Lesia Dallimore

When I speak to people in and out of the media business, they all ask one question: “How did we get here?” https://lnkd.in/ei3p2TNi As we see layoffs at WBD, incoming at Paramount and then so many others, people want to know why did this happen? These are crown jewel companies with valuable IP! What I saw inside one of them was two countervailing forces: 1. The need to for stockholder satisfaction at the expense of customer satisfaction 2. The innovator’s dilemma writ large What does that mean? 1. Once streaming entered the arena, Wall Street valued Netflix at tech company multiples and encouraged legacy media to throw everything at getting into streaming and growing fast. Mergers, consolidation and more prevailed in the race to get bigger. Everyone had the data - only a few of these streamers would survive, because customers didn’t want dozens of services. They wanted 3-4. But in a rush to satisfy Wall Street, everyone got in. And when Wall Street changed their minds in 2022, the companies were left holding the bag. 2. When I started in media in 2007, we all knew streaming and digital was the future. We spent 75-80% of our time working on it. But the money that the cable bundle provided was hard to walk away from. Especially when trying to sell/merge a company. Legacy media could have and many wanted to get into streaming sooner. But it took money and time and a sharing of information company wide that could have been scary. So the end result? Everyone gets into streaming too late, trying to satisfy Wall Street, invests in content over building technology, loses focus on the consumer, loses focus on the brand and hopes for profitability. Whats the solution? Refocus. These are strong brands. Gen Z is the future. And they’ve got some attachment to the IP. But you’ve got to build a brand that works in streaming, linear, YouTube, TikTok, consumer products, theme parks and beyond. Multiple revenue streams, deeper engagement and focus on steady growth and nurturing fandom. Sound familiar? It should. It’s what Disney is doing. Universal has done it. It’s what we were trying to do before I left Warner Bros Discovery. Look at Gen Z. See how they interact with brands, how can you deepen their fandom and how can you monetize multiple touch points. Ignore Wall Street. Focus on growing vs cutting. If you look closely, you’ll see many brands doing this successfully in and outside of legacy media. Want me and talented colleagues to help? DM me. Needmore Stories is open for business and I’m #opentowork for the longer term.

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Awesome to see Google expanding their Virtual Try On (VTO) technology by launching VTA for apparel ads. I've been talking about this as the future of social commerce for years and it's amazing to see it in action. A few quick benefits for brands that come to mind: - Decreased returns - Enhanced buying confidence, leading to a shorter purchase funnel - Easily showcase variations - Ability to match outfits to increase cart value

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✅🖥️ DIGIDAY (Podcast; 7/16): “Tubi is having a good run. As of May, the free, ad-supported streaming service was taking 1.8% of monthly television viewing across streaming platforms, tying with Disney and beating Max, Paramount and Peacock, according to Nielsen Gauge. It could be considered a win in the streaming wars. Tubi, though, doesn’t consider itself to be part of said wars, according to ​​Tubi CMO Nicole Parlapiano. “We are in a category of our own in that way. A lot of people like to put us in the same grouping with the other free streamers. But our product experience is so different because the Roku and Pluto [platforms], all the linear, FAST channels, it’s not really VOD viewing.” the CMO said. “Then the other comparisons are being drawn to the other ad-supported tiers. At Amazon and Netflix, people are still paying to watch ads, but it is also very different. I’ve seen the streaming war. Some people are winning and some people, it’s been a rough go. It’s been hard on the industry as a whole. We have a lot of empathy for everybody. There’s certain things, like people getting into the ad-supported game that are actually good for the whole business because dollars need to shift out of certain channels and into streaming.” ⬇️ #streamingtv #ctv #ott #cordcutting #avod #smartTV https://lnkd.in/g_HBXkQx

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As a Marketing Leader, I get asked a lot by early career marketers about the varied paths of marketing. While the titles of VP and CMO can be attractive never rule out the opportunity to specialize or spend time specializing as a lateral move in your career. It was inspiring this last first week of the Olympics to see Stephen Nedoroscik rise as a star to secure his team a bronze. Marketing, like gymnastics is a sport of varied events but in our case channels. Marketing’s omni-channel approach is important, but one channel’s acceleration can lead teams to victory! Never underestimate a SME. #marketing #olympics #usgymnastics #stephennedoroscik #marketingspecialization #olympics2024 #marketingleadership Photo Credit: @TeamUSA

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Here's to the power of #WinningTogether and everything our Advantage Solutions teammates do to give the retail marketplace its momentum. Honored to be ranked the 16th-largest agency company worldwide and No. 7 in North America by Ad Age, reflecting our #omnicommerce leadership at the intersection of consumer brands and retailers. #TopAgency #MarketingExcellence #Innovation #Retail #CPG

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