The Brave Technologist

Justin Hochberg, CEO of the Virtual Brand Group, shares how he's helping brands have an omnichannel metaverse presence including his work with Forever21 and NBC's The Voice. He also discusses how to decide which metaverse platforms are best for your brand to start with, and how to define success when there's limited information available.

In this episode we discuss:

• Justin's approach to converting eyeballs into revenue – helping organizations innovate while remaining fiscally responsible
• Getting buy-in from leaders across an organization who are unsure about taking a chance with Web3
• How their team worked with Roblox to create Forever21's first digital fashion collection in the metaverse
• Launching the most watched TV Show in the world - The Voice - into the metaverse

Guest Bio: Justin Hochberg is the CEO of the Virtual Brand Group, an award-winning metaverse pioneer that transforms global brands into metaverse businesses. They've partnered across 5 sectors fashion, retail, sports, lifestyle and entertainment, to deliver immersive experiences, social games, digital marketing campaigns, virtual merchandise and loyalty reward programs that make companies money. It is most well known for transforming Forever 21 from an IRL trend fashion brand into a "Top 10 metaverse brand for 2023 listed among Prada, Gucci and Nike".

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Mark van Rijmenam, Strategic Futurist and Founder of the Digital Futures Institute, discusses the many complex and exciting ways the shift from a 2D to a 3D internet will impact our lives. He also urges us to fight for an open metaverse as part of this shift in order to protect our data and future digital selves.

In this episode we discuss:

• How marketers and advertisers will need to shift their approach - think more deeply and strategically - to market in the metaverse effectively
• Why it's not enough to say your product will make your consumer happy anymore – your advertisement itself needs to create a joyful experience
• Examples of how augmented reality and a decentralized Web3 Internet will benefit various sectors from manufacturing, sports, gaming and more
• How he wrote his latest book in 5 days using AI (ChatGPT)
• Creating brand experiences to effectively engage with Generation Alpha

Guest Bio:

Dr Mark van Rijmenam is The Digital Speaker. He is a leading future tech strategist who thinks about how emerging technologies change organizations, society and the metaverse. He is the founder of the Digital Futures Institute, with a mission to ensure a fair digital future for everyone. Van Rijmenam is an international keynote speaker, and 4x author.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Quinn Campbell, VP of Growth at Sky Mavis, discusses how they're working with Web3 content creators, and the critical role these partners play in converting the masses to Web3. Quinn also shares how he thinks marketers are missing the mark in Web3 marketing by focusing on tech features over the experiential impact Web3 has on the end user.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The future of Web3 growth tech and resources for your marketing tech stack
• Advertising payment models: making things people want to buy
• Why a bear market is a beautiful thing!
• The biggest existential question in Web3: how do we convert the masses?

Guest Bio: Quinn Campbell is the VP of Growth at Sky Mavis, which is a web3 tech company, NFT games publisher, and the developer of Axie Infinity. During his time in web3, Quinn has: negotiated Google Play's first-ever approval for a blockchain-linked & NFT-integrated game, shipped the industry's largest web3 creator program, developed Sky Mavis's conversion rate optimization squad and more!

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Ryan Kumar, Founder and CEO of Mintdropz, explains why we're in the caveman stages of an unexplored metaverse. He shares his predictions for when we can expect to see mainstream adoption of the metaverse and what needs to happen first

In this episode we discuss:

• Making cold outreach personal via Twitter and email marketing
• The state of the crypto market and mindsets for investor success
• Why the next phase of the metaverse will be social

Guest Bio:

Ryan Kumar is the founder of Mintdropz - a Decentralized Social Media platform, built to help creators build, grow, and monetize their communities.

With a market cap of over $100m Mintdropz is partnered / backed by the biggest blockchains, Polygon, Algorand, Celo & Avalanche.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Jon Hook, CMO at PlayEmber, discusses their efforts to attract more gamers by removing the blockchain infrastructure as a barrier. He also explains how marketers can apply this across sectors outside of gaming to increase mainstream adoption of their Web3 projects.

In this episode we discuss:

• Creating custom content for unique social media channels and accommodating their algorithms (advertising on Twitter versus marketing on TikTok)
• Gaming in the metaverse and how the experience is (and is not) changing for players
• Mental health in Web3 and gaming: why the problem is only getting bigger and the role leaders and companies should play

Guest Bio:

Jon Hook is the CMO at PlayEmber - a creator monetisation platform to help games studios, brands, web3 artists and NFT collections monetise their products and services.

Previously he was CEO at BoomBit Group, CRO at Homa Games, and the co-founder of Odyssey Mobile

Jon is also an active angel investor in the gaming sector with investments covering mobile games studios, Web3 games and platforms, gaming tech.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Andrew Milich, CEO of Skiff, discusses their commitment to consumer privacy despite its associated marketing challenges. He explains how their team has gotten creative with their marketing strategies - utilizing privacy preserving forms of marketing to reach their desired audiences.

In this episode we discuss:

• How to balance advertising quality and returns from your ads while still protecting privacy
• The intersection of crypto and privacy and how Skiff fits
• How market changes are impacting marketers, including marketing in Web3 channels
• Predictions for when crypto will finally displace major markets and infrastructure

Guest Bio:

Andrew Milich is the CEO and Co-founder of Skiff. Andrew grew up in New York City and graduated from Stanford University as the Henry Ford II Scholar. After spending years programming in security and autonomous vehicles - and spending time working around the world - Andrew founded Skiff. Skiff's email and collaboration products are an end-to-end encrypted, privacy-first workspace, enabling people around the world to communicate and collaborate more freely and effectively.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Michael Liu, SVP, Head of Innovation at Dentsu Media and Kevin Villatoro, Partnerships at Dentsu, share how their agency clients are responding to Web3 marketing opportunities and taking their first (small) steps. They also explain why Web3 isn't the channel to fight for attention, but rather to engage consumers in meaningful ways, embracing innovation while providing real value.

Key Takeaways:

• Trade offs marketers are making when choosing to experiment in the Metaverse
• Battling red tape and governance when getting your brand into Web3, and the value of getting finance and legal team on board from the get-go
• How to onboard the masses to Web3 and what's being built now to increase mainstream adoption of blockchain technologies
• Future predictions for the metaverse and how this will impact marketers

Guest Bio:

Michael Liu, SVP, Head of Innovation at Dentsu Media

Recently Michael has been focused on exploring new forms of incentive structures, consumer connection points, and new business models for brands via Web3 concepts and applications.

Kevin Villatoro Partnerships at Dentsu

Kevin works closely with other agencies to drive awareness of gaming, web3, and other future looking media channels. In his spare time he co-founded Satoshi's Index and has sold hundreds of NFTs.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Avery Akkineni, President of Vayner3, discusses the current state of Web3 adoption and her predictions for its future. She explains how brands are currently experimenting with Web 2.5 – a bridge offering the speed and ease of use from Web2 but with the ownership and self-sovereignty of Web3.

Key takeaways:

• The difference between stunt campaigns and always-on marketing when it comes to the metaverse and what it will take to succeed in Web3 channels
• Using Tokenproof to distribute NFTs for token-ticketed events
• Examples of the most meaningful partnerships and activations that have happened in Metaverse so far (e.g. Time, Budweiser, Adidas)

Guest Bio: Avery Akkineni is the President of Vayner3 - a consultancy she launched alongside serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.Partnering with dozens of Fortune 500 corporations across industries, Vayner3 has successfully advised organizations on strategic Web3 initiatives across cryptocurrency applications, NFT program development, and immersive digital experiences.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. Brave is also the browser with Web3 users, and the best onramp to Web3 and the metaverse.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Brands are navigating the new Web3 world and with it comes an opportunity for experimentation, innovation and engaging consumers in entirely new ways. But where do you start and when?

In this new season of The Brave Marketer Podcast, we're talking Web3 Marketing and how to market in the Metaverse.

You'll hear from marketers from top brands and agencies who will help us leverage this exciting moment in time, and take our brave marketing moments to the next level.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting web browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. This podcast will provide a backstage view of how leading marketers are solving the issues facing the advertising industry so that you too can be prepared for what's ahead.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Kelly Poquiz Burke, Associate Director of Brand Marketing & Strategy at Avocados From Mexico, discusses many of the brand experiences their team has launched in an effort to create a deep, emotional connection with consumers, despite lacking any marketing ability on their products themselves. She also shares her approach to Web3 marketing: sticking to a strategy instead of chasing shiny objects.

Key Takeaways:

• How to build integrated, omnichannel marketing campaigns for the Superbowl
• Ways that produce brands can join Web3 and implement activations for the Metaverse
• Importance of authentic, purpose driven marketing that showcases your brand values

Guest Bio: Kelly Burke is the Associate Director of Brand Marketing & Strategy at Avocados from Mexico and leads the brand equity efforts for the number 1 avocado brand in the U.S. For over 11 years, she has been passionate about building brands that touch people's lives every day, and has worked on household names like Frito-Lay, Chick-Fil-A, Central Market, GameStop, and DiGiorno. Prior to Avocados From Mexico, Kelly was the brand manager for Doritos, where she got to work on the multibillion dollar brand's Super Bowl campaigns. Kelly holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame. When she's not building brands, Kelly hosts the Career Slay podcast, helping people slay the fear in career.

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About this Show:

The Brave Marketer Podcast is hosted by Donny Dvorin, VP, Head of Sales at Brave Software - the makers of the privacy-respecting browser with a built-in ads platform that rewards users for their attention with the Basic Attention Token. Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insights into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world.

Music by: Ari Dvorin