Embracing Digital Marketing and What We Can Learn from Comic Book Stores with Jeff Ferguson
Release Date: 07/02/2020
How To Be the Jenny To the Industry’s Forrest Gump with Zach Rodgers
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Kevin has a fun chat with Zach Rodgers, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Marketecture Media, a new media venture that helps people navigate the world of marketing technology. Zach also ran AdExchanger’s editorial operations and supported programming strategy for the company’s Programmatic IO and Industry Preview Events. Zach and Kevin discuss editorial independence, how Marketecture can help assist vendor conversations, and how Marketecture’s products and offerings can help both ad tech and marketing executives. Takeaways: [3:31] Zach believes in editorial independence and that...
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The Hypocrisy of Woke Capitalism with Jennifer Sey
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Jennifer Sey is an author, business executive, and retired artistic gymnast. She’s also known in the marketing world for spending a great deal of time with Levi Strauss, as she managed all aspects of the brand as brand president, including product. Jennifer and Kevin talk about the hypocrisy of woke capitalism, and why brands should focus on having open and transparent conversations with their audience, or just decide to make it more about the product and less about taking a stand on an issue they might not be ready to fully back up. Jennifer and Kevin discuss a few examples of brand...
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Dirty, Dangerous, and a Little Dull: Chris Cunningham of C2V
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Kevin welcomes Chris Cunningham, a true living legend in the digital space and a 20-year media and tech veteran who is a serial entrepreneur turned early-stage venture capitalist. Chris recently launched a $10 million early-stage venture to fund the C2V brand. He talks about how they select the brands in their portfolios. The guys give their real thoughts for better or worse on the Bay Area, comparing Shrek to Silicon Valley, and a few examples of the old economy legacy industries that are ripe for disruption. It’s a down-and-dirty discussion about disrupting the industries that may or may...
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The Future of Online Gaming, The Metaverse, and Google’s Collusion with Mike Shields
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Kevin first gives his take on the slap heard across the world and then welcomes guest Mike Shields, Founder of Shields Strategic Consulting, host of Next in Marketing Podcast, and former writer and editor at Business Insider, Digiday, Adweek, and Wall Street Journal. They discuss how the world of online gaming is changing our society, a few important questions to ask as we possibly head into the Metaverse, and how to get to the point where we don’t have a detachment from reality while consuming these things. They also discuss collusion in our browsers, how we protect where our first-party...
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Focus on the Value You Create, Not on Yourself with Mark Naples
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Mark Naples is the founder of WIT Strategy and has led strategic efforts on behalf of more than 450 companies, complete company re-positioning campaigns, and dozens of corporate and product launches. He joins the show today to talk about keeping your ego checked, why “bro culture” holds back brands, the importance of setting ground rules and keeping your principles honed, and building trust and true rapport with the media. Kevin also shares the wonderful yet horrible experiences he had while running for office! Takeaways: [9:44] Mark and Kevin talk about a few intense interactions...
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Kate Kaye Explains WTF is Going On With Google and Their Privacy Budget
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Kate Kaye is an award-winning tech journalist who has published work in many places including MIT Technology Review and NPR. Kate covered the data industry for Ad Age and digital political campaigns for ClickZ. She joins Kevin this week to talk about Google’s Privacy Budget, the Privacy Sandbox Initiative, and how we get people to care about the disruption that is taking place. She explains the different ways industry groups are both hurting and helping their constituents, and how she feels the future of data tracking and privacy will go. Finally, Kate and Kevin discuss the need for more...
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Radical Transparency with Jonathan Elist of Penuma
TMI with Kevin Ryan
This week, Kevin welcomes Jonathan Elist, CEO of Penuma, an amazing solution for men that is not your traditional product. Jonathan discusses what Penuma is, and how radical transparency and trust are at the top of Penuma’s core values. He talks about some of the challenges in building the community, and how they balance both in-house marketing with agency outreach. He and Kevin also discuss Google Ads, Reddit, and word of mouth as a way to grow brand awareness and attract a network of happy customers and top-notch physicians. Takeaways: [2:38] Jonathan talks about building patient...
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Leaning into Agility and Holacracy with Nita Sanger
TMI with Kevin Ryan
The digital transformation is changing every aspect of how companies do business, and the most successful companies are those who are leaning into these changes. Nita Sanger joins the show as the director of digital advisory practice at Cherry Bekaert and master of strategic intelligence, common sense, and in-practice digital transformation. She has seen firsthand the effect that the rapid pace of technology change has on companies of all sizes. She discusses the ways successful companies use technology to create a competitive advantage, the importance of company culture, and the role of...
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You Are Your Own Brand with Elizabeth Nader
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Elizabeth Nader can tell right away whether she is coaching someone that has what it takes to succeed. Yes, talent and intelligence are important, but the ability to be coached is what takes someone that extra step further and gets them to grow past their limiting beliefs. As a coach, entrepreneur, author, and speaker, Elizabeth’s mission is to help people realize that they aren’t in competition with anyone else, just themselves. She joins the show this week to talk about the importance of embarrassing failure, taking a closer look at our limiting beliefs, who the enemy of our brand really...
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Bringing Game Development to the People: Kathryn Guess of Microsoft Game Stack
TMI with Kevin Ryan
Kathryn Guess is a Product Manager for Microsoft, who built Game Stack and Azure PlayFab brands from the ground up. She joins the show this week to talk about how gaming isn’t the isolating experience one thinks it may be, and how gaming actually helps build communities and join people together — especially during the pandemic. She talks about the important and challenging issues in gaming regarding mental health and reporting domestic abuse, what the democratization of gaming means for both individuals and developers, and how gaming can contribute to a holistic lifestyle. ...
info_outlineJeff Ferguson joins the show to talk about how brands are stepping up to reengineer their digital involvement to rise and meet the needs of our current climate. Jeff has been on the scene since the early days of digital as a writer for the trades, speaker, and leader in agency, publishing, and the client-side. Jeff and Kevin discuss the role of entrepreneurs to problem-solve and give hope to the industry, adding the notion that we may even take some of these practices with us after the pandemic is over. Then, Jeff and Kevin give examples of the good, bad, and ugly of media responses from different companies about the pandemic, and even slip into a fun role-playing segment of the show!
Takeaways:
- While a few comic book stores and record shops remain closed in all ways, Jeff noticed that there were some that adopted creative strategies to both move inventory and stay connected with their fan base.
- Some of the new advertising practices we develop in the pandemic will stick with us in the future and become new ways to engage with customers in a positive way (a fancy term for making money).
- Jeff predicts a shift where both smaller and bigger businesses will realize that including a digital portion of their brand or services will get them that direct-to-consumer sales channel.
- Also, traditional media channels are seeing the way digital can rewrite, recut, and reimagine their advertising instead of shutting it all down, and they may follow suit in this way as well.
- Things are going to be different, but it’s not going to be that bad, despite what some advertising reports may tell you.
- Indulgent posts from CEO’s and grandstanding with a sales message both don’t help. What does help is honest and transparent communication and true care for the brands’ customers and their community.
Quotes:
- “There will be enduring things that we have learned that will stick with us.”
- Entrepreneurialism has always been about solving problems.”
- “You have to be able to transform and do whatever you need to do.”
Mentioned in This Episode:
Geeky Quote from Matt Damon Mars Movie
“The COVID-19 Shuffle: How Businesses Embraced Digital Marketing to Survive the Pandemic”
“The COV-Ad Pandemic, And How to Avoid It”
“Rag and Bone’s ‘Why We’re Lowering Our Prices’ Letter is the Biggest Load of Horsesh*t”