My Newest Venture, Powered by Playbuzz
My Newest Venture, Powered by Playbuzz
No - I haven’t tired from the ever-changing ad industry landscape (yet!), and the Playbuzz storytelling platform is one of the reasons why.
No - I haven’t tired from the ever-changing ad industry landscape (yet!), and the Playbuzz storytelling platform is one of the reasons why.
In December 2017, I announced my retirement as Chief Digital Officer of GroupM. Here are three observations I can share:
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During that time, I had a front row seat watching the industry respond to shifting consumer behavior amidst burgeoning technology and a constant inundation of new platforms. From AOL to MSN to Yahoo to Amazon, to Google and Facebook, the digital advertising world has been dealing with one major concern: There are a lot of distracted people around, and we are all in competition for their attention.
And, honestly, the last time you clicked a static banner ad was...
And, honestly, the last time you clicked a static banner ad was...
From the very beginning, we all shared one mission to win back attention and get audiences to interact with us.
If no one is clicking, and no one notices us, it doesn't mean THEY need to change. It means WE need to reform the message. It means our content needs to be relevant, involving and meaningful.
And now -
As I began to look ahead in regards to how brands can best harness audiences’ attention spans, I was introduced to Playbuzz, who today has welcomed me to its board of directors.
Playbuzz is a Disney-backed storytelling platform (and they know stories!) that enables the creation of interactive content to drive true engagement*.
*Yes, that elusive thing we are all desperately chasing.
What Playbuzz does allows publishers to increase dwell time, advertisers to think about the very human act of conversation and consumers to get value from interactions with both.
The company works with top brands like Netflix, Unilever, Warner Bros., Ford, American Express and Shell to author and distribute interactive branded content campaigns at scale.
I gravitated towards the company’s no holds barred, engagement-first approach, within an industry that is completely focused on conversion.
The bottom line:
So, after 31 years, I reached a straightforward conclusion - if advertisers and agencies don't set out with interaction as an objective, they risk becoming irrelevant.
As the newest member of the company’s board of directors, I’m excited to collaborate with Playbuzz as it continues to execute on marrying engagement with innovative forms of native advertising.
I look forward to finding out where the future of storytelling will take us, together.