Andrea Messimer Henley OOH Media Veteran, sat down one on one with industry legend; COO of VaynerMedia, James Orsini.

 

 

OOH Today Guest Writer
Andrea Messimer Henley, OOH Veteran.

Andrea Messimer Henley OOH Media Veteran, sat down one on one with industry legend; COO of VaynerMedia, James Orsini.

 

 

Readers will be intrigued to learn how his C- Level expertise combined with his traditional media background, provides this fearless digital media empire a triple digit growth strategy, and we will discover the difference between a spirited organization and a culture through his words of wisdom.

Andrea:  Good Afternoon James,  Thank you for providing the time and tour of the impressive VaynerProduction Studio’s here in Long Island City-

James:  It is great to host you.

Andrea:  The culture here at VaynerMedia has diversity with Boomers, Millennials, and Gen X’s. What attributes within those generation characteristics have made VaynerMedia so successful?

James:   The average age here is 27. This is a fast-moving environment. It’s a fail fast, fix fast, learn fast environment where we’re constantly testing and optimizing … I’ve learned a lot from working with the millennial generation. It’s not only me imparting what I’ve learned over a 30 year career, 25 of which has been in this space, but also learning from them and seeing, dispelling a lot of the notions of the me generation and it’s all about us, and what have you done for me lately and that spirit of entitlement and everything. They’re really hardworking, they work in community environment, they’re eager to share, they’re not as protective of an idea, but rather nurturing of an idea.

Andrea:  Very interesting-

James:  We’ll collaborate and make the best of what this thing is and it’s okay, as long as the team is recognized, that’s pretty good. Do you know what I mean?

Andrea:  Yes, I do.

James:  Back in my day, you made sure you held onto an idea.

Andrea:  Back in our day Individuals- took credit for ideas, versus a team effort today here at Vayner.

James:  They’re eager to have dialogue, it’s not unusual for somebody to want just a 15 minute meeting with me just to understand what it is I’m doing, what I’m working on, how do I see things going. You would never be in a company and just put 15 minutes on the Chief Operating Officer’s calendar because you wanted to talk to him. That wasn’t the way it worked at KPMG or Goldman Sachs.

Andrea:  Right, You didn’t have that access to a C-level executive.  That still exists at most companies.

James:   Here, it’s like it’s a semester mentality and they’re not any different from a professor. I always go and talk to my professor if I have a need, so why can’t I speak to the COO about that? It’s interesting.

Andrea::  So it’s an open door collaboration of everybody?

James:   Absolutely. Remember, they share everything on social media anyway.

Andrea:  So true- I see that on your social channels.

James:  So this is what’s so funny. I laugh because I go through the HR department and they’re very secretive about salaries and I’m like, “What are you kidding me? They all know what everyone makes. It’s not like us. That was very privately held. Do you know what I mean?

Andrea:   Of course, it’s the environment I have always worked in.

James:   Here it’s like they’re talking in the lunchroom, everybody knows everything.

Andrea:    That’s unusual, but interesting,

James:   To me it’s kind of wild.

Andrea:  If you have an issue, let’s squash it, right?

James:  So you’d better be pretty genuine because you know, it’s going to be out there.

Andrea:  Yeah, absolutely, VaynerMedia has a progressive culture, what would you say to companies that we we’re talking about earlier who are still practicing the more traditional mindset of being private and you don’t get to talk to the CEO?

James:   You know, it’s interesting here because you use the term culture and what Gary taught me is that there is a real difference between culture and spirit.

Andrea:  Okay- interesting, what is the difference?

James: Culture runs very deep, it does not move. In most other companies that I was in including Saatchi or Interbrand, we had a spirit. As an example, when we won a piece of business it was euphoric, like you’re in a stadium, and your team scored a touchdown, you’re all cheering. And the next minute when the guy fumbles you’re all booing him out of the game, right?

Andrea:  Great analogy.

James: So, it’s very spiky. Okay? A culture is a lot more steady. Right? So, it doesn’t spike at the highs and it’s not dropping at the lows. You know what I mean? It runs deeper. So, Vayner has a culture, most companies have a spirit. And as long as things are going well, the spirit is high. Right?

 there is a real difference between culture and spirit.
Vayner has a culture, most companies have a spirit.

Andrea:  Of course, that makes sense.

James:  That’s kind of what we’re seeing around Tesla, and Elon Musk. I think there’s more of a spirit there than a culture. And same thing at Uber, right? We’re watching when things go bad, it’s getting freaky. People are jumping out. This is a culture of empathy where people are cared for.

In addition we have a relatively low turnover rate. Voluntary turnover rate when compared to the industry. Last I looked we were around or less than a 10% voluntary turnover rate in an industry that’s probably doing north of 27% I would bet. So, that tells you are doing something right.

Andrea:  Congratulations on having less turn over than the industry average, and you also mentioned you receive around 200 resumes daily?

James:  It’s not like we’re throwing money at everybody. Everybody is fairly paid. But I’ve certainly made more money other places, so, you’re here for different reasons.

Andrea:  And as we know VaynerMedia is growing rapidly, so that’s also a good sign, when you are adding more people; more markets etc…

James:  Definitely, because think of it very simply. Anything that is not growing, is dying.

James:  Human, plant, animal. Right, think of it.

Andrea:  Sure.

James:  Right, so how do you not grow and think it’s okay? It’s all about the growth.

And that’s what’s happening in the industry in its entirety. Every one of those smaller operating companies are not growing. They may be acquiring a new company to get growth, but organically.

Andrea:  What’s been the key to your success so far?

James:  Yeah. So, that’s really been a key to my success, in that I’m still in touch with anybody that I’ve ever worked with in my career.

Andrea:  I agree, Strong relationships are key to longevity

James:  I have them in my cellphone, ping them from time to time. It’s been really important. The networking is really important.

And even when you’re doing something, because there’s nothing in it for you, but just simply because you’re in a power to do so. It gives you the power where you can, kind of, do something, because you never know when it’s going to come back.

Andrea:  So James, as you made the move from the full service traditional agency side Saatchi & Saatchi to here, what made you want to do the change?

James:  Well, really when I left Saatchi, I knew I was ready for a change when I was leaving Saatchi. I’d been there 5 years as their Chief Operating Officer. And I said, “If I’m going to make a change, I’m going to do something totally different.” I looked at a couple different positions. Consulting at PWC, Chief Operating Officer at a major Wall Street law firm. And then I was offered the opportunity to be the CEO of a publicly traded technology company and I said, “Okay, I’ve never been a CEO. I don’t know anything about technology, and I’ve never really been in a publicly traded company before. This sounds like the right job for me.” And that was my walk on a cloud, take a leap kind of …

Andrea:  Nice. So, you’re happy you made the change, what else?

James:  And I’ve learned a ton, I’m glad I did it. As we said, I had a 3 year employment contract. I still got a little over 3 1/2. But, when it was over I knew I wanted to get closer to the bigger industry that I knew and loved. And I was looking again at some more traditional type roles and big holding companies. I had some really nice offers until I met Gary. And he kind of convinced me to, you know I use the term yesterday, I said, “When someone offers you a ride on a rocket, you don’t ask what seat.” It’s a rocket.

“When someone offers you a ride on a rocket, you don’t ask what seat.” It’s a rocket.

Andrea:  HA!  I love it, the rocket is going to go fast no matter what!

James:  I quickly smelled lightning in a bottle and joined them. And it’s been great.

Andrea:  And just like that you never looked back!

James:  The last years have been really good. And when you work for a guy who makes a comment like, “You’ve had a great career. And I’m going to make the next 10 years the best part of that career.”

“You’ve had a great career. And I’m going to make the next 10 years the best part of that career.”

Andrea:  Wow, that’s inspiring.  That is my favorite part of this interview so far.

James:  Yeah. You want to succeed. You want to succeed for him and yourself. So, inspiration leadership is a big, big deal. And I had a really good track … I’m glad I was a number one, but I know I don’t want to be a number one. And I have a great track record of being a number two. And as we said, if I had somebody like me as my number two, when I was number one, I think everything would’ve been good.

Andrea:  You and Gary,   It’s the right chemistry, it’s the right timing.

James:  Absolutely.  The fact that I have a financial background really helps, because obviously the things that I do are financially prudent, I understand that. I am a New York CPA as well. So that certainly helps in many of the operating roles and because I’ve had so many titles over the years, CFO, COO, CIO, CEO. I’ve had all these O’s, I’ve gotten a great appreciation for what different departments do. So, I understand very well what HR does, I understand super well what finance does. I definitely understand what legal does. And I’ve been in the number one seat, so-

Andrea:  Which one do you like the best?

James:  I like this, Operating Officer.

I like, people ask me all the time, “So who’s your admin?” I say, “I don’t have an admin.” “Well who works for you?”, I say, “Nobody works for me.” And they say, “Well how do you get stuff done?” I said, “I took the time to understand what 800 people here do, and I leverage them to get it done. If I had two people that worked for me, I’d be limited to the capacity of those two people. Because I take the time to understand what so many people around me do, I’m able to connect quicker and get right to the spot that I’m supposed to be in.”

Even when I was at Saatchi which is the weirdest thing because when they brought me back from Interbrand the second time to work at the, not at the PR subsidiary but now it’s Saatchi proper as they used to call it, the advertising company. They brought me down and they’re like, “Here’s your giant corner office on the 14th floor.” And I said, “Yeah, I’m going to take the small office next to the Chief Creative Officer on the 18th Floor.” And they’re like, “What? We never had a finance ops guy sitting on the creative floor.” And I said, “I know but so much of what we do is dependent on that creative product, that if I don’t have a good understanding of that, by the time it gets down here to me on the 14th floor, while I’d love to throw a football on the office that you’ve given me, I’m going to take that smaller office up there.”

Andrea:  You are hands on and that speaks volumes of who you are and why you are so great at what you do, you put your stamp on everything to ensure success.

James:  And it really helped me get a lot closer to the creative product and understand what creatives need to motivate them, and what good creative looks like.

Andrea:  Switching gears to budgets, Ad budget’s dollars are going to digital. How can traditional forms of media do a better job of integrating social, digital?

James:  I think that’s an important distinction, because I remember when I was down at Saatchi and the internet came out and they were like, “James, it’s over. Nobody’s going to do a television commercial anymore. It’s all going to be on computer.”

Andrea:  Sure, I heard that too.

James:  I was still doing 500 million dollars’ worth of television commercials when they said that. But for me it’s all additive. So when radio comes out it doesn’t do away with newspaper, when television comes out it doesn’t do away with radio, when the internet comes out it doesn’t do away with television.

I think the secret is when they work together. It’s the mix of them that’s important. So Gary still believes, for example, that Super Bowl commercials are underpriced based on the attention it’s getting at that period of time, right?

Andrea:  Sure- you have a captive very attentive audience.

James:  People talk about the Super Bowl commercials the week before the Super Bowl. Then it’s on the Super Bowl, everybody talks about it. Then the week after the Super Bowl, they’re still talking about it.

So, now did you get good value for that versus the running your television campaign on the Oscars, let’s say? So this is about attention arbitrage and capturing people’s attention wherever it is. But, you better be using all the resources to do that.

Andrea:  Okay, that’s a good perspective.

James:  So, if you’re not advertising on some type of mobile device, you are truly missing out.

Andrea:  Everybody’s tied to it as we know.

James:  But, does one of our subsidiaries Pure Wow still use taxi cab tops to advertise? Yeah, it’s one form of it, right?

Andrea:  Of course having several touch points, with multiple messaging.

James:  So I think that’s the important thing is recognizing the mix.

The media mix is the beneficial aspect. Now how you place that, why are we doubling down on podcasts? Why does Gary feel so strongly about voice? Which is really just the next version of radio really, if you think about it. The only difference is, it’s radio on demand. I get to listen to it when I need to listen to it, not when you tell me the show’s going on at 8 o’clock in the morning.

So if I’m shaving and I want to be able to listen to the podcast that you found me on. Influencer podcast, right? It’s consuming the content when I want to consume it. Advertise on Facebook, but not at 7 o’clock in the morning when I’m logged on to Facebook, I’m looking at Facebook. So that’s the difference, and how does it feel less like an advertisement, right? ‘Because adverting is disruptive by nature. I’m listening to the radio, I’ve got my music playing and then somebody disrupts my music and now they’re going to talk to me about something. Or I’m watching my television show and they’re going to cut me off and interrupt something.

Andrea:  If there is something we are not interested in on TV; we tend to look at our mobile phones.

James:  So how does it get into this stream of what I’m normally doing? Don’t necessarily take me away from what I’m doing. Give me content that I want to consume. I don’t care if it’s 15, 30, 60 seconds, I don’t need that rigidness. If it’s 3 minutes 12 seconds of good content, I’ll consume it.

Andrea:  Sure, as long as it is good and connects with you?

James:  Yeah, make it good.

This is what kills me, people are like, “Retail is dead.” I said, “No, boring, unexciting retail is dead.” Have you been to the Nike down in SOHO? It’s spectacular. Basketball courts to test your basketball shoes, and treadmills to test your running shoes.

Andrea:  It’s an experience?

James:  Totally a retail experience. It’s not Macy’s my stuff is laying on the floor, can you find the other half of this number 11 sneaker?

Andrea:  Yeah, looking through racks and racks of stuff and you’re like, “Ah, I’m just over it.”

James:  Nordstrom is opening up a new men’s store here is New York City and it’s an experience. You can get a haircut there and a shave.

Andrea:  Oh that’s great.

James:  You can get some coffee there, you can grab a beer there.

Andrea:  Hang out all day, get it all done and have fun.

James:  They’d love it. They’d love nothing more than for you to hang out in their store all day long.

Andrea:  In our society there’s an expectation to get the four-year degree, even to be considered to get an entry-level position. What are your thoughts on that as far as students and companies? Is it necessary to have a 4 year degree?

James:  So that’s interesting. Gary told me something really different about that. So you know his content, his influencers are out there all the time.

Andrea:  Oh yeah, absolutely I follow his content.

James:  He’ll be the first to tell you that-

Andrea:  Don’t get a four-year degree.

James:  He does say, “Look if you want to be an accountant or an attorney, you should get a four-year degree if it’s going to be a professional thing.” But it was interesting. He got called out from one of his fans, a member of the Vayner Nation, “Hey Gary, you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. You say that it’s not as important and yet your website says you got to have a college degree in order to work for your company.” And he called me up and said, “I want that changed immediately”, this was 3 years ago, “I want it to say “College Degree, or street cred equivalent. Show me that you started two companies by the time you turned 21, you can still work here.” So his spin on that entrepreneurial spirit is really important. And we have that here in our hallways.

We have people that, the guy follows them around with a camera, D Rock, gave free work to Gary in order to get in his world. Like, let me, I’m just going to come and video you for a few days for free, to show you what I can do.

Andrea:  That is a perfect example of added value.

James:  And now-

Andrea:  He’s with him every day.

James:  Yes, he’s with him every day, traveling the world, you know he’s every big of star as Gary is. People want D Rock’s picture.

Andrea:  That’s inspiring. What would you say to other companies, should they change that as well? Has that worked for you? By changing, not having the 4 year degree, but having the street cred. Have you brought in more valuable, experienced people that way?

James:  Yeah, I think generally speaking we need to wake up. I sit on the board of a university, so you know certainly I endorse higher education. By virtue of who and what I am. My kids are in some great schools now, and I’m paying for it. But, I think its self-awareness is very important. I sit on a board with another guy who, wealthy guy, shaking his head, and I said, “What’s the matter?” And he said, “We decided that my son was going to go to a trade school. And we know it’s the right decision for him. He was never really into school, James, and he’s great with his hands and he wants to get into electrical contracting, I think it’s fabulous. And I’ve been ostracized by all my neighbors who think I’m failing him. Because they can’t believe I’m not going to send him to College.”

James:  And that was a sad moment because the guy knows he’s doing what’s right for his son.

Andrea:  And like you said, his son also wanted to do that.

James:  So, this is why I say, whenever your passion becomes your profession, watch out! That’s a powerful experience. Whatever that is. So College is not right for everybody. It’s just not right for everybody. Especially now in the way our educational system in general needs to be updated. The fact that we still believe that everybody learns the same way, bell rings, transfer class, very industrial

Andrea:  Like we are robots.

James:  1930s kind of learning, we’ve never updated that. So some people learn better audibly, some visually, some are fine to work online to get their stuff done. Some want to do it in a community setting, some want to do it in an individual private setting. When you lose sight of the personalization of humanity, then it’s a problem. If you’re trying to say, “Listen, you fit into our way. This is the way we do it, now fit into this and be happy about it.” People aren’t. People like the flexibility. You know what I mean?

Andrea:  Sure, I agree with that.

James:  So we have people who are fluidly going back and forth between offices, some days they want to work outside the city, some days they want to work in, as long as they let people know.

Andrea:  That’s nice, they have that flexibility.

James:  Let their supervisor know where they are, we’re fine with that. In fact, we encourage it. Go learn a little bit more about what’s going on over there. Maybe you can help solve some stuff for them.

Andrea:  That kind of is a good transition to the next question you and I have talked about. When we entered the work force, people were like, “Got to stay there a minimum of 3-5 years. Whether you’re happy or not, because it doesn’t look good on a resume if you leave if it’s not a good fit. You’re just kind of stuck.” But today we see there is a lot of turn over, with people making changes after a year or two, but that’s not always good for the company either.

James:  Yeah, that was ah ah-ha for me here as well. I referenced the semester mentality. “Okay, it’s been six months, what’s next for me.” “What do you mean, “What’s next?” And they say, “You know, I think I want to be creative”, and I say, “Yeah but you’re an account person. What did you just wake up today and decide you’re creative. Usually you have that in you, you’ve gone to school for that.” So, we’ve been working hard to break the semester mentality and be like, “Look, you don’t get … stay in the position 18 months or so. Brood a little bit, get some creds in what it is you’re doing before asking me for the next move.”

A little bit here, but it was the semester mentality. Six months, ready for something new, where am I going? So we’ve had to change that here. Personally, at 55 years old, I still believe 2-3 years in a place is good. You can get a good feel for what that place is like. Much before that, I’m not sure you had that feel. I remember I told you the story about Goldman Sachs, it was the same way with KPMG, I left … I used to work for a company called Main Hurdman, it was merging with KP, or Peat Marwick, the former KPMG. So, I left on the day of the merger. I had been there two years, and I’m like, “You know what, I’m going to get all new bosses anyway, let me pick my bosses while I don’t have somebody coming up to me telling me, “Here’s your new boss.” And they were, “Hey James, you could’ve really been a partner here, and you were on track to do well.” And I was doing well.

I loved the company and they liked me. But I knew what I didn’t want to be. And what they were promising me, I didn’t want to be. So-

Andrea:  More self-awareness, like you said.

James:  Yeah, that’s self-awareness was something else. When SITA was moving from, well no, let’s go through it. I was at Interbrand. I was the global CFO and really decided that I was ready for a different role. Okay, now we’re going to see something different. I always felt that I was a much better business man than I ever was accountant and I was ready to get on the business side. And they were like, “Listen, don’t leave. We’ll create something for you here. We have North American President, we’ll make you a North American Chief Operating Officer and together you guys will be the office of the CEO. But we won’t have a CEO, and you’ll focus on the internal stuff and he’ll focus on the external stuff and it was great. He was very successful and I’m still very much with David Norton, that guy.

It was just successful and that’s why the phone rang from Saatchi, “Oh, you’re really successful over there doing that there. Can you come here and do that same thing, that Chief Operating Officer role?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I think I could.” And it did.

Andrea:  So what’s been the most inspiring thing about being here for you? Personally, professionally?

James:  Oh the amount of new ventures.

Andrea:  Like what?

James:  That Gary … really wants to birth. I don’t want to say comes up with, because it doesn’t sound like it’s thought out but they are. He sees things before most people do, so what he talks about is … what I call skate to the puck. So he’s hitting over there, people aren’t there yet, but don’t worry, they’re going to be there a year and a half from now. But start working on that, you know what I mean?

Andrea:  I love the level of risk that turns into reward- no fear mentality.

James:  We just launched a new venture called Vayner Mentors, where we’re helping small businesses between 2 and 25 million that are kind of stuck.

We just launched a new venture called Vayner Mentors, where we’re helping small businesses between 2 and 25 million that are kind of stuck.  we’re helping them unlock explosive growth,

Andrea:  Oh okay, I like that . Tell me more?

James:  And we’re helping them unlock explosive growth, explosive growth. Meaningful explosive growth. How can I get to growth like Gary? Like 210% 3 years of growth.

Andrea:  Is that year over year?  It has been that?

James:  No, in the 3 1/2 year time.

Andrea:  That’s amazing.

James:  It’s gone from 42 million to over 130 million plus. So, now … well that leaves a business plan. He knows what he wants to do, he knows it’s going to sell in the market place. He knows it’s going to be of value. And then he’ll come to somebody like me and say, “Let’s get some teeth on this, let’s see what we can do.” We sold 6 so far, we’re working on it, people are happy.

Andrea:  Good, congratulations.

James:  And I’m learning a ton about all these small businesses that I never knew existed.

Andrea:  So you’re getting more experience as well as using your experience.

James:  Yeah, a furniture store in Panama City, a nail manufacturer in California, and automotive imaging place up in Syracuse-

Andrea:  All different, companies.

James:  A nutritional place in Arkansas. Yeah, cool stuff.

Andrea:  So they’re kind of stuck? Where do they need to go? They’re realizing they need help?

James:  What we deliver to them is a 20 page deck, strategy deck, if you’re working with them over 5 or 6 weeks, unlike a Mackenzie, who will give you a 300 page deck that you’ll never be able to implement. We give a small digestible, pull these six levers and it should work based on Gary’s experience and maybe my operating experience and another guy, Gary is definitely an operating CEO but another guy who has a supply chain management, retail experience. We pull from all these different things, e-commerce, and we help these small businesses unlock meaningful growth.

Andrea:  And so you’ve had 6 so far and are they … implementing it? Are they showing growth?

James:  Yeah, oh at their first meeting-

Andrea:  Oh wow, in the first meeting?  That’s remarkable!

James:  They get at their first meeting, and remember, we’re in it for the growth. So we split the upside 50/50 over the next 3 years. Yeah, so it’s in our best interest to help you unlock that growth. We don’t make the money on the fee, I mean I get paid much bigger fees from my Fortune 50 clients, you can imagine. But, the upside could be pretty interesting.

So those other types of things that I find exciting because…..

So we split the upside 50/50 over the next 3 years.

Andrea:  You’re helping people, instead of closing their doors or dying, they’re realizing “Okay, I need help,” and you are turning it around. You’re fixing it.  Just like your motto, I fix shit!

James:  Stuck at 11 million dollars for 5 years, how do we get them up to the next level? How does 11 million become 20 million?

So, that’s what we work on with them.

Andrea:  And then to see that implemented and it work and helping people, that has to be really gratifying as well?

James:  It is really cool. I’m suddenly relevant again in my children’s world.

Andrea:  They probably think it’s cool that you’re working for Gary?

James:  Absolutely, they love the fact that I’ll call them and say, “This is coming up on Snapchat tomorrow; you might want to look for that feature.”

Andrea:  He’s traveling a lot so how does he balance all of his time? I’m just curious because I see him everywhere.

James:  You know it’s funny because, first of all he’s a hands on operating CEO. Which I think a lot of people find hard to believe. But he is in the business making decisions.

The second thing is, people ask me all the time is, “does he sleep?” And I say, “He absolutely sleeps, he just does more when he’s awake than any human I’ve ever seen.”

Andrea:  He doesn’t waste a minute, right?

James:  There is no minute, so you’re not going to have more than a 15 minute meeting because if I give you an hour you’re going to fill it up with an hours’ worth of shit. So you know what? 15 minutes, stay on point, let’s move this along, and don’t worry, I’m looking down at my phone, I’m hearing everything that you’re saying.

Andrea:  Right, he’s consuming it several different ways.

James:  Exactly. And then when he’s thinking about it, we’re going to deal with that, right that second. So if he decides, when we launched that VaynerMentors thing, he turned on his Instagram Live and there was he and I before we could even formally announce it, he’s going here’s, “James [crosstalk 00:31:17] this is really coming out formally on Monday but it really can’t wait you know, we’re going to launch this mentors thing, tell them a little bit about what we’re going to do.” So …

We were both in California together. We didn’t know that we were in California together, that’s the funny part. I was scheduled to have a call with him and I was sitting in the office and he walks by the office.

Andrea :  And you’re like, “Oh I’m here.” Meet face to face right? Oh that is so cool.

Yeah, it’s pretty cool. He’s got a great leadership team with Senior executives that now he’s begun to hire and surround himself with. And that’s how he scales, right?

James:  He has somebody who scales him on the client side, somebody who scales him on the creative side. On the culture and our Chief Art Officer handles that side, got a great finance guy, legal guy, media guy. Today, hired a Chief Production Officer, that’ll be announced-.

Andrea:  Well, James I believe I have taken more than 15 minutes of your time, ha!  It’s so great hear about your background vision and what the future holds for you and Gary V, Venture’s- @ Vaynermedia.

I want to thank you personally for carving out the time and allowing our readers the opportunity to read, learn and share your story.

James:  It was my pleasure, got to run now and take this call from Gary…

Andrea:  In closing, I asked James about his thoughts on the Out of Home Industry-   He said the message that appears on the face of the billboard should also translate as you are driving by over the mobile screen- Because passengers aren’t looking out the windows any longer, they are looking at their devices.  If you have an ad that say’s Wendy’s next exit, combine it with a $1.00 coupon through applications that provide value and reinforce the advertisement.  Always provide value- that is key.