Philips Creates Simplicity Advisory Board
December 8, 2004
Philips Joins Forces With Leading Experts On Its Journey Towards Simplicity
Philips announces creation of the Simplicity Advisory Board
Paris, France – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced the creation of the Simplicity Advisory Board (SAB). Its aim is to provide additional outside perspective into how the Philips brand promise – Sense and Simplicity - can be applied to everything the company does within the healthcare, lifestyle and technology markets.
Mr. Andrea Ragnetti, Chief Marketing Officer and member of the Group Management Committee, will chair this new body. “The SAB is a clear demonstration of the actions we are taking to introduce simplicity into everything we do at Philips.We aim to use the collective expertise of the SAB to further drive creativity and thought leadership that will enable Philips to strengthen its position in healthcare, lifestyle and technology domains, as well as in new market sectors, such as personal health and wellness that might emerge over the next few years.”
The SAB members are a group of top professionals from diverse backgrounds who are all driven by the essence of simplicity. Joining Andrea Ragnetti will be:
Sara Berman
Sara is recognized as being one of the
most up-and-coming young fashion designers around at the
moment with her collections selling in the UK, US,
Scandinavia and Japan. Sara's approach to design is based
around simplicity, but she acknowledges that simplicity is
not always easy to achieve and her insights and creativity
will be an interesting addition to the SAB.
Gary
Chang
Gary is one of China's most prominent architects
who is well known for his creative and innovative use of
space. Throughout his career he has always put emphasis on
creating simple yet practical lifestyle environments and
this way of thinking will add a unique perspective to the
project.
Peggy Fritzsche
Peggy is the current president
of the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA). Peggy's
work over the last 25 years in radiology has driven her to
put more of an emphasis on attempting to simplify the
patient experience in one of the most complex areas of
healthcare, and this will provide the SAB with invaluable
insight.
John Maeda
John is a professor at MIT and one
of the leading industry commentators on simplicity in IT.
Simplicity is a subject that John is passionate about, and
his insight into the simplification of IT and business
processes will prove to be of great benefit to
Philips.
Ken Okuyama
Ken is creative director of
Pininfarina Automotive and Transportation Design and is a
professor at the Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena.
Ken's ethos is based on designing cars to drivers' needs
whilst still achieving a highly desirable, clean and simple
look without sacrificing any functionality or quality.
The SAB will act as a think tank and sounding board for Philips providing counsel and guidance on a number of projects and issues across the entire healthcare, lifestyle and technology spectrum. It will work with Philips for a period of twelve months and will have formal meetings on a quarterly basis.
At the end of the year the members of the SAB will present their research and findings on their vision of simplicity and their recommendations on how Philips can better implement simplicity throughout the entire company. Following the brand positioning and advertising campaign launch in September the SAB is an important next step for Philips on its journey towards simplicity.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal
Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI)
is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and
Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 29 billion in 2003. With
activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare,
lifestyle and technology and 166,800 employees in more than
60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical
diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television
sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system
solutions. News from Philips is located at
www.philips.com/newscenter.
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and business of Philips and certain of the plans and
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