John Bohan, CEO of Socialtyze, argues brands must become content creators instead of intrusive advertisers. He points to partnerships with young digital influencers like Nick Colletti and local creators across multiple cities as the most effective way to show audiences a brand understands them. Content that entertains, informs, or inspires before selling builds stronger consumer loyalty.
Really what SocialTies does is we produce content on behalf of brands. In today's world, we see the brands as the content providers. In past, since the '50s or so, in television in particular, it's been brands inserting their message into programming. Clearly, that is changing rapidly and has. But now there's a huge acceleration in that. So the brands really need to be the content providers. And I think it's better that way because the brands should be getting credit for all this amazing content. And they weren't. They were kind of the intrusive person, or intrusive party coming in and interrupting the experience. But they're paying for it all. So when brands start to think of themselves as content creators, everything changes. Because they are the ones bringing the extreme sports. They are the ones bringing the recipes. They are the ones bringing whatever is innate to their ethos and what they do. And as a result, they get credit for that, and they also are able to build up their brand name, and people begin to identify them with that type of content. So we help them to bring their brands alive within social and then across digital. There's so much that's happening in video, and you know, there's nothing like sight, sound, and motion. I think it's one of the reasons why advertisers are still putting a ton of money in traditional linear TV because sight, sound, and motion works. But it works a lot better if that sight, sound, and motion is brought into social or even into digital, right? And it works even better if that content is incredibly relevant to the consumer. And so much of video content has been one-to-many. I'm going to craft this beautiful piece of content, and I'm going to put it out there. And that works to a certain degree. I mean, you see that in the Super Bowl. You see that during the Oscars and these beautiful pieces of content. Content come out. But what I think really works is, is, is, is I think brands need to think more about relevancy. And brands need to think about, you know, that they show I get you. And one of the things that's working really well is when brands are partnering with the right influencers. So, and these influencers, particularly among a young audience, are superstars. I mean, we worked with Nick Colletti, who is basically an icon among young males. I mean, he is Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon all wrapped into one for like, for, you know, somebody who's 50 or so. So these young kids look at this guy, Nick Colletti. So that's one of the reasons why Jack in the Box is partnering with him. And so when Jack in the Box is together with Nick Colletti and they're producing amazing content, they're saying, "I get you." And I think that that relevancy is really, really, really key to be part of the customer's world. So the other thing that I think is really important now is proximity, right? You know, you can say, "I get you and I'm partnering with the right content, I'm creating the right content," but it becomes even more powerful if that content is close to the consumer themselves. So local influencer marketing is huge. So that— and you can do this at scale where you can take a look at the, you know, the top 20 cities or even 50 cities across the country partnering with those local influencers that are connected to followers is really, really powerful. I think it's really interesting because I have come from cable television. I worked at the Weather Channel and USA Networks in the '90s. And it was all about, you know, who's going to take over? Is it going to be the computer or is it going to be the television? Computer or television? And, you know, the reality is, you know, it becomes both. And companies like Roku actually bring the two together. Because the consumer really doesn't care. The consumer just wants the content, right? And whatever device is easiest for them to view it on, that's what they're going to use. So the reality is, though, you know, although a lot of us are watching, you know, movies on our iPhones, or even our computers, you know, it's much better to actually just see it up on the TV screen. You can look, you can kick back, you can relax. It's a different viewing environment. It's better for the advertiser. And, you know, companies like Roku allow the consumer to have that. So I think from, from an advertiser's perspective is they just got to be relevant. They've got to be entertaining. They have to be informative. They have to be inspiring. They need to make the world a better place. You know, large corporate giants, I think, have a responsibility now to do things that help make the world a better place, to make people's lives better. And I'm talking everything from, you know, sustainability and water stewardship all the way to thinking about how I can really make this person laugh, and then maybe I can weave my brand in there somehow. But first and foremost, I think they need to think of the stories that are trending, and they need to think about the their audience and really what's making them laugh before they think about the products and services of their brand. So if they can do that and they can think about that differently, and then it's incredibly powerful in terms of how they connect, they connect with their audience.
