Here is the latest trio of Columbia University Sports Podcast (the CUSP Show) that we have had in the past few months. We love talking with some of the digital disruptors and first adopters changing the furniture in the room for sports business, media and tech, and these three are a great example.
You can see a list and log on to all of the over 145 episodes by clicking here. Take a listen, almost all are 45 minutes or even less.
The driving force behind “World’s Greatest’ is Bob Ciosek. Bob began as a copywriter and creative director at agencies BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi and DMB&B, and launched Bold Studios in 1995 with ESPN as its centerpiece client (producing over 1,000 TV commercials). Other clients included Capital One, Subway, Kellogg’s, WWE and more. In 2003, Bob invented an online consumer research process leveraging a patented tool. He shaped TV programming, acquisitions, marketing as well as digital and social content development and marketing. Clients includ
ed ABC, American Express, CNBC, ESPN, Food Network, Fox Sports, Golf Channel, Initiative Media, MSN, New York Magazine, New York Post, People Magazine, Refinery 29, Tribeca Film Festival, Turner Entertainment (TNT, TBS, Turner Digital), Yahoo Sports and more. Bob also founded a short-form, social video app called BlipHit (2012-2014). For the last two and a half years, he was Chief Creative Officer at Whistle Sports where he built them into the #1 social engagement platform in sports garnering over 1 billion views monthly with global social reach of 375 million. Bob helped drive quarter-over-quarter revenue growth exponentially and was a key player in securing $78 million in investor funding. Now he is on to his next project, which has taken off and continues to grow more support every day.
Some key points to listen for…
“I know 18% of the 13-34 age audience are podcast consumers, but 45% of that demographic is willing to pay for a paid podcast subscription.”
“I said I’ll give you one free idea, do a fails compilation of celebrity pitches on opening day and 2 days later they had 1 million views.”
“Ultimately what differentiates us is the athletes, we literally have the top 100 Olympic athletes in track and field.”
“Our athletes keep doing what they are doing on social, but we’ve concepted 270 ideas and we are out pitching to brands and platforms, it comes down to who fits best into what content.”
“We are looking for seed investors right now, we have the capability to produce a lot of content at a low cost and be creative.”
Listen to the full podcast here…
Anya Alvarez, Major League Girls
We sit down with Anya Alvarez to talk about her journey and how her love for writing and sports into a sports journalism career. Her writing focuses on covering women in sports, highlighting their greatest achievements on and off the field. With features in various outlets such as ESPN, VICE, Rolling Stone, Salon, The Guardian, Playboy magazine, and two produced podcasts with NPR’S ONLY A GAME, and a produced documentary on CBS Sports, Anya has made it her mission to amplify the voices of women in sport. Her goal is to inspire girls to continue PLAYING LIKE A GIRL, and help break down the stereotypes that women and girls don’t belong in sports.
Some key points to listen for…
“When I started looking for content online, there was nothing really geared to that generation.”
‘We’re focusing on creating video content right now, the goal would be to do longer form programming on places like Hulu or Netflix who have a lack of content in that area.”
“Within the last 6 months we have been able to really push content and build partnerships.”
“We did a focus group of girls to find out would they want a platform like this, what kind of content would they want, and we’ve got a pretty good pulse of what they want and need.”
“There is a lot of buzz around women sports, you now see Nike and Adidas activating these huge campaigns.”
Listen to the full episode here
Tom sits down with CRO of Vox Media, Inc. Ryan Pauley, to discuss his journey to his current position and the new trend
s he sees in the landscape. Before being named the Chief Revenue Officer at Vox Media, Inc., Pauley led the 2016 conceptualization and launch of concert, Vox Media’s premium ad marketplace. Since the launch, he has led Concert’s expansion to include partners such as Quartz, New York Media, PopSugar and Rolling Stone, and has led and driven new business and advertising strategies across the company.
Some key points to listen for:
“When we started, digital media was at it it’s own corner of the world”
“Today there is no longer a distinction between digital media and traditional media, there is only one category, modern media. We believe we are a leading modern media company”
“We compete with Facebook and Google, TV Networks, NY Times, Washington Post, our competitive set is widely different than what it once was”
“We have everything from traditional display media, a growing branding content team, a sponsorship business, and events team”
“There is a not marketer in the world we don’t have a solution for”
The full episode can be heard here…
Enjoy and share!!
