Speaker 1: Welcome for the premiere of the newly Possible Now podcast,
Speaker 1: where we dive deep with the most influential minds shaping
Speaker 1: the future of media marketing and technology. Today, we have
Speaker 1: an absolute powerhouse of the industry with us, a visionary demiker,
Speaker 1: a strategic mastermind, and a true connector of global leaders.
Speaker 1: My guest has an unmatched talent for recognizing the relationships
Speaker 1: and synergies needed to make things happen, and it's no
Speaker 1: surprise that the core values of his company, consulting, convening
Speaker 1: and co investing are the foundation of his success. He's
Speaker 1: the founder and CEO of Three C Ventures, a company
Speaker 1: at the cutting edge of media marketing and technology innovation.
Speaker 1: You may know him as the force behind some of
Speaker 1: the most groundbreaking partnerships in the business, a trusted advisor
Speaker 1: to Fortune five hundred executives, and a game changer who
Speaker 1: sees opportunities where others see challenges. He's a longtime friend,
Speaker 1: a business partner, a mentor, and also the chairman of Possible.
Speaker 1: Please welcome the one and only Michael Kessen. Welcome Michael.
Speaker 2: Thank you Christian, and you know it's always difficult to
Speaker 2: hear you describe my evil twin brother, but I'd love
Speaker 2: to meet him one day.
Speaker 1: I think you already did seven times.
Speaker 2: Well you're very kind, Christian, And I'll underscore one thing.
Speaker 2: I think our friendship now is you know, pushing twenty years,
Speaker 2: but certainly more than fifteen. And it's been a very
Speaker 2: enjoyable friendship and partnership. And you know, having had the
Speaker 2: chance to work together now for a couple of years
Speaker 2: on Possible and before that just on an other industry
Speaker 2: ten polls to Mexico, et cetera. I consider you a
Speaker 2: friend and a partner and it's nice to share some
Speaker 2: time with you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. And as I said at the beginning,
Speaker 1: this is a premiere of our new podcast, and I
Speaker 1: couldn't think about you know, somebody better than you being
Speaker 1: my guest, but I will do it with every production
Speaker 1: that I would love to talk about or ask a
Speaker 1: personal question at the beginning before we dive into the
Speaker 1: incredible work you're doing and the transformative changes in our industry.
Speaker 1: So let's take a step back for a second. You've
Speaker 1: closed deals in boardrooms all over the world, but let's
Speaker 1: get real. What's the most ridiculous or let's say, unexpected
Speaker 1: place you've ever made a business deal? Was it on
Speaker 1: the beach, whether the bathroom, whether the golf course, which
Speaker 1: is quite common in today's Can you share or do
Speaker 1: you want to share anything? Nobody knows that now.
Speaker 2: Well, you know you made it too easy for me
Speaker 2: when I just started practicing law. And this is probably
Speaker 2: on the hitting of too much information for our visitors,
Speaker 2: But you did ask was it in a bathroom? I
Speaker 2: was doing what one does in a stand up mode
Speaker 2: in the men's room, and I got a pretty big
Speaker 2: piece of business right there on the spot. When I
Speaker 2: was a young lawyer, the guy next to me asked
Speaker 2: me a question, and as one does, I was looking
Speaker 2: straight ahead and he asked me a question which turned
Speaker 2: into a significant piece of business when I was a
Speaker 2: very young lawyer. In fact, Christian, it was the first
Speaker 2: week that I was practicing law when this happened, and
Speaker 2: it unleashed a lot of new business and it kind
Speaker 2: of was a game changer for me and career wise.
Speaker 2: And that did happen in the men's room, So nothing
Speaker 2: else untoward but the new business opportunity. And you know
Speaker 2: you've asked odd places to have deals closed. Yes, I've
Speaker 2: done plenty of business on a ski lift. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: another place, not hopefully not what we're skiing down the mountain,
Speaker 2: but just writing up you know, God knows.
Speaker 1: And in today's time, you know, is dock you sign
Speaker 1: and all the digital kind of signages. I mean, it
Speaker 1: could be really everywhere, right, But it's interesting that you
Speaker 1: said it was just at the beginning of your career
Speaker 1: that you already started making deals.
Speaker 2: Well, I didn't know that that was going to be
Speaker 2: the hub of new business in the men's room, but
Speaker 2: it turned out. It turned out to be a good story.
Speaker 2: And I can even tell you the name of the
Speaker 2: guy was Leonard Levigne that I remember. Yeah, after I
Speaker 2: finished my business, I went back to the office because
Speaker 2: I didn't know the answers to the questions. But I
Speaker 2: was part of a law firm already, and I said
Speaker 2: to some of the senior folks, I said, I need
Speaker 2: some help. I got a live one here. And that's
Speaker 2: what happened. So I guess that's as good a story
Speaker 2: as like.
Speaker 1: That's a great story to kick off, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: not everybody knows this part of your career in life.
Speaker 1: So that was, you know, a good start. And let's
Speaker 1: start with another obvious but no less exciting question, which
Speaker 1: is about three S Adventures. Let's look ahead of it. Threeadventures.
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say it's still in its
Speaker 1: early days, but it's already making ways. What's your vision
Speaker 1: for the company over the next few years and how
Speaker 1: do you see it shaping the industry?
Speaker 2: That you asked me? The you of all people asked
Speaker 2: me this question, Christian, the first time I publicly talked
Speaker 2: about three C Ventures was it possible? Last April? I
Speaker 2: hadn't really formed it. I hadn't formed it yet, but
Speaker 2: I was clearly contemplating it and had already identified its
Speaker 2: primary purpose, if you will. When I was being interviewed
Speaker 2: for that keynot last year, the question was Michael, what's next?
Speaker 2: And as you kind of ponder that from my perspective,
Speaker 2: I said, well, what I'd say, which is consistent with
Speaker 2: how I view it now. I want to continue to
Speaker 2: add value to an industry that I love and that
Speaker 2: I cherish, and I want to do that through the
Speaker 2: lens of the three c's, through the lens of consulting, convening,
Speaker 2: and co investing. As you said, consistent with what I've
Speaker 2: done over the last twenty plus years on the consultative
Speaker 2: side of the business, and I want to underscore to
Speaker 2: the industry that I cherish and especially at the inflection
Speaker 2: point we find ourselves at now more than ever. It
Speaker 2: kind of reminds me of the inflection point when I
Speaker 2: started my previous company. It was the dot com dot
Speaker 2: com moment where everything was on the hard eight, if
Speaker 2: you will, in Las Vegas jargon, and lots of problems
Speaker 2: were being solved that weren't needing solving, and that was
Speaker 2: the dot com implosion, really the explosion, and the implosion
Speaker 2: one could argue where at a similar point now with
Speaker 2: AI and whatever and whoever and however, And I'm certain
Speaker 2: we'll talk about that later in this conversation, but it's
Speaker 2: a similar sort of inflection point. And I think experience
Speaker 2: and history and knowledge and understanding are critical at this moment,
Speaker 2: which is an inflection point. And I think that you know,
Speaker 2: I'm fortunate and blessed equally to have this opportunity, and
Speaker 2: you know, the good fortune of it, Christian is several
Speaker 2: months in now, three C is creating real traction in
Speaker 2: the marketplace and solving real problems and opportunities and creating
Speaker 2: alignment in places where it's not as obvious to others perhaps.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean you've mentioned you are now a couple
Speaker 1: of months into the business with the new company. So
Speaker 1: using these three principles you've mentioned how they're guiding your work.
Speaker 1: Can you describe the impact you already achieve with three cventures?
Speaker 2: So what was one of the different Yeah, when you
Speaker 2: say impact, you know the best way Listen. I don't
Speaker 2: know the ripple effect of what we're doing in the
Speaker 2: market other than that stuff I can touch and feel.
Speaker 2: But you know, a deal that we created, participated in
Speaker 2: and worked three diligently on was at the end of
Speaker 2: last year and you would have seen that Media Ocean
Speaker 2: acquired Innovid in an important technology deal. We were fortunate
Speaker 2: to be diligence partners with the ownership and all, so
Speaker 2: then partnered with both from basically a merchant banking perspective
Speaker 2: Christian if I'm describing it, but also co invested in
Speaker 2: the spirit of the name with the consortium of holding
Speaker 2: companies that participated with the Omnicom, WPP and IPG investing
Speaker 2: into Media Ocean. So first Media Ocean and Innovate and
Speaker 2: that's an important deal in the technology landscape. And the
Speaker 2: tech stack, if you will, and very important, and then
Speaker 2: having the whole three of the holding companies become owners,
Speaker 2: if you will, and as well myself in business with
Speaker 2: your largest service provider. That's a pretty good story to
Speaker 2: be telling in terms of marketplace impact, I hope. And
Speaker 2: the general strategy and direction that we've been giving, and
Speaker 2: some of it came through the lens of ces with
Speaker 2: some of the speaking opportunities that we were involved in
Speaker 2: just talking about i'd like to say, not just talking
Speaker 2: about where the industry is going, but helping influence where
Speaker 2: the industry is going.
Speaker 1: So in other words, with three ventures you not necessarily
Speaker 1: open new doors, but there are new connections you can
Speaker 1: create with these modern version of this.
Speaker 2: Oh no, there's new No, No, Christian, you know, I've
Speaker 2: been asked frequently, what's the difference between my previous company
Speaker 2: and three c I mean, one wise ass answer I
Speaker 2: could say is Michael Cassen, that's that's the difference.
Speaker 1: That's for sure of the case. Yes, yeah, But.
Speaker 2: In point of fact, I'm not sure it has to
Speaker 2: be different. It would continue to morph if it were
Speaker 2: the same.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: But see, I have the advantage, Christian, of having created
Speaker 2: the previous company id eated, strategized and put on the map.
Speaker 2: So I kind of know the game play for the playbook,
Speaker 2: if you will, and I'm just finding ways where I
Speaker 2: would be modifying and tweaking that playbook no matter what.
Speaker 1: That's for sure. That's for sure. As part of your
Speaker 1: consultancy or your consulting job, etc. Is that you deal
Speaker 1: with c suite for a long time, especially with cmos,
Speaker 1: and we all see a lot of discussions also on stages,
Speaker 1: on the possible stages as well in the last two
Speaker 1: years about the future and the changing role of cemos.
Speaker 1: In your view, what are the most critical skills and
Speaker 1: quantities today, simo need to thrive in this area of
Speaker 1: rapid change. Is it so much changing like the environment or.
Speaker 2: Oh no, would I'd say I've been consistent with this
Speaker 2: for several years.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The morphing of the chief Marketing Officer with the chief
Speaker 2: information or the Chief Technology officer is an important consideration
Speaker 2: today and for the last i'd say ten years, the
Speaker 2: role easily maybe fifteen years. The role of the CMO
Speaker 2: takes on more and more need for technological capability and
Speaker 2: the role of the CIO or the CTO takes on
Speaker 2: more marketing. In other words, the way I dumb it
Speaker 2: down for myself, because that's how I.
Speaker 1: Have to do it, is a chief.
Speaker 2: Marketing officer is making more technology decisions than ever, and
Speaker 2: a chief technology officer is making more marketing decisions than ever,
Speaker 2: So the two have to come together. That's I think
Speaker 2: important and as well something that I've been banging the
Speaker 2: drum on for now going on two and a half years.
Speaker 2: At a FORB CMO conference, I was asked the question
Speaker 2: by Seth Matlins, which I think is a provocative question
Speaker 2: and I continue to focus on it, which is what
Speaker 2: does the CEO not know about the role of the CMO?
Speaker 2: And therein is the issue. One thing I always ask
Speaker 2: a CMO is what's your job title? Is just CMO
Speaker 2: or Chief Marketing and Growth? Is it Chief Marketing and Product?
Speaker 2: Is it Chief marketing and Communications? It might be anyone
Speaker 2: or all of the above, and if so, is that
Speaker 2: consistent with what your boss thinks your job is? And
Speaker 2: a key element and again this isn't a new dialogue
Speaker 2: for me. If you're given the title of chief Marketing
Speaker 2: and Growth, for example, and many are, or in some
Speaker 2: cases your chief growth officer and marketing reports up to you,
Speaker 2: so you're not necessarily chief marketing, but the the chief
Speaker 2: marketing officer reports to you. You better make sure that
Speaker 2: you've got the levers to be able to deliver on growth,
Speaker 2: because if you've given the title, you want to make
Speaker 2: sure you can actually deliver growth. And that's why it
Speaker 2: becomes more and more important that your boss, whoever your
Speaker 2: boss is in the C suite, understands your job so
Speaker 2: that they give you the right tools and levers that
Speaker 2: you can pull and execute to do what you have
Speaker 2: to do. Right, But I hope that answers your question.
Speaker 1: Yes it does. There was one missing in your scripture,
Speaker 1: which is a CFO. And because marketing is so much
Speaker 1: more data driven, is then the CFO coming into play
Speaker 1: as well?
Speaker 2: Or well, it's not only that it's more results driven.
Speaker 2: It's not only that it's more data driven. You're correct,
Speaker 2: But today, and that's a very important point, but the
Speaker 2: CMO isn't being asked to have the CFO capability. But
Speaker 2: it's an interesting point you make. I tell ad tech
Speaker 2: and martech companies all the time. Right now you're not
Speaker 2: just pitching anymore just to the CMO. You're pitching to
Speaker 2: the CFO and to procurement, but the CFOs and more
Speaker 2: and more in those conversations as well. The difference is you,
Speaker 2: as a CMO aren't being asked to think like a
Speaker 2: CFO as much as you are like a CTO, whereas
Speaker 2: you need the CFO at your side. So I turn
Speaker 2: this table and say to add Tech in mar tech companies,
Speaker 2: you better make sure when you're pitching brand you know XYZ,
Speaker 2: you're also bearing in mind that you're going to be
Speaker 2: talking to the CFO.
Speaker 1: Right right, Be honest, was there ever a moment when
Speaker 1: you thought, in your conversations over years with cemos, when
Speaker 1: you thought I'd actually love to be a SEMO myself
Speaker 1: or was that never an option and you preferred staying
Speaker 1: on the strategic metal level.
Speaker 2: You know, when I've advised rock stars, I kind of
Speaker 2: think I'd like to be the rock star, but I
Speaker 2: haven't thought about that when i'm you are you are? No,
Speaker 2: I don't mean that. You know, when I interview a
Speaker 2: good song and dance man or talk to somebody like that,
Speaker 2: I may want to be doing their job, but I
Speaker 2: haven't felt that way about the CMO job. No.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't want to share too much secrets. You
Speaker 1: know what we shared. I think it was two years ago,
Speaker 1: on the day before First Possible, you know when you
Speaker 1: mentioned that dance song and dancing. But I don't want
Speaker 1: you know. Maybe for the next episode, you know, we
Speaker 1: talk about this part of all.
Speaker 2: Well, Christian, I'm going to let you in on a secret.
Speaker 2: At December, my wife and I celebrated. I think you
Speaker 2: know this because you do, because you're aware of the
Speaker 2: trip we took. We celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary and
Speaker 2: it was quite a special thing. And we did have
Speaker 2: a dance contest and our grandchildren voted as to who
Speaker 2: won between Ronnie and her partner and me and my partner.
Speaker 2: I'm sad to say I came to a second Christian.
Speaker 1: Okay, I just wanted to share. Ask if you share
Speaker 1: the outcome.
Speaker 2: I may show you a video that when I next
Speaker 2: see you, Christian.
Speaker 1: Okay, at least we can share with the audience that
Speaker 1: we both have a strong connection to dancing.
Speaker 2: And I found out that Christian was a very very
Speaker 2: well trained ballroom dancer, and I can imagine you doing it.
Speaker 2: I shared with you that's my fantasy. So there you go.
Speaker 2: We may have to do a dance off Christian. We
Speaker 2: may have to do it.
Speaker 1: Maybe not such a serious competition, but at some stage,
Speaker 1: yes we will enter.
Speaker 2: I'll get my grandchildren to be the voting body. And
Speaker 2: then why not I lost to my wife, maybe I
Speaker 2: can win to you.
Speaker 1: I'm sure. Okay, it's on at some stage. There's another
Speaker 1: big area in our industry which experienced a lot of
Speaker 1: consolidation in the past couple of years, and this is
Speaker 1: the agency world. A lot of consilidations and disruptions recently
Speaker 1: of course with Omni Common, IPG, etcetera. What do you
Speaker 1: see as a driving force behind this trend? Is it
Speaker 1: a trend? Is it a lasting trend? And where are
Speaker 1: the big networks in a couple of years time compared
Speaker 1: to the more independent agencies.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that the Omnicom IPG deal portends more
Speaker 2: M and A. I think, and I think there's good
Speaker 2: opportunity for it in the market. I wasn't prescient. I
Speaker 2: just have my ear to the ground and I didn't
Speaker 2: know what the configuration was going to be. I didn't
Speaker 2: know who was going to move first. But I have
Speaker 2: said publicly for the last eighteen months that within eighteen months,
Speaker 2: the landscape of the hold codes would be different. It
Speaker 2: turned out to be right about that. It wasn't that
Speaker 2: I was so prescient. It was just that it was
Speaker 2: obvious that the industrial logic of consolidation would make sense
Speaker 2: in some context. I think it still does, and I
Speaker 2: think there'll be other shoes to fall, and I think
Speaker 2: the soft middle that the independent agencies are going to
Speaker 2: have some opportunity here, especially on the performance side. That's
Speaker 2: an area where I think there's a lot of growth
Speaker 2: and opportunity for the independence agencies. But you know, as
Speaker 2: I've learned over the years, I hope I'm allowed to
Speaker 2: be a little tongue in cheek Christian. Many of my
Speaker 2: friends know this, you might know this. I was fortunate
Speaker 2: to consider doctor west Tim are a very very good
Speaker 2: friend over forty years, and I like to kit around
Speaker 2: and say, in the context of consolidation, doctor Ruth told
Speaker 2: me size matters, and so you know, I think we're
Speaker 2: going to see some more of.
Speaker 1: That, especially because there's another party, right the consulting firms
Speaker 1: who stepped into the agency business in some way over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. This is another component.
Speaker 2: Right well, and that's growing as well, and continuing to grow.
Speaker 1: And then we have at least I've seen you know,
Speaker 1: over the past few years as well, you know, where
Speaker 1: brands are bringing more capabilities in house than giving it
Speaker 1: to an agency.
Speaker 2: Well, and we're going to continue to see that, and
Speaker 2: you're going to continue to see brands expressing their their
Speaker 2: their spend differently relative to you know, content development and
Speaker 2: other things. We're going to continue to see those dynamics
Speaker 2: occurring down the line.
Speaker 1: No conversation without touching AI in some way. And I
Speaker 1: mean this is a I think the most difficult part
Speaker 1: because in a couple of minutes, how should we discuss
Speaker 1: AI in today's world. My impression at least is let's
Speaker 1: kick it off like this. Talking to CMO specifically, they're
Speaker 1: telling me, okay, we get it. Now, we got it.
Speaker 1: You know, over years we were told this is the
Speaker 1: next revolution. It will impact our everybody's world, every part
Speaker 1: of our world, you know, consumer world as well as
Speaker 1: our business world. Now it's time that we need to
Speaker 1: see experiences from what's already done, the outcome, and what
Speaker 1: it means for my today's and tomorrow's business. I don't
Speaker 1: want to hear any more what's you know, what's possible
Speaker 1: with AI in five years time.
Speaker 2: No let me, let me let me answer it Christian,
Speaker 2: and it is obviously a very important, timely and prevalent conversation.
Speaker 2: I've described the technology for me at least as the
Speaker 2: technology of yes. And what I mean by that is,
Speaker 2: when you're asking somebody, will AI impact this, Will it
Speaker 2: impact that? Will it impact the next thing? The answer
Speaker 2: is yes, will impact everything. I also look at it
Speaker 2: a bit as a trojan horse, and if you're thinking
Speaker 2: of what it's going to do to your job or
Speaker 2: my job, the way I look at it as the
Speaker 2: trojan horse nature of it is at the beginning, it's
Speaker 2: going to make us better at our jobs, whatever our
Speaker 2: jobs are. Back to the technology of yes, it will
Speaker 2: impact everybody's job, even the most manual of labor jobs
Speaker 2: will be impacted. So Number one, the reason I say
Speaker 2: it's the technology of yes. The answer to every question
Speaker 2: about what will it impact is yes. Where I think
Speaker 2: we struggle right now is we're not even sure what
Speaker 2: the questions are. So I think we have to identify
Speaker 2: the what and then we can answer the why and
Speaker 2: the how. Number one and number two, the trojan horse
Speaker 2: nature of it is at the beginning, it makes your
Speaker 2: job easier, welcome, Then it makes you better at your job,
Speaker 2: Then it makes your job even easier, then it makes
Speaker 2: you even better, and then ultimately you're not necessary. That's
Speaker 2: the progression.
Speaker 1: I see. I think that's a very good description. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: Now it starts out as your friend and will ultimately
Speaker 2: become the end of your job right in some way,
Speaker 2: shape or form, or a massive change in your job.
Speaker 2: I think one of the highest responsibilities that a company
Speaker 2: has today to their employees is L and D, is
Speaker 2: learning and development. You know, years and years and years ago,
Speaker 2: I was doing work with the company that owned the
Speaker 2: Yellow Pages directories. And I say that because there are
Speaker 2: probably people on this listening to this don't know what
Speaker 2: the Yellow Pages were, so I hope you do, Christian,
Speaker 2: and I remember them telling me in that context they
Speaker 2: had pick a number five thousand feet on the street,
Speaker 2: five thousand sales associates, you know, in market selling Yellow Pages.
Speaker 2: If they were trying to become a digital company and
Speaker 2: selling the US Yellow Pages as a digital not a
Speaker 2: print document, yeah or platform, you better retrain those five
Speaker 2: thousand people because they're selling a different product. I think
Speaker 2: it's a similar need and opportunity and responsibility to corporate America.
Speaker 2: This isn't about a woke approach. This is about deployment
Speaker 2: of resources and learning and development, and so I think
Speaker 2: that becomes a very high responsibility to the C suite
Speaker 2: to make sure that you're educating your teams and you're
Speaker 2: enabling your teams to be able to use the technology
Speaker 2: of Yes.
Speaker 1: I think that's a very good example about the potential.
Speaker 1: And do you think the industry, our industry addressed these
Speaker 1: challenges correctly? You know, because with this potential, we have
Speaker 1: questions around data privacy, bias, transparency, et cetera.
Speaker 2: I think are industry has got right now. Yeah, we're
Speaker 2: all spinning trying to figure out how all of these
Speaker 2: pieces are going to play nicely together. You know, I
Speaker 2: joke around and say, the mantra in Los Angeles, will
Speaker 2: I consider myself more than a citizen of Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: I'd like to fancy a citizen of the world. But
Speaker 2: you know, the mantra in Los Angeles's instant gratification isn't
Speaker 2: quick enough and so as a result of that, we
Speaker 2: all want it right now. This one's going to take
Speaker 2: a while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, that's the reason why we have these conversations
Speaker 1: also at events, at every event these days, and it
Speaker 1: feels a bit, as you said, circling around, but I
Speaker 1: also agree that this is the only way to figure
Speaker 1: it out. And also with new players coming up every
Speaker 1: day into this business, especially around AI, there will be
Speaker 1: somebody who will tell us at some stage. Absolutely so
Speaker 1: stepping up a bit on our most strategic and general
Speaker 1: industry level, you know, it was possible. We believe that,
Speaker 1: you know, we have to cover the intersection between marketing,
Speaker 1: technology and culture. Do you see any exciting trends or
Speaker 1: do you have let's say, some one or two bold
Speaker 1: predictions for where the industry has had it over the
Speaker 1: next one two years.
Speaker 2: Shelter, I think the content side of it is exciting.
Speaker 2: Look where's the activity, the money, all the noise and
Speaker 2: results that are being delivered through retail media and or,
Speaker 2: as i'd like to say, now the media networks, because
Speaker 2: you can't limit it to retail anymore. It's not just
Speaker 2: you know, Amazon and Walmart, and you know Albertson's and Kroger's,
Speaker 2: Tuber and Lyft and PayPal and you know everybody, everybody
Speaker 2: in the pool is going to be looking at their
Speaker 2: media networks and the opportunity. So that's obviously a place
Speaker 2: where a lot of attention, money and time is being expended.
Speaker 2: I do believe, and I've been consistent on this Christian
Speaker 2: for a while content development, because when I talk about
Speaker 2: content development, I'm not talking about branded entertainment or you know,
Speaker 2: product placement. I'm talking about content that it ultimately financed by,
Speaker 2: influenced by, and brought to you by brands. And not
Speaker 2: just long form content, but the idea of commerce. Today,
Speaker 2: I rarely see the word commerce not modified by the
Speaker 2: word content. So content and commerce. So in the creation
Speaker 2: of content, I think there's a lot of time and
Speaker 2: a lot of effort and a lot of money and
Speaker 2: a lot of focus we're going to see over the
Speaker 2: next you know, next cycle.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's that's I would call it a bold prediction
Speaker 1: for for the new future. For sure, we thought it
Speaker 1: was you know, relationship building and that your mastermind doing this,
Speaker 1: which is key to leadership, bringing the right people together,
Speaker 1: fostering collaboration, aligning perspectives, et cetera. Given the big you
Speaker 1: know topics in today's you know world, tech advancements, geopolitical shifts,
Speaker 1: cultural trends like let's call it TikTok or evolving regulations.
Speaker 1: All these things should lead us prior to us. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, is there Is it really everything? Or would
Speaker 1: you say no, there is a ranking, there's a priority list.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a tough one. I think that I'm going
Speaker 2: to go back to what I said. I think learning
Speaker 2: and development. I think learning and development is a critical
Speaker 2: element for a senior leader today. Making sure you've got
Speaker 2: the people on the job well trained to do those jobs,
Speaker 2: and you know, keeping them current in their thinking. And
Speaker 2: that is not getting into any way, shape or form.
Speaker 2: I want to be very clear on what I just said.
Speaker 2: Some of the noise we hear geopolitically about employment and
Speaker 2: D E and I and those terrible initials where you're
Speaker 2: not supposed to say anymore. But I don't subscribe to that.
Speaker 2: But what I'm saying, I don't mean it from that perspective.
Speaker 2: I mean it from the perspective of whoever is on
Speaker 2: that job, whyever they're on that well, for whatever reason
Speaker 2: they're on that job, you make sure that they are
Speaker 2: being as trained and as focused and as current as
Speaker 2: they can be.
Speaker 1: Definitely a big challenge. I can't imagine this being in
Speaker 1: that role. We touched a bit that you've mentioned CS
Speaker 1: in recent years, of course with your previous companies, but
Speaker 1: also now as well. You are very much involved in
Speaker 1: CS and CAN lines. You developed these events over the years,
Speaker 1: especially for the marketing world. One question I cannot avoid
Speaker 1: being the chairman of Possible. Why do you think Possible
Speaker 1: is quickly becoming a standout in the industry. We are
Speaker 1: now heading into the third year. It's not a long history,
Speaker 1: but I think we all agree that we are at
Speaker 1: this edge right, we are at doing the next step.
Speaker 2: Now here's what I'd say, and it's a simple one
Speaker 2: for me, Christian. Okay, you know it goes back to
Speaker 2: field the dreams if you build it. In this case,
Speaker 2: I'd like to say we if we build it, they
Speaker 2: will come. I think we were correct in that story.
Speaker 2: I've said this now for the last two years. I'll
Speaker 2: say it again as we approach April of twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five for Possible, if the market didn't see a need,
Speaker 2: we wouldn't have been able to fill it. You saw
Speaker 2: a need and along with the co founders and the
Speaker 2: original beyond ordinary investors, of which I'm proud to say
Speaker 2: I was one, but you saw a need. We all
Speaker 2: saw a need, and the marketplace need that you identified
Speaker 2: turned out to be real. And you know, nature appoor
Speaker 2: is a vacuum, and there was a vacuum. Maybe it
Speaker 2: was a calendar vacuum. Maybe it was a vacuum between
Speaker 2: January and June. I don't know. I don't think so.
Speaker 2: I think it was a content vacuum. And I think
Speaker 2: what Possible has been able to do is kind of
Speaker 2: bridge so many of the elements. You know that. I
Speaker 2: think the intersection that I live at is that of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, sports,
Speaker 2: and technolog Yes, I think, if possible, we're touching on
Speaker 2: all of those things and bringing them together in a
Speaker 2: comprehensive and a cohesive way and a clear way.
Speaker 1: Right. Thanks for saying this. And as you said, we
Speaker 1: all saw the need together, not just one or two
Speaker 1: of us, but we all saw the need. And it
Speaker 1: is a tremendous group of people who are behind that idea.
Speaker 1: And I'm proud to say that you will also part
Speaker 1: of this year's show in many different ways, and of
Speaker 1: course people will see you back on stage. I started
Speaker 1: with a let's call it personal question. I would like
Speaker 1: to finish out today's conversation with a bit more personal question,
Speaker 1: So mention ex sever time, you're the master connector and
Speaker 1: you know everybody inside the industry or outside the industry.
Speaker 1: You know, whenever I talk to you, you say, oh, no,
Speaker 1: I know this person. You know I can connect or
Speaker 1: reach out or whatever. But what is your dream connection
Speaker 1: you would like to make in twenty five? Is there
Speaker 1: any personality inside outside the indust street that you would
Speaker 1: like to meet in person but haven't had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to do so yet. It's hard to believe that there
Speaker 1: is one, but maybe maybe.
Speaker 2: Well when I was a kid, it was Joe Amaggio. Okay,
Speaker 2: I was a baseball panattic and I had some heroes
Speaker 2: and he was one. And I actually didn't get to
Speaker 2: meet him. But one day he was walking in Beverly
Speaker 2: Hills and I saw him crossing.
Speaker 1: The street, and that was you met You met him?
Speaker 2: Well, I didn't really meet him, but I kind of
Speaker 2: felt like I met him because I saw Jodamagio on
Speaker 2: the corner and I was like, okay, as as as
Speaker 2: as my kids would say, this is the ship in
Speaker 2: a good way, Yes, I know, Okay, that was the
Speaker 2: ship for me, uh today, Oh god.
Speaker 1: Well, we can keep this question for the next so
Speaker 1: I can keep it for the next days.
Speaker 2: You can hit me. I got to really think about
Speaker 2: that one. Okay, there's there's a lot of there's, there's
Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of people on that list.
Speaker 2: It's a bucket list of it's a bucket list of people.
Speaker 1: Let's go offline, you know, and then we have something
Speaker 1: to talk about next next, for the next episode, next time. Okay, absolutely, Michael.
Speaker 1: It was such a pleasure as always talking to you,
Speaker 1: and I hope for our audience as well. And as
Speaker 1: I said, so, I'm honored and proud to have you
Speaker 1: on the first episode, but also you know, working with
Speaker 1: you more or less on a daily level. And as
Speaker 1: I said, we all see you back at Possible very
Speaker 1: soon in April and Miami. Thank you very much for
Speaker 1: this conversation. Michael.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm looking forward to being back on the stage
Speaker 2: and I know that Possible twenty twenty five is gonna
Speaker 2: make us all proud and I'm looking forward.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, Christian, thanks for tuning in everyone.
Speaker 1: Once again, I'm your host, Christian Mohan. If you have
Speaker 1: a question or suggestion to me reach out, send me
Speaker 1: d M on LinkedIn. If you're curious to learn more
Speaker 1: about Possible, sign up for our newsletter, or if you
Speaker 1: want to join us at the Possible Show in Miami,
Speaker 1: visit Possible event dot com. Possible Now is a co
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan
Speaker 1: Martz and Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Colleen Lawrence Mack from our programming team.
Speaker 1: Our theme music is composed by Anthony Kellacoli. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows