#AskGaryVee Episode 25: How to Stop Your Industry from Getting Stale

“when hiring creatives?” – Kartik, great question. Creatives are really interesting
hire here at VaynerMedia because in the agency
world, the creative process is very romantic, by my point of view. Meaning that, a lot of people
care about winning awards, a lot of people want to
make movies and TV shows, and for whatever reason they are now in the advertising
industry, and they’re caring more about the craft than they are about the agenda, which is to sell coffee, to sell whatever this thing is. To sell phones. And so to me, what I’m
looking for in creatives are people that are very
creative, and still want to make the greatest creative
that they’re capable of but also something that’s
grounded in the fact that we’re here to sell stuff. And if we don’t ultimately move product or inspire people to donate, or make them aware about a cause,
we are not going to be fulfilling the duty at hand. And so I’m looking for
a level of practicality and a little hint of
2015 data understanding from my creatives, which
I think is a little bit of a different spin.

– [Voiceover] Megan asks, “You’re like, “a billionaire, right? “What do you splurge on?” – Megan, I’m not even sure if I’m a 100-millionaire. Maybe with my assets, you know, VaynerMedia and Wine
Library are doing well, but I splurge on experiences. For example, LeBron’s first
game back in Cleveland against my Knicks, as you notice today I’m wearing orange because I’m starting to get ready for the basketball season. You can imagine why. So, experiences. You know, vacations with my family, and definitely things
like LeBron’s first game back in Cleveland, and
they play the Knicks. AJ’s a huge Knicks fan,
more so than even I am. Let’s go with him to that. Something me and my bro can remember when we’re much older. It’s cool to like, sit
around if you’re an old man and be like, “Remember when we went to “Kareem’s first game back in Milwaukee? “With the Lakers?” That’s like a fun story. Those are the kind of
things, I want to spend money on experiences. Paying for my friends to go
on trips when I was younger, when they couldn’t afford it. I splurge on spending time with people that I care about.

– Hey Gary. So pre-season hockey is on.
– Pre-season. – My team, the Washington Capitals. – Pre-season football still.
– Started a little rough, but we’re looking okay. Anyway, been following
them since I was a kid, kinda like you and the Jets.
– Those guys. – And so I started following
your Snapchat account about a month and a half ago, and I’ve been pretty disappointed with the content that they’ve been posting there. Just wondering, if you
owned a hockey team, what kind of things would
you do with Snapchat? – Ah, Kevin, good question, thank you. Like your background,
also one of my fondest sports moments was the
1986 Rangers defeating Langway and Carpenter and
Gardner and those boys from Washington, so thanks for that win. You’re probably too young
for that, but that was a big one for me. You know, I think Snapchat is, if I owned the Rangers
right now, what I would be doing with Snapchat
is, recognizing that it skews young, so I’d try to put out content that people 13 to 25 would give a crap about. So behind the scenes
videos, doing good stories, I would definitely draw
on top of pictures, I would take pictures of the players and draw funny faces on them. Do little contests, that were very inside to that community, meaning, knowing it skews young, take a
screenshot of this snap, bring it, and we’ll let
you skate on the ice. Things that really engaged the psychology of the demo on the platform. And basically I’d rinse and repeat that everywhere. 40-year-old woman on Pinterest, what’s her psychology on it, she wants a shop, that’s the kind of stuff I wanna give there. You know, 13 to 25 year old on Snapchat, what does he or she
want to see on Snapchat, silly fun stuff cuz that’s
what’s going on right now. Recognizing it’s not for my 40 year old season ticket holder. So I would play to that psychology. – [Voiceover] Muscle Company asks,

– [Voiceover] Muscle Company asks, “How do you generate novel ideas in an “overpopulated, seemingly stale industry? “The fitness industry, for example.” – The Muscle Company, I
kinda like saying that. The Muscle Company, I
always find the best way to attack an industry that you’re in and is stale, and you want to innovate, by spending zero time in it. One little fun fact that
most people don’t know is I spent an awful, excuse me, an extreme lack of time
within the wine industry and within the agency industry. I don’t think I’ve ever been, I’ve been to six other agencies in
my life cuz they were meetings there. I know nothing about it. I read nothing about other agencies at Ad Age, spend no time asking
my senior people about what they did at other agencies. When I was in the wine
business, everyone was like, “You should go check
out this store in Dallas, “they’re doing X,” I’m
like, “I don’t give a crap.” For me, the way I’ve
always been innovative is lack of education, and I’m not joking. I tend to stay within myself
and what comes natural and two, I look to other industries. So if I were you, I
would be paying attention to what’s happening in the food industry or in the rock-climbing industry or things completely left field
like hip-hop or sports or just stuff that has nothing to do with your industry, because the best way to stay within the zone and not innovate is pay attention to everybody else, because they’re doing the same crap too. – [Voiceover] Joe asks, “With
the NFL in London this week,

– [Voiceover] Joe asks, “With
the NFL in London this week, “what do you think about sports franchises “moving to different cities or countries?” – I think some sports
franchises should go to very far away places, like
as far from here as possible. This was episode 25 of
the #AskGaryVee Show.