5 Takeways from the NYU Stern EMT Summit

Last Wednesday, I visited my undergraduate alma mater, NYU Stern. It wasn’t just a trip down memory lane though–Stern was hosting its annual Entertainment, Media, and Technology Summit, an event that brings together students, alumni, guests, and industry leaders to explore the topics that are on the tips of everyone’s tongues within the EMT space.

This year’s panels were on “reaching the consumer in the digital age” and “financing the disruption of media.”

While I found both talks interesting, it was some of the other insights shared by the speakers that I found myself jotting down–especially because they’re particularly relevant to my students and even my own friends and colleagues as they try to find their places in this ever-changing space.

Here are a few for you to consider:

“You will not get a seat at the table if you don’t have that [personal] relationship.” – Vik Kathuria, Global Chief Media Officer, Razorfish

The panel was exploring a question on the importance of building relationships within the media space, and I have to agree with the speakers that in today’s world, in order to be competitive, you must make time to connect with people. It’s through personal connections that I was able to join the C&C team, that I was invited to teach at CCNY, and that I have gotten every client on my roster.

“The clients–they want outcomes.” – Dave Morgan, Founder & CEO, Simulmedia

Early in the conversation, the moderator asked each panelist to talk about a challenge that he/she faces currently. Dave Morgan mentioned that traditional media is challenged by a changing landscape and that traditional agencies are not yet fully equipped for the realities of that landscape.

In a world where more and more is measurable, your clients will be looking for you to show the efficacy of your work. Expect it. Plan for it. Adapt to it.

“Creative matters.” – Greg Coleman, President, Buzzfeed

Greg was specifically referring to a question about whether or not the banner ad is dead, but I think that this point goes beyond the effectiveness of banner ads. In the currently climate, in which people highly prize data, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the creative needs to be compelling to. It’s the marriage of messaging, targeting, and creative that makes an ad truly pop.

“Fall in your live with your customers’ problems, not your product and you will be able to retain your customers.” – Dave Morgan, paraphrasing Ed Cook, president of Intuit

Over at C&C, our fearless leader Jay Baer is the consummate champion of Youtility, the idea of marketing that adds true value to your customers’ lives instead of trying to sell them something. I had to agree with Dave Morgan when he said that this idea of Ed Cook’s felt to him like it captured the essense of how to do well in business.

“We’re an online video company now.” – Allison Goldberg, Managing Director & VP, Time Warner Investments

One thing that I think we’ll continue to see because of the rapid pace of technological development is that how businesses view themselves will shift much more quickly. Yes, there are still companies that will have one never-changing core competency, but more and more companies will evolve every year or three. We as business people need to keep our eyes open for the next phase of our companies’ growth and be willing to go with the flow.