Thinking out loud

Where you can find more of our thinking – in person and print

Event poster for The Business Show Australia at ICC Sydney on November 25-26, 2022. Features a seminar session titled "Your Competitive Advantage Isn't AI" scheduled for day 2, 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Theatre 5. The poster includes a photograph of four smiling professionals and mentions free tickets at the website thebusinessshow.au.

‘Your competitive advantage isn’t AI. It’s expertise in human behaviour.’

The Business Show
11am, Thursday 26th November 2026
Theatre 5, International Convention Centre, Sydney

  • Catch Winona live, in person at The Business Show

  • Winona will be discussing why genuine expertise in human behaviour is necessary for competitive advantage (even in the age of AI), including practical, evidence-based ways to achieve performance uplift

  • Full agenda and free tickets here: https://thebusinessshow.au/

A group of five people smile at the camera, standing close together against a plain light background. They are casually dressed and appear professional, with one person in a blazer and others in shirts and blouses.

The Business Show

Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th November 2026
International Convention Centre, Sydney
Booth 1130

  • Catch the Thinking People team in person at booth B1130

  • We’ll be talking all things human behaviour, and how our genuine expertise enables businesses to increase their commercial effectiveness

Event poster for the 2026 SILA Loyalty Leaders Summit, featuring speaker Winona Johnson, Co-Founder of Thinking People, with details about date, time, and location, and a photo of her smiling in a light blue shirt.
A large conference room filled with round tables and attendees listening to a speaker on stage. The speaker is presenting with a large screen showing a slide with text. The room has high ceilings with lighting and equipment hanging from above, and there's a large potted plant near the stage.

Southeast Asia & India Loyalty Association – 2026 Loyalty Leaders Summit

September 23red, 2026
Sofitel, Singapore

Winona took to the stage at the inaugural Southeast Asia & India Loyalty Leaders Summit in September, sharing with more than 180 loyalty leaders why behavioural science is one of the most powerful drivers of commercial performance. 

The key learning: Behaviour sits at the heart of every commercial outcome – registration, redemption, renewal, advocacy. Which means understanding behaviour is non-negotiable.

Drawing on real-world examples, Winona demonstrated how behavioural science can unlock significant gains in both customer and commercial performance – including the large increase in renewals achieved for Accor Plus.

Most importantly, attendees left with practical, evidence-based strategies they could put into action immediately.

Missed the session, or want to know more? Get in touch.

Conference room with a panel of four speakers sitting at a table, large screen behind them displaying the 'Mumbrella Finance Marketing Summit' logo, event details, and photographs of speakers, attendees seated facing the panel.

Mumbrella, Finance Summit

August 12th, 2026
State Library, Sydney

Our Founder, Winona, joined some of the best minds and brands in Fin Services at Mumbrella’s 2026 Finance Summit.

A common thread connected the day: behaviour change.

Behind every commercial objective, growth target, and retention goal is a behaviour that needs to change.

Here are the 4 insights that resonated with us the most:

  1. The most successful businesses activate their brand through their CX and their EX. Having a great brand campaign is one thing, but it’s equally, if not more important, to ensure customers tangibly experience a brand’s promise – when they join, claim, review, etc. 

  2. While differentiation is valuable, to drive acquisition and retention it must be additive to (not replace) delivering against (and communicating about) the category fundamentals – i.e. investment returns.

  3. It's easy to assume consumers don’t engage with financial services because they ‘do not care ’; however, the reality is much more nuanced: many people want to engage with their finances but lack the confidence, knowledge or support to navigate the complexity and make informed decisions. At Thinking People, we help brands help their customers to make active, informed choices.

  4. Effective behaviour change – such as influencing internal stakeholders –  starts with diagnosis – i.e. the need to identify the barriers, motivations, and contextual factors driving behaviour before businesses can effectively design solutions to change it.

Thinking People at the Australian Loyalty Association with a backdrop displaying logos of various companies and au audience seated in front

Australian Loyalty Association Asia Pacific Conference

July 28th  – Thursday 30th, 2026
Brisbane

Our Founder, Winona, took to the stage at the Australian Loyalty Association Asia Pacific Conference in 2023, and it was great to be back in attendance this year.

The objectives every loyalty leader is chasing are ultimately behaviours – and therefore, from our expert POV, here are the 3 things we heard from the brands getting loyalty right:

  1. They think critically about internal capabilities and which additional expertise to engage with. Expertise in behaviour is usually one of those gaps.

  2. They know compliance does not have to come at the expense of delivering value. Brands can achieve regulatory excellence while also helping customers extract maximum value.

  3. They understand brands must deliver both actual and perceived value. Too often, brands limit ROI by overlooking how value is experienced.

For more thinking:

Want to dig deeper into our thinking? Get in touch.

Contact Winona at winona@thinking-people.com.au

Or take 10 seconds to send your details, and we’ll be in touch ASAP