All about our podcast - Insider InSites - and the experts we have - and WILL - speak to, in the media, marketing and advertising industry.

In recognition of Black History Month, this episode of Insider InSites brought together two talented MediaVillage journalists -Phil McKenzie, a cultural anthropologist and expert in influencer marketing, and Ainsley Andrade, an entertainment reporter with a background in the arts - who shared their opinions and insights on the representation of people of color in advertising and media with host E.B. Moss. 

How any culture is portrayed in media is of great importance, whether it's Mrs. Maisel or Fresh Off the Boat, since impressions are lasting and imprint on society. The unique backgrounds of Andrade and McKenzie made for an interesting combination of POVs on the impressions specifically being made now by portrayals of black culture in media.  

We discuss programs like The Neighborhood, Black-ish, and Atlanta; cultural authenticity in content...The Super Bowl – and whether even “to be in, or not to be in...”, Black Panther, The Green Book, on through the accessibility of audio for creators of color. Do you know the compromises Donald Glover made to get Atlanta made? Or what Kenya Barris wants people to laugh at?   

This is a don't-miss, real, conversation. 

In recognition of Black History Month, Episode 27 of Insider InSites features two talented MediaVillage journalists - Phil McKenzie, a cultural anthropologist and expert in influencer marketing, and Ainsley Andrade, an entertainment reporter with a background in the arts - who shared their opinions and insights on the representation of people of color in advertising and media. How authentic is The Neighborhood? Atlanta? Should ad agencies still consider Super Bowl ads? Listen and learn.

For almost a decade the bible on media consumption trends across 40 different countries has been the Global Media Intelligence Report. With some 500 charts and benchmarks and analyses it tracks, for example, which devices are hot, how audio compares to video, where print is more popular than game consoles or even how big social media is in, say, China versus Spain.

The full report, which polled 16-64 year old internet users, is available to Publicis Media clients, or eMarketer subscribers, but for Episode 26 of Insider InSites, Charlene Weisler and E.B. Moss sat down to talk about the findings with two of the experts. Hear from report author, Karin von Abrams, eMarketer Principal Analyst, on changes this year vs last; and Kelly Kokonas, EVP Global Data Strategy, Technology and Analytics for Starcom, who provides interpretation and application of the findings which marketers will want to heed.

We discuss:

• China - on the bleeding edge of change
• Media overload
• Total media usage may stay constant but which different formats are thriving and which are declining
• Data Deluge
• Smartphones are paramount
• Advertisers on creating experiences that are empowered by the smartphone
• Tablet use is declining among adults, but who's still tapping in?
• Social Media rules and disrupts
• Radio and Print have transformed, so the worst is (generally) over.

For almost a decade the bible on media consumption trends across 40 different countries has been the Global Media Intelligence Report. With some 500 charts and benchmarks and analyses it tracks, for example, which devices are hot, how audio compares to video, where print is more popular than game consoles or even how big social media is in, say, China versus Spain.

The full report, which polled 16-64 year old internet users, is available to Publicis Media clients, or eMarketer subscribers, but for Episode 26 of Insider InSites, Charlene Weisler and E.B. Moss sat down to talk about the findings with two of the experts. Hear from report author, Karin von Abrams, eMarketer Principal Analyst, on changes this year vs last; and Kelly Kokonas, EVP Global Data Strategy, Technology and Analytics for Starcom, who provides interpretation and application of the findings which marketers will want to heed.

We discuss:

• China - on the bleeding edge of change
• Media overload
• Total media usage may stay constant but which different formats are thriving and which are declining
• Data Deluge
• Smartphones are paramount
• Advertisers on creating experiences that are empowered by the smartphone
• Tablet use is declining among adults, but who's still tapping in?
• Social Media rules and disrupts
• Radio and Print have transformed, so the worst is (generally) over.

E.B. Moss managed to grab about half hour with Kirk McDonald between his back to back meetings at CES 2019 for this episode 25 of the Insider InSites podcast. Why is he so busy? He’s the Chief Marketing Officer of Xandr, the advertising and analytics division of a little company called AT&T. 

McDonald’s rise from the world of magazines to heading digital companies, even his recent nod as one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, is a compelling story alone, but it’s capped off with a must-read tale of how he’s marketing the new brand and power of Xandr.

We began by discussing his bio, which makes excellent use of storytelling – starting off with a poem about perseverance and ending with his personal mission statement about trust. You'll hear how storytelling is emblematic of McDonald’s own belief system as well as his approach marketing.

We then talked about:

"How was that publishing industry that I'd loved so much going to be disruptive just as our personal lives had been turned over into this new opportunity afforded by the birth of the internet?"

...and about

"the emergence of ad-serving technology and the ability to bring machine learning and algorithms to how we make decisions about where ads would run and how it was going to transform the industry."

I asked:

What’s your perspective on the media and ad environment then and now?

How does Xandr fit in with AT&T, which now has so many media properties as well?  

At your kickoff event, Brian Lesser called Xandr a new kind of advertising company. What does that mean?

How can you bring technology and data to make advertising matter?

In the second half of the podcast

...We delved into the job of developing and communicating the Xandr brand itself, and why a through line is key to this ambitious endeavor for AT&T. Hint: McDonald believes “the success at doing that is in the details.” He explained the thinking behind the brand name, how you market "change" in an industry like advertising and media, and tips for other B2B marketers. 

Listen for their approach to tackling 2020, too!

Thanks for listening, liking, sharing and subscribing to Insider InSites from MediaVillage.com!

How do you use technology and data to make advertising matter? CMO, Kirk McDonald of AT&T's new ad and analytics division, Xandr, tells Insider InSites host, E.B. Moss, how they're marketing relevance and change.

McDonald shares his perspective on the media and ad environment from the Mad Men era to now, how Xandr fits in with and works across AT&T and its many media properties, and why they call Xandr a "new kind of advertising company" that's using technology and data to "make advertising matter."

Since 2004 KoAnn Skrzyniarz (more easily known as just “KoAnn”) has been a force of – and for -- nature. She is Founder/CEO of the internationally respected Sustainable Brands community, which has inspired a global community to turn environmental and social challenges into business opportunities for companies. The conferences have grown to be in 13 countries with active communities everywhere from Turkey to Thailand, Cape Town to Copenhagen. In this podcast, KoAnn, a former business to business marketing executive, explains how they’ve built a “bridge to better brands,” and how companies from Procter & Gamble to CNN are embracing sustainability for their – and everyone’s – greater good.  

In this conversation with E.B. Moss, KoAnn explains why it's not called "Corporate Social 'Responsibility'" any more, and shares examples of how companies from P&G and AFLAC to CNN have raised both the bar on sustainability and profits. She also shares the five core principles that Sustainable Brand members must adhere to.  Hint: 

Here's a snippet of that discussion:

Skrzyniarz: There's been a lot of conversation about the challenges in the industry, that more than half the Fortune 500 companies are in decline, and to refocus marketing around driving growth. The beautiful thing is that now there are more and more examples that demonstrate how embedding environmental and social good into your brand does drive sales, does drive growth, does drive brand loyalty, makes brands relevant again -- this is a pathway to fixing all of that.

Moss: Stats show it's very important to consumers and prefer the brand that displays sensitivity and sustainability, as Marc showed in their campaign, "Love Over Bias..." (As you know, MediaVillage is very focused on D&I as well, with our Advancing Diversity Honors -- where we'll be honoring Marc Pritchard as well as ANA’s Bob Liodice and others at CES.)

Skrzyniarz: Beautiful. ....P&G is seeing the halo effect of its efforts on brand reputation and sales, which is part of what's driving his confidence. Obviously, racial and other sorts of conflicts between groups of people are on the rise, and that’s a massive risk for sustainability. There are social issues that put us all at risk, as well as environmental issues. Now is the perfect time for the Brands for Good coalition that we are launching.

Moss: And we have to balance how we communicate with what we communicate...

Skrzyniarz: Yes, to be not necessarily perfect but authentic in communication.

Moss: And are you still hopeful in our current political environment?

Skrzyniarz: More so, actually, in a strange way. Though of course companies would like to have a legislative regulatory landscape that makes it easier for them to make tough decisions and level the playing field, but while hope for that has disappeared that doesn't change the reality that all the companies we deal with understand.

For example, I was just talking to a large coffee company who acknowledges that the world is running out

KoAnn Skrzyniarz has been a force of and for nature. She is Founder/CEO of the Sustainable Brands community, which has inspired a global community to turn environmental and social challenges into business opportunities. The conferences in 13 countries help build a “bridge to better brands".  

In this conversation with E.B. Moss, KoAnn shares how companies from P&G and AFLAC to CNN have raised done well by doing good, along with the five core principles that Sustainable Brand members must adhere to.

Kiran Smith is four months in to her new role of Chief Executive Officer of Arnold Worldwide, and what intrigued me immediately was not only hearing a fresh perspective, but from someone who had never worked on the agency side before... Here's the topline. Listen to Episiode 23 of MediaVillage.com's Insider InSites for the full story! 

E.B. Moss:  Kiran Smith, you were most recently Chief Marketing Officer at Brookstone, and before that you headed marketing at Stride Rite, and Shaw's Supermarkets. So you came up through the marketing ranks to be CEO of Arnold Worldwide. Tell us more.

Kiran Smith: ...As I said to the recruiter, "You know I don't have a day of agency experience, right?" He said, "That's exactly why we want to talk to you." So, I just expressed my opinions on what I thought about agencies and the opportunity for CMOs. ...CMOs are under more pressure than ever. Their budgets are getting tighter, their teams are getting leaner, and they're looking for partners to help them address the business needs, give them an independent perspective on what's going on in theirs and other industries.

..I'm not a creative person. I'm a business person and despite the fact that I'm a marketer, I am a computer science major, so it's a very atypical type of trajectory.... Arnold is a creative powerhouse; what I didn't appreciate was the amount of capabilities we have from a business insights, strategies and analytics standpoint, and that allows us to be able to better serve our clients. So, it's not about the creative alone, it really is about everything we surround the creative with.

Moss: What are you recommending as new channels of application to your clients?

Smith: Our job is to stay ahead of trends so that we can better advise our clients. What's going on with AR, with Voice, with AI? They need us to be their partner in looking forward so that we can tell them how we can apply it to their businesses. [But] the first thing we say is, "Just because everyone's doing it doesn't mean that you have to, too." ....

Moss: In terms of how you prioritize your approach for clients, is it a split in terms of performance versus content?

Smith: Content has to perform... it can't be creative for creative’s sake. What behavior are we looking to get from someone interacting with that content? All of that has to live in the analytics portion of it, because if we just do it because it looks good, sounds good, then we're not doing our jobs well.

 

Moss: What are some of your favorite examples of that amazing creative from Arnold?

Smith: Progressive [and] the success of the Flo campaign...but also going into new parts. ...We just did an activation with Santander around homelessness in Boston which was unbelievable from an engagement, cause marketing, and use of AR technology standpoint.

Moss: How do you approach storytelling at the agency?

Smith: I give our creatives credit for working so well with our insights and strategy team to say, "Okay, tell me about the consumer. Tell me about the opportunity. ..." They take all of that into account and then they write the story. That, for me, is so much more impactful because it's creative with a purpose.

Moss: Where do you pull your data from primarily?

Smith: We obviously have syndicated data. We also do a fair amount of our own qualitative or quantitative research for every sin