Reframing the Conversation Around Content

Thank you. Lovely to see you all today. Today, so we're talking about the CWORD content, which we all overuse, but often don't think about necessarily what we mean when we say that. And for Stephen and I, as publishers and perhaps not straight marketing people, it's come to represent a very different word for us. So, we're going to talk about a project that we did together that kind of reframed the word content and kind of approached it from an audience-first kind of model. So to start off with, it's probably worth talking about content in general and how it's used and perhaps asking a few home truths about it. We're living in an era not just of fake news, but I think fake views as well. Often we judge our content just by the views it's had, but don't really question what that means. Or the emotional impact that it has on an audience itself as opposed to where it fits in the machine. You know, the reality is, not only do we pay to create content, but we actually pay people to view that as well. And when they view it, they're actually annoyed by it. They skip it after five seconds. Is that kind of the content that we really want to be putting all of our energy behind? I'm not entirely sure. Yeah, like everything that we do, we're not really paying attention to. We've created our own metrics, our own benchmarks. And yeah, we're not actually measuring whether or not our content really resonates or has a lasting effect to our audience or to the people that we're trying to reach. And nothing we create can be a failure. As publishers, failure is kind of like something that we do a lot. We're not really concerned about the consistency of content that we create. But it also creates one of the biggest opportunities for us to kind of learn, derive insights, optimize. And it's probably one of our best tools. It's our greatest asset. But what's weird is, in an era of ad block, our permission to fail, especially in the brander space, is becoming even less. The metrics are going down. Completion rates are going up because the size of videos are going down and the timings of them are going down. So in reality, how can we learn anything about the content we make if we're not allowed to fail and the F word isn't really something that we embrace more regularly? Shouldn't we balance subjective individual opinions with the desires of our audience of millions? Throughout my career, I've always worked for brands that kind of drive the cultural narrative through leveraging individuals, editors, writers, music curators. Brands like Boilers.com. I mean, I think we all have this power to influence culture. But for it to be really successful, you have to marry that with insights and the ability to shape that content to make it relatable to people even outside of your ecosystem. And I think making it relatable to the masses is what makes content stick. So I think for us, we just wanted to change the way that... Perhaps we talked about content, but also the model around it. Maybe we should balance our own subjective opinions with that of our audience. And if we put what audiences want to watch first, something interesting could come about. And that's how kind of Steven and I always based our conversations since we've known each other. You know, how about creating stuff that people actually want to watch? I mean, at the end of the day, Defiant Ones is a strange mixture of the Dr. Dre documentary on Netflix. Which kind of has a whole episode that talks about his own brand. It feels totally genuine and it was marketed as editorial. And it's something that people wanted to watch. Why not create that rather than create the commercial break? Why not create that instead of the content that people want to skip? That's an annoyance that at the end of the day is a thumb flick away from being ignored forever. In this era, it doesn't really matter where it comes from. As brands, you guys have a problem. You have the funding. You have the right to be able to tell stories, to drive social movements, to create culture in a way that resonates beyond 5, 10, 15, 30 seconds. Good is good. And bad is bad. Bad is really bad, guys. And audiences know that. So I kind of said this at the start, but we should have given you a full disclaimer. We're not ad people. Maybe that makes us a little bit naive in some respects. But it also means that we've had careers built on audiences' reactions to things, perhaps not necessarily clients. I began my career at UK broadcaster Channel 4. I programmed kind of late night TV and also launched the strand called Random Acts. Again, I was at the kind of mercy of the rating schedule. And then as kind of time moved on, I started the video division of Dazed and Confused and also with Nowness. Again, kind of reacting to metrics and bringing kind of uber-curations. Alongside kind of audience metrics to kind of program a broad range of stuff across arts and culture. I met Steven at Vice when I moved and kind of ran ID's video channel. We grew it to become the biggest youth fashion publisher on YouTube. Again, by listening to our audience and really challenging what content meant for that channel and for that brand. Before moving to Amsterdam where I've just started. I started my career on television as well at MTV. At the time I was in advertising. Kind of merging advertising and content and reframing in a way that made it relevant to youth audiences. Then I moved on to Vice and ID where I met Ravi. Where I doubled their audience through kind of using insight, absolutely. But also discovering that actually all these like stereotypes you hear about. What young people will and won't read. What they care about, etc, etc. Pretty much not true. And leveraging their passions around activism, social change. To really derive engagement and create narratives that stretch kind of like beyond what you would expect from an ID or a Vice. Then most recently I spent my time at Ladbible. From a clickbait social publisher lined a little bit with sexism. To a platform that has recently created some of the most impactful social change campaigns in the world. With UOK Mate, they changed the narrative around mental health. And at the same time shifting perception of what a brand like Ladbible could do. And most recently with the Trash Isles. Which this year picked up eight Cannes Lions. Creating a real movement around plastics in the UOK. And leveraging talent like Al Gore and Judi Dench to make plastic in the ocean. In front of minds, in front of young people all over the world. And now I'm at Boiler Room. And at Boiler Room we're a live music broadcaster. Entrenched in underground music culture. But music is the foundation for activism, for culture, for fashion, for the arts. And we're really excited to kind of leverage our impact. In terms of communicating people in real life. We throw 400 events every year. Through broadcast. But also through storytelling. And redefining what content means. Because content doesn't necessarily mean one thing. It should be consumed wherever people are. And creating a platform that can really help facilitate and drive that. So we're just two ethnic minorities driven to change the narrative. This is us last week. So I guess for us, like, let's be honest. Like most times, like 9 out of 10 times we're the only people of color in a room. You look around all these people driving all these big media narratives. And a lot of the times they're not really reflecting our experience. And even when they are trying to, sometimes it's not necessarily authentic. So we're using our influence to see how we can, I guess, champion culture in a way. And content. In a way that is different to all the alternatives. Totally. I think at the end of the day, the content that we are making isn't just driven by the brands or the platforms we work for. It's driven by a personal desire to actually change, you know, the way the media landscape is full stop. So for me at Boiler Room, that presents a really interesting opportunity. We have access to this super engaged audience. Entrenched in underground culture. Actually, these are probably the most influential. Influential people all over the world creating music and culture. But there is a massive opportunity to kind of use that to kind of leverage it. To work with brands. But also to create our own social movements and narratives. So for me, I've kind of got like three main goals as Chief Content Officer. One is to redefine content and the way people consume it. Meaning that content doesn't have to be just a film, just a TV show. It could be something you look at on Instagram stories. And it feels genuine and authentic and interesting and not an ad. Or it could be a real life installation at an institution like Somerset House. So basically shifting what content could mean. Also beyond that, I'm looking to kind of like really drive our strong brand equity. To create narratives that counteract the things that are happening in media today. And we'll talk about that in relation to our campaign. And then also as well, like really leveraging our engaged ecosystem to create IP, franchises and content. That then can live elsewhere. So stuff that can then sit on a streaming platform, in a cinema, in a real life situation. And I guess taking, instead of media brands being tied to a platform. What if brands were just brands that reflected a culture and identity of a collective of young people. So while Steven's taking over the world in London. I moved to Amsterdam to work with We Are Pi, an agency here. To start up an entertainment division called Pi Studios. Again driven just like Steven was to kind of reframe the narrative around content. But with brands this time. And taking all of our editorial know-how and audience first approach. And work authentically with brands to identify the messages that they could really tell in a unique way. And so far it's been really successful. We've worked with We Transfer. Who we work with artists like Bjork and ASAP Rocky. To kind of create really authentic original entertainment right through the likes of Nikon. And it's been a really interesting journey. Because you know you have to be trilingual. You have to speak the language of editorial. The language of brands in terms of strategy. But then also the language of insight in terms of the taste makers too. It's been an interesting journey. And whilst we've been in London and Amsterdam. We hadn't stopped talking at all. In fact we kept on you know butting heads. And also kind of sharing the same old stories. In terms of you know this audience first model. Isn't happening often enough when it came to brands. So we said hell let's just try and show people how that could work. And we began to dream up. Well what would a kind of content campaign look like if we put our two kind of companies together. So we started off talking about immigration. Immigration is kind of hot topic all over the world at the moment. Instigated by things that are happening in politics in countries. In well western countries all over the world. But I think the interesting thing around that is. The media coverage around it is so sensationalist. And it just did not feel reflective of the experiences that I have in London. The experiences that I had growing up. And actually just the impact and the power that make multicultural societies really interesting and great. And through this kind of idea we thought wouldn't it be interesting to use music. Something that our audience is really passionate about. Really interested in. Really diverse audience. And actually use that as the foundation of all these other narratives. To basically champion the idea that like migration has been. Has been driving music and culture. In the UK especially. For the last 30 years. So whilst we're having this conversation earlier this year. The Windrush scandal really went out of control in the UK. For those of you who don't know. The Windrush generation were the first Caribbean immigrants to come to post war Britain. On the SS Windrush in the 50s. And have been a kind of stalwart of British society over the last four generations. Yet their position in British society was being challenged. And in fact some were being deported. Based on kind of dodgy paperwork. In an era where certain documentation wasn't there. Which is impacting a young generation in real time. So we felt with all of that stuff happening in the conversation we were doing. Why not create the ultimate show that tackled this topic head on. But not from the mass media narrative. But from the people directly affected with it. And we came up with an idea called Migrant Sound. A four part series that charted. The four generation journey of Windrush migrants. As they changed the face of British music and pop culture internationally. Here's a quick clip from it. Everybody hates your ass. You know that's a punk rock moment. The British was ruling Jamaica. We were under colonization. They had the World War II. They had a lot of rebuilding to do. So they invited West Indians from all the islands to come here and work. When they arrived here they saw signs on doors that said no black, no dogs, no Irish. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. We are the one who will win this race. We're gonna go, we're gonna go, we're gonna go, we're gonna go. They're soldiered through that. Put their heads down. We worked hard. We haven't just come here to do nothing. We've come here to build a better life. Fast forward to 2018. When the scandal broke. This is a day of national shame. And it has come about because of a hostile environment policy that was begun under her prime minister. If you lay down with dogs you get fleas. I remember my mum calling my nanny to make sure that she had her papers in order. Like a lot of people were scared. But it's ongoing. People are still being affected by this. Being here under separation, racial discrimination, we are to unite to be strong. The music is one of the most important things that could ever happen to this country. As far as community. As far as community relationships are concerned. So beyond kind of a four part documentary series which we activated as platform agnostic. Meaning that it lived on our YouTube. We did Instagram, IGTV, Facebook across the platform. We wanted to create something that would last a lot longer. To create kind of like a movement. And to really use our platform and our audience. To subvert this media narrative that has been going on in the UK for decades. We created a campaign called System. And this is a little snapshot of what we did. So we did a multi-platform campaign with an installation at Somerset House that lasted a month. Which was meant to kind of represent like the anti-blackness in media. We created a series of events. Each week championing a different type of migrant sound. And inviting our whole audience to experience it in real life. We created an editorial series that put a counter narrative around the Windrush conversation. Having people directly affected writing those stories. And giving them a platform to be able to kind of like really tell their stories. And we did this documentary series. You know, something that we wanted to be bold and honest. And we wanted to basically leverage it to really have conversation with our audience. To drive a narrative. To have people kind of discuss the things that we, I knew from like being in the office. And what people were really interested in and passionate about. But we also wanted to do a difference to say a traditional broadcast. Or a traditional linear media channel. We wanted to do it in a way that was genuinely reflective of the youth. We know young people in today's climate are very jaded. So we wanted a story that had optimism. That felt youthful and bold. And was interesting so that we could tell the story in a way that didn't feel preachy. But also we kind of wanted people to be inspired as well. Now you answer the question and I'll answer now. Tell me about when you first came to England. What brought communities together? What brought communities together was the racism. Because we had to unite to be strong. Because those days a black man couldn't go out on his own. Because you'll find a gang of teddy boys will trail him. We didn't expect nothing like that. We didn't expect nothing like that. Because remember you know when we were in Jamaica we never see no poor white man. But when we came to England now we realized that there was poor white man poorer than even we. We used to go in the betting shop like we said. Wal John a peaceful guy. He was a mechanic. A law abiding citizen. All he did was love off this white girl in the betting shop called Daisy. We warned him and tell him say. Wal John you see that white girl there. Our people them is racist. Them live our peace. We can show. Now here what now. He moved in this thing. So them have a pub up there. Him go there one night now. And the white boy them wait till pub are closed. And then when the pub closed now. Whole of them dust him up. Rock him up. Mash him up. But them never know who Wal John was. You see where Wal John go. For two weeks Wal John planning on it. Revenge. Like you that's a vengeance his mind say to the Lord. And Wal John get a machete. And him sharpen both end. And Wal John plan. And Wal John went back up there. With the machete in that long coat. And when the pub closed. Wal John just went wild. He damaged a whole heap of them. He was put away for 25 years. But I'm trying to show you say. Oh racism can create hatred. That's why I preach for peace and love between our nations. Whether you're white like a rascal or blue. Yeah. But if you live good. So now we two music are unite this country and all. In our sense where everybody. Two reggae music are coming together worldwide. The music and culture and our history is so strong. That is the power of Jamaica music. So when talking to a young audience. You have to make the past feel current. But we also wanted to carry the story all the way through. Right through to now. And let young people know that the. The music they were creating. And the music they listen to. Had this deep heritage that was rooted in such a. A newsworthy topic. So we really wanted to point to the legacy. Of the Windrush generation. And showcase that in a really interesting way. And we went all across the UK to find amazing artists who. Whether they knew it or not. And they were inspired by the contribution of this amazing generation. We'll show a quick clip of that too. Todos los Island still like to see that Girloud. to have learned it. Dance trill on a dance that doesn't hit. It's really really good. But then I heard the whole helpfulness of the song. So let's hear what some but 돼요 Jordan. And I'd like to hear Chik. We said So when Stephen and I were talking, to tell those kind of gnarly stories that go to places that a lot of people are afraid of, we had to have a diverse crew, a diverse director, and then we also had to have the cast that reflected that. And I think you can watch the series on YouTube and on Boiler Room at the moment. And there's a real gentleness and authenticity to those stories because they allow the people directly affected by this crisis to tell the story in their own words in the most creative way possible. And I think as a result, it really resonated with an audience and it transformed that C content world to mean something much more cultural. So for us, the system was a massive success. We used it as an opportunity to champion voices within our audience, but also to kind of like drive what the Boiler Room brand should mean to our audience as well. We built it around kind of like editorial craft, storytelling, events, music, and kind of like took a marketing approach to the content. We created content for different platforms and we wanted to make sure that however we distributed it, that we would try and do things in kind of like an original way. Right. Right. And so we thought we would do an installation at Somerset House and kind of like have this narrative in kind of a place that you wouldn't really expect it, really kind of speaks to like how we wanted to basically subvert all kind of institutions. And, you know, and we did everything from even putting our content to like chicken shops in Brixton. So it was kind of like taking the opportunity and finding ways to kind of like tell the story then take it to the community. And through that, a new kind of content, something that encompasses long form storytelling, social media, events, installation, art, music, something that we really want to continue doing. And it's something that brands can really kind of like help us amplify. Totally. And I think that's what we realized. I mean, the C word means something different to everyone. But for us and from a deeply emotional place, it's about those deep stories that are told in innovative ways that have a lasting impact on people. that have a lasting impact on the audiences that watch them and can actually change people's lives, not interrupt their day or their feed in a way that they don't want to. So Stephen and I, thanks for listening. Stephen and I are around to chat afterwards. I'd love to hear your opinions too. Thanks for your time. Thank you.