US Trip – A Focus Toward the Future

Posted by Reggie James | December 7th, 2011 | Filed under Music Marketing, RTG Ventures

As you are all probably aware by now, I returned about 2 weeks ago from a trip to the US that saw me take-in Los Angeles and New York.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share some the experience with you and more importantly outline the exciting new opportunities arising from some of the meetings.

Why the trip?

In my audio I talked about learning from the last 12 months and our 1st year. My last two blogs looked at everything leading toward the new technology and positioning our company in a brave new world.

The blog today, is looking at my trip to the US and how it would truly test the new concept from people in the music and entertainment business, as well as seasoned technology pros and investors who had held on to the coat tails of the silicon valley dragon.

For me, New York is a given. It is the historical soul of the advertising industry and as such, was core in the agenda. Meeting those that share an entrepreneurial vision of what we are looking to achieve is crucial. Also, re-establishing links with people who we had approached tentatively a few months back was also important in outlining the RTG roadmap for future growth.

So with meetings and schedules prior to Thanksgiving, it transpired that the first leg of the journey would be Los Angeles.

So why LA? Simple. To meet with like-minded people and give the technology platform an airing with the most prolific individuals within the entertainment industry, it was an opportunity too good to pass.

On top of this, we have deep relationships in LA. Meeting Aderra for the first time was such a powerful event that it will no doubt prove pivotal as we move forward and I will dedicate more time on this particular aspect of the trip in my next blog – very exciting.

Again, though the reasons for the trip may be obvious, It was key to capture the hearts and minds on both coasts to make the trip worthwhile.

Testing Concepts

The whole purpose of the trip was multifarious. I had been (and still am) running the agency Digital Clarity, for the best part of 2011 until recent months where I had taken the helm of the technology, to review and bring into a modern arena.

I have spoken in detail already about two things:

  • Major changes in the music and technology arena – commoditization, engagement and scale.
  • The shift in our technology offering and the need to address the changing market ahead of the curve.

On top of having to re-position RTG’s proposition, the trip to LA and NY would be the litmus test that was required to see whether the prototype, concepts and ideas for our new platform would fly or be shot down in flames.

Los Angeles

Linda Perry had made significant in-roads over the last 12 months to not only (re)establish relationships with major investors but also major names in music and technology. On top of this, it was these major heavyweights we were to meet alongside some people we had already spoken with tentatively and who had been kept warm waiting for – you know what.

If New York is where the money is and the San Francisco/Bay area is where the technology was being built, then Los Angeles was the meat in this musical sandwich.

To keep this short and to the point, we met with several major, successful names, and with all, I outlined and described the expanded technology offering to the industry which would allow us to be First Mover. The First Mover position is not said lightly. It is a position that is both coveted and difficult to achieve. Yet that observation was made by one of the toughest guys in the sector.The dots were connected.”

After crossfire questioning, it was apparent that what I was describing to them was not only something that was needed but would also allow the music business to look at data to make business decisions. This was no longer social media, but social business.

After a gruelling session with one of the savviest technology, music and social investors in town, I was greeted with the words, “Tell me more, this is genuinely investable…!”

Without question, the idea of streamlining our offering and focussing on revenues was unequivocally accepted by all, as well as the wholehearted acceptance of our view on the future. The confidence of knowing what we have in development, augmented with a digital marketing agency both working in harmony, was proving a potent value proposition.

With these thoughts firmly embedded in my mind, I was soon leaving the sunshine of LA and heading for more seasonal climes in the Big Apple.

New York

New York in all its glory with the holiday season round the corner is quite a site. The buy-in in Los Angeles was key to the next leg of the tour.

In New York, my first meeting was with a dynamic duo that runs one the most successful ambient media companies which feeds directly into the leisure and luxury brand arena. Former high level music men, they immediately saw the value in our repositioning and approached us with a likely scenario of how we could work together. As they outlined, finding ‘data value’ against their offering was now becoming crucial to their business as well as giving them an edge, not just in the US but in the important emerging markets of China, India and South America.

Another meeting in New York was with a wonderful and charming individual who heads one of the most enterprising private hedge funds based out of New York, that has its eye on application of technology on a global basis. The discussions centred around intelligent debate about the global, political climate and its effects on technology and infrastructure. This led to how technology with a human face is the right approach in a more socially connected planet.

Partnering for Success

Expanding Digital Clarity’s brand is one of the most important discussions that we had whilst in New York. Digital Clarity’s DNA runs deep in the evolution of digital marketing. Emulating this to the next level, without diluting its offering led to a discussion in a meeting that is currently being explored. Though still in its infancy,  it has the possibility of helping the company take a big leap forward in establishing a footprint in the US for the Digital Clarity brand.

The Missing Link

The learning over the year and the rapid development of digital technologies in the past decade or so has radically changed the way in which we can interact with the music industry. Likewise, the impact of social media upon the music industry has also made it much easier for musicians to interact with their fans.  Having the ability to have all your music, video, imagery and data managed, and reported in one interface is not unique. Having reports that makes sense of data from over 30 social and music platforms is powerful. But having an algorithm that gives you the ability to model forecast and make sense of engagement & sentiment that in turn, indexes against commercial return – suddenly becomes very exciting.

In a recent report looking at key findings of their fifth annual survey, global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, found that there was a large rise in adoption rates of social technologies. They also noted that levels of reported benefits remain high when organizations use social tools for internal purposes but have also increased among those that use them for communicating with customers or for integration with partners and suppliers.

This report and the level of investment that is being ploughed into the types of technology our company is engaged in, is not only a testament to our vision but paint a bright future, endorsed by the meetings in Los Angeles and New York.

The Future is Bright

Unlike before, it transpired that everyone I met and who I’ve have highlighted above, could see the need for this new platform.  It also became rapidly clear that if we were serious about our business, RTG would need to position itself as the pulse at the heart of this conurbation where decisions were made.

Next Steps

We are busy. Tablet based interfaces alongside an app are in the offing alongside a website platform that will give users a login into the powerful pulse gateway. Where possible, I  will keep everyone updated to the progress, partners and opportunities that continue to arise as we build toward 2012. We are moving forward with reinforcing support and will have some great news later this month. Thank you for sticking with us.

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Power Is Nothing Without Control

Posted by Reggie James | October 11th, 2011 | Filed under Business Strategy, Music Marketing

Many years ago, I remember a wonderful advert for a tyre company that showed a sportsman who at the Zeitgeist of 80’s track and field, was seen in a rather odd and uncompromising position.

The company was Pirelli and the sportsman was the athlete, Carl Lewis. Lewis was named “Olympian of the Century” by magazine Sports Illustrated and had won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold and 10 World Championships medals – a true great.

So imagine my surprise walking past a billboard and seeing this athlete, who would later run for a seat in the New Jersey Senate, posing in black Lycra. Though this in itself was not the issue, it was what he had on his feet,  that was the real double-take moment.

The advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) who were working on the Pirelli account, had Lewis in the starting block position on a wet race-track wearing red, 6 inch high heels, heels that wouldn’t have been out of place in an episode of Sex in the City.

I was reminded of this advert when talking with a contact who attended the recent MusicTech in San Francisco and registering for the forthcoming Music 4.5 event in London . Looking through the list of attendees and talking with my contact, it was apparent that there was a lot of buzz around the changing shape of music and content in general.

When looking at these new technologies, the bands as well as the fans and consumers of this sexy new stuff, it made me realise that there was a common denominator that ran through all of these platform, a thread that was so important but not being properly addressed.

Whilst independent artists, bands and their management are using online platforms like social media to attract new fans and sell music and merchandise, all of the information being collated is disparate and does not join up. This is also true of large record labels.

Even those that are savvy enough to have a basic management system still don’t know how well their various platforms are doing, let alone analyse, implement and influence their existing fan base and crucially, reach new ones.

In a connected world, this is a major disadvantage. If a band post a video on YouTube after a gig, how do they know how many Facebook pages the video got uploaded to or how many times that video was tweeted. Also, if a band is playing a gig at the Best Buy Theatre NYC, they have no idea of where their fans in the crowd are from, let alone know if 40% of their fans travelled from Boston.

This is important. Bands and their management want engagement, fans ‘need’ and want to feel they are being heard and are part of the whole connected experience.

After a long hard look at look at the needs of these groups and rather than re-inventing the wheel, RTG Ventures technology, CloudChannel, is well into building something that will not only fulfil the need to know but actually manage and influence the data.

Music is a powerful force. Augmented to video and strong imagery it becomes even more so. If one adds Social into the mix, then it goes beyond power and into a new realm. Understanding this power and harnessing it is the next stage of evolution within the entertainment industry.

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