s Solution” (2003) and “Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure” (2005). “Competing Against Luck” (Harper Collins, 2016), their book co-authored with Karen Dillon and David Duncan, digs deep into the science of innovation and Professor Christensen’s influential Jobs to be Done theory. By understanding what causes customers to “hire” a product or service, a business can improve its innovation track record, and make innovation more predictable and scalable. The book, which continues to prove its worth as an influential resource for leading executives across the world, will soon be available in Korean and Chinese.

Especially knowledgeable in and passionate about innovation in emerging markets, Hall partnered with the late Professor Christensen and Ann Christensen to co-found Innovation Without Borders™, which delivers their unique innovation tools and frameworks to senior executives and entrepreneurs in rising regions of the world, including such countries as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Peru and the Philippines. Since 1997, Hall also actively advises a network of 1000+ emerging market chief executives to build profitable growth companies through the Endeavor organization.

An engaging advisor, speaker and writer, Hall has published articles on innovation in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Huffington Post, Time, Business Insider, Chief Executive and CMO magazine. He also co-authored “The Online Advertising Playbook,” published by Wiley in 2007.

Prior to joining Nielsen, Hall served as chief operating officer at Meteor Solutions, a leading social media analytics and marketing company. From 2003-2008, he was chief strategy officer for the Advertising Research Foundation, where he leveraged deep expertise in media, digital technologies and research methodologies to help senior executives succeed in challenging competitive contexts.

Hall started his career in venture capital/private equity, working for Advent International, both in the U.S. and Latin America. He then transitioned from finance to operations, managing five venture-backed businesses – four of them technology/internet related, and one with retail, manufacturing and real estate development units. Hall holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard University. At Harvard, he worked as an independent researcher with professor, competitive strategy mentor and renowned economist Michael E. Porter to develop and implement strategies for competitive inner-city economies.

Taddy Hall is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group^®.