Gary Vaynerchuk of Vayner Media has some thoughts on this year’s Super Bowl. As a Jets fan, he’s unhappy to see the other New York team make it to the big game, which he will not be watching. However, he expects big things from the commercials, and better bridges to online where the story can continue.
I’m not ready to say that “content” is what commercials are made of, but I do see Vaynerchuk’s point, and for Super Bowl spots especially, they do tend to focus more on entertaining people than on selling a product.
Now, let’s move off the Super Bowl for a few minutes and address this darker, more brooding video offering from they guy who reinvented wine criticism with WineLibraryTV.
There’s a passage in the video above that I’d like to draw your attention to. It begins at 3:38 in and ends at 4:13. Here’s the transcription of that segment:
“Do you know how obnoxiously thick my skin is when it comes to business? I don’t give a fuck what anybody says about me or thinks of me, or thinks about what I’m doing when it comes to business, because I trust my intuition one gadrillion percent. I know that I’m built to win when it comes to business. I always win. I’m gonna win. And people that don’t understand my style, or don’t think that I’m not doing the right thing, or think that Vayner Media is a dumb idea because it’s client services, they just don’t know me. They don’t understand what I’m going to do.”
Vaynerchuk, who is 36, goes on to explain how early it is the game for him. That he’s just a kid. He also says later on in the video how he wants to make a billion dollars so he can buy the Jets. All of which makes me think what a different time this is in media and marketing services, and in the culture at large. You might view his London-to-New York video above and find nothing to admire or concern yourself with, but the reality is Vaynerchuk and his younger brother, AJ, have a thriving marketing services business going in Vayner Media. In other words, you’re competing with this kind of showmanship and ability to build a community around the offering.
Speaking of community, if you examine the comments on Vaynerchuk’s videos, it’s one person after the next singing his praises. Maybe his audience is not used to someone being so open and willfully vulnerable. No doubt, it is genuinely inspiring for many. Yet, it’s not prudent to go by comments alone to determine how a person, product or service is being received in the marketplace, because people with dissenting views often keep them those views to themselves, especially when there are hundreds of supporters flocked around a particular thread.
What dissenting views might I, or you, offer? I’m tempted to say, “Hey, put the video cam bag in your bag and take a freaking nap next time. There is such a thing as overexposure and saying too much.” But that’s not really what I’m thinking. I’m thinking there’s something for me (and you) to learn here. Sure, one could be put off by his F-bombs, or his over-the-top confidence when it comes to business. He’s “built to win,” by his own admission. The thing is, clients clearly want some of that Vaynerchukian confidence for their own initiatives.
Vaynerchuk’s packaging isn’t slick, but that’s his point. What’s in the package is right and good, and that’s what matters.
