ALWAYS BE WRITING
Future-proofing a creative agency in transition
Creating adaptable cloud-based workflows that will stand the test of time.
A brave new world
Owner and Chief Creative Officer Louis Venezia says, “As soon as the pandemic hit, we moved everyone out of the office, which rendered our current shared storage and asset management platform useless. We managed with portable drives for a while, but as time passed it became clear that we required a more efficient, sustainable, and long-term approach to our operations moving forward. We knew we wanted a system that was integrated and innovative, and many of the solutions on the market lacked the sophistication that we would later find in the ELEMENTS system. We also didn’t want to commit to anything without establishing first what our situation would be post-pandemic. So we waited and surveyed the market while continuing to use drives, but due to the technology and security requirements of our clients, the time soon came to make a decision, and when it did, ELEMENTS was the obvious choice.
In 2023, We’re Gonna Need a Really Good Laugh
Let’s not add to people’s woe with more sadvertising. Micky Tudor, Manuel Borde, Tay Guan Hin, Kevin Chesters, and Louis Venezia on why they’re looking forward to funny ads in 2023
"Puns are the lowest form of verbal facility.” I thought Shakespeare said it, but Google tells me it might be Christopher Hitchens. Just as well. Puns have always driven me crazy. And they’re everywhere. Memes. Publications. And, of course, ads. We can’t escape them in The Economist. The headline writers at The New York Post won’t help the cause. And ads have more puns per ad than I could possibly count.
It’s Time To Talk (Out Loud) About Churn
Pilot Content's Louis Venezia on how entertainment marketers can help combat streaming churn
A trove of media outlets are highlighting the importance for television executives to find new ways to combat churn. Variety examines, among other things, churn rates by age group and the results are damning, with some young viewers churning up to five times a year. The younger the viewer, the more they churn.
When Creatives Become Accidental Owners
At the intersection of craft and commerce
I have a confession to make. I’m a creative. A chief creative officer at a small agency and production company I’ve run for nearly 15 years. For most of that time, I had no business running my business—because I’m an accidental owner. Vexed by most nuts and bolts matters of business ownership specifically because my expertise is in writing and producing.
Accidental owners are professionals who have enough clients to go into business for themselves, but who have no fundamental knowledge to run their business. They have no initial grasp on accounting, bookkeeping, contracts, marketing, sales, bank projections, benefits or human resources. Accidental owners don’t know how to draft a business plan. They don’t know how to develop a succession plan. All they know is their craft.
High Five: Louis Venezia
The CEO and chief creative officer at Pilot Content reflects on an eclectic array of works that have stayed with him.
I’ve chosen spots that, above all, entertained me. I find their strategy and brand value compelling as well, but mostly they just put a smile on my face...
Opinion: Stunts can help TV reach new stay-at-home audiences
Movie studios, television studios and production companies are shuttering production, delaying premiere dates and restricting employee travel. As a result, advertising revenues at cable and broadcast channels, especially from the most affected verticals such as travel and tourism, are about to dent overall channel revenues—leaving cable channels with more promo time than they know what to do with.
Three Things Every Leader Can Learn From The Emergency Room
Most people hate hospitals. They hate the smell. They hate waiting in the emergency room to splint a broken finger. They hate visiting sick relatives. They hate gathering for the last moments of a loved one’s life. They hate being told what to do by a gaggle of nurses and doctors. I, on the other hand, love hospitals.
I grew up across the street from Morristown Memorial Hospital in historic Morristown, New Jersey. It’s the hospital where my mother worked for 52 years as a nurse. The hospital where I was born. And the hospital whose emergency room I worked at during high school and college.