S03 E05: Establishing Your Fundamental Beliefs as a Brand with Ryan Mack of Made In Network

Waves Social Podcast

Your brand is a whole lot more than the products or services you sell. Your brand is what you stand for, and establishing your core beliefs can help you stand apart from the rest, attract like-minded clients, and better serve your community. Today’s guest is Ryan Mack, Chief Commercial Officer at Made In Network. As CCO, his job is a mix of marketing, entertainment, business development, and corporate strategy. Prior to this role, Ryan was the President of Virtue, which is the creative agency of Vice, where he led efforts globally with a specific focus on the Americas. This sums up what he has been doing most recently, but Ryan has a wealth of experience and a diverse body of work, which you’ll hear more about in this episode; where it all started, what drew him to content marketing, and what his philosophy looks like today. One of the things that stands out about this interview is Ryan’s perspective that the death of social media is bureaucracy. Once there are too many decision-makers on something as simple a tweet, he believes that it stifles creativity and outcomes. Tuning in, you’ll hear about his experience with this and how he sought to make social media intentional again by moving to a smaller agency. He speaks about the importance of establishing your core beliefs as a brand and how it can help you become more agile, but don’t overthink it! The best brands don’t. Ryan offers advice for those just starting out in content creation, emphasizes the power of collaboration, and shares his predictions for the future of digital content. Tune in today to find out more.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Find out how Ryan first got started in marketing, sparked by his fascination with the internet.
• How risk and constant experimentation have served him in his career.
• Ryan explains how he takes risks based on what is demonstrating traction in the market.
• What got him interested in creating content: the question, ‘What are we going to say?’
• Establish your core values as a brand, but don't create bureaucracy around daily mechanics!
• The opportunities Ryan saw in the rise of social media and how he positioned himself to capitalize on them.
• Balancing quantifiable results and creative content that aligns with the brand.
• Ryan talks about some of the most exciting projects he worked on during his time at Carrot.
• Hear about Ryan’s transition from Carrot to Virtue at Vice; competing as a creative agency.
• From Virtue to Made In Network; he talks about his passion for making “small things medium.”
• The momentum and traction in episodic, intentional scheduled programming from an entity.
• Ryan explains why a creator would want to compete with traditional media outlets.
• What brands can learn about building brand equity from this perspective of creating a media house around original content.
• Learn more about what Ryan calls the “mad science of content algorithms.”
• The power of collaboration; how to leverage connections between channels.
• Ryan’s predictions for the future, including live programming becoming more polished.
• How 2020 has impacted Ryan personally by changing the rhythm of his daily life.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Waves with Mike (@mmmiiike) and Mitzi (@mmmitzi).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
S6 - present Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Harrison Neef.