Content Is Your Business

If you had an hour with Jodi Peckman, the former long standing creative director for the iconic publication Rolling Stone—someone who has been in the center of culture, spending time with presidents, the Dali Lama, major entertainers like Madonna and  George Clooney, and musicians from The Beatles to Cardi B—through wars, trends and a a technological revolution, what would you ask? What could you learn? Hosts Amber Mundinger, Natasha Cholerton-Brown, and Dalia Strum do exactly that, and the conversation is wide ranging.

In this episode:

• How the meaning of “content” has evolved over time, and why Jodi didn’t consider herself a content creator 
• Jodi’s long tenure at Rolling Stone, and how the change from film to digital and recently back to film affected the approach to photography and visual language of the magazine as well as the business side of the photography world
• Jodi’s approach to a photo shoot, and how that changes based on the subject, from actors to musicians to the President
• The importance of trust as a photographer, and how that trust earned Jodi some of her biggest shoots 
• The challenge of getting access to the best locations for a subject: their own home
• Why Jodi gets more excited when she gets to a photo shoot at a client’s home or office and finds it a mess
• How building relationships with subjects makes repeat photo shoots more relaxed and easier to create stronger work thanks to the established trust and ability for everyone to have more fun with the experience
• The importance of knowing when to pull back from a concept for a shoot, even when you think it would make for a stronger statement
• The difficulty of working with artists today, where the imagery and persona are more closely associated with their brand and product, which can get in the way of finding the authenticity and human connection between artist and fans that Jodi sought out with her earlier work 
• How Jodi approached the Cardi B photo shoot
• The way Rolling Stone chooses its cover photo subjects to embody that era or current news cycle, and how Jodi went about encapsulating the magazine’s 50 year history with the anniversary issue, along with celebrating its visual impact on culture with a book
• The scrutiny that mainstream news goes through in 2019, and what that means for a magazine like Rolling Stone in the era of “fake news”
• The dangers of photojournalism, and the difficulties setting up shoots for articles on environmental issues and war zones
• How Rolling Stone’s mission statement to get to the truth of all things pop culture has led to some controversial cover images throughout its history
• The prevalence of video content online, and what that means for still photography 
• Why war photography and nature photography resonates with her so much
• Jodi’s departure from Rolling Stone, and how she plans to take everything she’s learned about visual storytelling to new mediums: books, showroom installations, and documentaries
• Jodi’s inspirations throughout her career, why being a lifetime New Yorker is important to her, and what having a mentor like Jann Wenner meant to her

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How do you create content that is useful in marketing in away that is unique and specific to an industry?  Much of it has to do with coming from an authentic space, and focusing on the person or business, and not the topic or title. Sarah Malcolm, COO of The Content Funnel (a content marketing company offering solutions for real estate companies and professionals, writing high quality real estate blogs, press releases, social media posts and more) joins hosts Natasha Cholerton Brown (COO of Clippn), Amber Mundinger (COO & Head of Strategic Partnerships at Artists Den), and Dalia Strum (Founder of Rethink Connect).

In this episode:

• How Sarah is using unique content, from blogs to podcasts to TV shows, to drive leads in the real estate industry
• The partnership between The News Funnel and Atypical at CRE Tech, which used mannequins placed around the event and generated considerable social media content
• Why The News Funnel chose to branch off into the real estate industry with it’s subsidiary The Content Funnel to fill a need for content creators to ghost write for real estate agencies who do not have a social media presence
• How The Content Funnel uses its partnerships with CRE Tech, The News Funnel, and influencers to market themselves
• Sarah’s background as head of digital strategy at ICSC and how she built a network of companies who were experts at utilizing particular aspects of social media which culminated in the creation of Marketing Marketplace
• Keeping up with how social media and marketing demands are evolving, by making partnerships with drone companies like All In Drones and The Scene Lab
• How Sarah gives every interaction with clients a personal touch by really getting to know the people she’s working with so they can collaborate and work together long term
• Why building that trust and personable relationship often leads to clients coming to Sarah and The Content Funnel for
• How the real estate industry is utilizing AR and VR to create new experiences and ways to market and engage with clients
• Interior design apps like roOomy which let you visualize how you might decorate  your potential new home
• Sarah’s firsthand experiences with how the AR/VR experience changes the experience of looking for a new home
• How influencers have become a factor in the real estate industry, and the path for becoming an influencer through Instagram, and why LinkedIN and Facebook aren’t as big of a factor for influencers
• Managing a client’s unrealistic social media target goals, the importance of benchmark reports, and when a client is wary to make a move that is right for their goals
• Sarah’s relationship with her twin sister Susan, who also works in real estate, and what they learn from each other 
• Learning from her mother, a COO at Regency Centers and one of the first female executives at Federated, and her husband, a creative director at McCann Echo
• The lessons Sarah hopes she can pass onto her children
• Staying up to date and finding inspiration through Instagram
• The importance of being genuine and true to yourself in all facets of your life

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What could you learn from one of the advertising and marketing industry’s most recognized thought leaders and entrepreneurs -- who has sat in every chair of the content circle, from creation, to operations to data? 

Messenger turned advertising underdog turned successful entrepreneur Jon Bond,   Chairman at Sito Mobile, joins hosts Natasha Cholerton Brown (COO of Clippn), Ritesh Gupta (Head of Content for Vayner Productions), and Michael Villasenor (Executive Creative Director of Product Design Experience for Hearst). He discusses good vs. bad content, why the journey may be important than the destination, and two extraordinary stories about Gary Vaynerchuk and Donald Trump.

In this episode:

• The buzzwords Jon wants to see less of in 2019, transparency, storytelling, and transformation
• The problem with shorthand, and how it can become an intellectual crutch 
• The qualifications for good content, that is an original and stimulating idea or concept that is easily shared
• The kind of content Jon chooses to engage with, and why Jon likes content or interactions that make him feel like the dumbest person in the room
• How working a messenger job in college led to the Jon’s discovery of the advertising business and sparked his career path
• The change in the advertising business, from an industry full of big and bold characters to one primarily concerned with conformity
• Playing to win vs. playing not to lose
• Why the world needs another David Ogilvy, someone who can bring together data, science, and creativity together
• Sito Mobile’s approach, and why taking data of where consumers have been is a more important statistic than where you’ve clicked
• Why qualitative data leads to insight, and will always beat quantitative data
• Jon’s journey through advertising and content, starting from when he co-founded Kirshenbaum Bond working with Kenneth Cole creative viral marketing before it had a name, to Sito Mobile, which markets as a service
• How subscription models for consumer’s content affects publishing and marketing when people are choosing what content they are engaging with
• Sponsored content, the importance of disclosure, and why Jon thinks that consumers regulate the market better than any organization could
• The September Vogue issue, and examples when content and marketing become one
• Sito’s Brand Momentum Index, a freemium service offering real-time insights on big brands, and other new things coming from Site in 2019
• Why Jon believes people focus too much on what their life goals should be, and block out the serendipitous moments in life that can be most enlightening
• Why David Bell is an inspiration to Jon as example of someone who stays relevant despite his age
• Jon shares some concepts for a Trump Taj Mahal ad that was never made
• Why Jon thinks the subscription models for content are good for the quality of what we consume, and give more money back to creators 
• The connections Jon hopes to make with Sito in 2019

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Imagine being in the middle of the moment of a content explosion for a major publication like the Huffington Post…and it feels about the same as if you were there with the Beatles when they went supernova.

Coming up, a music journalist turned content veteran, who is now charged with creating emerging products and  revenue streams for one of the most noteworthy  publications anywhere, The Washington Post, in a conversation that feels more like a master class in on the ethos and theory of content creation...

Jarrod Dicker, VP of Commercial Technology and Development at The Washington Post, joins hosts Natasha Cholerton Brown (COO of Clippn), Ritesh Gupta (Head of Content for Vayner Productions), and Michael Villasenor (Executive Creative Director of Product Design Experience for Hearst). 

In this episode:

• The evolution of content over time, from print to digital media to twitter, where content is the user’s identity
• Jarrod’s start as a content creator writing a music blog so he could get free tickets to shows
• Getting a job on the native marketing team at Huffington Post through a Craigslist ad
• The evolution of native marking and branded content from a relatively new concept to something that is done as standard, instead of something thoroughly planned and utilized to its fullest
• Learning from mistakes and gaining a proper perspective
• The need to move out of your comfort zone and unlearn what has worked in the past in order to push forward into a new era
• The importance of evaluating your brand’s value and strengths to find a business approach that works for them and not following trends, i.e. companies flocking to the subscription model because that is the current trend
• The evolution of branded content from brands teaming with publishers to get their products in front of more people and scale up to a way of sharing a brand’s story effectively rather than just distribution
• The need to transparency from outlets to show the work that goes into their content and why it is therefore worth spending money on a subscription and to lend validity to the product
• The danger of fake news and publications that put out misleading or falsified articles, and how publishers should be reacting to this trend
• The importance of reputation and the relationship between the writer and reader in news and content in general moving forward
• Jarrod shares a potential news publisher model that is closer to a music management model or early TV news
• Jarrod talks about fatherhood and his approach to exposing his two children to media
• How growing up in a musical household affected Jarrod’s exposure and early interactions with content and media and sparked his career
• Some of the industry leaders who inspire Jarrod

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How does an Oscar-winning, major sports network look at content creation and battle changing consumer priorities? Adam Neuhaus, Director of Development for ESPN Films and Original Content, discusses going from pitching ideas to hearing pitches, the nature of content through the lens of filmmakers, why ESPN took a revolutionary strategy and won, why story is first and sport is second, the need to take risks, and great ideas always win over whatever format in which they are presented. He joins hosts Natasha Cholerton Brown (COO of Clippn), Ritesh Gupta (Head of Content for Vayner Productions), and Michael Villasenor (Executive Creative Director of Product Design Experience for Hearst). 

• Why the demand for quality storytelling has led to a rise in true crime and multi-part documentaries
• The explosion of content in recent years, and how that is likely to continue with Disney and Apple entering the video streaming service marketplace
• The role of gatekeepers of media, and the importance of curation and honing a brand
• The importance of the directorial “POV” voice in media, and how that directorial focus has been utilized by ESPN with 30 For 30 to let filmmakers tell the stories they want to tell
• How that unique and unpredictable element drives engagement from viewers and builds a following
• The importance of relationships in how Adam and ESPN Films’ approach to working with directors and documentary projects
• How ESPN Films initiates projects, from pitches being sent in to Adam and his team looking for people who have stories they want to tell
• Some of Adam’s favorite projects he’s worked on 
• What Adam is doing to widen the aperture of ESPN Films’ scope to encompass athleticism, adventure, and competition in general, and not limited to strictly “sports” 
• The “target goal” for ESPN Films, and how programming like 30 For 30 has broken beyond content made only for sports fans
• Adam brings in some nondairy allergen-friendly ice cream 
• Adam’s career trajectory, from working at small production companies, to working at IFP, to the William Morris Agency (now WME), and Paradigm as he shifted gears from working with agencies towards working as a creative
• Why film is so important to Adam
• Adam’s path towards being a media developer, from being an assistant to a producer
• The importance of doing what it is you want to do, even if it’s starting on a small scale, as you play the long game towards the position you want
• Headsets and Highballs, the networking group Adam started back when he was working as an assistant, and how it has grown over the years
• Cord cutting, and how ESPN has reacted to this by embracing streaming and taking part in other network bundles, along with forward-thinking business ventures
• The new opportunities that streaming platforms provide to ESPN that would be impossible on a broadcast schedule
• Adam’s work at Radical Media and Original Media, working on indie films, branded content, YouTube channels, and reality TV, which prepared him to work at ESPN Films
• How Adam’s work in various areas of media has shaped the enthusiastic, honest, and respectful approach he brings to his job now
• Adam breaks down what makes (or breaks) a successful pitch that lands on his desk
• Plus, we get to know a little more about Adam, his career goals, his love for basketball, and how according to his 3rd grade report card, he hasn’t changed all that much!

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Connecting and strategizing content with the way our brains react and engage...

Dr. Paul Zak, scientist, entrepreneur and author of several books including "Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies.",, joins host Ritesh Gupta (Head of Content for Vayner Productions) in the MouthMedia Network studios.

• Neuroconomics—why people make decisions
• Why decisions are variable, people make mistakes and respond to content
• A look at the change in brain chemistry when responding to content
• Grabbing the brain in the right way, motivating charitable inclinations/giving
• Oxytocin -  associated with things mammals do—reduces fear of being around other people, helps people get along, and can turn on positive social behaviors like trust charity
• Looking at content second by second, when onee checks out, when not paying attention
• The “give a sh*&” measure
• Conflict so we care about how things resolve
• Advertising - short may be better
• The miss of sloppy storytelling
• A testing process including wearable sensor, cloud-based, in a bar the way people might watch ads
• Why liking a commercial isn’t important, it is the actions that matter
• Generate conflict, the end of conflict and a high immersive point
• Why it matters to not resolve conflict, and end on tension point
• Immersion neuroscience vs. focus groups
• Why our brains cant process and communicate complex emotional experiences
• Grabbing the brain in a way that engages
• Strategizing movie trailers
• Thinking about bladder capacity
• Building a predictive model
• Immersion index
• Testing ads for an agency
• Why the small screen is more immersive than the large screen
• Why watching repeats of TV shows and movies is entertaining 
• Why valleys/breathers are necessary, in a tight and thoughtful way
• The biggest mistakes brands make in making content
• Narrative transportation

Thank you to Robert Murtfeld for the introduction to Dr. Zak.

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An in-depth discussion about the ways that content and media shape our understanding of emerging beauty companies and trends, through the lens of two beauty directors…

Jennifer Goldstein (Beauty Director and Features Editor, Marie Claire; Host of Fat Mascara Podcast) and Jessica Matlin (Beauty Director, Harper’s Bazaar; Host of Fat Mascara Podcast) join “Beauty Is Your Business” hosts Karen Moon (CEO and Co-Founder of Trendalytics) and Abby Wallach (Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Scentinvent Technologies), along with Content Is Your Business host Amber Mundinger (SVP, Live Media & Strategic Partnerships, Rolling Stone Magazine) as part of a MouthMedia Network Live event recorded in front of a live audience at Experience Knotel.

The interactive space ia located in the heart of Noho in New York City (666 Broadway) and designed to showcase the experience of working in a flexible, adaptable, always energized environment. Sponsored by Knotel – Your agile business deserves an agile space. Knotel will find, customize, and operate your ideal office while you focus on your business. Discover more at www.knotel.com.

In this episode:

• There’s something lush about a print ad
• How the “Fat Mascara” podcast got started, telling more of the story than print or digital publications will do
• Picking shea nuts in Ghana, Goldstein and Matlin meeting each other
• Knowing the difference between editorial content or branded content, and being clear
• The use of “Presented by…” and what consumers and readers are used to seeing now
• Who does native content well, smart content
• Consumers are smarter, writers need to tell stories very well
• New rules are changing things, how readers can tell the difference
• The need for education for the consumer
• Fact-checking
• A higher standard to abide by
• Can’t promote things that aren’t science as a writer
• The era of “fake news”
• A recent scandal – influencers are paid to speak negatively about other brands, and one who is reported to have said she won’t speak negatively if she is paid by that brand
• Mistrust of media and journalism
• A code of ethics
• Is there really no bad press?
• The call for a governing body for influencers?
• Social media’s Achilles heel for accuracy and truthfulness and abuse
• Scotland, a good lip product, hair like you got off a motorcycle, algae and seaweed forests, a perfume school wish, a migraine, partnership give and take and the rhythm of constant communication

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Philanthropic media brand featuring women of empowerment, fashion supporting causes, and environment…

What’s it like to build a magazine? From scratch. In your living room, with a team of interns. Without any experience, because you came from the fashion world, not publishing.

And not just any magazine: It’s digital, and turns pages so the experience is like a printed magazine with rich media extending beyond the pages. And each issue is more than 400 pages of extraordinary content with remarkable personalities. It also has a strong social mission at its core.

Karina Givargisoff, Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Mission Magazine, joins Pavan Bahl (president of MouthMedia Network), host Dalia Strum, and guest host Amber Mundinger (SVP, Live Media & Strategic Partnerships for Rolling Stone) in front of a live audience on location at Spring Place. MouthMedia Network studios are powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Givargisoff’s path to Mission Magazine, how she used to be a fashion editor, moved from London, and what led to starting Mission
• After seeing a friend suffer, wanting to combine fashion and raising awareness for social causes
• How generally female students fro\m Parsons New School of Design help putting together 400 pages of content
• How to decide what missions to get behind
• How causes are always women and environment, with issues coming up on mental health, want to do human trafficking issue, then teenage issue and social media
• How the magazine turned into something startling, a fully digital magazine that flips like a paper magazine
• What Givargisoff took from working at WWD, being a stylist a lot of job skills came over, managing a team meeting deadlines, good under pressure, problem solving
• How the magazine is a positive thing that needs to exist, socially cause driven
• Why Mission is focusing on local charities first, how vetting them with big support from Grant Thornton pro bono
• How a percentage goes to charity after operating costs
• Why treatment of girls in India and getting home safely been an important cause for Givargisoff
• Being nimble and a small company, able to quickly pivot and change
• Announcing the splitting into two entities – one for profit, one not for profit
• Wanting to make a documentary series for each issue
• Operating without a rulebook, it hasn’t been done before
• Third issue is on mental health because of what Givargisoff has been through
• Reactions from people in the media space, others, had one person from a big fashion brands say she’ll never do it, and how that motivated
• So focused on the social mission, kept forgetting about the fashion
• The effective albeit scrappy team
• And an incredible story of humility, of falling, and of getting up again

The post Karina Givargisoff of Mission Magazine – The Good Troublemaker appeared first on Content Is Your Business.

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Visual and contextual content relating to digital technology as a portal to amazing experiences…

Julie Vargas (Director, Digital Solutions) and Jonathan Aitken (Director, RFID and Digital Partnerships) at Avery Dennison join host Dalia Strum and guest host Pavan Bahl on location at the Retail Innovation Lounge at South by Southwest (located in in Max’s Wine Dive) in Austin, TX. MouthMedia Network is powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Taking that extra piece and turning into an amazing experience and content
• The trend of personalization
• Augmented reality, tech behind authentication, and how consumers can bring products to life
• A focus on integration of RFID into Rebecca Minkoff’s products, extending the relationship with brands after purchase, gamification
• Apple’s camera with QR codes, and are QR codes back?
• The future of using connective devices and UGC, Lululemon’s UGC app, how people are hungry to share their content, a lot of UGC are not noticed by brands despite being the most effective content
• How brands start working with Avery Dennison, and the kinds of brands they work with
• RFID allowing a path to real-time inventory visibility
• Trends toward sustainability and transparency, doing business as a collective, storytelling applications that are made possible with RFID, and a marriage of blockchain and RFID
• Working with in-house content teams/studios vs. guiding as an agency
• How tech has allowed and enabled opportunities
• Creating an emotional connection with products
• The “mitten story” as a great example of the power of RFID
• Creating stepping stones, the path from QR codes to AR, serializing experiences, near- field tags
• Ecosystem with partners, and a partnerships with MishiPay
• What’s possible in a cloud-based model

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Marketing with influencers and digital social engagement…

Beca Alexander, Co-Founder and President of Socialyte (a premier influencer marketing and casting agency), joins Lisa Berger, Dalia Strum, and Edward Hertzman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser. Presented by 24 Seven Talent.

From blogger to agency co-founder, four influencer categories, and being authentic and faithful to audiences

Alexander discusses how she fell into digital social engagement, was a blogger in fashion news and sold the blog despite not being profitable, she went to corporate America, had friends in the digital social engagement space who started personal style blogging, brands were reaching out, and they don’t know what to charge. She said she could negotiate their deals and take a cut, and then started Socialyte 3 ½ years ago, how the company acts as middle man to amplify brand messaging between services and brands to reach the right consumers, and how the only money used to be Google ads but that has changed dramatically. She mentions how she and her team began taking money from brands to write about the brands and became exhausted from running many stories daily, 24/7. Alexander received an offer to go to work, and also got an offer to sell the blog from a media company wanting to buy traffic from content websites. The blog articles were very opinion driven, and one can create traffic for differentiation but are brands skeptical about aligning? Influencers are in four different categories, and can be considered content creator. People follow people because they are posting about their luxury lifestyle. There are influencers, then there is actual high quality content, highly setup, with beautiful images curated in the feed, as if they could be in a magazine. Are these influencer posts reality or a manufactured, and how do they afford this lifestyle? How Socialyte is vetting content creators, looking for authenticity and consistent creation of content that is authentic and faithful to audience.

Micro-influencers, lone wolves and doubling up, and higher income for women

She touches on a love/hate relationship with micro-influencers, how they don’t generally understand the business of influencer marketing, but this is one of the reasons Socialyte comes into the conversation, with them often being the first agency that sends them a 12 page contract and they “freak out”. What the micro-influencers do, where the agency sends them a product, the influencer creates an image for a product. Occasionally, micro-influencers are introduced to timelines that they don’t understand or appreciate — missing a day or deadline can have a significant impact on the entire campaign. What is the level of engagement brand wants to see? Alexander discusses how there is talent management, how influencer failures impact contractual expectations, why Socialyte requires influencers to keep content and posts on for a year, when posting products becomes no longer authentic, the 50/50 sponsor-to-organic content ratio needed, and engagement levels. She mentions how the audience will tolerate sponsored content if post is authentic, the way influencers can be sponsored, how there is no template for this process, KPI’s are different for every brand, and influencers are humans, not commodities, so everyone is an individual that creates content and shares it in very specific ways. Influencers have been seen as lone wolves, as they are limited in seeing the circles around them. Now influencers are friends with other influencers because they share similar lifestyles, how this can result in them posting together and getting double content which looks like more organic content. She says that consumers are living vicariously through influencers, how influencers enjoy travel trips for content, being able to segment by location, and how this is one industry in which men are making less money as influencers than females.

Vetting brands and influencers, two hours of Instgaram, and becoming Beca

Alexander details, in a round of personal questions, the considerations for vetting of brands, taking an agency fee, declining brands and products dealing with smoking and sex, her obsession with human psychology and how the brain works, vetting influencers on their business goals, being a basic human, how her schedule starts with two hours of Instagram daily, tattoos, being from Ukraine, boring Cleveland, a tramp stamp, how self awareness results in informed decisions, conserving brain capacity, being very accessible by email, and how her name became Beca.

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