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Meet Marco Bertini 

​I am a professor of marketing at Esade, where I also serve as the director of open executive programs, and a senior advisor to Globalpraxis.

I am a behavioral scientist who leverages insights from economics and psychology to help organizations sustain profitable relationships with customers. I help leaders make more informed decisions about how value is created and shared in markets, with particular emphasis on managing the delicate transition from customer satisfaction to revenue.

I am co-author of the book “The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value,” which explores how technology and society stimulate accountability, prompting companies to profit from the outcomes they deliver rather than the offerings they bring to market. My articles appear in the leading journals for management science and practice and have featured in media outlets including BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Vox.

Recently, I was named to the Thinkers50 Radar, a shortlist of the people “most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led.” Prior to this, I was recognized by the Marketing Science Institute as one of the most promising scholars in the field.

Originally from Italy, I grew up in Australia and subsequently lived in the United States, the United Kingdom, and now Spain. I received my doctorate from Harvard Business School and previously served on the faculty at London Business School and was a visiting professor at Harvard Business School and a senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group.

​Speech Topics

Customers Love Us… Now What?
The purpose of any business is to add some value, in some way, to someone or something outside of itself. However, businesses ultimately exist to satisfy customers and earn a living from them. The problem is that many business leaders fail to appreciate that turning products and services into dollars and cents is as much an exercise in understanding customers as it is satisfying their needs and wants in the first place. Customer centricity doesn’t end with the creation of value. Strategy certainly doesn’t end with happy customers. Knowing this, how should any company think about “making money” from its customers? In this presentation, I lay out a simple framework and set of actions that address this fundamental question.

Can Friction Improve Your Customers’ Experiences?
Many companies are on a mission to design purchase journeys that are as free of frustration and inconvenience as possible. “Friction kills the customer experience!” has become the conventional wisdom, yet, surprisingly, slowing down the purchase process can boost buyer satisfaction and loyalty. If your goal is to help customers better understand your product and its value to them so that they are more committed at the point of purchase, create an engaging experience that makes the learning process enjoyable and encourages positive feelings about the brand. This presentation shows you how.

Why Competing on Customer Outcomes Is a Win for EveryoneBusinesses across sectors are under unprecedented pressure to aid society and our environment, all the while battling economic hardship and relentless commoditization. One solution to this puzzle is to rethink how your company earns from customers, shifting from selling “stuff” to delivering—and profiting from—desired outcomes. In this talk, based on my book with Oded Koenigsberg The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value, I use examples from sectors as diverse as healthcare, automotive, education, insurance, and agriculture to map the gradual but relentless evolution of markets to a point where money flows to proof rather than promises. I explain this opportunity and, importantly, its potential to attract and retain customers, differentiate from competitors, motivate employees, and improve your social and environmental footprint.

Listen Closely! Your Algorithms Are Talking to Your Customers
In June 2017, London police cars responded to reports of a terrorist attack. Pedestrians and pub-goers in the area sensed danger and attempted to order Uber cars to head home to safety. Uber’s dynamic pricing algorithm caused rates in that part of the city to jump more than 200%. While an economist might applaud Uber’s pricing engine, I argue that constant changes in price points can negatively impact brand perception, so they need to be carefully managed. In this presentation, based on my Harvard Business Review article The Pitfalls of Pricing Algorithms, I show why brands need to consider more than simple math when employing algorithmic systems. I further help leaders across industries—including advertising, e-commerce, entertainment, insurance, sports, travel and utilities—minimize risk and maximize revenue while also making customers feel as if they have paid the appropriate amount for a product or service.

Making It Stick! Five Steps to Successful Price Changes
With the cost of materials rising at an unprecedented pace across the goods and services landscape, brands must increase prices to survive. But how can that be done the right way, to face inflation and keep customers happy and loyal? To me, price change—not only increases, but also decreases—are not necessary evils, but opportunities to strengthen one’s position in the eyes of customers. In this presentation, I encourage organizations to think beyond the obvious How much? question. My framework empowers organizations to tackle factors such as timing, when and how to use levers other than price itself to achieve the desired goal, and how to communicate the change effectively with customers. When it comes to price changes, whether they be temporary or permanent, I show leaders how important it is to be proactive, connect to your strategy, control the narrative in the face of competition, and offer explanations to maintain customer trust. Leaders will leave this presentation with an understanding of how following my template for approaching today’s volatile markets can, when done thoughtfully, strengthen the relationship between a brand and its customers.

Learning the ABC: How to Sell Value to Stubborn Customers
The success of a revenue strategy often depends on your ability to communicate value to customers in a convincing manner. Indeed, I would argue that price is seldom a problem when the value of an offering is clearly understood by sellers and buyers alike. In this presentation, I discuss the complications that often arise when an organization attempts to sell value in a market plagued by customers that, for strategic reasons or otherwise, push back. To remedy the situation, I recommend taking five clear steps. Implementing this roadmap provides a sense of calibration and confidence that helps fight off the pressure from skeptical, stubborn clients and prospects. In my mind, organizations that “stay calm and sell value” are better equipped to capitalize on their efforts to stand out in the market, particularly when innovation and creativity are fast-paced and expensive.

How to Turn Strategy Into Lasting Revenue
Every business has to price what it sells. It is inescapable, yet deeply misunderstood. In fact, while organizations ultimately exist to satisfy customers and earn revenue from them, many leaders fail to think wholistically about this challenge. In this presentation, monetization expert Marco Bertini talks broadly about the “mission” of a successful revenue strategy and lays out an intuitive framework to drive immediate improvement in any organization. Above all, this framework rests on one basic premise: a business cannot improve its ability to profit from customers unless its decisions and actions are guided by customers—what they value, why they value it, when and how they value it, and so on. This logic is intuitive, yet seldom put into practice.