1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:01,480 Speaker 1: So I think that's what you gotta do. 2 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:03,960 Speaker 2: It's not just about oh, my cousin knows TikTok and 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 2: so he can do it. It's no, you should be 4 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 2: going on TikTok. Let's use the hoodie example. You know, 5 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 2: if you have a hoodie company, you should be on 6 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 2: TikTok finding out who makes dope content about hoodies. You 7 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 2: should be looking at every hoodie hashtag, you know, every 8 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 2: hoodie rated brand, every creator that's making jokes about you know, 9 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 2: the girls stealing your hoodies or its hoodie season, and 10 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 2: you will find somebody in there that probably resonates with you. 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 2: And then that's how you find somebody that can make 12 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 2: you hoodie content. 13 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 3: I'm will lookas this is black tach green money. 14 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: Hey look. 15 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 4: Brandon Butler is Partner in Chief, Culture and Innovation Officer 16 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 4: at Majority in CEO at Butter atl in Atlanta based 17 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 4: media company covering all things Atlanta from sports. 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 3: News, ood music. 19 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 4: His storytelling about communities is a high ROI play which 20 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 4: feeds ecosystem. And when the ecosystem is strong for black 21 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 4: entrepreneurship and. 22 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 3: Culture, are people thrive. I just believe that. 23 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 4: All companies and organizations should see themselves as media companies 24 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,199 Speaker 4: and put the work in to tell authentic stories. Butter 25 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 4: Atl believes this also and puts this philosophy to work 26 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 4: for the city. 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 3: So I asked Brandon how this came about. 28 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it started with this idea that some 29 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 2: of the most successful companies and brands tend to operate 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 2: as media companies. The example that always kind of references 31 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 2: Red Bull. You see Red Bull doing all kind of 32 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 2: crazy stuff. You see guys, you know, jumping from outer space. 33 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 2: You know, you see them doing race cars. And you've 34 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 2: never really seen like a Red Bull commercial though, You've 35 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 2: never really seen a commercial with somebody holding the Red 36 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: Bull saying like go buy this or drink it. Right, 37 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 2: So they've associated their brand with this idea that just 38 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 2: you know, content and media and being associated with it, 39 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 2: you know, will give people what they need to know 40 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 2: that this thing exists. And so for us, we kind 41 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 2: of had the same that same belief right that the 42 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 2: most successful brands operated that way, and and. 43 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: So we kind of started looking around. 44 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 2: At first, you know, there was this idea that you know, 45 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 2: maybe we do it for like the culture at large, 46 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 2: you know, so it's just what's trending what's in pop 47 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,679 Speaker 2: culture right now? And and I mean we we did 48 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 2: that for a little while, but honestly, it just didn't 49 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 2: feel it didn't feel right, didn't feel super authentic, you know, 50 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 2: as my uh as my god Bame Joiner, one of 51 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 2: the founders of Atlanta influences everything, says Atlanta influences everything. 52 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 2: And so you know, based on that idea and really 53 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 2: based on this idea that Atlanta is a really special place. 54 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: You know, I always say, I think our number one 55 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 2: export in Atlanta's culture. Uh, you know, why not kind 56 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 2: of turn that that lens inward and and and really 57 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 2: find ways to kind of highlight and and tell stories 58 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 2: and just showcase the city that honestly has been overlooked 59 00:02:58,520 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 2: in so many different ways. 60 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: You know. It's always funny to me, right. 61 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: Like when you go back and you look, you've noticed 62 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 2: that these brands would come in from you know, the 63 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,519 Speaker 2: New York, LA and Chicago and they would want to 64 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 2: kind of give us permission to talk about Atlanta. They'd 65 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 2: come down here and say, hey, you know, we heard 66 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 2: y'all like Lemon Pepper Wings down there. Can you tell 67 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 2: us about Lemon Pepper Wings? Man, y'all don't eat limp 68 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 2: pepper wings in New York. 69 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: You know what I mean, y'all eat, y'all eat. 70 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 2: Buffalo wings, whatever those are, and so and so again 71 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 2: it was like, why do we need to wait for 72 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 2: somebody from another city or state to come down here 73 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 2: and ask us about that and then take that story 74 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 2: back home and say, so I went down to Atlanta, 75 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 2: and this is what I learned. You know, if we're 76 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 2: really leading in all elements of you know, culture and 77 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 2: media and all these different things, why not be able 78 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 2: to tell those stories ourselves? And then even thinking about 79 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 2: it even more, you know, when is the last time 80 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 2: you've seen a brand or a media company really focus 81 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: in specifically on a city like this? And so, you know, 82 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 2: for me, it was kind of just an opportunity that 83 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 2: was kind of hidden in plain sight, and we very quickly, 84 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 2: you know, I think we maybe did the national thing 85 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 2: for like a week or two, but we very quickly said, 86 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 2: you know what, let's just focus this thing on what 87 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 2: we think is the coolest, most interesting, most you know, 88 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 2: cultural relevant city in the world really, which we think 89 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 2: is Atlanta. And you know, it just again, it really 90 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 2: resonated with people connected with people really quickly. You know, 91 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 2: people down here, we have a tendency to kind of 92 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 2: protect the culture in a lot of the senses because 93 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 2: we know how special it is, and I think that, well, 94 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 2: we both put that lens on it. But then also 95 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 2: people realize that the person that was doing it was 96 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 2: from here that understood those kind of nuances about the city. 97 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 2: There was just a whole different level of appreciation for it. 98 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 2: You know, I always loved Atlanta on FX by Donald 99 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 2: Glover because it was kind of the same way. You know, 100 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 2: if you're from Atlanta. Even if you're not from Atlanta, 101 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 2: you can appreciate that as a good show, But if 102 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 2: you're from Atlanta, there's this additional level of appreciation you 103 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 2: have for it because they shoot that show in places 104 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 2: that you've been to. They shoot that show, and you know, 105 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 2: you'll see things allude to things that just you recognize instantly. 106 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 2: And so that was kind of how we approach Butter was. 107 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 2: You know, if we tell this story but we also 108 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 2: just really authentic and true to the culture, people will 109 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 2: hear it. You know, people will hear the drawl in 110 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 2: my voice when I speak. You know, people will see 111 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 2: the references that we make, the things that are authentic 112 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 2: and I think a combination of all those things just 113 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 2: really kind of helped put Butter in a really special 114 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 2: place for us. 115 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 4: I want to go back to something you talked about 116 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 4: in the beginning, that you talked about the Red Bull 117 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 4: story and how they don't really do commercials about Red 118 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 4: Bull saying hey buy this, and there's such a key 119 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 4: there that a lot of small brands that you know, 120 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 4: are trying to get traction, trying to find their fit 121 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 4: in the marketplace. That's an investment to do what Red 122 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 4: Bull is doing, because they do. It's not necessarily a 123 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 4: direct pitch to by the thing, It's explicitly an indirect one. 124 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 3: And so how do you admonish or encourage people who have. 125 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 4: A hoodie line or you know, a hair you know, 126 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 4: a shade butter and they're trying to make sales because 127 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 4: they need that to keep going at all and don't 128 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 4: have the marketing budget like a Red Bull would have 129 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 4: to actually find different ways to tell their story or 130 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 4: to show what people who buy that thing do. 131 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the beautiful thing about where we're at 132 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 2: right now just in content and media is I think 133 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 2: the bar has been significantly lowered, which is making it 134 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 2: a lot easier folks to get involved. Right, Like, everybody's 135 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 2: got a cell phone, and all cell phones pretty much 136 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 2: shoot in HD quality. So there's your camera. You know, 137 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 2: you can get a why I saw a wireless microphone 138 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 2: on sale on TikTok for ten bucks, right like, you 139 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 2: can get a wireless mic for your cell phones. And 140 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 2: now you got audio, You've got good video. What's the 141 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 2: only thing you need beyond that? Is just a good idea. 142 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 2: And you know, and even when you kind of think 143 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 2: about it, you know, there are trends that go on. 144 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: So I think it's I think it's kind of easy 145 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: to jump in. You know what. 146 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 2: I what I noticed and I've really noticed is over 147 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 2: the last you know, Butter's been around now for you know, 148 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 2: five plus years, and we make content every single day. 149 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 2: So the thing I've noticed making content every day for 150 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 2: the last five years is that at the end of 151 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 2: the day, it's all about just continuing to kind of 152 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 2: throw you know. The thing I would tell my team is, 153 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 2: if you ever watch a person that knows how to juggle, 154 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 2: everybody always watches, you know, the hand that they kind 155 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 2: of like they always kind of just watch the person 156 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 2: they watch the hand that they catch with the trick 157 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 2: with juggling, though, is to wash the hand that they 158 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 2: throw with, because if you keep throwing, the ball is 159 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 2: gonna land in the right place every single time. And 160 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 2: so what I what I use that to say is 161 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 2: with most people, most entrepreneurs, no matter how big or 162 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 2: small your budget is. My my thing to you is 163 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 2: just start throwing. You never know what the thing is 164 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 2: gonna be. I can tell you right now, there are 165 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 2: you know, one of our most successful pieces of content 166 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 2: on Butter was a photograph of some chicken wings that 167 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 2: I took inside a cafeteria. That photograph ended up on 168 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 2: us what was it, Good Morning America, and ended up 169 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 2: on Complex, ended up on you know, all these different channels. 170 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 2: And it was a literally a picture of some chicken 171 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 2: wings that we took with no photo editing. You know, 172 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 2: I think maybe we cropped the photo and that's it, 173 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 2: so you never know the thing is gonna be. And 174 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 2: like that created so much, you know, a claim and 175 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 2: visibility for us. 176 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: You know. 177 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 2: Another thing we did was a post about you know, 178 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 2: different types of sneakers, which again it was a super 179 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 2: simple post, but that led to a conversation with killing Mike, 180 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 2: which you know, a year later, year and a half later, 181 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 2: he became a partner with Butter and so again. But 182 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 2: all that comes from just like I said, throwing. Like, 183 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: you know, we put stuff out, everything doesn't go viral, 184 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 2: and that's totally fine with me. A lot of times 185 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 2: I put stuff out just to see what will happen 186 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 2: because I'm kind of past this place, and oh well 187 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 2: it didn't work, take it down. So the biggest, yeah, 188 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 2: the biggest advice I would give the people that they 189 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 2: feel like they don't have a budget is you don't 190 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 2: really need that much of a budget. You just need, 191 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 2: you know, some ideas. And at the same time, again, 192 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 2: you just need to just kind of start getting your 193 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 2: stuff out there and throwing. And again, I'm a big 194 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 2: believer in frameworks, you know, so whether you're kind of 195 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 2: doing the the Gary v jab jab jab hook or 196 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 2: what I like to say is, you know, candy, vitamin 197 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 2: and painkillers, right, Like, I think there's certain kinds of 198 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 2: content that's candy. In other words, you know, everybody loves candy, 199 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: but too much candy or rocket teeth, you know, I 200 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: think that there is a content that is vitamins, and 201 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 2: that's the that's where I kind of put a lot 202 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 2: of the Gary v content at like, no shade to him, 203 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 2: but he can yell at you about hustling all day 204 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 2: long until you actually go out and do something. It's 205 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 2: just the pep talk, right, But you're getting that motivation, 206 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 2: but you still have to actually do the work. It's 207 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 2: no different than taking vitamins every day and not going 208 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,080 Speaker 2: to the gym, right like you said, to do the work. 209 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 2: And then there's then there's painkiller content. There's content that 210 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 2: like solves the problem. It has very high utility, right like, 211 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 2: and I tell that by the number of saves that 212 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 2: we get on a post particularly, right So I think 213 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 2: you know, again, when you start thinking about content from 214 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 2: the standpoint of again whether jab jab jab hook or 215 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 2: candy vitamins painkillers, you'll see that. You know, really the 216 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 2: only thing that's kind of stopping you from you is 217 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 2: is really you know what you think people want to see. 218 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 2: And I can guarantee you that the only way to 219 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 2: find that is by putting out enough stuff to really 220 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 2: start to get good insights. 221 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 3: That's so key there. 222 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 4: And I want to dig into that a little bit 223 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 4: because you know, and I have a couple of small 224 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 4: businesses also and to your point of like, when things 225 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 4: work and when they don't, I. 226 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 3: Tell you this quick story. So last last. 227 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 4: Thanksgiving, this would have been twenty twenty two, the coffee 228 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 4: house was like a year old, and there were still 229 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 4: so many people in the community who didn't know that 230 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 4: we existed. And so Thanksgiving the Black Friday, Black Friday morning, 231 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 4: we were open and I found I'm like, oh, I 232 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 4: got to tell the community we're open. So I just 233 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 4: went through my photo album real quick on my phone, 234 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 4: found the first photo I could find, put it up, 235 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 4: say hey, we're open today, just so you know. I 236 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 4: didn't know this Sunday morning, it had twelve hundred shares 237 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 4: on it on Facebook. And if I would have spent 238 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 4: any time thinking about that post, I would not have 239 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 4: used the picture that I used because there was nobody 240 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 4: in it. It looked empty, you know, it was an 241 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 4: angle that was just it was just a random photo 242 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 4: because I just needed to get something up. But to 243 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 4: your point of you don't know what to work and 244 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 4: what doesn't. If it wouldn't have worked, I would have 245 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 4: taken it down on Monday. 246 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 3: So how do you get old? 247 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 4: I guess the question A better question is what are 248 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 4: you looking at in a post metrics wise or otherwise. 249 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 4: If you're saying just put up shots, what are you 250 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 4: looking for it to do? 251 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that's something that people have 252 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 2: to think about. Right again, I'm a big believer in 253 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 2: kind of starting with the end in mind for things. 254 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 2: There are certain types of posts that we make that 255 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 2: are specifically created to drive comments. I literally do not 256 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 2: care if they don't get a ton of likes. I 257 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 2: am more interested in the comments. And we engineer our 258 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 2: content like that. You know, we did a post the 259 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 2: other week about you know, I'm so old Atlanta, I 260 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 2: remember X, Y and Z and ask people to kind 261 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 2: of fill that out. Well, the thing is that thing 262 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 2: got like a thousand comments on it. And the beautiful 263 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 2: thing about those comments is if you think about, just 264 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 2: like marketing is now, you go on those comments, you 265 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 2: start to kind of go through and read, you get 266 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 2: ideas for new content. You see, you know when people 267 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 2: somebody mentions something and gets a bunch of likes now, 268 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 2: or there's a whole bunch of replies to it, that 269 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 2: should be a signal that goes off to you and says, 270 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 2: oh wow, there's an engagement around this. 271 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: Maybe I could build more content around that, right. You know. 272 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 2: Again, when you think about stuff, you know, I would 273 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 2: always say like if you you know, it depends on 274 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 2: what you want to do. If you want to create 275 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 2: content that drives shares, you want to share like a 276 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 2: really interesting fact or something like that, you know what 277 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 2: I mean? Like something again like people share content because 278 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 2: it represents them or helps them kind of tell a story. 279 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 2: There's this whole idea of like, you know, I always 280 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 2: get the example of you know, there's certain pieces of 281 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 2: content that people send because it helps them prove a point. 282 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 2: You know, Like somebody sends a post is like see, 283 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 2: this is exactly what I was talking about, right, So 284 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 2: that's kind of that is this is so me kind 285 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 2: of content. Right, So I think you know, or again 286 00:12:57,559 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 2: if you want to, if you want to, if you 287 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 2: want to drive you know, follows or likes. Again, you 288 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 2: want to create a content that has a like I said, 289 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 2: either tip in it or it's just something like really 290 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 2: fun and engaging. Right, So again I think what you 291 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 2: have to do is just start to kind of think 292 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 2: about what you want and also again understand that it's 293 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 2: not any one post. It's kind of again the totality 294 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 2: of all the things you do that really kind of 295 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 2: help you figure out what the real insight is. Again, 296 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 2: I would tell people, if you really want to figure 297 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 2: it out, you know, get get you know, get thirty 298 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: shots up, get thirty posts up, and then just start 299 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 2: to go back and look and figure out again what 300 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 2: are the things that absolutely worked what doesn't work? Again, 301 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 2: I can tell you a little trick, especially on social 302 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 2: media is when something's gonna work, it works immediately. There 303 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 2: are very few things that I've seen go out to 304 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 2: where it sits dormant for like a day or two, 305 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden it takes off. In 306 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 2: my in my experience, the things that work work almost 307 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 2: it's crazy how it happens. I have some theories about 308 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 2: why that might be like that, but that's all different conversation. 309 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,719 Speaker 2: But you know, it's like so so it's like, when 310 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 2: you see the things that are working, you do those things. 311 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 2: I think too much with people, like we have this 312 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 2: weird thing about oh, you got to work on this 313 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 2: stuff you're not good at. Nah, forget that. There's a 314 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 2: lot of stuff I'm not good at. I don't want 315 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 2: to spend all day trying to get better that I 316 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,079 Speaker 2: want to get better than things I'm already good at. 317 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 2: And so again, I think it's figuring out, like I said, 318 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 2: what works by putting up shots and just being really 319 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 2: honest about what are you seeing? What's the feedback? Like, 320 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 2: what are people saying reading the comments? You know, I 321 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 2: tell people when we first launched Butter, I actually put 322 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 2: a post up one day and said, hey, you know, 323 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 2: I think we had maybe ten thousand followers at that point, 324 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 2: and I said, hey, you know, thank y'all for following Butter. 325 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 2: Look we have some questions for y'all. So if y'all 326 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 2: are interested in, like, you know, being a part of 327 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 2: our user group, fill out this form and I'll call you. 328 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 2: And I literally called like fifty people. Yeah, and it 329 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 2: was like, hey, hey, this is Brandon from Butter atl 330 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 2: They were like, you're really calling me? Yep, Yeah, you 331 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 2: filled the format, you put your phone number on there. 332 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 2: But I literally asked them, hey, what made you follow Butter? 333 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 2: Just out of curiosity? What made you click the follow button? 334 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 2: What made you how did you find out about the page? 335 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 2: And I'm just what I'm saying, like, even that level 336 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 2: of insight is informed things that I do to this day, 337 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 2: like I'm not really in a position to do that 338 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 2: right now, but like I said, it's that whole idea 339 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 2: of like do things that don't scale. Yep, And that 340 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 2: was one of those things to where you know, actually 341 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 2: talking to people, having those conversations, even with those folks, 342 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 2: you know, those are some of our early followers. So 343 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 2: I feel like those are the folks who were really 344 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 2: rocking with us right out the gate. But to kind 345 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 2: of go back and ask them, like, what do you 346 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 2: want to see? It just gave me more perspective in 347 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 2: what kind of things people were looking for, and then 348 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 2: we just gave them more of that stuff over time. 349 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 4: There was an interview I saw where you did and 350 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 4: there was a quote from you where you said, we're 351 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 4: most proud of our ability to tell the story of 352 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 4: Atlanta's culture with high quality, intentional content. This was some 353 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 4: time ago when you said that, so, and I wonder 354 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 4: if it's still true in this way. Is because it 355 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 4: seems like today there's this battle between high quality production 356 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 4: and raw and where produced content may not get be 357 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 4: as valuable, not that it's not good, but it may 358 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 4: not be as valuable to the mainstream audience that consumed 359 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 4: social media content. 360 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 3: What do you say to that? 361 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I don't remember when I made that comment, 362 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 2: but I think the thing that probably changed a lot 363 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 2: of that stuff was, honestly, COVID. I think the pandemic. 364 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 2: You know, I told people coming out of the pandemic because 365 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 2: my backgrounds actually in tech, I spent the first half 366 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 2: of my career as a engineer and a solution architect, 367 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 2: so I just kind of have a different perspective when 368 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 2: it comes to a lot of this stuff. But coming 369 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 2: out of the pandemic, I told people like, look, this 370 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 2: thing moved us ahead four years. I don't know if 371 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 2: y'all realize it or not, but again, when we went in, 372 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 2: nobody was using video conference and we came out, even 373 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 2: my mom was using video conference, and you know, we 374 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 2: went in, nobody wanted to use QR codes. Now everybody 375 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 2: uses QR codes, right, So it really like moved us 376 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 2: ahead in a very short period of time. And I 377 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 2: think in that again, what started to happen was, yeah, 378 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 2: they're like, produced content is good, but it's very easy 379 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 2: to over engineer something. And I think, you know, again, 380 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 2: people could just sense authenticity. They can sense you know, 381 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,719 Speaker 2: when you've probably gone through uh you know, a table 382 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 2: read and getting the script created and all that kind 383 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 2: of stuff and getting the perfect shot. I think there 384 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 2: are times for that. But you know, again, I think 385 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 2: just in the day and age and also just the 386 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 2: volume of content that we kind of have out there, 387 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 2: just honestly, the expectation of people is a little bit lower. 388 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 2: So even what that means for us is that means 389 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 2: that it's not as important for us to. 390 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: Go out and shoot stuff on red cameras. 391 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 2: It's not as important for us to go out and 392 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 2: you know again, uh, you know, create a create a 393 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 2: deck in a script about a thing. Sometimes we just 394 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 2: kind of turn the camera on and start going. Sometimes 395 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 2: we just make a piece of content and we're not 396 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 2: you know, overly worried about is it pixel perfect, because 397 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 2: again I know at the end of the day, we're 398 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,199 Speaker 2: gonna be right back at it. 399 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: So uh, you know, I. 400 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 2: Think it's I think it's not as important now, and 401 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 2: I think it's actually good thing because again now, which 402 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,160 Speaker 2: is it's lowered the barrier to entry for so many 403 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 2: other people to kind of create opportunities and content and 404 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 2: get their stuff out there, that it should really hopefully 405 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 2: not intimidate people and really want to enable them to 406 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 2: kind of stick their toe in the water and start 407 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 2: doing what they need to do to get their selves 408 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 2: or their brand out there. 409 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 4: So, because you also managed creative talent today, what are 410 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 4: you looking for in that talent? Because I imagine the 411 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 4: portfolio matters, and I want you to answer this from 412 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 4: the perspective of small businesses, medium sized businesses who are 413 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 4: looking to bring people on their team and see themselves 414 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 4: as a media company, because what they might say is, hey, 415 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 4: my nephew knows how to do TikTok, let's give him 416 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 4: the keys to the thing. 417 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: So how do you do this? Yeah? You know what really, 418 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: So it's a couple of things. What really worked for 419 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: me was. 420 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 2: Find some you know, if you want if you want 421 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 2: to find people that, if you want to find good people, 422 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 2: find the good work and then find the people that 423 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 2: made it. So I remember when we first kind of 424 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 2: launched butter we were doing this post on the Clairemont 425 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 2: Lounge here in Atlanta. It's a iconic establishment. I'll let 426 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 2: your audience look it up one day. But you know, 427 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 2: I was, I was coming up. I was looking for ideas, 428 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 2: and I said, you know, let me jump on ig 429 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 2: for some inspiration, and so I kind of started clicking 430 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 2: on the Clairemont Lounge hashtag and I'm just scrolling and 431 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 2: then I see this post that somebody made about the 432 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 2: Claremont Lounge and I just said, you know what, that 433 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 2: is what I was looking like, I want that. So 434 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,240 Speaker 2: what I did was I literally DM the person that 435 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 2: made it and was like, yo, my name is Brandon. 436 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 2: I got this company called Butter. I'm not crazy, but 437 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 2: I saw you make this post about the Clairemont Lounge 438 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 2: and I'm actually working on some content very similar. Would 439 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 2: you be interested in work with me on this content? 440 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 2: And they were like, yeah, well that ended up. Person 441 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 2: ended up working on that thing. It went well. Then 442 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 2: I ended up hiring them full time. They worked with 443 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 2: me for three years, right, And so I think again, 444 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 2: if you want to find so I think that's what 445 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 2: you got to do. It's not just about oh, my 446 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 2: cousin knows TikTok and so he can do it. It's no, 447 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 2: you should be going on TikTok. Let's use the hoodie example. 448 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 2: You know, if you have a hoodie company, you should 449 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 2: be on TikTok finding out who makes dope content about hoodies. 450 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 2: You should be looking at every hoodie hashtag, you know, 451 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 2: every hoodie rated brand, every creator that's making jokes about 452 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,439 Speaker 2: you know, the girls stealing your hoodies or its hoodie season, 453 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 2: and you will find somebody in there that probably resonates 454 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 2: with you. And then that's how you find somebody that 455 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 2: can make you hoodie content. 456 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: You know. 457 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 2: Again, Like so, and even with the portfolios and stuff 458 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 2: like your portfolio, you know, I don't need to see 459 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 2: your overly crafted, curated online portfolio. I can look at 460 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 2: your Instagram and your TikTok because if you're really making stuff, 461 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 2: it should be on there. So I wouldn't trust anybody 462 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 2: that's a maker that isn't making stuff and putting it 463 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,239 Speaker 2: on there in their free time, right because again, if 464 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 2: you're doing this, a lot of these folks are like 465 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 2: really in this for a living, and even when they're 466 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 2: not making stuff for their job, they're making stuff for fun. 467 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 2: They're making things that inspire them, right. You want people 468 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 2: like that because if they can get inspired on their own, 469 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 2: they can definitely get inspired. And it comes to kind 470 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 2: of working for you. The other thing I kind of 471 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 2: tell people too, is like, you can't work for me 472 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 2: until you work for me. So you know, when you 473 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 2: find that person that's doing good work, give them a project. 474 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 2: You know, I tell you the only way to find 475 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 2: out how somebody works is to give give them a project. 476 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 2: And what I what I like to do is I actually, well, 477 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 2: depending on the kind of job, but I actually give 478 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 2: people like test projects. 479 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: Just to see how they're going to react to stuff. 480 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 2: So, you know, I had I was looking for a 481 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 2: video editor and I kind of came down to three candidates, 482 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 2: and so I gave them a couple of things. 483 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: I said, look, i'll pay you. I said, here's the rate. 484 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 2: I'll pay you this rate, which I think is more 485 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 2: than fair because it shouldn't take you more than this 486 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 2: much time to do this work. Like, I don't want 487 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 2: you to spending a week on this, but I need, 488 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 2: you know, a video about this. I need a video 489 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 2: about this, and I need you to go on my 490 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 2: social media and give me your feedback. And even with 491 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 2: the videos I gave them, it wasn't the best video, 492 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 2: but I want to see how what they were gonna 493 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 2: make with it. I can tell if you're just gonna 494 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 2: stick stuff together on a timeline and just put some 495 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:10,880 Speaker 2: fades between it, or if you actually did something with it, 496 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,159 Speaker 2: and so again I think, you know, we should do it. 497 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 2: Is the only way to see how people work is 498 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 2: to actually get them to work for you. And I 499 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:21,199 Speaker 2: would much rather pay somebody for a project. See what 500 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 2: they work, like, see how we interact, you know, see 501 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 2: how long they take the turn stuff around, See if 502 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 2: they do the minimum, if they go above and beyond, 503 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 2: and if you know, if you're amazing, I have no 504 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 2: issue whatsoever and in paying you and keeping you around. 505 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 2: But again if you don't, if you don't knock it 506 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 2: out the park and that that's cool, it's no issues. 507 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 2: You've got paid, I got something. But you know, we're 508 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 2: probably not gonna work together. And so like, those are 509 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 2: the ways I've seen, especially kind of in this again 510 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 2: world where like everybody's just making stuff or some hacks 511 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 2: that I found to kind of like find talent, but 512 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 2: also find the right folks, because again you just have 513 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 2: to it's it's a continuous effort to find the right 514 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 2: people to kind of get on the bus to get 515 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,120 Speaker 2: it that understand what you're trying to accomplish, that they 516 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 2: have their own goals and it all works together. So 517 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,959 Speaker 2: you have to always kind of have your antenna up 518 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 2: for talent once you kind of get into that game 519 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 2: as well. 520 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 4: So what does it mean to be chief culture and 521 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:14,200 Speaker 4: innovation officer? 522 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 3: Like, what is your what are your days like? 523 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: Yeah? 524 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 2: So so on the other side, So again for the 525 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 2: folks though, I actually I'm a co owner and partner 526 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 2: at the agency. I here call it majority. We started 527 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 2: with Shaquille O'Neil a couple of years ago we do 528 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 2: you know, big creative work. And the whole idea behind 529 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 2: the company was founded on the idea that the reality 530 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 2: is in most agencies, you know, people of color are 531 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 2: the minority, but so much of the content that the 532 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,919 Speaker 2: agencies make wants to land in culture. That and the 533 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 2: culture at a macro is you know, again more black 534 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 2: and brown than people want to admit. I mean, by 535 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 2: twenty thirty, the minority will become the majority in this country. 536 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 2: So the whole idea with us is that what if 537 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 2: you actually flip that model and made it so that, 538 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 2: you know, seventy to eighty percent of the company, especially 539 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 2: the leadership positions were you know, minorities, right, but we're 540 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 2: also still making general market work. And so because of that, 541 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 2: culture is super important, especially in the city like Atlanta. 542 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 2: You know, what Butter has given me the ability to 543 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 2: do is be able to get into different rooms and 544 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 2: just connect with people. But also it's given me the 545 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 2: opportunity to kind of give people, to give people opportunities again, 546 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 2: especially in the agency world. You know, Atlanta's kind of 547 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 2: looked over the talent. It was always kind of considered 548 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 2: this is the place that you can't start a career 549 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 2: at if you were serious about working an agency, you 550 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 2: had to go to New York, LA, Chicago, Miami or something. 551 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 2: And so, you know, from a from a keeping people 552 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 2: down here standpoint of keeping talent local, you know, one 553 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 2: of my biggest remits is really just to kind of 554 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 2: go out and engage with different you know, people, schools, 555 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 2: talent creatives, just anybody in that space around the city 556 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 2: and just kind of build relationships so that they know 557 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 2: that at the end of the day, that majority is 558 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 2: is authentically rooted and connected to the culture and it's 559 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,040 Speaker 2: a priority for us. That means again making sure that 560 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 2: we're you know, again being proactive and going to the 561 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 2: AUC to make sure that we're getting talent from the 562 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 2: Atlanta University Center and make sure that we're you know, 563 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 2: doing things around the seed to bring in people that 564 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,439 Speaker 2: might not have had a traditional path. You know, everybody 565 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 2: doesn't go to college anymore, so how are we looking 566 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 2: for people that didn't go to school and can how 567 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 2: how can they get into this industry? And then on 568 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,479 Speaker 2: the innovation and then also just again how do we 569 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 2: even manage our culture internally? You know, I'm not HR, 570 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,119 Speaker 2: but I'm a big believer in you know, again people 571 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 2: people you know, high achievers want to be around other 572 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 2: high achievers, and so you know, I really want to 573 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 2: help us. I work to kind of help us create 574 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,880 Speaker 2: a kind of a high achieving atmosphere for our team. 575 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 2: That's fund it's engaging, but you know, we also get 576 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 2: stuff done. And on the innovation side, like I said before, 577 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 2: you know, my background's in tech. I always just have 578 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 2: a love for technology. I spent the first half of 579 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 2: my career in that. And so it's also about figuring 580 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,479 Speaker 2: out what are the tools and things that we can 581 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 2: use to help innovate and make ourselves more efficient so 582 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 2: that as an agency one again we're just being more 583 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 2: efficient and so we can create more opportunities. But we're 584 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 2: also given our people in employees access and experience to 585 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 2: use you know, more cutting edge things that will just 586 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 2: help them stay competitive in their jobs. I'm I'm a 587 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 2: big believer in AI, but I think even with AI, 588 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 2: for example, the people that learn how to embrace it 589 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 2: and integrate it into their workflows are going to be 590 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 2: the ones that are the most successful. Like, it's very 591 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 2: true that AI might replace some jobs, but on the 592 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 2: same time, I think it's a lot like a computer, 593 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 2: you know, Like there was a time when everybody had typewriters, 594 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 2: and now we have computers. And so the folks that 595 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 2: embraced learning how to use email, learning how to use 596 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,880 Speaker 2: a computer, you know, learning how just to use tech 597 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 2: in general, had just more opportunities than the folks that said, 598 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 2: I'm only using a typewriter. And so I think, you know, 599 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,679 Speaker 2: AI is kind of that same thing, right, like the 600 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 2: folks that learn how to you know. I literally was 601 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 2: just in a meeting in a little while ago with 602 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 2: my creative team saying, you know, how can we use 603 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 2: AI to help make us more efficient? Like you know, 604 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 2: it is it recording all our meetings, you know, with 605 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 2: a tool like otter, and then you know, then sharing 606 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 2: those meeting notes backed out to everybody, so that somebody 607 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 2: just have to do it? 608 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: Is it? 609 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 2: You know, using tools like mid Journey or you know, 610 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 2: Getty Images even has an AI generator now to help 611 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 2: us quickly ideate on you know, conceptual you know design 612 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 2: for clients to kind of just get stuff out the door, 613 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 2: not that they will ever go live, but it just 614 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 2: gets the juices for them. Right, How can we just 615 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,359 Speaker 2: think about technology to help us be more efficient? So, 616 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 2: you know, that's kind of what my day typically includes, 617 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 2: is that, And you know also a lot of spreadsheets 618 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:30,360 Speaker 2: and budget stuff too. 619 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,639 Speaker 4: So with Buttery, I mean, you guys are covering every 620 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 4: category of the culture in Atlanta, and that's you know, sports, news, food, music, 621 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 4: and et cetera. What is so special about the black 622 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 4: entrepreneurial landscape and these particular verticals in Atlanta? 623 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, well, I always say Atlanta 624 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 2: is a special place in general, just because if you're 625 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 2: ever not clear why the once you get off the 626 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 2: get off your plane at the airport, you know, Atlanta 627 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 2: is different. I've been all over the world and that's 628 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 2: one of the few places I've ever been that when 629 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 2: you get off from the moment you kind of touch. 630 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: Down, you see people of color at all. 631 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 2: You know, all walks of life, from the pilots to 632 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 2: the janitors, right, you know, so and I think you know, 633 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 2: the different verticals around Atlanta are very much the same thing. 634 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: You know. 635 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,360 Speaker 2: It's it's it's a very unique thing that we can 636 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 2: go to these brands, go to these companies, go to 637 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 2: these large organizations, and the people that are making decisions 638 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 2: at the top, you know, look like you. And you 639 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 2: know what does that mean. It means that one, it's 640 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 2: easier for you to be your authentic self. You know, 641 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 2: it's easy for you to walk into certain conversations and say, 642 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 2: you know what, I don't have thought I have to 643 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 2: you know, overly code switch or be somebody I'm not. 644 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 2: I can actually be authentic. I could bring my whole 645 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,719 Speaker 2: self in here to this conversation. But also what's amazing 646 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 2: about that is because you have people that you know 647 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 2: that are from the culture or or they get it 648 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 2: at the top making those decisions, you're just able to 649 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 2: do things that resonate more broadly because everybody's kind of 650 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 2: understanding it. 651 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: Right. 652 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 2: So again, you know, it's it's it's it's like again, 653 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 2: it's like you know when people would say, yeah, we 654 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 2: got to get an influencer on this, it's like, well, 655 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 2: why you know, But but now when you have somebody 656 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 2: in there at the top that understands the nuances around, 657 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 2: I'm just gonna use it Atlanta as like Atlanta culture. It's 658 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 2: not like you're just you know, throwing things in there 659 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: to say, we gotta do this, we gotta do this, 660 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 2: we gotta do this. It's really the conversations more often 661 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 2: not tend to leverage around what's impactful, what would really 662 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 2: you know, resonate, what would really help this be successful? 663 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 2: And then how can we kind of do that together? 664 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 2: And again, it's just having that ability to be collaborative 665 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 2: while also just being your full self, I think is 666 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 2: what makes Atlanta really special and unique. And again, having 667 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 2: traveled and worked all over the world, I I you know, 668 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 2: I've said that's not always been the case, and that's 669 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 2: why I think that again, that's why Atlanta is such 670 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 2: a special place. 671 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 4: So if you think about what you guys have done 672 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,719 Speaker 4: with butter Ato and how it's work for Atlanta and 673 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 4: then giving the platform to people doing really great things 674 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 4: in Atlanta, what can other communities learn from that? Think 675 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 4: about Detroit, you know, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chattanooga. What can other 676 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 4: cities replicate that has worked well for Butter. 677 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, you know, 678 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 2: every city. I think every city has a story. I mean, 679 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 2: use Detroit as an example, right, Like you think about 680 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 2: just the history from you know, the car companies, the 681 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,479 Speaker 2: motown and everything in between. Right Like, there's an element 682 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 2: of just having pride, you know, in your city, in 683 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 2: the place you live, in the place you call home. 684 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 2: And I think, you know, the great thing about that 685 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 2: pride is is that you can activate it and really 686 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 2: fun and interesting ways. Just recently, you know, just recently, 687 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 2: we did the very a very similar thing, right you know, 688 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 2: here in Atlanta, an announcement came out that the city 689 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 2: of Decatur schools had a path to do balance of 690 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 2: almost eighty eight thousand dollars for student unpaid school lunches, 691 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 2: and because of that, they were going to start giving 692 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 2: students that had unpaid balances a cheese sandwich and a 693 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 2: cart and of milk. Now, there's a lot of common 694 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 2: questions that come up when you say that, like what 695 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 2: if they're Lato's intolerant, or you know, is that now 696 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 2: singling out the people who might be having issues at home. 697 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 2: But what was really interesting was, you know, we partnered 698 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 2: with another amazing entrepreneur right here called Jasmine, Jasmine Crow 699 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 2: of Gooder, and she had this idea to basically say, 700 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 2: you know what, because we're the people that you know 701 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 2: care about this city, if the city of Decatur can't 702 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 2: raise eighty eight thousand dollars, why we can. And literally, 703 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 2: in forty eight hours, we raised eighty five eighty six 704 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 2: thousand dollars on GoFundMe, enough to pay off the entire 705 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 2: outstanding student Outstanding Student lunch balance for the entire city 706 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 2: of Decatur. 707 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: Right. 708 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 2: So I think that's where that whole city comes from, 709 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 2: right because why the people that followed Butter, they went 710 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 2: to school, indicator, they went to school, they have kids, 711 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 2: they have family around there, they have pride in that sense. 712 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 3: Right. 713 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 2: So while we have fun and we try to keep 714 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 2: it positive and we try to you know, do things 715 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 2: when we do need to activate our audience, our audiences 716 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 2: is very engaged and they want to see the city and. 717 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: The culture be protected. 718 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 2: And so I was super proud for that moment just 719 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 2: and again it wasn't even my idea, it was not 720 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 2: that we helped out with but the idea that we 721 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 2: had a huge audience and you know, just putting this 722 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 2: message out here drove tens of thousands of dollars and 723 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 2: you know, submissions literally in twenty four to forty eight hours, 724 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 2: you know where on Monday, you know, they were saying 725 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 2: this is what was going to happen. Two three days 726 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 2: later they're like, okay, the balance is paid off. 727 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: Right. 728 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 2: So I think that's the benefit of a butter like 729 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 2: object in other cities. Right, It's like there could be 730 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 2: moments where because government moves slow, or because it takes 731 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 2: a while to activate, like, how else can you just 732 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 2: get the best of a kind of stand up and say, 733 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 2: you know what, we're all gonna get behind this thing 734 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 2: and make something happen right now. And I think you know, 735 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 2: when you cultivate that audience by providing them value, giving 736 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 2: them an outlet, letting them have fun. But then when 737 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 2: you say hey, y'all, I need y'all to step up 738 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 2: and they do it, it's just an amazing thing to 739 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 2: kind of see. And so I think that's something that again, 740 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 2: all these other cities could really use, you know, a 741 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 2: very a very similar, like I said, butter like object. 742 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 4: And then so when you started Butter, like, this was 743 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 4: this design to be a business or was this designed 744 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 4: to be something? We care about the community, We want 745 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 4: to tell these stories, et cetera. And here's why I'm 746 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 4: asking this question is you know, I have the belief 747 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,320 Speaker 4: that and maybe you agree that you can build You 748 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 4: can try to sell a product without a brand, and 749 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 4: you may sell something, but if you build a brand, 750 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 4: you can sell anything almost that aligns with your product, 751 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,479 Speaker 4: it aligns with your you know, true north. Like, think 752 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 4: about a Rihanna. Rihanna can sell almost anything. She can 753 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 4: sell many things. But if she just had didn't have 754 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 4: the name, but just had a product, she could sell 755 00:33:58,240 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 4: some product. 756 00:33:59,120 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 3: Maybe sell some things. 757 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 4: Maybe people will buy it, maybe they don't, but they 758 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 4: will follow her anywhere now because she has a brand. 759 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 4: And so my reason for asking question about Butter is 760 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:13,560 Speaker 4: was this design to be I guess was it more contributory, 761 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 4: contributive to the community and a business happened, or was like, Hey, 762 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 4: we're going to start a business and we're going to 763 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 4: create content. 764 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. 765 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 2: So when we started Butter, I actually launched and incubated 766 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 2: it inside of an agency that I was working out 767 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 2: here in Atlanta. You know, In the beginning, folks thought 768 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 2: there was like some weird angle. I had people hitting 769 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 2: me up like, are y'all just trying to market to 770 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 2: black people or what are you selling? I said, no, honestly, 771 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 2: there's no hidden agenda. The only agenda is I'm just 772 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 2: trying to do cool shit for the city. But the 773 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 2: beautiful thing about that it kind of being incubated, was 774 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 2: it allowed us for the first couple of years to 775 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 2: not worry about making money and just focus on the brand. 776 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:55,759 Speaker 2: I think there was always an there was always a 777 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 2: goal or I think a vision that this could be something. 778 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:01,319 Speaker 1: We just to kind of figure out what it was. 779 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 2: And you know, the trick is is, like I said, 780 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 2: is when you actually have the ability to build an 781 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 2: audience and build a brand first, what you can then 782 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 2: do is you can then go to them and ask 783 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,280 Speaker 2: them what they want, and then it's easy. Like that's honestly, 784 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:16,960 Speaker 2: that's that's like almost the definition of marketing at its core, right, 785 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 2: It's like understanding your audience and just giving them what 786 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 2: they want. And so, you know, building up this brand, 787 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 2: building up this audience is super just tied in and 788 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 2: resonated to Atlanta. You know, we would do little stuff 789 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:28,759 Speaker 2: here and there to just kind of have fun. But 790 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 2: it was never kind of a you know, Okay, we 791 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 2: got to do this to pay the bills kind of situation. 792 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: When I left that agency. 793 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 2: And then fully acquired all the IP for Butter, you know, 794 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, we have to do more of 795 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:43,839 Speaker 2: a business now. But again, we already kind of knew 796 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 2: because our audience and we knew what they wanted, what 797 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,400 Speaker 2: are the things that would work? And so for me, 798 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 2: the fun part is is now that I have such 799 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 2: a good understanding of our audience, the fun part is 800 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,440 Speaker 2: really figuring out, Okay, what are the things that we 801 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 2: could do to kind of do this, because at the 802 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,400 Speaker 2: end of the day, you know, great content needs a 803 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 2: business model. You know, I'm not a huge fan of 804 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 2: the advertising business model in general, even though I work 805 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,680 Speaker 2: in that space, but you know, I do think for us, 806 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 2: it's it's kind of similar to what you said about Rihanna. 807 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 2: What I'm looking at now is what are things that 808 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 2: only Butter could do and that could push out because 809 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 2: of our audience and they would just love this and 810 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,360 Speaker 2: they would actually want to, you know, buy it or 811 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,800 Speaker 2: do something with it. So you know, I'm thinking about 812 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,399 Speaker 2: you know different you know, events, activations, we think about 813 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 2: actual real products. 814 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:29,799 Speaker 1: There's lots of stuff that we're. 815 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 2: Kind of working on right now with that idea that 816 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 2: we kind of came out of last year, with that 817 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 2: realization of Okay, the audience is here. 818 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: We kind of we have the distribution built in. Now. 819 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: The question is what do we put in front of them? 820 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:40,839 Speaker 1: What do they want? 821 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,319 Speaker 2: And so that's going to really be the focus. You know, 822 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 2: that was the focus last year and going into this year, 823 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,400 Speaker 2: is you know, products and services that our audience. You know, 824 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:50,960 Speaker 2: we know they'd like that we could just put right 825 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 2: in front of them, and we know they would just 826 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 2: you know, snatch it up off the gate. Because again, 827 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 2: you know, in order to stick around, you do got 828 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 2: to make money. And you know again that money goes 829 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 2: to help you know, fun, the salaries of the team 830 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 2: and everything else. And so that's why it's important that 831 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:05,920 Speaker 2: we that we go out and create those things so 832 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 2: that this can exist one so we can do things, 833 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 2: but to the next time a Decatur Schools type situation happens, 834 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,880 Speaker 2: there's a brand here that can also help activate people 835 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 2: and make stuff happen. 836 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:36,800 Speaker 4: You know, Black Tech, Green Money to production to Blavity, 837 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,439 Speaker 4: afrotech in the Black Effect Podcast Network, and I Hire Media. 838 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,960 Speaker 4: It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas. If 839 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,240 Speaker 4: you got something out of this episode shared with somebody, 840 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:49,760 Speaker 4: we'll get your money. 841 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 3: Piece of luck.