Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 210

The Agency Is Dead. Long Live The Agency.

How will agencies attract and retain talent, when so many young marketing professionals are working for major brands, startups or companies like Snapchat?

It's time to debate, resolve and figure out the future of the agency model. Are you with me? Are you ready for a heated conversation? The venue has already been determined, but an event of this magnitude will not happen without your vote! We are hoping to make this happen at South by Southwest 2016... but it can't happen WITHOUT YOUR VOTE! 

Let me explain...

On July 16th, I published an article titled, Disruption, Disruption Everywhere, that was based on a quick, five-minute, presentation at International Startup Festival on what "keeps me up at night." I realized that the agency model had been disrupted by no less than ten competitive forces that are all vying for the same types of talent and clients as our agency, Mirum. Digital marketing agencies had quickly transformed from a blue ocean to a bloody red sea of competition. That article prompted others to publish "the agency is dead" types of pieces. From there, famed marketing author and entrepreneur, Joseph Jaffe, joined me on episode #465 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum podcast to debate how tech firms (and others) are pulling talent away from ad agencies. That's when we both knew that this would be a topic worthy of a SXSW event.

So, here's the provocation...   

Do you believe that if David Ogilvy or Bill Bernbach were alive today that they would be quaking in their boots? Right now, they're probably rolling around in their graves at the current reality. Is it possible that their beloved agencies could very well be a thing of the past? The world has changed so much. Today, Cannes Lions is run - not by creatives - but by the Facebooks, Twitters and Googles of the world. Can agencies survive this perfect storm? Will they prove to be the consummate cockroaches, and adapt... or will they die a slow and painful death (and will anyone notice or care)? Jaffe and I will argue the pros and the cons, and make the case as to the rise, fall and possibly even the resurrection of the endangered species known as "The Agency." We may even add some very special guests to this lively conversation.

Will you help us out and vote for this event to take place?

Jaffe and I will also answer the following questions:

How will agencies win the talent wars, when so many young stars are joining startups, tech companies, publishers or going to work directly for brands? 
What will agencies need to do to survive, as it relates to investing in technology, doing startup collaborations and/or seeking out new revenue streams? 
What's the best way to connect and build relationships with agencies (as a startup, vendor, tech provider), or is it better to go direct to the client?
What are the forces at play that are working against the agency model?
Which agencies have done the hard work of future-proofing their business models?
How will the major advertising and communications networks adapt?

Now, it's your turn.

Will you please support this panel by heading over to the SXW panel picker and voting for it (you will need to register)? I will also ask that you share this out with your network as well. Joseph and I know that this will be an exciting event, so we are very hopeful that you will play a small role in making it happen, by voting for us and sharing it with your community.

Let's make this happen!

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Is Producing Content The New Way That We Consume Media?

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Just Terry DiMonte this am... and it was great to have him back after his well-deserved vacation.
I spent the weekend at Heavy Montreal. Not only a great weekend of heavy music, but technology has become a part of what we consider "watching the show." From tweeting, Instagram and - yes - I was using Periscope to livestream Iggy Pop, Faith No More and even Warrant. Are we losing something by becoming producers instead of consumers? Or, is producing and creating content during a concert now part of what makes a concert experience great?
Last week was crazy town for the TV networks. Something happened. Billions upon billions of dollars of market capitalization "suddenly" disappeared. Is the TV Industrial Complex going to die? Is it finally crumbling under the weight of declining viewership, ad dollars and, most importantly, subscribers? Does the industry have to change? Disney is suddenly considering selling ESPN directly online to consumers (like HBO Go) and, is this just the beginning?
App of the week: Flinch (staring contests with friends and strangers!).

Listen here...

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ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

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terry dimonte

tv

twitter

warrant

wpp

What An Indie Musician Can Teach All Of Us About Digital Marketing (And Following Your Dreams)

I came across Mike Masse on YouTube. He was doing an acoustic version of Toto's massive hit Africa. I didn't believe anybody could do this song justice. I was wrong. That one video led me down the YouTube rabbit hole of all things Mike Masse. Now, three years later, this video has over five million views, Masse has quit his day job as a public defender and is a full-time musician. More importantly, he's making money in the music business, and he is focused on digital and social media. It's completely counter-intuitive to everything that we're hearing in the media, but Masse is doing it. YouTube, social media, selling music online and his latest, a Patreon connection with his fans. Trying to connect your business to your customers? You might learn a thing (or thirty) from Mike Masse. Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #474.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #268

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The Jaguar and the Fox - The Atlantic . "I was talking with a few people this week about the difference between Quantum and Newtonian physics. Of course, the conversation went to Richard Feynman. I'd never heard of Murray Gell-Mann; like many things, it's about marketing. '... there are other factors that count in the manufacture of fame. Gell-Mann knew how to package ideas, and he had a knack for giving whimsical, and unforgettable, names to the most abstract concepts in science. Feynman had a more vital gift: he knew how to package himself.'" (Alistair for Hugh).
When I'm Gone - Life Tips . "Sometimes, when I put these links together, I wonder, 'why bother?' Not because the link isn't good; but rather, because I know everyone will have seen it before long. This is one of those. Waterworks." (Alistair for Mitch).
Puppyslugs 'R Us: Part 1 - Boris Anthony . "We've all seen the results of Google's DeepDream... those trippy images generated by recursive neural networks. My old friend, Boris Anthony, has given some context to what this technology really represents, for Google, Facebook, and the rest of us... which is, roughly, making RNN-driven AI models of each of us. In the future, we'll each have our own personal ghost in the network." (Hugh for Alistair). 
Trickle-Down Economics Must Die, Long Live Grow-Up Economics - Scott Santens . "This quote should make you think: 'Wall Street earned twice as much in year-end bonuses alone as all full-time minimum wage workers combined earned the entire year.' The rest of the article should make you think more." (Hugh for Mitch).
Override: A story about the future of work - Quartz . "One day, I am going to write a book about the future of work. Not just what we, as humans, will do in a world of robots and machine learning, and not so much about the types of jobs that we will do. I'm mostly fascinated with what all of that means in relation to our physical spaces. So, if someone/anyone publishes a piece on the future of work, I immediately pounce on it. This piece will make you wonder. Not just about our physical spaces, but the deeper, philosophical question like: what is work? Why do we do it? And, most importantly, will there be any work in the future?" (Mitch for Alistair).
LinkedIn Starts Building a Syndicated Content Network - ReCode . "I thought this news would get a lot more traction. I'm surprised. It's important. For the past few years, I have been challenging the business world to think less about their content marketing, and much more about their content distribution strategies. Meaning: yes, produce, create and publish awesome content. Now, how do you get consumers to see it? Drive them to your properties? Maybe create something so compelling that trusted publishers would want to use it. It sounds like LinkedIn is going to facilitate this process. Of course, there's a question of economics (content producers won't be paid), but is there something substantive here?" (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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alistair croll

amazon

bit current

bit north

book a futurists manifesto

boris anthony

complete web monitoring

facebook

gigaom

google

google deep dream

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

j walter thompson

jwt

lean analytics

librivox

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managing bandwidth

medium

mirum

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murray gellmann

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richard feynman

scott santens

social media

solve for interesting

the atlantic

wpp

year one labs

Are You Insignificant Or A Real Leader?

Have you read the book Sapiens - A Brief History Of Humankind?

It's a huge "wow!" moment. Promise. Homo Sapiens rule the planet, right? How did that happen? According to author Prof. Yuval Noah Harari we were nothing more than insignificant apes in a corner of Africa a mere seventy thousand years ago. So, what happened?

Don't worry, you don't have to read the book, if you've got enough on your plate (but, you should).

Humans were like the other animals on earth... then, something happened. Would you agree or disagree with the notion that humans dominate planet earth? We've spread to every continent, and what we do has a direct correlation to all of the other animals (and some would say, the Earth itself). How did we get here? Well, Sapiens and Harari suggest a very surprising reason for the rise of humanity. So, if that has not piqued your interest to read the book, I'll ask that you watch this fascinating TED Talk with Yuval Noah Harari on why humans run the world...

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jwt

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Lessons On Creativity From The Outside

"You have a podcast about bass players?"

We live in a world where content is everywhere... and it's 24-hours a day. It's easy to miss. As a content producer, it's hard to manage. On one hand, I was extremely excited to announce the news that Twist Image had been acquired by WPP in May of last year. I was equally thrilled to let the world know that Twist Image was changing it's name to Mirum and becoming a founding partner on this newly-established global digital marketing agency. Still, nearly a year after the acquisition, and almost six months six the rebranding (and all of the media that surrounded it), and people are still surprised when they ask me what's been happening at the agency, or didn't see the news.

Content production can be frustrating in a flurry of content being everywhere. 

I would love to push out a reminder to the world about all of the things that are happening at Mirum (and in my life), but a brand should never have too much self-centered content. On the other hand, because so much content is happening in so many spaces, if you don't scream (and scream frequently) about all of your accomplishments, how does the world know, and how do you evolve your brand story in all of this? There's a fine balance. I remember my friend, Chris Brogan, used to say something like, "for every ten pieces of valuable content that you produce for your community, make one of them self-serving." This was years ago, so I'm wondering if that needs to be amped up a lot more?

So, yes, I have a podcast about bass players and all of you should check it out. 

Why? Odds are that you never heard of these musicians. Bass players, typically, hang out in the shadows of the band. They're rarely at the front and center. Their sound is often what blends the drum and guitar sounds. All of this is true, but it's so much more. I have been playing the electric bass since my early teens, and became extremely passionate about the sound of the instrument, and the musicians who play it. From extreme metal to classic jazz. So, last year (and through some strange serendipitous life moments), Seth Godin introduced me to Corey Brown. Corey worked with Seth on Squidoo, and also happened to be the guy behind No Treble. No Treble is the largest publication for bass players in the world (yes, bigger than even the bass-centric magazines). After months of conversations, I was invited to take the model for what I was doing with my Six Pixels of Separation podcast, and bring it to No Treble. The vision for Groove - The No Treble Podcast is to create the largest oral history of bass players in the world. The concept is an in-depth conversation about being a bass player from the angle of musicianship, creativity, inspiration and innovation. We don't talk gear, techniques, licks or chops. It's about the artistry and craftsmanship of the player.

So, why should you check it out?

There are three reasons to listen to a podcast:

You like the host.
You like the guest.
You're interested in the topic being discussed.

It's a huge win, if you can nail the trifecta, but it's not always the case. The reason I started this podcast, was to begin a new line of discovery into creativity. I wanted to meet people - not in business or marketing - and try to figure out (through these conversations) if I can be inspired to come up with better and more interesting solutions for what I do. After nearly a year of producing the show, I can (honestly) say, that it has really helped me in the evolution of my thinking. The show comes out once a month, and today episode #8 of Groove - The No Treble Podcast was published. This month, my guest is Steve Lawson. Steve is a creative force, and you will be impressed and inspired by this conversation. You can catch him on YouTube covering Lionel Richie's famed classic, "Hello", or see him wearing a Cannibal Corpse t-shirt in a photo shoot. He's as comfortable composing something with a new age flair, as he is pounding out a rock groove. With that, he's an academic, thinker, writer, composer and creative firehose. 

Watch this:

And, please do check out the latest episode of Groove - The No Treble Podcast, I think you will be inspired: 

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The Future Of Retail In A CTRL ALT Delete World

How do the best brands connect with their consumers?

This has been the question that has kept me motivated to be in this industry for over twenty years. All of my work (as diverse as it has been) has been centered around this question. Last month, I was invited to Dublin, Ireland by Google to give the opening keynote address for their Retail@Google event. Hosting over 400 retail marketing professionals from across Europe at their office (which is the largest Google office outside of Mountain View's Googleplex). Because I only make it overseas a few times a year, they wanted me to focus the content of my presentation on my second business book, CTRL ALT Delete (which recently came out in trade paperback), and how it affects the retail environment (an industry I have studied, am fascinated with, and was brought up in). It was an amazing day. It opened with the Dublin Gospel Choir, and the facilities at Google in Dublin are as spectacular as the choir.

This is what happened...

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google

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wpp

 

A World Of Unicorns Where Billions Of Dollars Are At Stake

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Just Rob Kemp and me this morning.
We live in a world of unicorns. A "unicorn" is a startup with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more. Most recently in Canada, Ottawa's Shopify hit unicorn status (can you name another Canadian startup besides BlackBerry? There are not many). But, just last week, everyone's jaws hit the floor when it was announced that Uber plans to raise another $1.5 - $2.0 billion. This means their market capitalization is a staggering $50+ billion. There are few companies like this (Facebook is one of them). Uber's massive market value surpasses 80%+ of all S&P 500 companies, many of which have been around for 20, 30, 50 or more years (Uber was started in 2009). Do you think it's worth it? 
There was a lost Mitch on the call... my mobile device from Florida failed... I do come back.
Are video games a real sport? It's not a joke. The University of Illinois in Chicago just launched a video game program... and it's the nation's first varsity eSports program. It is driven out of the sports program. These students (some on scholarship) practice at least five hours a day. The focus for now is a game called League of Legends (a massive multiplayer online battle arena game). It's big business. More people watched the League of Legends world championship finals last year than they did Game 7 of the World Series or the last game of the NBA Finals, according to ESPN. Illinois emerged as the first varsity team in the United States. But the University of Pikeville in Kentucky is following suit, offering its own gaming scholarships come fall, and numerous other schools have reached out to RMU to explore developing varsity eSports programs. RMU itself is expanding its program in the fall to include two more games: Dota 2 and Hearthstone. So, what do you think? Are video games a sport? 
Google Glass. You thought it was dead. It's not. Quietly, Google has relaunched Google Glass, but don't worry, you're not going to suddenly see everyone wearing them at the local mall and on the red carpet. They're being much more tactical about it. The relaunch will be strictly for business... and this makes a lot of sense. The device will now be aimed at industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and energy. Imagine your doctor having information in this manner, while checking to see what's wrong with you. Yes, this is a good, good thing (as long as they're not Periscoping me ;): 
App of the week: Gallery Doctor.

Listen here...

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Extraordinary Workplaces

Episode #473 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Where is the best place to work? It's easy to rattle off some of the hottest companies coming out of Silicon Valley or by just looking at the cover of Fast Company. Don't confuse a great product or service with its work environment. And, we're not just talking about the brands that offer up free food and massages to their employees. In turns out, that there is a ton of research on the subject of what works at work, the problem is that a lot of it is very academic, and has yet to breach the mainstream. Well, social psychologist, Ron Friedman, is here to fix that. His book, The Best Place To Work, looks at the latest science and research around the subject of workplace excellence. He's reviewed thousands of academic studies and turned it all into practical tips any business can use to increase performance and to transform their workplace. Ron is also the principal at ignite80, a consultancy that offers leaders practical, evidence-based techniques for working smarter and empowering others to produce their best work. Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #473.

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advertising podcast

audio

blog

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business book

business podcast

david usher

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Facebook

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ignite80

iTunes

j walter thompson

jwt

management

marketing blog

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mirum

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ron friedman

the best place to work

twitter

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #267

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

How Our Brains Make Memories - Smithsonian . "I'm speaking at OSCON this week about what the future will look like -- an intersection of big data, smart agents, and augmented reality -- and one of the key points is that when we delegate memory to machines, it'll change what we remember, and with it, how we act. I came across this Smithsonian article on how we form memories; fascinating stuff." (Alistair for Hugh).
The Faulty Walnut - The Book of Life . "Continuing on this thread, here's a thoughful piece I found via Philosopher, Alain de Botton, on how bad our brain is at thinking, and why we should be aware of our own fallacies. Actually, the whole damned thing is good reading; as it explains, we only have 500,000 hours or so on this mortal coil, so we'd better pay attention." (Alistair for Mitch).
The Videos That Are Putting Race and Policing Into Sharp Relief - The New York Times . "This has been an extraordinary year in race relations in the US. Extraordinarily bad in so many ways, but one of the most striking things is the way in which video technology (bystander cellphone video; police body cams) has surfaced this appallingly long catalog of brutal (often deadly) police interactions with citizens. This almost-daily stream of examples of abuse will surely change the way policing is done... and perhaps will help shift our understanding of what it means to be black and white, help shift how we understand the role of race in our societies, help us reevaluate abstract things such as power structures, and concrete things such as how we train our cops." (Hugh for Alistair).
Dave Grohl, Chad Smith and more on Ringo's drumming - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . "Famous drummers talk about what was so great about Ringo Starr's drumming. Lovely little video." (Hugh for Mitch).
A Visual Introduction to Machine Learning - R2D3 - "I get to see/have access to a bunch of interesting things. Whether it's through the types of forward-thinking conferences that I am invited to, or the company I keep with certain interesting startups in Silicon Valley. Machine learning is, without question, the most important technological evolution that is taking place. Yes, machines are learning (like, artificial intelligence, etc...) on their own. Most people (especially marketers) haven't thought much about this, but they should. So few businesses even understand the power of marketing automation. As machine learning becomes more pervasive (and it will), it's going to change everything. This is one of the best introductions to machine learning that I have ever seen." (Mitch for Alistair).
How the way you type can shatter anonymity - Ars Technica . "Forget your fingerprints or your eyeballs, what if we could identify you by the way that you type? Sounds crazy? Nope... it's true. Imagine it being impossible to shield your privacy online, just because how you type is as unique of an identifier as your DNA." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Tags:

alain de botton

alistair croll

amazon

ars technica

bit current

bit north

book a futurists manifesto

complete web monitoring

dave grohl. chad smith

facebook

gigaom

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

j walter thompson

jwt

lean analytics

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

machine learning

managing bandwidth

mirum

mirum agency

oscon

press books

r2d3

ringo starr

rock and roll hall of fame

smithsonian

social media

solve for interesting

the beatles

the book of life

the new york times

wpp

year one labs