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Speaker 1: I'm off my game today. No, you're not. People are

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Speaker 1: going to have to start making better content. I think

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be talking about this for a long time.

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Speaker 1: When you program for everyone, you program for no one.

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Speaker 1: I think it's a word purpose driven platform. Like we're

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Speaker 1: trying to get to substance? How was that? Are you

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Speaker 1: happy with that? This is marketing therapy right now? It

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Speaker 1: really is? What's up? I'm Laura Creni and I'm Alexa Christian.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Atlantia this very special Western episode. We're

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Speaker 1: back from south By Southwest. Y'all wearing our black hats

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Speaker 1: because let's be honest, we don't deserve the white ones.

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Speaker 1: I do you don't? Okay, well that's the truth. So

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Speaker 1: everybody's back from south By Southwest, and everyone that wasn't

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Speaker 1: there was following what was going on there. And this

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Speaker 1: is what's fascinating about south By This year, so many

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Speaker 1: people in the industry were like south like, what is

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Speaker 1: south By? There are articles being written south By over

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Speaker 1: its dead. It's brand soup, it's this, it's that, it's

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Speaker 1: the other thing. Brands have killed it and a brand

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Speaker 1: brought it back. So you guys put together West World

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Speaker 1: you were coming back from South By, Uh, and I said,

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Speaker 1: we need to talk about this on the show because

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Speaker 1: I think for a lot of folks it was epic,

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Speaker 1: it was amazing, It was all of these things. There

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Speaker 1: was a ton of press, right, a ton of press

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Speaker 1: about it, a ton of social but really wanted to

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Speaker 1: get down to what was the relationship between Giants Spoon

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Speaker 1: and HBO to create this, How did you do it?

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Speaker 1: What were the things that you were watching out for,

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Speaker 1: So we just want to we want to talk about it.

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Speaker 1: We brought in Stephen Cardwell, who um is a director

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Speaker 1: of program marketing for HBO and oversees the West World Show.

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Speaker 1: And then we're also bringing in Trevor Guthrie, who is

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Speaker 1: the co founder of Giant Spoon, and there's so somebody

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Speaker 1: who had who had been down there. You know, it

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Speaker 1: was lucky enough to be a part of the experience.

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Speaker 1: We also put on Ready Player one, which is Steven

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Speaker 1: Spielberg's new movie, which had tremendous um after the book

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Speaker 1: you know reviews. Yeah, and uh, you know, it was

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Speaker 1: sort of eighties nostalgia meets the future, and it was

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Speaker 1: a really fun activation that was downtown and you know,

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Speaker 1: there are a number of other brands activating all over town,

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Speaker 1: but obviously this one, in particular with West World, definitely

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Speaker 1: stole the show. I'm just excited to share sort of

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Speaker 1: the backstory and the details that sort of transpired to

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Speaker 1: create what I think we all collectively agree is the

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Speaker 1: future of brand marketing. Yeah, agreed. So with that, Stephen

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Speaker 1: Cardwell and Trevor Guthrie, we'll be right back. So welcome back.

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Speaker 1: We are in the studio with the masterminds behind south By,

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Speaker 1: Southwest West World activation from HBO. Stephen Cardbill, the director

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Speaker 1: of Program Marketing. Welcome to this, Stephen and Trevor Guthrie,

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Speaker 1: the co founder one of three co founders of Giant Spoon. Hi, Trevor. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And if we didn't have to wear these headsets, I

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Speaker 1: would totally have kept my black hat on. So, guys

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Speaker 1: crushed south By, I mean, having been there, and Alexa

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Speaker 1: on the other end of my phone religiously texting back

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Speaker 1: and forth about how insane I can't believe. I can't

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Speaker 1: believe I wasn't there. I texted her, I was like,

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Speaker 1: how did I not go to south By? I mean,

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Speaker 1: having you both in the studio, having produced what people

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Speaker 1: are calling one of the best, if not the best

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Speaker 1: publicity stunt of the twenty one century. Shout out to

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Speaker 1: a V Club for that. Stephen, give us a backstory.

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Speaker 1: What was the impetus for this? How did this thing

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Speaker 1: come to life? Um? Well at all, you know, started

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Speaker 1: with a conversation we had with Joan and Nolan and

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Speaker 1: Lisa Joy, who are the show runners of West World,

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Speaker 1: and um, you know what what we started, you know,

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Speaker 1: back last summer in San Diego Comic Con on was

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Speaker 1: this idea of, you know, what can we do to

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Speaker 1: immerse you know, fans of the show into kind of

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Speaker 1: that onboarding process for what it would be like to

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Speaker 1: actually take a trip to Westworld. And I think we

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Speaker 1: were blown away by the success of that and just

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Speaker 1: how how responsive people were to this idea of like,

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Speaker 1: you know, literally emerging into this storyline. Um, did you

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Speaker 1: do that at comic Con? Did you like to create

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Speaker 1: a version of what you created it south By at

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Speaker 1: Comic Con? Yeah? I would like to say it was

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Speaker 1: like the appetizer to like the main course and south By. Um,

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Speaker 1: and you know, so when we were thinking about well

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Speaker 1: what's next for us, um, south By being really close

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Speaker 1: to our season two premiere. We were like, this is

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Speaker 1: a moment for us to go big and you know,

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Speaker 1: just giving you know, we're actually out in the West now,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's obviously I think some momentum that we

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Speaker 1: were coming off of the Super Bowl spot. Um, so

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Speaker 1: we really had a moment to stay, put a stake

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Speaker 1: in the ground, and I think just serendipitously, we stumbled

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Speaker 1: upon a ghost town just about twenty miles outside of

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Speaker 1: Austin and you know, talked with with Giant Spoon about

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Speaker 1: you know, like is this possible, like could we do anything?

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Speaker 1: And um, I'll let Trevor kind of talk about that experience.

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Speaker 1: But you know, south By just given. You know, it's

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Speaker 1: a tech conference obviously, but it's turned into much more

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Speaker 1: than that. You know, it started as music and film

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Speaker 1: and now it's kind of become brand soup, to be honest.

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Speaker 1: So I think we wanted to figure out a way

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Speaker 1: we could kind of extricate ourselves from like all like

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Speaker 1: the craziness of downtown Austin and do something just a

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Speaker 1: little bit remote and you know, be that that event

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Speaker 1: that people want to actually travel to go see. So

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Speaker 1: actually the distance was initial concern for us, but I

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Speaker 1: think it actually ended up benefiting us just because we

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Speaker 1: actually emulated that idea of a journey to West World,

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Speaker 1: and I think it really excited people and um, you know,

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Speaker 1: once they got there, they were free to kind of

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Speaker 1: explore Westworld. So I also love the idea that it

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Speaker 1: was not in the center or of south By, because

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Speaker 1: it takes people out of the brand soup right like

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Speaker 1: you said, and it puts them like south By is

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Speaker 1: a physical experience. You're walking Austin, right. But I love

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Speaker 1: this idea that you brought Feeder in the reel, um,

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Speaker 1: not in the middle of all the action you brought.

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Speaker 1: You took the action out and I think that actually

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Speaker 1: created more, um probably build up an enthusiasm. Obviously a

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Speaker 1: lot of people wanted to partner in some way when

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Speaker 1: they heard about what we were doing, and for us,

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Speaker 1: we really wanted to look at travel partners like because

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Speaker 1: we really wanted to stay true to the narrative of

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Speaker 1: the show. You know, what's that a two B experience

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Speaker 1: to get people, you know, out of their homes and

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Speaker 1: into West World. And so we actually partnered with Delta,

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Speaker 1: which does um kind of a festival shuttle flight out

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Speaker 1: of l a X on the Friday of the activation,

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Speaker 1: and they have you know, media influencers, celebrities. Um, and

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Speaker 1: we kind of re skin that whole experience as like

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Speaker 1: the beginning of a journey to Westward. Actually it was

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Speaker 1: actually the screens in the airport, right said, like destination

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Speaker 1: west World. Yeah. There was a great line in a

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Speaker 1: Forbes article talking about the fact that the reason why

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Speaker 1: this may have been a success is that what it

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Speaker 1: actually demonstrated was people still crave the physical and the

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Speaker 1: human connection in a world that is overtly digital. Um, Trevor,

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Speaker 1: can you talk to us about sort of how this

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Speaker 1: thing came to be from giants Spoon's experiential arm and

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Speaker 1: sort of what the focus was in really kind of

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Speaker 1: creating this immersive reality which ultimately turned into crazy amounts

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Speaker 1: of content. Yeah, so Stephen could emailed us. We actually

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Speaker 1: pulled up the email that we had an emailed hello

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Speaker 1: at Giant Spoon and said, hey, um, we've seen some

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Speaker 1: of the stuff you guys been doing. We want to talk.

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Speaker 1: And so that kind of put emotion a bunch of

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Speaker 1: meetings that we ended up having up there. But when

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Speaker 1: was this like how long ago was that July in

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Speaker 1: the summertime and our team came up. You know, they

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Speaker 1: talked to us a lot about West World. They talked

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Speaker 1: to us about where Jonah and Lisa were taking the show,

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Speaker 1: some of the like the threads that they wanted to

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Speaker 1: explore into season two, and so we bid on that

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Speaker 1: and we went back to our office. We spent a

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Speaker 1: few weeks developing strategy, thinking through like how would we

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Speaker 1: begin to build excitement for west World season two? And

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Speaker 1: one of the ideas that was in that mix was

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Speaker 1: let's create the town, Let's create Westworld, and and then

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Speaker 1: there was a lot of pieces that kind of clicked

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Speaker 1: together really quickly. We found a site, we found a

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Speaker 1: cultural event which was south by Southwest UM. We felt

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Speaker 1: like we had the right UM director to help us

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Speaker 1: put on the theatrical show that was down there. So

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Speaker 1: that's how a lot of these things clicked together. And

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Speaker 1: then it was HBO saying yes, and like Stephen and

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Speaker 1: his team pushing us, like can we go Boulder? What

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Speaker 1: else can we do here? How do we make this

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Speaker 1: more immersive? So there's a lot of back and forth

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Speaker 1: as we got up to November and then we were

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Speaker 1: starting to build. We were building the set and and

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Speaker 1: a lot of the elements that set there. I saw

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Speaker 1: an interview with you and you said that, Um, and

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Speaker 1: I thought this was great that you walked into a

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Speaker 1: room one day and your team was flipping the West

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Speaker 1: World wines. Yeah, you want to tell that story. Like

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Speaker 1: the Giant Spoon team that put this on, so they

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Speaker 1: were like mad scientists, and like what I witnessed in

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Speaker 1: our office every day was like I mean even now,

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Speaker 1: there's twenty seven cowboy hats sitting on a desk there

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Speaker 1: because they were trying to find the right cowboy hat.

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Speaker 1: And so they were methodically breaking down each element of

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Speaker 1: the show. And when when we sit as a team,

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Speaker 1: the strategy of the whole activation was to be very

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Speaker 1: true to the show, and so everything had this filter

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Speaker 1: was would this work in Westworld? Is this something that

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Speaker 1: we could see coming out of the minds of Jonah

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Speaker 1: and Lisa. Stephen talked to us a little bit about

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Speaker 1: the process internally as the Spoon team came back and

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Speaker 1: started putting all of the elements on the table. What

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Speaker 1: did that process look like, Um, how did you sell

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Speaker 1: that in and ultimately did the creators of the show

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Speaker 1: have input into that process? Oh? Yeah, absolutely, I think

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Speaker 1: you know, we tried to poke as many holes in

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Speaker 1: this idea as we could, and um, you know, I

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Speaker 1: think that was the litmus test of you know, our

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Speaker 1: big concerns were, you know, obviously this is something you know,

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Speaker 1: huge endeavor. There's a lot of extraneous factors that can

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Speaker 1: go wrong here. When you're talking about live entertainment, you

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Speaker 1: have you know, I think there were like fifty six vendors,

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Speaker 1: like close to sixty seventy actors. Um, So you know,

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Speaker 1: West World. The idea of this show is that it

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Speaker 1: is immersive entertainment, right, Like this top one percent of

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Speaker 1: one percent of guests a hundreds of thousands of dollars

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Speaker 1: to go experience this park where they can you know,

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Speaker 1: fucking kill people. And um, obviously we weren't going to

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Speaker 1: regret that exactly, but I think the idea of having

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Speaker 1: this place that people could go, um just you know,

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Speaker 1: it seemed like a really a no brainer in terms

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Speaker 1: of an extension to the narrative of the show. So um,

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Speaker 1: you know, as we were thinking about a lot of

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Speaker 1: the different elements that went into it, I think we

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Speaker 1: just kept building and it's like, Okay, that's great, Like,

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Speaker 1: why don't we add another building over here, or like,

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Speaker 1: could we extend this narrative here? What can we do

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Speaker 1: to t season two a little bit more? Um? And

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Speaker 1: you know, we started to just build and build and build,

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Speaker 1: and we got to a point where it was just

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Speaker 1: I think impossible to say no. And um, Jonah and Lisa,

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Speaker 1: we're just so helpful in allowing us to extend this

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Speaker 1: you know, narrative that they in the story world that

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Speaker 1: they've you know, painstakingly built over the last several years,

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Speaker 1: and um, trusting us to you know, not be untrue

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Speaker 1: to that story. So it's always I think it's always

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Speaker 1: easy for clients to build right there, like and this

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Speaker 1: and this and this. Where did you say that's the world?

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Speaker 1: Like where did you almost self edit and refine? I

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Speaker 1: think you know there there's this impetus, Oh it's south by.

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Speaker 1: We need to have what's like the latest piece of

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Speaker 1: technology we can put in here? And um, like should

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Speaker 1: there be a virtual reality experience that we have in here?

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Speaker 1: And we thought about it, and you know that's not

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Speaker 1: what West World is. West World is one step beyond

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Speaker 1: virtual reality, right it is. Reality is artificial intelligence, like

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Speaker 1: working their way towards sentience. Like we didn't need to

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Speaker 1: have some app you know, partner. You know, we we

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Speaker 1: really wanted to be and ironically, you know, we were

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Speaker 1: the most low tech thing probably at south By UM.

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Speaker 1: The most like high tech thing we had was a

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Speaker 1: DVD player on our bus ride, and so we were

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Speaker 1: kind of blessed not to have to, you know, deal

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Speaker 1: with anything beyond that. And I think, yeah, it's just

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Speaker 1: staying true to the story and that's where we edited.

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Speaker 1: So Trevor, when you think about all of the content

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Speaker 1: that was captured in this experience, obviously all the details

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Speaker 1: that Stephen just spoke to, from the black and white

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Speaker 1: hats that you know, we're sort of this token of

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Speaker 1: I got to go, yeah, creating the fomo um to

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Speaker 1: the coins which you know, some people were refusing to

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Speaker 1: turn in for a drink because they wanted to take

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Speaker 1: it home as you know, sort of you know, commemorative

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Speaker 1: token of of their experience, which are now a lot

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Speaker 1: on eBay. M I think I saw them going for

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Speaker 1: like a hunter bucks each. So I'm gonna call it

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Speaker 1: David and see if he has any expert Can you

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Speaker 1: talk about what that um sort of playbook looked like

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Speaker 1: for the spoon When you start thinking about all the

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Speaker 1: different elements that we're going to emerge from the experience

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Speaker 1: and how people would use them in social and otherwise.

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Speaker 1: So this thing probably could have went done two pass

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Speaker 1: We could have bust people out there and they could

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Speaker 1: have walked around the park. They could have instagram, had

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Speaker 1: a drink, got back on the bus and went home.

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Speaker 1: What we actually saw happen was people got out to

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Speaker 1: the park and they didn't leave, So they were out

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Speaker 1: there for hours and hours. And we actually built it

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Speaker 1: that way. There was no you know, you didn't have

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Speaker 1: a ticket from two to four and then you had

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Speaker 1: to get back on the bus like a capacity issue. Now,

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Speaker 1: it was built in a way where you could explore

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Speaker 1: and kind of unwrapped the narratives we peop who spent

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Speaker 1: all day there. We have people I saw someone in

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Speaker 1: the line that came back they wanted to resolve the mystery. Um.

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Speaker 1: We have a lot of those stories that we we

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Speaker 1: saw kind of um happened throughout the weekend. But I

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Speaker 1: think what from a social perspective, what you actually saw

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Speaker 1: was people not taking pictures of just like them in

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Speaker 1: a in a cowboy hat, like in front of the bar,

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Speaker 1: or them in a cowboy hat in the barber chair

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Speaker 1: where we had hot shaves going on. They were talking

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Speaker 1: about the experience like their mind. They were talking about

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Speaker 1: the narrative that we had built. They were talking about

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Speaker 1: how they felt like they actually experienced West World. And

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Speaker 1: I think that's what happened, is that we didn't know

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Speaker 1: that people would interact with the characters like we presumed

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Speaker 1: they would, and we would like wrote these really wonderful,

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Speaker 1: rich stories that each of the characters moved through. How

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Speaker 1: many I read that It was like this insane amount

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Speaker 1: of content that was input into this experience. Yeah, So

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Speaker 1: I think that's an important part. Two is every person

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Speaker 1: was part of the narrative. So when you were at

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Speaker 1: Delos in downtown Austin, we input your personality into the

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Speaker 1: park and so there was questions you're answering you were

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Speaker 1: pre chosen a hat, black hat, white hat, black hat

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Speaker 1: being bad, white hat being good. So that was part

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Speaker 1: of it. Two, as you went through it, everybody had

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Speaker 1: mail in the park. So like when you got we

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Speaker 1: were like we had like physical male, physical maile. We

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Speaker 1: had one I think we had one printer in a

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Speaker 1: trailer out back, and then Stephen was sitting there going

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Speaker 1: print no this is amazing. Our team looked at each

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Speaker 1: other and we're going to any more printers, and they

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Speaker 1: brought in five more printers. Because we had so many

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Speaker 1: letters and so many people that were coming through, we

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Speaker 1: couldn't get them out fast enough. But within each of

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Speaker 1: those UM letters was a narrative written specifically for the person.

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Speaker 1: So and when I got to the park, I had

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Speaker 1: a letter with my name on it, and then I

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Speaker 1: would open it up and then I can unpack you know,

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Speaker 1: that world or that narrative. And there was great strikes

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Speaker 1: in it, like one of them was you could get

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Speaker 1: a free drink at the bar. You just had to

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Speaker 1: know how to read it and how to ask the

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Speaker 1: right questions. Were you actually like parsing out narratives very deliberately,

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Speaker 1: like so that you knew that you had groups of

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Speaker 1: people going this waying groups of people going that way,

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Speaker 1: and but then you leave it to chance. If they

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Speaker 1: want to follow it, they follow, If they don't, they don't.

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Speaker 1: Uh yeah, a little bit. Yeah, I mean I think

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Speaker 1: the park had a bunch of streets, right, and so

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Speaker 1: you could like um envelop yourself as you move through it.

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Speaker 1: And so you got off the train and you were

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Speaker 1: kind of like where do I go? Where do I start?

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Speaker 1: And then you could kind of walk your way into

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Speaker 1: the park and it got a little bit more intense

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Speaker 1: as you moved towards the back of it. So there was,

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Speaker 1: you know, places to get lost. There was a photo

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Speaker 1: studio where you could dress up. There was the barbershop

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Speaker 1: I mentioned. Uh. There was also a graveyard where the

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Speaker 1: Maze was buried. And so what we also saw was

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Speaker 1: that people were digging, like I think that there was

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Speaker 1: like six ft I mean it started. I mean I

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Speaker 1: remember just think when we were talking about all these

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Speaker 1: easter eggs, you know, one of the ideas was, well,

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Speaker 1: let's actually bury the Maze and Dolores's grave, which is

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Speaker 1: where it is in the show. And I was like,

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Speaker 1: no one's going to do this, No one's gonna figure,

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Speaker 1: no one's gonna think to do this. There weren't enough shovels.

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Speaker 1: So all we did is all we did is Lena

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Speaker 1: shovel up against a building, and sure enough, the first

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Speaker 1: night someone went digging, and by Sunday, the third day,

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Speaker 1: the hole in the ground probably had a diameter of

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Speaker 1: like four ft because so many people were just like

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Speaker 1: where do we put all this dirt. Um. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think people people were looking for all the you know,

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Speaker 1: people start talking, Reddick gets fired up and um. So

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Speaker 1: we were just like, oh, we have to plant more.

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Speaker 1: Like people have discovered everything. But I think to go

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Speaker 1: back to your question about you know, were we trying

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Speaker 1: to program people on certain narratives, I think the answer

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Speaker 1: is no. I think we really wanted it to be

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Speaker 1: individual and bespoke to that person. But I think the

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Speaker 1: way that the act was structured, so it was like

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Speaker 1: four forty four pages of script three acts um and

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Speaker 1: culminating kind of this big finale moment, and we wanted

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Speaker 1: you know, everyone was always like, well, how will I

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Speaker 1: know when the final is here? Is like, trust me,

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Speaker 1: you'll know because people would just run down every street

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Speaker 1: to the middle and just watch this big shootout happen.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things that Jonah was saying, um,

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Speaker 1: because he was a big fan of Sleep No More,

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Speaker 1: was you know, when all the people would follow the action,

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Speaker 1: he would go the opposite way because that's sometimes where

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Speaker 1: you're going to find the most special thing. UM. So

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Speaker 1: that's why you know, we built out this very nondescript

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Speaker 1: room that you had to have a key code get

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Speaker 1: into and there was all this mystery and how you

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Speaker 1: would kind of enter this room. Once you're in there,

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Speaker 1: what do you do? Um? And it was this opportunity

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Speaker 1: where we could really tease out season two and debut

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Speaker 1: our drone host. I kind of think that that's a

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Speaker 1: metaphor for the whole strategy and activation here, right, Like

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Speaker 1: when the crowd is running towards the thing, you go

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Speaker 1: the other way, because actually right, because actually the story

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Speaker 1: is that they attack. Typically brands show up and they

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Speaker 1: especially from a media standpoint, and our team of brands

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Speaker 1: media brands because they want to get the attention of advertisers.

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Speaker 1: HBO doesn't do that, right, So what was ultimately the

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Speaker 1: objective here? It wasn't to sell more commercials. Yeah, it

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Speaker 1: was tuned in. You know people ask that all the time,

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Speaker 1: like why are you here? Like expecting some deep philosophical answer,

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Speaker 1: and we just want people to tune into West World

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Speaker 1: and hopefully we we succeeded in that objective. There's a

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Speaker 1: Twitter question if I'm a that kind of tales yea.

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Speaker 1: So Devin Houston UM wants to know why do brands

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Speaker 1: think these kinds of activations are so valuable and I

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Speaker 1: think to Alexa's point, one of the things that we

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Speaker 1: heard was south By is dead, it's over. You know

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Speaker 1: when you talk about tick to the tag, Zig to

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Speaker 1: the Zag, Trevor, can you talk about why you felt

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Speaker 1: south By was the right cultural moment for HBO to

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Speaker 1: show up. Yeah. Uh. There was tons of proclamations before

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Speaker 1: the south By south By stead that people weren't going.

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Speaker 1: People are like, I'm not gonna go, but I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of people showed up. A ton of people

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Speaker 1: showed up, and how many showed U about West World thousands?

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Speaker 1: South By us always be thinking you're going to discover

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Speaker 1: the next startup, right, You're going to find the next

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Speaker 1: four square, the next highlight, uh, the next anchor. All

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Speaker 1: these companies yet mere cat, and that was what we

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Speaker 1: always chased. We're always chasing, like what's that? When it

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Speaker 1: was always one? There was always like what one kind

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Speaker 1: of darling that came out of south By Southwest. That's

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Speaker 1: not what it's about anymore. South By Southwest is now

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Speaker 1: a cultural festival and they've broadened the mix of what's

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Speaker 1: going on there. It is absolutely about film and entertainment,

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Speaker 1: is absolutely about technology. But if you looked at the

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Speaker 1: keynote speakers. I mean it was Tanahasi Coats, it was

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Speaker 1: Melinda Gates, like these are people who are shaping culture

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Speaker 1: today and and a rod Uh. It happens on the weekend,

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Speaker 1: so like suddenly your phone's not blowing up with a

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Speaker 1: bunch of client emails and other things that are going on.

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Speaker 1: You're actually down there looking for ideas, you're looking for inspiration,

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Speaker 1: You're talking to people and everything is super casual. This

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Speaker 1: is one of my favorite aspects of south By is

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Speaker 1: that good ideas happened over like barbecue and beer and

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Speaker 1: everybody is there to learn something and kind of figure

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Speaker 1: this out. So that to me makes it just an

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Speaker 1: interesting festival. And the idea that you have a bunch

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Speaker 1: of worlds colliding. So I believe for a marketer, you're

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Speaker 1: not going to find ideas in the marketing world. You

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Speaker 1: gotta look elsewhere. And so when you're down at south By,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna meet you know, there was a food track

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Speaker 1: that was happening, there was a fitness track. There's only

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Speaker 1: other things that were going on. That's where you find gold,

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Speaker 1: That's where you actually find really unique thinking. And so

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Speaker 1: that's what brings us down there. I think that this

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Speaker 1: is something that is a huge sig all in the

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Speaker 1: noise for marketers to think about. Don't just message me,

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Speaker 1: don't just sell me right, bring me into it, show

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Speaker 1: me how I actually am included in it. And I

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Speaker 1: think that's something that's really interesting that I saw because

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Speaker 1: I was on the outside. I didn't go down. There

430
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 1: was a badge of honor that I went to West World.

431
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 1: It was everywhere. And when you created there was a community.

432
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,920
Speaker 1: Very quickly, you created a community within south By. Someone

433
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,880
Speaker 1: got married in that community, which is just a whole

434
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 1: so previously, and I don't I think this is a

435
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,480
Speaker 1: little known fact about the experience. When the team was

436
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,560
Speaker 1: going through the planning process and they had scouted ghost Town,

437
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,639
Speaker 1: which is in Manor, Texas, um, somebody was supposed to

438
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,520
Speaker 1: be getting married there that weekend, like a resident, like

439
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,719
Speaker 1: an actual woman and her soon to be husband. We're

440
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:51,440
Speaker 1: getting married, and there was a party going to happen

441
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,080
Speaker 1: in the whole nine. I'm pretty sure I wrote him

442
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,080
Speaker 1: a check before My favorite line of the budget was

443
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 1: bribed by out so interestingly enough, another couple that was

444
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,159
Speaker 1: meant to be married in Mainer. I believe it was

445
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 1: a couple. They were actually supposed to be married at

446
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 1: the town a few weeks later, and they showed up

447
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,879
Speaker 1: um and you know, they were explaining, oh, we're supposed

448
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 1: to get married here in a couple of weeks, and

449
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,240
Speaker 1: we said, well, do you want to do it now?

450
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: And it turns out the owner of ghost town, this

451
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,399
Speaker 1: guy named George, it was actually an ordained minister because

452
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,119
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of weddings happened in this

453
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,440
Speaker 1: ghost town. Apparently it's like a huge attraction in Manor, Texas.

454
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 1: So we just like quickly, within the course of an hour,

455
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 1: put the bride and groom in costume. We had a

456
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 1: local Austin band Dallas Acid play. Uh, here comes the

457
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,479
Speaker 1: bride on like a gong and likes at the end

458
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 1: of the day, like literally the grand finale of the activation,

459
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,400
Speaker 1: and we had all of our our hosts and actors

460
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 1: and all the guests that were in the park watched

461
00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,520
Speaker 1: this wedding. It doesn't get more real time. So they

462
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,679
Speaker 1: actually got married in West World. They got married in

463
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: West World. We're adding wedding planning to Giants moods capability.

464
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,640
Speaker 1: You were talking about community and sort of convening these

465
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 1: experiences for people. I think one of the things I

466
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: was most impressed by on the HBO side was the

467
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 1: fact that you didn't charge people to come to this experience.

468
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:20,879
Speaker 1: Can you talk about why the decision to go free

469
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,080
Speaker 1: um and sort of what community and sort of that

470
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,040
Speaker 1: conveniing that Alexa talks about will now be leveraged post

471
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 1: south By. Yeah. I mean this was a marketing activation.

472
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: We want people to tune in. We don't want people

473
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: to fork out money, right, so when we built out

474
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 1: that experience, we want people to feel like they experienced

475
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,359
Speaker 1: something that many people would have paid money for. You know,

476
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: like Disney is building out a Star Wars theme park,

477
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,800
Speaker 1: so I think they want people are looking for these

478
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 1: immersive experiences like what we've been talking about, and Disney

479
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: is obviously doing this with their Star Wars themed hotel. Um,

480
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,000
Speaker 1: I feel like other companies are just right on their heels.

481
00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 1: So you know, who knows where this will go? Does

482
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: this create momentum at HBO to say, um, what does

483
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: the future look like in terms of bringing this creative

484
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: into more of a physical and theatrical experience for our audiences.

485
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 1: Who knows? Who knows what the future will hold being cheeky,

486
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:27,080
Speaker 1: I am being cheeky, take it. Yeah. I mean we

487
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 1: at Giant Spoon we often talked about the mission of

488
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 1: some of the stuff we're trying to do is to

489
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,000
Speaker 1: slow the scroll. And so what we mean by that

490
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,600
Speaker 1: is like, when we're building content, how do we make

491
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,480
Speaker 1: people stop in their tracks and people look at it,

492
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 1: Having people seek out the stuff that we actually want

493
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 1: to watch or actually they actually want to see. Um So,

494
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 1: I think experiential or experience like this is a this

495
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 1: is a key part of what that's going to be

496
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 1: in the future, and it's it's here now. Actually it's

497
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,639
Speaker 1: not even talked about it as the future. Um So,

498
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: I think you'll begin to see more brands like looking

499
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,119
Speaker 1: at this a little bit harder. But think about what

500
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,000
Speaker 1: happened at Westborold is everything was prog ram to build content.

501
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 1: So it was it was very deliberate. I mean we

502
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,240
Speaker 1: were We had tons of the east eggs were about discovery.

503
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 1: The set dressings were about the most perfect thing to

504
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 1: to um to post on social media. Um The character

505
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: and narratives were about you telling your story to somebody else.

506
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,360
Speaker 1: So we thought about it from every moment from when

507
00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 1: you entered the park and you came through the portal

508
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,400
Speaker 1: to when you when you left and you we kind

509
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,320
Speaker 1: of off boarded you off the experience. I think, you know,

510
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,000
Speaker 1: this whole idea of you know, stopping the scroll and

511
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,879
Speaker 1: this idea that technology needs to be so you know,

512
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: part of this immersion. And I think what technology has

513
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,640
Speaker 1: done in a lot of ways has taken us out

514
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: of our real world. Um. So you know, this technology

515
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: or the lack there thereof in this experience is what

516
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,719
Speaker 1: what really brought people to it. And um, you know,

517
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 1: I think technology is something that makes us crave these

518
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 1: these natural interactions. It's so important. I think having worked

519
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 1: with Spoon really closely for a long time, one of

520
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: the things that Beth Coomstock, Linda Boff and I used

521
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 1: to talk about a lot was there are a lot

522
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,239
Speaker 1: of people who have ideas. There are not a lot

523
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: of people who can land planes. Right, You guys do

524
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,920
Speaker 1: that impeccably, And that's really the truth. It really comes

525
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,080
Speaker 1: down to talent and how you think about hiring and

526
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 1: who you think about hiring, and being on the inside

527
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,879
Speaker 1: in terms of being very close to you guys. I

528
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: know that that is also something that you are meticulous

529
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 1: about Can you talk about that a little bit, Trevor, Yeah,

530
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,240
Speaker 1: the secret sauce of a spoon. Uh, we talked about

531
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 1: people were talking about people coming. We talk about them

532
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,760
Speaker 1: as spoons and like I think we're meeting with people

533
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,119
Speaker 1: or like engaged on a project like that person is

534
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: a spoon. And it's a statement you hear at the company,

535
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: and but what it means is like they actually care.

536
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,360
Speaker 1: They give a damn about the work that's happening. Um,

537
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: they have this like, um, they don't sit in a

538
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,200
Speaker 1: box and so they try anything and so they're they're

539
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: you know, we always say, become a Giant Spoon. Your

540
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,360
Speaker 1: job description is a loose suggestion like solve the problem,

541
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 1: like what we actually trying to do. That is your

542
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,520
Speaker 1: that's what you should be doing. And I think you

543
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 1: see that across. I mean, Giant Spoon is a full

544
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,160
Speaker 1: service agency. So all the activation we did in partnership

545
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,119
Speaker 1: with HBO was an experience experiential. We also led some

546
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:14,920
Speaker 1: of the creative for it. We're doing all these other

547
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 1: elements with it. And then the third kind of piece

548
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 1: of it is like be nice to each other, like

549
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 1: have fun. And so you see that within the team

550
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 1: where uh, there's an incredibly collaborative relationship. And there's also

551
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: this there's not a creative department that sits at Giant Spoon.

552
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 1: There's not a strategy department, like in that grand sense,

553
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 1: everybody needs to be strategic. Yeah, totally, I mean I

554
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,479
Speaker 1: think but when I look at every person I know

555
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: at the Spoon, they have these like kind of amazing backstories, um,

556
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,879
Speaker 1: and present stories right of things that they're doing outside

557
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:51,120
Speaker 1: of their their day to day job. Um. Yeah, we uh,

558
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 1: we like gravitate towards the crazy and the curious. I

559
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,120
Speaker 1: mean really, I mean that those people work really well

560
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,560
Speaker 1: at Giant Spoon. And then we're also and I mentioned

561
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,360
Speaker 1: this too in kind of how I thought about South Buy,

562
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: but what else are you interested in? Like what books

563
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: are you reading? What music? What shows? Are you going

564
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,000
Speaker 1: to bring that into our office? And you know, if

565
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: we at Giant Spoon are programming brands into culture, we

566
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:14,639
Speaker 1: have to be part of culture and we have to

567
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: understand it. And that's what we do. And I also

568
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,880
Speaker 1: think that that is reflective of the clients that we attract. Um.

569
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: I think that we look for sort of the crazy

570
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,120
Speaker 1: and the curious and the people who come from sort

571
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 1: of nonlinear, unbound, you know, backgrounds. And I think a

572
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 1: fun fact that I learned about Stephen while we were

573
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 1: in Austin as that Stephen was the marketing director for

574
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 1: a Book of Mormon and you had a very unconventional

575
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 1: path to your current role. Can you talk about what

576
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 1: that was like navigating on the brand side. Yeah, I

577
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: mean I I started, Um, you know, I was Scott

578
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,800
Speaker 1: Ruden's assistant who um you know, Broadway film TV producer.

579
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 1: Um So, I I learned everything from this guy and

580
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: was just kind of a sponge. And I remember, you know,

581
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 1: birding out a couple of years into that job as

582
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: his assistant, and he was like, hey, you know I

583
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 1: want you to stick around. UM, I want you to

584
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: do the marketing for this new musical. And I went

585
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: to film school and when I heard the word musical,

586
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: I would just like grown. I was like, oh no,

587
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,240
Speaker 1: and um He's like, no, I think you'll really like it.

588
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 1: It's from the South Park guys. Um So, yeah, that

589
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: was the Book of Mormon and that obviously was successful. Um,

590
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,480
Speaker 1: it grew. You know, we had a westbound production touring.

591
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: Um So that was just kind of all consuming. I

592
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 1: think that was one of the productions that actually talk

593
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 1: about revivals here that actually revived Broadway. Well, I mean

594
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: you had people that reacted just the same way I did.

595
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 1: You know, people that didn't want to go to Broadway.

596
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: They didn't want to go to you know, see a musical. Um,

597
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,680
Speaker 1: and you know it's still you know, it's still a

598
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 1: sold out show four or five years later. Um, there's

599
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 1: never an empty seat in that house. You have some

600
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 1: track record. I don't know what what happened, but I

601
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 1: just kind of I keep stumbling into the right place.

602
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: I guess what does talent look like at HBO right now?

603
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: You know we're talking about you know, on the agency side,

604
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: But how are brands sort of sourcing. I had the

605
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 1: pleasure of meeting Mark and THEO who are just unbelievable,

606
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: you guys like the Three Amigos and Black Cowboy Hats

607
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: this weekend. But I know you're also now looking for

608
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,120
Speaker 1: project coordinators. UM. And you can tell people to send

609
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,720
Speaker 1: you their resumes. UM, But what does talent look like?

610
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: What what is HBO craving? You know, I think it's

611
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: it's similar to what Trevor was talking about. We want

612
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:36,800
Speaker 1: people who are passionate about you know entertainment, UM, have

613
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: an understanding of what's going on in culture? You know,

614
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 1: I think you know. Trevor is asking what books you're reading?

615
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 1: My favorite question is what did you do last weekend?

616
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 1: I want to know who you are as a person.

617
00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: I think anyone can come in with a can line

618
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,800
Speaker 1: for an interview, but we really want to know you know.

619
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 1: Are you a team leader? Are you passionate? UM? Are

620
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 1: you going to um? When you see you know that

621
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: there's there's a whole? Are you gonna go fill it? Um?

622
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 1: We like to play a little game here. It's called

623
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: kill by d I Y. It's actually a very West

624
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 1: World in a way. I feel like they should play

625
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 1: in West World. What would you kill? Trevor? I'd kill

626
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 1: the pitch so I think you know, as a business,

627
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: we spend a lot of time pitching, coming up with things,

628
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 1: having these like short like we have an hour chemistry session,

629
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: like we like somehow we've developed chemistry in sixty minutes. Uh.

630
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 1: I'd love to have partnerships. We come in and let's

631
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: talk about ideas. Let's talk about what does the fundamental

632
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 1: business transformation business problem you have? And then let's let's

633
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: figure out if we're both right for it. Um, I'd

634
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 1: love to change that. I love kill the pitch. I'm

635
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: on board. There's just so much marketing lingo that drives

636
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,480
Speaker 1: me nuts. Can we just talk about the term lean

637
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,040
Speaker 1: in because the amount of times I've heard this and

638
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 1: no offense of Cheryl's Hamburg because I love her, but

639
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,720
Speaker 1: I it's overused overall. I don't think anyone knows what

640
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 1: it means. Like, let's stop talking around these ideas. It's like,

641
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 1: what are we going to do? Yes, it's not you know,

642
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 1: trying to dress up with, you know, an idea by

643
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: making it sound better. We're you know, we're going to

644
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,920
Speaker 1: lean into this audience. Well, it's like we're gonna yeah,

645
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: you know, let's say, what's real? Love it? Find find

646
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: the pointing point? Would you buy? I would buy an

647
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: architecture firm, So I would love I think like architecture

648
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 1: and the creation of like that's so it is, so

649
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 1: you sorry, keep going, keep going, so you I think

650
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 1: it is the ultimate expression of a brand, like you're

651
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 1: building something that's lasting, it's going to be there forever.

652
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,960
Speaker 1: And I don't know, i'd love for at some point

653
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 1: in Spoon's future, maybe that's a capability that we have

654
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: that we're able to build these monuments and then will

655
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 1: be monuments just a brand, but the causes or other things.

656
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 1: But if Steven, we should just call our media plans

657
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 1: media plans. Stop calling the blueprints roadmaps maps. Stephen, what

658
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: are you buying? I would buy another season of six

659
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: ft Under. I was so funny because when you guys

660
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: were talking about six ft Under or like digging, I

661
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 1: was like, God, I missed that show. It's so good,

662
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 1: such a good show. You know, everyone always asks like

663
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,400
Speaker 1: that's always my favorite question to ask people at HBO,

664
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,040
Speaker 1: Like what's your favorite HBO show? What are you doing yourself? Guys?

665
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 1: Everyone always asks like, we're what's Giant Spoon? Where the

666
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,480
Speaker 1: name come from? I think maybe a known fact, but

667
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:26,880
Speaker 1: maybe it's little known, was that we were going to

668
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: put um coffee shops into the company, says We actually

669
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,320
Speaker 1: trademarked the name Giant Spoon for a bunch of like

670
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: hips or coffee shops for those four a thing. So

671
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,239
Speaker 1: I think at some point in time we have to

672
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 1: fulfill on that vision. So we'll get some baristas going,

673
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 1: and you have one of the best cold brew on

674
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,000
Speaker 1: tap I've ever had. So it's like, I think it's

675
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 1: liquid is liquid gold, liquid cold? About what did you

676
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 1: do yourself? Myself? I always wanted to be a photographer.

677
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that is so lost in translate. How

678
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:00,760
Speaker 1: do you remember that line from and Translate? Do you

679
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 1: remember last? In translation? Like one of my favorite moves?

680
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 1: Me too? Um? And she's like, I do photography? Is

681
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: like every girl does photography? Do you know what I mean?

682
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,680
Speaker 1: It's like everyone has the photography staff. So I guess

683
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,080
Speaker 1: you haven't had the photography staff. Well, it's It's one

684
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 1: of one of my favorite aspects of my job is

685
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: I get to you know, we we do a lot

686
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,480
Speaker 1: of the key art and photo shoots for that, and

687
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 1: I'm most happy when I'm on a set, you know,

688
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,799
Speaker 1: and not away from my desk. Um. So I think

689
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,320
Speaker 1: in another in another world, another life path, that that

690
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 1: would have been the one I would have gone. Well,

691
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:38,240
Speaker 1: you're totally. It seems like you're creative and a creator

692
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,239
Speaker 1: in a you know, in a business role, which is

693
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: probably one of the best things. And I think more

694
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: marketers actually need to to have that kind of background

695
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 1: and that pedigree. So where can people find you if

696
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,560
Speaker 1: they want to send you their resumes and and and

697
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,359
Speaker 1: just chat um well you can finally walking my dog

698
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 1: down in Carol gardens um or on LinkedIn, kind of

699
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 1: what's your dog's name? Her name is Alicia Silverstone's much

700
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 1: smarter than her namesake. Oh my god, as if people

701
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:15,719
Speaker 1: are gonna start yelling Alicia Trevor, where can people find

702
00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:17,280
Speaker 1: you if they want to send you there? As amazed?

703
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:22,360
Speaker 1: Just email Trevor Giant Spoon, Super easy, guys, this was

704
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: so amazing, so great to have you here. Thanks so

705
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 1: cool and and just you know, amazing to be a

706
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 1: part of it, for sure, but also just excited for

707
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 1: the industry to have sort of seeing the power of

708
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:44,319
Speaker 1: what culture and brand marketing can be when it's done authentically.

709
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 1: I really I know that Stephen was being a little cheeky,

710
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 1: but like, I'm kind of obsessed with the fact that

711
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,360
Speaker 1: and this goes along with the other obsession I have

712
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: around I P right, sending IP and looking into new

713
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 1: areas and obviously West World, and what Giant Spoon and

714
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 1: HBO created together is actually it's own I P off

715
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,000
Speaker 1: of I P where else does this go? Where else

716
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,280
Speaker 1: does it extend? I'm not saying go build a West

717
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,640
Speaker 1: world that you know, every industry activation, but I love

718
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:14,399
Speaker 1: this idea of you know, bringing Uh what I would

719
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,360
Speaker 1: say is flat I p that you see on a

720
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,640
Speaker 1: screen and being able to interact with it, which is

721
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,319
Speaker 1: something that everyone is kind of obsessed with. And that's

722
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 1: not something that just then entertainment or media company can do.

723
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,560
Speaker 1: It's something that a CpG could do. Um. So you

724
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 1: guys did it flawlessly. Hats off to you, thank you,

725
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:35,960
Speaker 1: And you know, one of the things that Trevor and

726
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,760
Speaker 1: I didn't talk about during the episode was about how

727
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: emotional we were come Monday, um, and not just because

728
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 1: of you know, the intensive amount of hours worked and

729
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:47,319
Speaker 1: kind of seeing you know, all of the people who

730
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:50,279
Speaker 1: had a hand in the project sort of just you know,

731
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 1: overjoyed with obviously the outcome um that it received, but

732
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,360
Speaker 1: emotional on the fact, like we didn't want to leave Sweetwater,

733
00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: like it was so surreal that experience that it was

734
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,880
Speaker 1: really Yeah, it's real. I think if something can evoke

735
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 1: that from a brand marketer and from an agency, I

736
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: can only imagine what the experience was like for the

737
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: coming into the park now. So with that, hats off

738
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: Giant Spoon and HBO for an amazing kind of bar

739
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,799
Speaker 1: setting moment and south By Southwest and hats off to

740
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,879
Speaker 1: our friends at Panoply, Thank you, Cameron Drew's, Matt Turk,

741
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,680
Speaker 1: Andy Bowers and everyone in Atlantia. Will see y'all again

742
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:34,360
Speaker 1: in another couple of weeks. Full disclosure, our opinions, our own.

743
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 1: We set the bar for experiential like, this is what

744
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,640
Speaker 1: audiences and fans want. Um, this is their expectation. Now

745
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 1: it's not about a booth at a conference, but it's

746
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: a It's how do you celebrate whether it's a show,

747
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: a passion, something going on with it and within a brand,

748
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: and how do you bring somebody there and give them

749
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,880
Speaker 1: something they can't get anywhere else? And I think, you know,

750
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,840
Speaker 1: we a giant spoon, We have an experiential arm, but

751
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: I think we're the Tiffanys of experiences like we are.

752
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: The quality and the care that we're putting behind this

753
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,440
Speaker 1: is unlike you know anything I've seen, so I you know,

754
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 1: the bar was raised in Texas this weekend, I had

755
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: another agency reached out to me literally just said thank

756
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:25,840
Speaker 1: you for ruining experiential marketing. That's awesome