Ian Schafer

“Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don't catch up, we’re in trouble.”

This week's quote is by the co-founder/ CEO of Kindred and founder/ former CEO of Deep Focus - Ian Schafer

Ian is passionate about the intersection of media, content & technology, and he lives for working with great people. He is known to be one of the most influential voices in media and marketing today. 

He was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement in 2015, the winner of its esteemed Jack Avrett Volunteer Spirit Award, and named one of “100 People Who Make Advertising Great” by the 4A’s in 2017.

Ian's main goal of co-founding Kindred in 2018 was to accelerate social movements through the power of popular culture. Kindred brings together a community of over 2000 business, nonprofit, and cultural leaders to help each other do business with purpose. 

Working in media and marketing, Ian understands and sees first-hand that consumers are transforming faster than we are. To keep up with the target audience, businesses need to instill innovation into their everyday processes and operations. 

From the way consumers search for things on the internet, to the way they consume content on social media - there is a huge shift in all areas of digital interaction. For example, in an age of micro-content, in which content is delivered in smaller and smaller bits, the most successful stories are designed in a way where they are less for digestion and more for quick and easy sharing. Advertisers need to understand that consumers' attention span is decreasing each day. If your story is not catchy or interesting enough within the first 5 seconds, no one will care to read/ listen ahead.

So, what do we do?

By leveraging data and analytics, marketers are changing the way they communicate rapidly. Trying to keep up with the trends and communicating them in the best way they can. But is that enough? 

Innovation needs to be embedded in your company's culture i.e. everything from the way you do things to the technology you use for those processes needs to align with the ever-changing trends. From all your digital interaction to the technology that is used for it, i.e. websites, apps, digital experience platforms - all of them need to be optimised for customers' current needs. 

It's difficult to keep up. We understand that. And that is why we do it for you. Let us do the difficult bit so that you get to focus on what's important - growing your business more and more each day. Think of us as your digital support partners.

Today's Quote 

Who is Ian Schafer?

Ian is one of advertising’s most influential voices in interactive marketing and social media. 

Prior to founding Deep Focus in 2002, Ian was the Vice President of the New Media division of Miramax Films.

He is named a ‘Media Maven’ by Advertising Age and one of Adweek’s “Young Ones." He has been featured in Wired, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Ad Week, Advertising Age, USA Today, New York Magazine, Variety, CNN, Fortune, and The Hollywood Reporter.

He also sits on the executive board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium, and the Global Advisory Board of Global Social Media Week.

Ian says that he is "driven to build great companies and make the world a better place..."

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