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Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience

September 18, 2025 / 31:44

This episode of Marketing Matters features Barbara Khan and guest Shannon Sheay Montoya, the global head of B2B marketing at Yahoo. They discuss Yahoo's current marketing strategies, brand awareness, and the importance of storytelling in marketing.

Shannon shares insights on Yahoo's evolution, noting its 30th anniversary and its position as a top five internet property. They highlight that nearly 90% of the U.S. internet population visits Yahoo monthly, with significant engagement from Gen Z and Millennials.

The conversation shifts to the role of storytelling in marketing, with Shannon emphasizing its impact on consumer memory and decision-making. She cites examples from her experiences, including a memorable event at South by Southwest that showcased Yahoo's brand through creative physical activations.

They also discuss Yahoo's presence at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, where they created an immersive experience to engage advertisers and showcase their products. Shannon explains the importance of measuring the effectiveness of storytelling through data and insights.

Finally, they touch on the significance of in-person experiences in today's digital landscape, emphasizing how these moments create lasting memories and connections with the brand.

TL;DR

Shannon Sheay Montoya discusses Yahoo's marketing strategies, storytelling's impact, and the importance of in-person experiences in brand engagement.

Episode

31:44
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Hello and welcome. You're listening to
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Marketing Matters on the Wharton Podcast
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Network, which is our weekly podcast
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where we analyze the latest in
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advertising, marketing, customer
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behavior, new product launches,
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retailing. I'm Barbara Khan, the Patty
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and JH Baker Professor of Marketing. And
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my co-host host, America's Reed, is out
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of town. I think he's in Austin. um he's
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doing his magic somewhere else, but
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he'll be back and he's sorry to miss
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this show, but instead of him, we have a
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wonderful guest. So, I'm really excited
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about having our guest and we'll try to
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do without Americas this time. Let me
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introduce Shannon Sheay Montoya who's
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the global head of B2B marketing and
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sponsorships and events at Yahoo. Hello,
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Shannon.
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>> Hi, Barbara. I'm so excited to spend
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part of my day with you. Thank you for
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having me.
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>> Yeah, I'm really excited to have you
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both because of your particular role,
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your background, things you've done in
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the past. I want to talk about all of
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that, but also about Yahoo. So, let's
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start with Yahoo just a little bit. So,
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pe remind people um what Yahoo does, how
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they make their money, things like that.
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Obviously, Yahoo is a well-known brand.
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I think a lot of people have the brand
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awareness of Yahoo, but I mean, I wonder
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if you'll disagree with me to say that
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>> it used to be the king of the internet.
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Like, it was the name that came to mind
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top of mind maybe in the 2000s and now
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it's gotten a lot of competition from
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other platforms. So, it's kind of an
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interesting marketing story because you
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do have brand awareness. People kind of
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know what Yahoo does. Um, but it's not
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at the peak that it once was. First of
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all, do you agree with that with that
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assessment or disagree?
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>> Well, I might have some things that
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might surprise you in the audience a
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little bit. So, Yahoo, we're actually
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celebrating our 30th anniversary this
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year, which is really exciting. And um
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you know, Yahoo is still a top five
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internet property.
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>> Uh 90% of the US internet population
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comes to Yahoo every month. So, that's
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nine and 10 people come to Yahoo every
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month. That's
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>> That does surprise me. a massive
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audience and out of that nearly 50%
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of unique uh visitors to Yahoo are Gen Z
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and Millennials. So also a younger user
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base as well.
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>> Um you know and then Yahoo has just an
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incredible portfolio of products and
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brands including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo
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Sports, Yahoo News, Search Mail. Um
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there's been ton and we've spent the
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last couple of years really cooking on
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that product innovation have been coming
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out with new releases and we'll continue
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to do so. So a lot of exciting
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innovation happening at Yahoo right now
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and again like massive audience across
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the board.
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>> Yeah. I mean I I didn't mean to diminish
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that because I did see another statistic
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that said that you had three billion web
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visits in February was on par with
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Amazon. So it's not not top liver, so to
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speak.
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>> Exactly. Exactly. And and it is a brand
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that people, you know, they know and
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they and they really like. Yahoo. Yahoo
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has a general sentiment around it that's
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that's joy and celebratory. And what we,
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you know, our goal is to really try and
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be that that place to help you achieve
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your goals on a daily basis. So whether
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that's, you know, checking your mail or
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checking your uh, you know, investments
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or maybe crushing it in fantasy, of
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which I have a little work to do in my
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own fantasy bracket. Um, but I'm I'm
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doing okay. I'm riding midfield right
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now. But, um, you know, all of these all
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of these things help you to accomplish,
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you know, these little goals and these
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little tasks every day um that bring
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that that joy and enjoyment to your
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life. So, let's just I mean I just want
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to just quickly run down the revenue
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models just so we see and then where you
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fit in and what your goals are. So, I
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mean I guess their primary service is
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web portal, online service, content and
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media and like you said they have some
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premium services, some subscriptions um
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that are pretty big. They obviously make
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I mean they have email and communication
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which you already mentioned and then
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they obviously make money on advertising
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on technology. A lot of the revenue I
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think comes through advertising and and
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subscription. And then where I think you
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come in, there's also this small
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business domain hosting and a lot of B2B
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business. Do you want to and that's I
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think kind of where your where your job
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is. Is that right? Or I think that was
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in your title.
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>> Yeah. So part of my role um I do oversee
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all of our in a very simplified format.
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It's all of our um it's all of our
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business and experience marketing. So
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business includes all of our B2B
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marketing and really what we're doing is
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supporting the advertising across Yahoo.
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We have two different advertising
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divisions within Yahoo. We have Yahoo
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ads which is a direct business into our
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owned and operated um into our owned and
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operated properties including Yahoo
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Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yah and given the
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reach and scale and unique data that we
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get from all of those properties, it's a
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pretty incredible offering to the
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advertising community. The other
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advertising offering that we have is our
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Yahoo DSP. And for the audience who
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might not know, a DSP is a demandside
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platform. And I think the easiest way to
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describe that is if you think about it
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in the realm of sort of stocks. So
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instead of instead of trading on stocks,
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we actually trade on attention. And so
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every every um micro investment
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um into impressions is a way in which
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you you know reach your audiences and
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achieve your marketing goals and
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results. Um you know in a in a stock
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portfolio you trade on the New York
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Stock Exchange or you trade on NASDAQ.
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In digital marketing, you trade on the
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DSP connects you to exchanges
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um that allow you to
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you know success again successfully
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deliver on your marketing objectives. So
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it's easy to kind of think about it
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comparison to the stock market. Um it's
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just it's essentially the way digital
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digital exchanges work. The difference
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is stocks versus attention. And so what
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I oversee is a lot of our business
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marketing that is to connect to those
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advertisers.
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And where I come into play is really,
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you know, what's important is really
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differentiating differentiating both our
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ads offering, our Yahoo ads offering and
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our Yahoo DSP offering, which is um it's
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it's it is the number one rated DSP
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amongst um our customers. And also in
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head-to-head competition against other
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DSPs, the Yahoo DSP wins 90% of the
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time. I don't know how many things win
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90% of the time, but again, that's a
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pretty incredible offering. And so,
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where we come in is really around uh the
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storytelling of that. So, how are we
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telling a differentiated story and
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narrative in the market that showcases
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these unique offerings
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built on this incredible firstparty data
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that we get from search, from mail, and
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from content, which again makes us a
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really unique offering to the
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advertising community.
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>> Yeah. So, I'm going to talk about some
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of the other things that you do and I
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would like to talk a little bit about
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your background, but let me double down
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on this idea of storytelling that you
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just brought up. Um, so can you give us
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some examples of how storytelling can
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make a measurable impact? Um, you know,
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how can you measure that? How do you
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know story? It's fine to say that, but
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how do you really know that how
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important storytelling is and and how it
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impacts the business?
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>> Yeah. So, so storytelling for me is
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something that's very much in my ethos.
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I come from a big big family and so
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storytelling and being good at stories
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was a way to win you the conversation at
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the dinner table. Um, so it's something
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that's, you know, a big part of my life.
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I and and um something that I love to
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do. It's part of what brings me so much
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joy. Um I was at you know and probably
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for me one of the earliest examples of
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really good storytelling was years ago
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um it still exists today but in a
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different form.
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There was a uh museum, a small museum in
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Paris in Mumar um dedicated to Salvador
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Delhi, one of the greatest storytellers
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of our time, right? He
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>> from filmmaker to musician to inventor
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to artist, just an incredible
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storyteller. And there was this very
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small museum. It was like a hidden gem
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in Paris. And and you walked downstairs
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and you were brought into this world of
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Salvador Dolly. his voice played in the
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background and all his sculptures sort
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of came to light and the lights would
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dim and and get brighter as he got
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closer to it and and there was um you
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know his his famous statue of the Venus
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deio with the with the drawers
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>> and it's all around the idea that you
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you know build these memories throughout
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your lifetime that then impact
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who you become in the future, the
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decisions you're make you make and how
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you live out your life. So, fast
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forward, I was at an event a few weeks
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ago with Giant Spoon. Um, and they had
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an incredible um chef there from
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Unapologetic Foods who your interview a
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few weeks ago from Resi. She she
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referenced the chef from Unapologetic
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Foods and some of the work they had been
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doing with him. uh we had a filmmaker
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there and then there was a
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neuroscientist there
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and he described memory as it's past
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events that influence decisions in the
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future and what storytelling does is
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storytelling can then shape and
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transform that memory to make it even
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more impactful. So what would have been
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just a sort of normal memory makes it
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something that's absolutely
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unforgettable.
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And then what I love about that is you
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take it a step further and think about
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some of the work that we're doing. Those
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shared stories then become
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um collective memory, right? And so all
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of a sudden what you've done within that
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marketing campaign or event or live
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experience extends beyond the people
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even that are within that room. You can
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do that through social, you can do that
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through digital. You can do that through
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influencer. All of these different
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channels that help to to scale that
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experience to a much greater degree.
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>> So So let me just summarize a little bit
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of what you just said if I understand
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it. And I'm thinking I just finished
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reading the undoing project which was
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about Danny Conorman and Amos Tverki and
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they came up with this you know
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behavioral economics and different ways
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of thinking about it. And the way you
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just described it is one of the things
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that Danny Conorman did independent of
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Amos actually after Amos um died and and
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part of the reason he got the um Nobel
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Prize was this idea of retrospective or
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memories shaping your expectation.
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So it shapes your future impression.
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That's like what I think you said. Um
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this idea that the reason it's important
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is because of the way it shapes going
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forward what you remember. Um and
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creating this salient memory. That's
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what I think you said. Is that did I get
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that right?
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>> Yeah, I think that's spot on. And I
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think what's really interesting is what
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a marketer does or I always refer to my
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team as live storytellers. What they do
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is they come in and they harness those
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memories, right, of what we build
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alongside and for our customers and
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consumers and they shape that and they
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strengthen that memory to a much greater
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degree so that it has an even stronger
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lasting impact on um how on their
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actions towards not only your
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organization but the future. So in
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essence sort of at the end of the day um
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you know me and my team are really in
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that business of creating memories that
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not only move people but move markets.
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>> Yeah. So that so that's interesting. So,
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I get the theory and I actually think,
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like I said, I think it it's a Nobel
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Prize winning theory in some sense
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because this idea of how these things
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link together is is important and it was
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um theoretically it's an interesting
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idea as well as practically as you're
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describing it and and living it really.
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But what I'm wondering is um can you how
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do you do measurement in that? Do you
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actually measure like attention and then
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memory and then do any kind of analytics
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on like what creates or is it a lot of
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kind of instinct or I guess that's the
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question how much of it is based on data
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that you literally know form these
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memories and then form expectations or
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is it kind of intuitive and creatives do
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it?
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>> Well, I think it's a it's a little bit
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of all of that, right? So you have to
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you have to lean into your data and
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insights to make sure that you know what
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you're doing is going to resonate um and
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has cultural relevance to it as well. Um
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you know like like like all brands you
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know Yahoo as well is trying to reach a
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younger generation of u millennials and
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gen Z's. So when we think about the
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types of executions that we're doing we
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want to make sure that we are really
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leaned in to what's happening in
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culture. And so the data and insights of
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course help to inform what that looks
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like. Um and then on top of it, you
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know, there is a sense of creativity and
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you have to um you know, and we have
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measurement of sort of what's worked for
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us in the past. Um you know, how we
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continue to evolve that in bringing the
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brand to life. But I think a really good
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example of this is, you know, we did a
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consumer experience at South by
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Southwest um a couple of years ago. Uh
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we partnered with this incredible human
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being. His name is Marty Bell. He
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started a company called um Pool Suite
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and it was to he was he was uh from
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Scotland and it was a digital it was a
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digital radio station with these sort of
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retro8s 90s kind of discoesque tones
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that really took you on a vacation. And
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the reason being is he was in Scotland
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during these cold winters and he really
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wanted to just vacation away from all of
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that. And then on top of that he started
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adding these incredible um you know
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retro beach images from the 80s and the
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'9s and just created this whole vibe
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around this world. you know, for for
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Yahoo as well, being that we're, you
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know, 30-year-old company, we started on
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the early onset of the internet in the
00:15:10
'9s and yet, you know, continue to have
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this strong relevance and audience
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today. Leaning into that nostalgia and
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that modern vintage is something that's
00:15:20
also really important to us. So, we
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recognized, you know, that Marty started
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to get this incredible audience of
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influencers and taste makers. We wanted
00:15:29
to show up at South by Southwest. So we
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partnered together on this incredible
00:15:34
experience. Um we called it disco
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necked. Um so disco and then necked. Um
00:15:41
as an opportunity to really lean into
00:15:44
the vibe of what was happening today in
00:15:46
internet culture and that people wanted
00:15:48
a moment to just disconnect and time
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away.
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And so netn net the experience was we
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took over the hotel vanzant in in
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Austin, Texas during South by Southwest.
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The audience was influencers and taste
00:16:04
makers that we wanted to get get in
00:16:06
front of
00:16:07
>> and we threw this 10-hour party 10 hours
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Barbara backtoback non-stop line around
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the block
00:16:15
>> for 10 full hours
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>> and just transported people into this
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early internet vibe.
00:16:22
>> Oh wow. So, you know, you walked in, the
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entire
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>> It was so fun. The entire space was
00:16:28
covered in disco balls and palm frrons.
00:16:31
We did the We did the complete space. We
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had You were greeted by this incredible
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influencer, Corey Ray, who was sitting
00:16:38
at, you know, a '9s style desk. Um, old
00:16:42
school secretary sort of checking you
00:16:44
into the party. Um we had uh drinks that
00:16:48
were named like dialup daquiri, so
00:16:51
custom drinks made. Um just this really
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incredible combination of bringing
00:16:56
together the data and insights around
00:16:59
what was happening in culture uh
00:17:02
alongside um you know just this
00:17:04
incredible creativity that we co-created
00:17:07
with this the Marty Bell and the amazing
00:17:09
team at Pool Suite. And throughout the
00:17:12
day, we had over 2,000 people. You know,
00:17:16
one of my favorite comments from the day
00:17:17
was, "Yahoo is a move. I'll take it.
00:17:21
Yahoo is a move." And um there was
00:17:25
awesome sort of scale and content uh
00:17:29
content and scale coming out of that
00:17:30
event as well. So, I think a really good
00:17:33
representation. Also, I oversee all of
00:17:35
our um media and brand partnerships and
00:17:38
just a really good representation of how
00:17:42
partners can help you achieve those
00:17:44
goals.
00:17:44
>> Yeah. Yeah. Collaborators. That's Yeah,
00:17:46
that's an interesting thing. That's
00:17:47
definitely the style of today's go to
00:17:49
market strategies, who you're going to
00:17:51
collaborate with, and how you So, what
00:17:53
you're describing create these
00:17:54
storytellers, create these memories
00:17:56
because they're important to shape the
00:17:58
brand and shape future experiences. And
00:18:00
now you just described this physical
00:18:02
activation and from what I understand
00:18:04
Yahoo is really doubling down now on
00:18:07
these physical act um activations and
00:18:10
looking for places to to put them in the
00:18:13
culture. I guess you're also probably I
00:18:17
mean the people who you want there will
00:18:19
be the influencers will be people who
00:18:21
are um I mean I guess you don't want
00:18:24
just anybody in these. You only have
00:18:26
2,000 people. You have a small select
00:18:28
audience in there. If you consider the
00:18:30
whole world,
00:18:31
>> it would be better if they were
00:18:34
>> people that you know you're going to get
00:18:36
more of an impact on. So my guess is you
00:18:38
do these physical activations in
00:18:40
specific places because they sound
00:18:42
pretty expensive. They may deliver a lot
00:18:45
of value, but you're going to have to
00:18:46
pick and choose where you're going to do
00:18:48
it. And I know you recently did one at
00:18:50
Con. Is that right? Um yeah.
00:18:53
>> And so like I mean the one you just
00:18:55
described was at South by Southwest. So,
00:18:57
you're at a conference that attracts a
00:18:59
certain kind of people at Khan. I mean,
00:19:01
I never been to Khan, but it sounds
00:19:03
pretty cool. I mean, I guess it's people
00:19:05
in the film industry, social media
00:19:07
influencers, like who goes to Khan and
00:19:09
why did you choose that? And then what
00:19:11
did you do at Khan in that sense?
00:19:15
>> Well, I think you hit on something
00:19:16
really important, right? And in first
00:19:18
and foremost, you have to really when
00:19:20
you're when you're building these
00:19:22
strategies, you have to be super
00:19:25
centered on who your audience is and
00:19:27
what you're hoping to achieve from that
00:19:29
audience, right? And so South by
00:19:31
Southwest was a very specific move to
00:19:33
get in front of influencers and taste
00:19:36
makers. It was a consumer first event
00:19:39
from the business side. Can which is
00:19:42
actually it's interesting most people
00:19:44
are aware of the film festival. What
00:19:46
they don't know or people within the
00:19:48
advertising um industry are well aware
00:19:50
of is that about a month after the film
00:19:53
festival there's another festival called
00:19:55
the can lions festival of creativity and
00:19:59
it is an advertising and marketing
00:20:01
festival it is actually bigger than the
00:20:04
can film festival
00:20:06
>> and it brings the likes of uh Yahoo,
00:20:09
Google, Pinterest, uh Meta, all of the
00:20:13
major players within the advertising and
00:20:15
marketing industry.
00:20:16
>> Oh wow, what a great event.
00:20:18
>> Yeah, Barbara, you should be there. You
00:20:20
always, you know, you have
00:20:21
>> drooling. It sounds terrific.
00:20:23
>> It's terrific. And it's it's they take
00:20:27
over, we take over the entire can. It's
00:20:30
like an a massive reunion of sorts in
00:20:32
some way. Um, but there are incredible
00:20:35
conversations taking place around
00:20:37
creativity and around collaboration and
00:20:40
how brands can work together. Um it's
00:20:43
it's it's one of the most important
00:20:46
moments that we create um throughout the
00:20:48
year. So we show up there every year.
00:20:51
This is a business audience. So we are
00:20:54
trying to reach
00:20:55
>> advertisers across brands and agencies.
00:20:59
Um and this past year I think was one of
00:21:02
our our best years ever. So we were once
00:21:05
again leaning into nostalgia. we were
00:21:08
leaning into that that that modern
00:21:10
vintage spirit and tone that we love so
00:21:13
much. And one of the insights we had was
00:21:16
that first and foremost we a lot of
00:21:19
people remember Yahoo for the iconic
00:21:21
Billboard in San Francisco, a nice place
00:21:25
to stay on the internet. Um, and that's
00:21:27
a a big part of our ethos and something
00:21:30
we play into quite a bit. And then on
00:21:32
top of that, we were also noticing this
00:21:35
trend that people were, you know, taking
00:21:38
over these old motel and turning them
00:21:40
into these full experience destinations.
00:21:44
>> And we didn't know that was a trend.
00:21:46
That's interesting.
00:21:47
>> It's a trend. It's a trend. Um, we we
00:21:50
loved that idea. And so we built this
00:21:53
year at Can we took over an entire beach
00:21:56
and we built an erected motel Yahoo
00:21:59
which you can see above me uh was one of
00:22:02
the signs that came from that beach
00:22:04
space. It did make it over here all the
00:22:06
way from Can France which I'm very it
00:22:08
just only came the other day. This is a
00:22:10
festival that happens in June. Um and it
00:22:14
was uh we completely transformed this
00:22:17
space. And what I what I really love
00:22:19
about that is that we took sometimes
00:22:22
what are normally kind of boring stats
00:22:25
or and we we developed them into
00:22:27
experiences. So to showcase the variety
00:22:30
of our products, we had, you know, the
00:22:32
Yahoo search bar which served as our
00:22:35
bar. We had a reception desk where you
00:22:39
could pick up a key that had a different
00:22:42
um a different Yahoo fact on it and that
00:22:46
key would take you to a private meeting
00:22:48
room of which you would meet with you
00:22:50
know our salespeople would meet with um
00:22:53
with their clients. Uh we had uh for
00:22:58
Yahoo mail we had this incredible we had
00:23:00
like a mailbox and we did these custom
00:23:02
postcards because people are away from
00:23:04
their families a week and so and you
00:23:06
don't have time to really you know do
00:23:08
touristy things while you're in can. So
00:23:10
we had all of these postcards made. You
00:23:12
could send them through Yahoo Mail Home.
00:23:15
Uh we had a mini golf course that was
00:23:19
Yahoo Sports and we showcased some of
00:23:21
the the awesome Yahoo Sports
00:23:23
partnerships that we had done recently.
00:23:26
Um so just a really incredible way to
00:23:29
bring the brand to life in a fun way
00:23:31
that people could see it, feel it, taste
00:23:33
it um in this spirit of modern vintage.
00:23:37
And so it's really once again about
00:23:39
bringing these joyful moments to life. I
00:23:43
just want to interrupt for you one
00:23:44
second because what's interesting to me
00:23:46
about what you're talking about is you
00:23:48
are a digital brand. You know that's
00:23:50
what you are and yet what you're talking
00:23:52
about here to create these memories is a
00:23:55
very physical activation and and I
00:23:58
that's I love that because people think
00:24:00
we're getting more and more digital. I
00:24:02
think what's special about this is that
00:24:04
you're going to the right place at the
00:24:06
right time getting people together so
00:24:07
you get that social effect. But as
00:24:10
you're telling me this story, I can
00:24:12
picture these things. And I can imagine
00:24:13
if I was there, the fact that it was a
00:24:16
physical activation would make it very
00:24:19
salient. Just as you said in the
00:24:20
beginning at, you know, when you were a
00:24:22
kid growing up in your family, it would
00:24:24
definitely be a concrete story that I
00:24:27
would tell other people because it would
00:24:29
shape a memory. And it's because it's
00:24:31
this physical activation that it becomes
00:24:34
such a salient memory. Do you think
00:24:36
that's true?
00:24:37
>> Yes. And people are craving that,
00:24:39
Barbara. They're craving these in-person
00:24:42
moments. And and I think it is because,
00:24:45
you know, there there's so much of an
00:24:47
overlap now between your work life and
00:24:49
your personal life. And these become
00:24:51
those memories and these stories that
00:24:54
they then share on, right? And that's
00:24:56
how we that's how we scale and grow
00:24:59
everything that we're doing. But there's
00:25:01
it is such a tangible way to get people
00:25:03
excited about the brand and what you're
00:25:06
doing. So, it sounds like a great idea,
00:25:08
but it also sounds like a lot of work.
00:25:10
I'm just curious like I mean everything
00:25:12
you described, how long did it take you
00:25:14
and your team to put together something
00:25:16
like this? That's
00:25:18
>> I'm thinking like
00:25:19
>> Well, this is a it's a year
00:25:21
>> it's a that can in itself is a year-long
00:25:24
endeavor, right? And we finished can and
00:25:27
then next week we're already talking
00:25:29
about what we're going to do next year.
00:25:31
Yeah.
00:25:31
>> But this is among a multitude of other
00:25:34
things that we're doing as well. Right.
00:25:36
So, we have a big presence at CES. We
00:25:39
have a big presence at there's a new uh
00:25:41
festival uh called Possible that takes
00:25:44
place in May um down in Miami. I'm
00:25:48
sorry, in April down in Miami. Uh we
00:25:51
have our Yahoo New Front, which is our
00:25:53
showcase of all of our digital content
00:25:56
to advertisers that takes place in New
00:25:58
York. Uh, you know, we've had the likes
00:26:00
of everyone from Carmelo Anthony to
00:26:03
Russell Wilson to Chance the Rapper to
00:26:06
Diplo. All of this talent that we're
00:26:09
partnering with to help to drive home,
00:26:12
>> you know, our story and where we're
00:26:14
going.
00:26:14
>> You've convinced me. I want your job.
00:26:16
Like,
00:26:18
I do love my job. I love my I do. And
00:26:21
because I love I love storytelling and I
00:26:24
love creating memories. But you know,
00:26:27
one of the things I love the most,
00:26:29
Barbara, is that I attend a lot of these
00:26:32
a lot of these thought leadership
00:26:33
conversations
00:26:35
and people ask, you know, what's the
00:26:37
most important thing people need to have
00:26:38
in marketing and they say curiosity and
00:26:42
everyone says curiosity and I love it.
00:26:44
Of course, we want people to feel
00:26:46
curious or to be curious. The problem
00:26:48
with curiosity is that even with
00:26:50
curiosity, you're going to you're going
00:26:52
to edge one direction or the other,
00:26:55
right?
00:26:56
So, part of my philosophy is to just say
00:26:59
yes to things. Say yes. Say yes to going
00:27:03
out to dinner when you're tired. Say yes
00:27:06
to working with a new partner. Say yes
00:27:09
to trying something that you've never
00:27:11
done before and using it as a test and
00:27:13
learn. It's in those moments that you
00:27:17
know, you leverage the data, the
00:27:18
insights, the creativity. You pull that
00:27:21
all together. But I think what makes an
00:27:23
exceptional marketer is those who are
00:27:26
able to pull back a little bit and let
00:27:28
the the unknown happen. Let the magic
00:27:32
happen on its own. And one of my
00:27:36
favorite stories about that is uh a
00:27:39
couple of years ago we at CES
00:27:43
we have a combination our strategy
00:27:45
includes a combination of you know
00:27:48
developing these spaces for these
00:27:50
onetoone meetings to take place with
00:27:51
advertisers and then finding a moment
00:27:54
where we can reach our audience our our
00:27:57
customer audience our client audience at
00:27:59
scale. And so that's often through these
00:28:02
big parties and events.
00:28:04
And so we decided to after deciding what
00:28:09
kind of talent we wanted to work with,
00:28:11
we decided to work with Wuang. Now Wuang
00:28:15
had just celebrated their 30th
00:28:17
anniversary of 36 Chambers, which was
00:28:20
their first album. They had just
00:28:22
announced a residency in Las Vegas,
00:28:25
which we were going to be at. They have
00:28:28
incredible longstanding cultural
00:28:30
relevance. I know you and I were vibing
00:28:33
on Brooklyn earlier and I swear every
00:28:36
third person in Brooklyn is still
00:28:37
wearing a Wuang t-shirt, including like
00:28:40
little 5-year-old kids.
00:28:43
So, the incredible thing about the Wuang
00:28:46
Clan is that there are eight, originally
00:28:49
nine, but we'll put an aster there are
00:28:51
members of Wuang Clan.
00:28:53
So, you don't really know what you're
00:28:56
going to get. You don't. We didn't
00:28:58
totally know whether we were going to
00:29:00
get all eight members. Maybe we'd get
00:29:02
six, maybe we'd get five. We were hoping
00:29:04
for all eight. The night comes and we
00:29:07
get notification right before all eight
00:29:10
are there. All eight.
00:29:12
Curtains open. We're at this incredible
00:29:14
venue called Voltater, the Venetian, um,
00:29:17
which is also under the Apollo
00:29:19
portfolio, as is Yahoo. curtains open
00:29:23
and then one by one they have this
00:29:25
incredible we put this incredible video
00:29:27
surrounding it. We did custom merch with
00:29:30
Wuang Clan. We did, you know, had an
00:29:32
incredible experience built around it.
00:29:35
But what they delivered and what we
00:29:36
allowed the artists to do best was they
00:29:39
all came out one by one in shadow. The
00:29:43
audience is going nuts. They do all of
00:29:45
their original songs from 36 Chambers.
00:29:50
And then they did um they did covers of
00:29:53
things like the Beatles and the Stones
00:29:56
and some of the best renditions I've
00:29:58
heard.
00:29:59
>> But what was amazing is the final sort
00:30:02
of segment they did was an homage to to
00:30:04
hip-hop artists who have passed away. M
00:30:07
>> so Biggie, Tupac, DMX,
00:30:11
and then they pause for a second and
00:30:13
they say, "And the greatest of all time,
00:30:16
OB,
00:30:18
who was the the original Wuang member
00:30:21
who had passed away here." The perform
00:30:23
for him is his son, YB. Oh, good. He
00:30:28
comes out. He's a spitting image of his
00:30:31
father, but with his own style and his
00:30:33
own flare. And everyone just you could
00:30:36
just see the excitement
00:30:39
>> in that room and those memories building
00:30:42
>> to a point where you know it just these
00:30:45
are things that people are going to
00:30:46
share for generations and generations.
00:30:49
Incredible.
00:30:50
>> It's like breathtaking. You are a very
00:30:52
good storyteller. But you know what? Our
00:30:55
time is up. Thank you so much for
00:30:57
joining us. Where can our listeners go
00:30:59
to keep up with all of this and learn
00:31:01
all about this? You can go to
00:31:03
yahooink.com, our website. And of
00:31:05
course, you go to yahoo.com, visit our
00:31:08
incredible pro products and all of the
00:31:10
work that we're doing across Yahoo to
00:31:13
really connect you to the things that
00:31:15
you love and to one another.
00:31:17
>> That sounds great. Thank you so much for
00:31:19
joining us today. Um, and I'd like to
00:31:22
thank our producers, Dion Simkins and
00:31:24
Marissa Rena. Thank you all for
00:31:25
listening. We'll be back next week. Till
00:31:27
then, this has been Marketing Matters on
00:31:29
the Wharton Podcast Network. I'm Barb
00:31:31
Khan here without America's rea but
00:31:35
he'll be back next week. Thank you.
00:31:38
[Music]

Episode Highlights

  • Yahoo's 30th Anniversary
    Shannon shares that Yahoo is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, highlighting its continued relevance in the digital space.
    “Yahoo is still a top five internet property.”
    @ 01m 57s
    September 18, 2025
  • The Power of Storytelling
    Shannon emphasizes the importance of storytelling in marketing, stating it can shape memories and influence future decisions.
    “We’re really in that business of creating memories that not only move people but move markets.”
    @ 12m 24s
    September 18, 2025
  • Innovative Marketing at Events
    Shannon recounts a successful event at South by Southwest, showcasing Yahoo's creative marketing strategies.
    “Yahoo is a move. I’ll take it.”
    @ 17m 21s
    September 18, 2025
  • Creating Memorable Experiences
    In a digital age, physical activations create lasting memories and connections.
    “People are craving these in-person moments.”
    @ 24m 39s
    September 18, 2025
  • The Power of 'Yes'
    Embracing opportunities and saying yes can lead to unexpected successes in marketing.
    “Say yes to trying something you’ve never done before.”
    @ 27m 09s
    September 18, 2025
  • A Tribute to Legends
    The Wuang Clan's performance culminated in a heartfelt tribute to hip-hop legends.
    “These are things that people are going to share for generations.”
    @ 30m 46s
    September 18, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • Yahoo is still a top five internet property.
    Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience
  • Yahoo has a general sentiment around it that’s joy and celebratory.
    Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience
  • People are craving these in-person moments.
    Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience
  • Say yes to trying something you’ve never done before.
    Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience
  • These are things that people are going to share for generations.
    Yahoo Turns 30 Years Old: Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling and Experience

Key Moments

  • Guest Introduction00:38
  • Yahoo's Brand Awareness01:14
  • 30th Anniversary01:50
  • Storytelling Impact07:59
  • South by Southwest15:31
  • Event Success17:21
  • In-Person Moments24:39
  • Saying Yes27:09

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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