MIMA Summit 2010

thanks P thank you so much and the hashtag is got it morning um couple things I should say before I talk um this is a fairly nices siiz crowd so the more people that are in the room the more I tend to curse so I just want to apologize ahead time I'm not a bad dude it's just when I get on stage and see a lot of people Richard prior takes over my body so I apologize um how many people in this room have no idea who I am or any of my Spiel please raise your hand right now that feels good thank you I figured that would be the case so I'll take it back a little bit and then I'll get into what I want to talk about um as my ego tries to recover uh I was born in bellarus in the former Soviet Union and my family came to the US in 1978 when I was 3 years old and um and we were dead broke really poor uh we lived in a studio apartment with eight family members slightly bigger than this stage so it pretty much sucked um it was hard and one of the side jobs that my dad got was to be a stock boy in a liquor store in New Jersey so he commuted from Queens New York to New Jersey every day and I still kind of bust his chops because I think he spent more on gas than he was getting paid back then because minimum wage was like a buck 35 and you know it was Hardcore and it was the whole immigrant thing and finally we moved to New Jersey because my dad became the manager of the store and you know that was kind of our Lives you know my dad worked every hour you know I basically didn't know my dad until I was 14 years old um meaning while in Edison New Jersey which is where I lived I became massively entrepreneurial when I was six I had a seven uh location Lemonade Stand Empire um I forced all my friends to work the lemonade stands while I made signs and put them on trees I always say we're in the eyeballs and ears business and I was in that business very early on I used to literally stand on the sidewalk and try to watch people drive by and try to figure out where to put signs on what trees based on where I thought they were looking so that was awesome you know do you guys remember big wheels remember the big wheels things so I used to ride my big wheels around town and pick up my cash like I was a mob boss or something so that was an awesome business I was pumped then I segwayed into one of the great businesses of my career I used to rip the flowers out of people's yards and then ring their doorbell and sell it back to them huge business you know sat on inventory for a very short per period of time high profit tremendous highly recommend looking into it um so that was great and then when I turned 12 I started a baseball card business and that's where kind of a lot of my core principles come from I did extremely well I uh I started selling at in the malls of New Jersey and this was when baseball cards were blowing up and so I was making you know $1,000 $2,000 a weekend selling baseball cards and when you have like $10,000 in cash under your bed at 133 and you're not selling weed you're doing well so that was awesome and then my dad kind of ruined my life I turned 14 and by being the oldest firstborn son in an immigrant family my dad dragged me into the store at this point he bought in the store a small store in Springfield New Jersey Shoppers Discount Liquors and I went from making $2,000 a weekend in the malls of New Jersey hanging out with my friends looking cool to the ladies with all my cash to being paid two bucks an hour to bag ice in my dad's liquor store for 10 hours a day so I went from two G's to 20 bones that sucked and more importantly I wasn't allowed to leave the basement and that was literally like I was truly like Sloth from Goonies you know I was like hey you guys get me out of here so terrible hated it used to cry going to work for the first year and a half finally when I was like 16 my dad let me leave the basement so I went upstairs to dust bottles and then really the crossroads of my career came on one specific Saturday even though we were Shoppers Discount Liquors and that was purely a liquor and beer store the store was in Springfield New Jersey which actually happens to be the home of the will family that owns the Vikings so a little connection there um Springfield New Jersey so it was an affluent area around us so there was wine demand but we were pretty much a liquor store and on this one given day literally like 30 people came in asking for the same thing which was cus 1990 special select Cabernet saon which was just named the wine spectator wine of the year and after about the 25th person that came in and do you have Camus 90 no we're sold out and left I'm like this is [ __ ] I'm like I said to myself I'm going to just create back orders I have no idea if we have back orders or if my dad can get it but I'm not letting all these people just leave so finally the next person comes in you have C cab I'm like no but I'll take a back order she's like great so I'm like what's your name tells my name and phone number address I'm like how much would you want of that couple bottles he goes no I'll take six cases I was like [ __ ] this guy's an alcoholic I was like six cases [ __ ] and he was like I was like that's a lot of wine you have a party because I was curious if he was an alcoholic and he goes no no I collect wine and that was it I was like oh I was like you know Frank Thomas Kirby Pucket Ken griffy Jr cus Opus One Silver Oak same [ __ ] I can do this so I literally took all my energy of collecting athlete you know memorabilia sports cards and all that and focused and decided right then on the floor that I would become the single greatest wine expert of all time I decided I wanted to build the biggest wine store of all time and it's all I really gave a [ __ ] about I failed all my classes completely read the wine spectator in class was all in and just you know really the amount of wine knowledge I gained from 16 to 18 and the amount of reading about wine that I did should really be illegal it was ridiculous it was really uncomfortable but it was you know ironic even though my parents are Eastern European and were immigrants and even though we were in a liquor business they had no interest in letting me taste the product so all I had was kind of the reading I was focused I was into it then I kind of saw the web you know kind of popping up in 1994 4 five it hit my radar and in 1997 because I desperately wanted to change the name of my family's liquor store business we were Shoppers Discount Liquors um I registered wine library. com and launched wine library. com in 1997 I knew this was the way I was going to trick my dad into changing the name of the store because I saw where things were going and in 1998 I took over the family business and from 1998 to 2005 I grew the revenue of wine library from a three to a $60 million a year business so that was good cuz AJ my 11 year younger brother had a new Lexus in a basketball court even though I had a buy my own [ __ ] Genesis no issues no big deal and so life was good and everything was great and so you know my friends thought I made it and it was all awesome and so then I turned 30 in 2005 and I was driving from my Manhattan apartment to the store which is in New Jersey and somewhere around the New Jersey Turnpike I realized that I wasn't 100% happy anymore and the reason was because I didn't think that if I stayed the course of wine library and wine library. com that I'd be able to buy the New York Jets and so for me what I want to do is buy the New York Jets and the liquor laws in America suck [ __ ] right so we can't thank you give me something clap again I'm hugging your ass after this you're right they blow and here's why I can't ship wine to mass Maryland I can't ship wine we just lost we just got a letter at Wine Library a few weeks ago that we could no longer ship to Texas and so literally in 4 seconds we lost $4. 7 million in Revenue just that was it and so I knew you know I was naive in my 20s like this is going to change nobody's going to let the wholesalers continue to pay off the politicians and create this law that kills the consumer the internet's coming transparency all that fact of the matter is the retailers are just not aligned most are really small for example there's some great stores you know has schols you guys have some great stores but the problem is a lot of mom and pop players everybody has Regional players and to get you know 800 Regional players together to understand the better good for all of them is virtually impossible and so I was like this is not going to happen I'm unhappy I'm out so I came to the store you know it was the holidays and what I remember thinking then was I went into my it Department cuz we were doing a lot of internet business there was three full-time developers and at lunch that day once again they were watching Z Frank the show how many people in this room know who Z Frank is raise your hand this is an awesome crowd good job so Z was like one of the first video bloggers and they're like you know they're just laughing at lunch and he's the greatest I'm extremely to the most unhealthy level competitive so I walk in and they're watching and they're like Z is so funny I'm like I can do that [ __ ] they're like no way Z is the [ __ ] so I'm like you know what [ __ ] Z I'm going to start my own video blog and I'm going to do it about the thing I know which is wine so in February of 206 I started Wine Library TV because in my opinion it was the one thing I could build that nobody could take away from me no wholesalers nobody I could build my personal brand and so from 2006 to now just taped an episode yesterday I continue to do a daily wine video blog called wine liary TV which in essence is the reason I'm standing here from 2006 to 200 Midway through 07 for 18 months Wine Library TV was no big deal just plugging along running the marathon um the 96 months in a row that I ran win library. com it grew at least 20% from the month over from the prior year so two March of 2000 was at least 20% higher or more sales than March of 99 so 96 straight months that's how you get from you know 3 to 60 quick the first month I did Wine Library TV March of 2006 we were flat So Not only was my business not growing but nobody was watching except my mom and slowly but surely I started building up some traction then New York Magazine in 2007 wrote a piece about it led to Time Magazine writing a piece and then I got an email from Conan O'Brien's producers that they wanted me on the show I went on Conan I made him eat dirt and his sock millions of people watched it on YouTube next morning every talent agency in the country wanted to sign me I signed with CA offered a lot of TV stuff blah blah so just as I'm about to kind of become America's wine guy you know Bravo offers me a show allows me to be a judge on Top Chef and then they'll kind of launch me from that which is pretty sick platform as you guys can imagine I recognized I didn't want to be America's wine guy though I love it and I'm thrilled and I'm all in I continue to do it I also wanted to talk about the thing that I love the most which was building businesses the marketing and most importantly storytelling when it comes to business you know I built I know how I built Wine Library in that 8-year period And I know how I built my own brand and the things around my brand in the last five years and there's a substantial difference and it's what I want to talk to you guys about we're really good as human beings in drawing lines in the sand I'm going to ask you guys to do something this morning please don't [ __ ] me it's you know got here late last night it's early I love you love me let's do this I need you to stand up but wait not yet how many people stand up if this is true and let's really think about this lying is the devil all right so I'm going to need you to stand I don't care how lazy I don't give a [ __ ] if you drank 40 shots at tequila last night you're standing ready if please stand and don't lie if you said the following to yourself ever in your life I'm not getting a Facebook account why in the world would I need a Facebook account please stand don't lie there's no reason to lie please stand I'm going to wait a second because I know there's a couple of you bullshitting don't sit down yet I'm waiting all right the following people here said that they would never get a Facebook account if you still don't have a Facebook account continue to stand if you do have a Facebook account please sit down hold on stay hold on stand if you do not have a Facebook account one two 2 3 4 5 6 7 let's clap it up for the seven I have no idea why the [ __ ] you seven people are here I'm just kidding I'm kidding I totally get it awesome all right now and this one's going to hurt but this is not a room of 18yar olds and I'm going to need you to go there you're not going to want to stand for this one but I need you to do this for me how many of you said this is about a decade old now maybe even older I'm not getting a [ __ ] cell phone why in the world would I want anybody to contact me anytime they want I don't want to be bothered that is insane I'll call them when I want to call them don't [ __ ] lie stand up come on play with me here tell the truth wait fight it there's a couple more in here I can feel in my heart please stand up Don't Lie okay just curious ious if you do not have a cell phone you can continue to stand but I need you to sit down if you do have a cell phone just curious is that a double zero is that Robert Parish here's what I know we as human beings love to draw lines in the sand we hear new [ __ ] and we say we're not going to do that why in the [ __ ] am I going to get a four square goala account and check in to where I go why would I do that well I don't know [ __ ] maybe when Jack Daniels gives you a free shot at the bar you're going to [ __ ] check in we are living through thee not one of thee the greatest culture shift ever right now the modern consumer internet that we are all using is 15 years old it's been 15 years or so that since AOL spammed our actual mailboxes with those CDs 15 the internet hasn't had sex yet and it's dominating actually I've used that line a little bit and lately I'm getting emails from people like you know the kids are getting a little early these days so scares me a little bit guys there is so much [ __ ] going on by the way real quick I'll jump in now before I really get into the flow my real agenda here today is because we all know this [ __ ] you don't need me lecturing you about all this horeshit I'd love to do a ton of Q& A so I don't know if we have runners in the back but in a little bit I'm going to cut this I'm going to tighten it up but I really want to do Q& A if there's you know because I know there's I've been watching tweets there's people here who have known my stuff so it's a great opportunity to maybe do some Q& A so keep in mind if you have any questions we are going through such a massive culture shift how many people here have nieces or nephews or children or really close acquaintances that have children or you know the nieces and nephews and children are between the ages of 13 and 15 years old raise your hand okay so you guys are going to know this and other of you have read it but you haven't lived it the average 14-year-old has spent last month sending 3,100 texts and making three phone calls that's a [ __ ] culture shift here's another thing that I love now you know one thing I didn't tell you was about a year ago my brother AJ and I started a Consulting social media strategy company called Vayner media so we have clients like PepsiCo you should definitely check out Bon and session he's next uh up he's great uh PepsiCo uh Campbell uh MC Capital Records New York Jets we blew up the NHL went from zero to a half a million fans without doing anything but giving a [ __ ] I'll get to that in a minute and what I know is this that we are going through a massive culture shift and I'm not one of these people who thinks old media is dead I don't believe that at all I'm thrilled about TV pumped for radio I could care less as a matter of fact I don't give a [ __ ] about Facebook for square Twitter Tumblr daily Booth don't give a rat's ass I could care less about the platform it's always the message I promise you if people still went outside and looked in the air to get their message I'd be the first one on top of this Hilton right now doing smoke signals i' be doing this first one people get way too caught up in the platform and the debate is you know 2007 when I was doing this every question Gary how do we convince people that Twitter is going to be legit I'm like we don't I'm like this is our time take advantage grow your business take advantage of your competitive knowledge because you're going to be the same guy who's going to be pissed when everybody's using Twitter you know it's always like that band thing right like you love your band when only you know it and then they blow up and they're you know on GMA and all this you're like oh [ __ ] sellouts same thing we saw with Twitter right everybody's like Gary how do we convince now they're like [ __ ] Twitter you know happens all the time here's what I know major culture shifts outdoor media I'm obsessed I run Billboards for Wine Library I did some Billboards for crushit I really am interested in outdoor I think there's some really fascinating like Grand branding that comes with outdoor Billboards but let's not get it twisted there is culture shifts not only are people not consuming as many outdoor Billboards they're not consuming the [ __ ] road I'm scared shitless to drive have you guys looked at your fellow drivers they're texting culture shift Oprah's right about that one we need to sign that pledge major major culture shifts and that's what I'm fascinated in the things that I've Angel invested in goala Tumblr Twitter those kind of things why were they exciting to me when I was investing because they were things that people said they weren't going to do that I knew they were and that's what we need to focus on that's where our opportunity is and more importantly than that we need to understand where social media is relevant today in 2010 going into 11 because the fact of the matter is the eyeballs outside of Facebook are still not all the way there Twitter's got a big following but the fact the matter is that there's only a couple platforms mainly Facebook and YouTube that can really drive the kind of relevance that a big company can really look for to me it's the emerging platform opportunities that are happening there's so much going on how many people in this room use Kora raise your hand raise them high two three should at four you should absolutely check out Kora it's a Q& A platform I think it has a lot of value and while it's small and high value and doesn't become Yahoo answers unless they have an way to make that happen and I'm sure that's going to be their battle it has enormous value there's things how many people in this room use daily Booth raise your hand two massive Community if you want to reach people very similar to what you know Twitter was doing early on and there's all these emerging things and really social media has become a two- trick pony right everybody's so obsess about what they're doing on Facebook and Twitter and there's so much other [ __ ] going on a lot of lines being drawn in the sand of what people are using or not meanwhile tons of community you know it's like fishing Facebook and Twitter are very much the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans tons of fish but a shitload of fishermen and there's a lot of pockets to sell your story tell your story engage on the web and I think a lot of people are missing it the other thing that I'm massively focused on right now

is the lay ing of social media on top of traditional media I think this is a huge category that needs to be focused on dramatically more one thing that I'm hoping I'm going to do it right now right here in Minnesota we will never allow this again I want you guys to there's enough of us here we can start this can we please collectively start calling out every company that does the following how many times are we going to have to see Billboards or print or TV commercials where at the end they put the [ __ ] Facebook and Twitter logo there can we stop this horeshit that's like putting a [ __ ] telephone picture there we don't know your [ __ ] handle dick please can we make that pledge can you guys start calling them out Ridiculousness and what we really need to call out and what I'm really focused on and the new book I'm writing that's coming out in March called the thank you economy is completely about is this I firmly believe in my heart completely that 99% of the businesses in America at least I can speak to that don't give a [ __ ] they just about their customer and that is not going to fly much longer and here's why because we're more connected than ever because word of mouth has been activated by these tools because things like Facebook have mapped your social graph and we have these connections by virtue by trickle down we now live in small town rules again We Are One massive small town again I know so much [ __ ] about tons of people in this room that I never could have 10 years ago and that is a very big culture shift guys customer service is going to be a massive Battleground because here's why a woman on the Upper East Side of New York the biggest yenta on the Upper East Side in New York city has an amazing experience at a restaurant and maybe she can tell 20 people 10 years ago right she picks up the phone calls four girlfriends has a tea that day she's a little bit of a socialite tells another seven 20 massive that's me 25 she could tell right now the weirdest introvert who lives in his mom's basement in Iowa can go to a store have an experience and let 6,000 people know that is a substantial culture ship plus the context is so [ __ ] important every day I hear from companies Gary this is why you know this is what I'm trying to tackle with the thank you economy so I'm cuddling up nicely to neelon because that's the stamp of approval everybody's looking for Gary

what's the ROI of social media what's the ROI right I see the head shaking what's the ROI well I don't know [ __ ] face what's the ROI of the relationship of you and your mother was an answer I recently gave to a CMO which did not go over well so keep that one in your pocket though the CEO did love it I knew it I could feel the tension anyway and I meant what I said guys let me ask you a question how many people here feel that the relationships they have on Facebook and Twitter with people that were strangers prior to them are not real relationships raise your hand you do a little bit so come on up here what's your name Magie Maggie how are you good so you feel that your relationships on Facebook and Twitter are not real some of them yeah some of them are not real how why ex give me that because they befriended me and I just befriended them back so they friended you and friended you back and then and obviously that's not real well I mean I don't talk to them much so to me I'm not investing yeah I'm so [ __ ] pumped thank you so she's right this is the funny thing thanks so much she said I don't know if you guys heard they friended me and I friended them back classic 2007 Twitter move by the way remember that you got to friend everybody back [ __ ] anyway she's right and this is what I'm really paying attention to this is what's really fascinating to me just because they're on Facebook or Twitter they are somewhat of a relationship conceivably if you ever interact with them you know I feel like the question that I should have asked is if you actually interact with them right any interaction you have online to me feels so ridiculously real now when I go do a book signing in a town where I've maybe you know Boston where went to school let's say friends that I've went to school with they come to signing the feeling I have towards them is definitely different than somebody you know that I've met on Twitter but I promise you the people that I've met on Twitter totally feel different to me than the stranger's face that's in line and there's these layers of relationships and I think we are living through a very stunning time the fact that we are allowing as human beings the humanization of business to happen right now is stunning it really is businesses have never had it better I'll tell you why I see the best bu logo they interact their ass off right they do their thing customers feel good about it somebody says something they engage with it they answer it and the customer feels good let me paint you a picture of why this is such a big culture shift let's turn back the clock Circa 1999 I'm in my house I'm watching the game I'm drinking a Bud Light I look at my friend you know what this Bud Light sucks I'm never ordering Bud Light again [ __ ] this two seconds later ding dong I open the door hey Gary it's Paul from Bud Light I'm really sorry that you hate Bud Light what can I do to fix it maybe you should try our new lime flavor it's delish I would punch that [ __ ] in the face I would also probably move within 30 days I'd be scared shitless that would scare me now you do that virtually online and Bud light's the greatest thing since sliced bread they gave a [ __ ] that is stunning that culture shift is massive and I feel terrible for every single marketer and business that didn't have the opportunity to engage with customers at this kind of level that paid for the [ __ ] you know kind of focus groups that meant nothing because they were like in the back of a mall controlled and completely fake there's such a real case study and engagement going on right now in the world and this opportunity is substantial I you know it's so funny I built Wine Library TV by going into forums and blogs and just becoming part of the community there was no Facebook and Twitter and when Twitter came it was you know everybody's so broken on how they look at Twitter everybody's like you know especially if you're out of the pocket they're like what am I going to say who cares if I'm eating a pizza you're right don't say [ __ ] I spent 99% of my engagements as atrees I live on search. twitter. com I built Wine Library TV on search in chardonay and when somebody said having a chardonay tonight I didn't say oh cool we have a sale on Chardon win library. com and I didn't say hey check out this show I did on chardonay I just said what kind and can I help you and how long should it breathe here's the problem marketers are stuck in the mentality that we've been in for a 100 years which is [ __ ] push radio TV print billboard all we ever did was push our message that's what it was that was the game push it stack it High Let It Fly pound it down their throat social is completely different it is an absolute human element and it's a much bigger pull mechanism the problem with everybody on these platforms whether it's Facebook Twitter or any other platform is they're trying to close business on the first move like they're a [ __ ] 19-year-old dude just a little patience goes a long way I promise and that is the culture that we're seeing it's so early it is my firm belief firm that most brands and businesses that are in Social right now are hurting their business by being there I think a lot of companies are doing massive damage because they don't have the proper sensibility and I don't want to pick on PR companies but PR companies have really hurt my feelings in general and I'm not picking on them it's they played a game that's their game but watching PR companies manage communities on Facebook has been in a disaster Zone because PR has always been in B2B you know they've always pitched and it's been shocking how much it's been pushed and no communication you have to in 2011 as a brand give a [ __ ] and your intentions are to build relationship and close later that is the Key blueprint that everybody's going to be going through you're going to have to no choice because that's the Battleground Jeff Bezos bought paid a billion two for which makes no sense when it comes to retail Amazon was cheaper Amazon's ridiculously bigger we all know Zappos because we live in this pocket get outside our pocket you'd be surprised how many people never heard of it and Amazon has Prime how many people here have Amazon Prime use it raise your hand a little bit less than I thought um that being said they were completely being outsold why because they were beating them in DNA they were out caring them to the consumer and that was shifting that is important data it's not just cool and let me tell you something I have no interest in being Zen and like oh let's all love each other and hug and [ __ ] rock climb and drink tea and eat flowers I don't give a [ __ ] about that this is real business and this is a real business shift and the reason a company sells for a billion dollars is real business because the new Battleground is going to be in the sense that we are now engaging with each other and companies have to be a part of that and have to have the sensibility everybody's in the tactic business right now every meeting you hear and things I hear what if we do a retweet contest and 100 people retweet us we'll do this everything is tactic if we get a th more followers we'll give $1,000 to Haiti give a [ __ ] thousand to Haiti and shut the [ __ ] up all tactic until companies have true strategy and understand and what's really happening they're going to continue to lose and they're going to hurt their brand they're going to but this Battleground is not going anywhere we are going through major culture shifts our eyeballs are shifting all we care about is where eyeballs go and eyeballs are going to different places whether they're iPads the phone is like I mean mobile is the Battleground it's you know we're lazy and our phone makes it a lot easier and we need to pay attention to those Trends so I think we're going through a spectac culture shift I think that most small businesses have such an opportunity to level the playing field in this environment but what I've been noticing if you're a small business is this I think there's been too much of a conventional wisdom that just cuz you're small you care more than big I don't know about you guys but I've been stunned by the lack of customer service or actually giving a crap that I've seen from small businesses lately and something I'm kind of paying attention to I think people have defaulted in well I'm local bookstore I'm nicer to Amazon I give a crap meanwhile the only employee in the store is like some 15-year-old kid who's on his cell phone in the back of the register no service I I think that we're living in a time and age where this a good story My Brother AJ and my mom went out to dinner the other night and uh they called ahead to the Mexican restaurant and they said we're going to be there 8:30 great boom boom they get there and AJ walks up and they say it's going to be another 40 minutes and they were on tight schedule so AJ takes out his phone and starts I think he was going to text me because I think we had a meeting on the back end but the hostess freaked out ran to the back got the owner and AJ and Mom were sitting down in two minutes now I'm telling you this because I want you to use this move because it's tremendous but what I think is fascinating is the culture shift the fact that she was scared he was going to negative review on Yelp or tweet out is very fascinating and is very telling and more importantly I'm not joking use that move it's [ __ ] butter smooth um these things are happening daily we're seeing the shifts I mean we all know think about how many of you right now are sitting and are stunned that your grandma is on Facebook that Aunt Sue is rocking Facebook and she's got so much going on in Farmville she has no time to do anything else and that gets me to another Point how many people in this room know what s world is Cy World raise your hand one two three got you s World social network in South Korea Facebook Twitter Myspace same concept right except your profile is your room it's a room here's where it gets real interesting it's a blank [ __ ] room so if you want a bed you got to buy it with real cash and if you want a lamp you get a radio which is really brilliant and then if you want to listen to music you've got to buy it with real cash and they're going to book over a billion dollars in sales this year virtual currency is coming and it's coming strong it's why people are quietly not paying attention to what's going on with Facebook credits but I promise you is going to be something that's talked about on this stage next year somebody will be up here there'll be a session with Facebook credits and everybody's going to understand why Facebook which is really scary close and pretty much there to being this which is your identity and once you're this it's real easy to become this and so when I hear people saying well how are they going to make money MX and Visa does okay and oh by the way they're not running on Five Points they're going to be running on 30% margin on their credits and so when they signed a five-year deal with Zenga by the way Zenga valued at 3 four billion right everybody gets so they panties in a bunch about Facebook's valuation Zena's got a three to four billion doll valuation if you know based on them giving 30 points off the top to Facebook because they have to use Facebook credits now and the fact that from some numbers I've heard from people on the inside of how much they're spending on Facebook ads to drive their games it's believed that Facebook is getting 50% of all of Zena's dollars they a platform it's wild stuff I'm telling you this is Classic this has always happened it's culture shifts it's like the NFL all these Speedy little guys like Harvey that you guys have and Spillers and All These Guys didn't even get drafted 15 years ago if they're too small things change and we're really bad at recognizing them and we draw these lines like we saw earlier and then that's that there is so much [ __ ] coming so much and you know what don't draw lines in the sand as much as I don't want it when I hear that we can control [ __ ] from our brain and I have to swallow this chip sure I'm going to be petrified of cancer but I will be the first [ __ ] swallowing that ship awesome and that's the stuff that's coming I mean could you imagine showing somebody this world 30 40 years ago virtual currency is important let me explain to you real quick why I think virtual currency is important and then we'll go into Q& A virtual is currency is important because of this why am I rocking this shoe because it has a Nike logo on it and we really want to communicate and express our ourselves it's How We Roll how you dress that hat you're wearing you know what music you listen to Why do you think people had the boom box outside in the ghetto in the 80s that big ass [ __ ] boom box because they wanted people to hear what they were listening to because it told the story of who they were to their Community now that we're spending all our times in our screens your badges and your credits and your logos and this and that and all your virtual currency is going to express to your social graph who you are and that is massively important to people it is the core of who we are as people it's going to be a massive business and we're all going to figure out how to Brand it how to make money in it and how to use it for the story that we're trying to tell I'd like to go into Q& A based on the time um but I'll keep yapping if nobody's got questions but what I've heard is that the wonderful people at Lin Hoffman the Platinum sponsors are giving $4,000 cash to anybody who asks question let's hear for lin amazing you guys are amazing 5,000 amazing all right questions raise your hands don't be scared awesome you're the best thanks for popping the Cherry hi Gary I'm a huge fan oh [ __ ] where are you I'm over here hello awesome thank you so much I've been watching your show for a really long time so I appreciate it what I want to know is how do you get uh marketing back to be entrepreneurial why can't I hear [ __ ]

what did you say how do you get marketing to go back to the entrepreneurial Spirit yeah you know I really think that this whole push is pushing that right I think the transparency and it's there I'm sitting in these meetings with Fortune 100 Fortune 500 companies and even the last 18 months of anner media it blows my mind how the conversation has changed people really in the ostrich phase a couple years ago right head in the sand like if we're not look you know everybody was acting like a two-year-old playing hide-and go seek you know you ever watch a two-year-old play hide-and go seek this is their move you know but we can still see you right and so I think everybody was playing that I think more people now are recognizing that we're kind of here and by the way we're far from here but clearly we've moved I mean the numbers are growing every day people are starting to see results you know and starting to see Roi on campaigns the problem is I'm more focused on creative than I am the platforms to be honest with you I think the creative collectively sucks here's the thing I truly believe that marketers don't recognize how good the consumer [ __ ] Radars are we're really good and they think they're smart and you know why they never had feedback they run a commercial they'd see it and they' be like yeah and then sales would spike but that's because Walmart had an endcap right and they didn't really tie them together but now we can hear people's responses in the trenches of these platforms and we have a much better sense I think naturally and here's my theory I think everything goes through ups and downs right everything old is you know new is old and old is new again and all that we are just living through the greatest box big box retail era ever biggest price Costco Walmart BJs tar we're living through that world I think we're really going now the other way where the hand-to-hand combat marketing is about to get really hard it's really going to become oneon-one combat it's like the difference between how we fought World War II and Vietnam really you know marketing has always been you know big platforms you know big planes drop the bombs tanks big right and then you get into the wars where like you're in the woods and it's one-onone even the war we're in now we got to go to the tribe convince the head guy for 37 people get on our side it gets really hard I think you know the way Wars have been thought is a blueprint for where marketing is going it's going to be a whole lot of pockets I think it's naturally going to go there I don't think we need to force it yes sir what's your name my name is Pete how are you I'm great what do you like a nighttime radio host smooth jazz with Pete cuddle up to your lady and listen to this I at 1976 phone number for this what's up man what can I help you with first and foremost Gary thank you for being and uh my question for you is by the way you really need to monetize your voice I'm sorry I can't sit here and deal with it okay go ahead my question for you is how do you feel what are your thoughts on the battle between data and social I see a current Trend in marketing being the trend of data of knowing information about customers Y and that data that information is very well let's just say it's not very human right but the social element the social side of marketing is very so how yeah you work what's the balance easy it's this is all human elements you use them together right I mean it's like if you've ever been in sales or if you're a people person I mean anytime I know more data about the person I'm speaking with we're going to have a better relationship so you take the knowledge base and you humanize it it's literally like it's still silly little things even like referencing Kirby pocket here makes much more sense than anywhere else in my opening story right cuz I had a couple 80 you know five tops Kirby puckets so you know I think it there's a connection there and that goes on oneon-one one of the big things that I'm obsessed with is shock and awe marketing one of the things I'm telling my people now at Wine Library is the first major snowstorm that we're going to have this year in New Jersey we're going to we've hired a uh a cleanup crew you know snowplowing crew and we're going to pave the 30 top customers driveways for them out of nowhere and we've now started attaching emails to social profiles of our customers so this week we're running and we're looking and following them on Facebook and Twitter and if one of them says last night like [ __ ] Yeah Big Win by the Bears let's say right [ __ ] the Bears right Boo um but [ __ ] the Packers too right yes anyway you know if we saw that the kind of things we're looking to do is we're going to go on eBay and order a Jay Cutler sign Jersey and send it to that customer and thank them I think the data and giving a crap and surprising your customer could be really interesting I think it looks ugly when it's a cookie on a website and retargeted and all that but I think if you know how to handle it and if you humanize it back to the core instead of exploit it you know it's like with great power comes great responsibility we're going to have more data on our customers than ever the companies that try to cheese it up and try to get the best Roi and this and that are going to lose because the [ __ ] Radars that I just talked about Are Better Than You Know Than I think we really think the companies that try to do those kind of Acts of Kindness as a marketting employe I think going to have much more upside so I think you use it but you use it properly questions four $5,000 in cash how about this next person ask me a question I will send a free bottle of wine to hi Gary my name is Ward tongen and uh my question is the whole coal location movement uh I'm sorry am I the collocation movement of us not working in our offices but anywhere else yes how is the Internet social media and this uh culture shift you're talking about uh affecting that and how fast do you think it'll move of people not work working from wherever they want correct yeah I'm buying up enormous amounts of property in San Diego based on this Theory um I think it's going to take some time it's funny for such a new wave guy I would never let a single employee that ever works with me work from home and I'll tell you why I get my chops busted on this on Twitter all time when I'm hiring a new designer developer project manager on Vayner media I'll tweet it and I'll get like 50 tweets like Gary you're an idiot like d I'm so obsessed with creating culture and the DNA of what our company is that I need to touch my employee not inappropriately but like you know like I need to feel it I need to be there I need to create that energy I want them to taste what we're all about right so I think it's gonna I think it's going to be a big move in I think a lot of people are going to do it and obviously video conferencing technolog is going to create a whole different world right I think it comes down to the DNA of the ownership Jason freed from 37 signals great friend of mine he'd rather his employees be you know skyd and working at the same time like he wants that I on the other hand my DNA is that I really want this family team you know well that's a little inappropriate I apologize but you know like team mentality so I need that person there but I think the option for companies to go there is greater and greater every day and I think it's going to become you know definitely part of the uh culture thank you very much for sure man thanks for asking question what kind of wine a nice malbeck done I'll grab you before I'm done need your address questions please I'll melt what are you afraid of what am I afraid of way to speak got to turn dick there's also a lady back there that has a question um what am I afraid of the only thing I'm truly afraid of is um is the health of my family you know when it comes to business and marketing and this stuff nothing's scary when it's what you're good at right you know it's like everybody has DNA this is something I'm good at I couldn't be a student I couldn't do a lot of things but what I can do is kind of see where things are going slightly early hence having a liquor store local New Jersey liquor store on the web in 97 hence being a video blogger early on hence being on Twitter heavily and pushing it an ' 06 um so I have that kind of DNA which is why I got into Angel Investing I was tired of being right I wanted to make some cash I got to buy the Jets I need a couple Billy so um I'm truly only afraid about the things that matter most I mean as much as I'm obsessed with this and I'm obsessed with the Jets and watch every place since 1982 by the way we're going to beat your faces in on Monday night in two weeks um only thing I really give a [ __ ] about is my family and closest friends and so you know the health of them is it's actually like really serious I think about it almost daily that's how important it is to me hello dear Hi how are you good what's your name Deborah awesome why I asked twice apologize go ahead uh my question is um do you have a on sentence response that I can give to people I work for who come to me and say for no particular reason we need social media we need to be in podcasts we need to be on Facebook it's better than a sentence it's one word why right I mean I don't think people and I talk about this a lot in the new book people are in Social and why I talked about today like think about how many social media Peeps are on stage right now talking about people not should not be in social media and they're hurting themselves not a common thing that I've seen around and I'm really dead serious about it people are playing the keeping up with the Joneses right they're in Social because everybody's in Social they have no strategy and at best they'll go to a conference like this and pick up a or two tactics and it has no chance it has literally no chance everything we do is try to build culture to the highest level we can because once there's a belief that this is actually going to be a Battleground and listen it's different everywhere I'm not mad at Corporate America for not completely being all in on this everybody's real mad they live in a different game they're being looked at quarterly this is a [ __ ] Marathon this is a real relationship relationships that you try to build for 48 hours are usually cheap and quick but sometimes really fun you know on the flip side you know the kind of you know relationships we're looking to build in Social are the kinds you end up putting a ring on it like Beyonce style you know like so I think that you know it depends on your company it depends on the patients level to me every company big or small public top 100 or really tiny needs to create a ninja force a Navy Seals unit that really is Allin and does it because you've got to be all in mentally because nobody really understands let me phrase very few people are understanding why and how back to my opening line This is an enorm we are I'm telling you with all my heart we are grossly grossly I'm going to be Cru Jeb real quick we are massively underestimating this culture shift this is [ __ ] huge and people are treating it like this little thing it's the next little thing this is the biggest shift in the way we communicate ever and you've got to really have a strategy not like let's have a YouTube channel and make a funny video in the office cuz that's going to mean jack [ __ ] well the answer I gave is why yeah and now I need a follow up I think Listen by the way back to my point earlier I'm not doing this because I want to go rock climb and go Zen and sit Indian style I want to sell products create business if you understand how that works you know it's here's the big thing so many people and this is pay attention to this when you're dealing with this most people are salespeople not marketers and there's a big difference and I'm seeing it quite a bit and you see it even at the highest levels even CEO CMO style so you have to find the people that are marketers we're betting our clients very heavily because we need people to understand what we're doing here because it can happen quickly if you come from the right place but the second you don't we're just too good I'm telling you and we taste it and we understand it and we tune it out what are the ctrs of banner ads in '94 95 996 [ __ ] awesome 10% now 0. 04 and people are high-fiving what are the open rates how many of you guys have done email marketing in your career raise your hand [ __ ] awesome remember email marketing in 1999 and 2000 how do you think I built Wine Library so fast now what are our open rates compared to what they used to be conversion rates they die you know why because we pounded our poor customers into submission we pounded them with sales because it was working I get it but what was the cost and the social one is even bigger because it's even more human and if you can really lose them you know and so tie them into something create a true campaign and understand other variables why are we not talking about lifetime value of customer enough that's a huge factor and so much of what social can bring to the table a real relationship has massive lifetime value there's a lot of things you guys are overpaying because you've used you've got you've cut your hair with the same person for so long or the same person has cut your grass you have an emotional relationship there that is what this social platform is going to allow for us to create real relationship we can finally scale caring we can you just have to want to yes sir uh Gary this is Jeff um Jeff put a closer to your M yeah I was um how you doing man good I was debating whether to ask you a social media question then I think I want to ask you something that's more on the personal political side uh I've noticed a lot of entrepreneurs in the internet age and this probably true of all time uh come from families that have immigrated here yeah and I'm interested in your thoughts just on the entire immigration debate and also how that feeds into the change that you think that's going to happen uh both in marketing and culturally yeah I mean listen I'm a true immigrant I wasn't born here right so of course you know it's like anything else you're you're against the death penalty until you something happens in your family and you want the death penalty right so it's very close to my heart I couldn't imagine this country not you know do you know that every part of My Success why I truly believe I'll buy the New York Jets is based on the fact that I have so much gratitude I'm completely driven by gratitude I don't give a [ __ ] about following count or money I'm driven by the fact that I was born in the worst part of the Soviet Union that right now we do not have an American Embassy in because we have a dictator at in bellarus he's a piece of [ __ ] right and I can't go back to where I was born cuz they'll Google me and see numbers and kidnap me you know do you know how grateful I am for that and the fact that my mother instilled so much self-esteem in me that she should go to jail because it should be illegal you know I'm just driven by complete gratitude that I ended up in this awesome country and have people that give a [ __ ] about what I have to say and all this right gratitude it's all I care about and I think that I just couldn't imagine people not having the same opportunity I had I just couldn't it just it would break my heart and I understand you know every Point has a Counterpoint and I get it and I just hope that we can find a middle ground and scare tactics don't take us away from the fabric of what we are because I'll tell you know I saw some report the other day that we're like now third immigrant you know third you know entrepreneurial country in the world I don't know how that is but I guess you know they come up with some [ __ ] data the fact of the matter is our entrepreneurial spirit is a huge backbone of our success and I think that um as long as we can cuddle that you know listen I think the place to really battle to be honest with you is schools I'm very curious about education long term you know first I got to buy the Jets cuz I need that but after I'm done with that I really like I failed all my classes but I promise you if there was the history of advertising or like sales or you know marketing 101 in fourth grade I would dominate that [ __ ] you know yes dear hi what's your name last question give me two more is this thing on oh hi I'm anque London how are you hey an how are you since you brought up the schools thing this is not a corporate America question okay happen to be co-chair of my daughter's p uh PTO and can I be the co-chair sure I love you trying to close the deal I had to it's good work I had to convince our principle that it was okay to have a Facebook page for our school yeah and I've learned through a lot of my teacher friends that they are prohibited from having Facebook accounts there's a lot of fear in schools and teachers about moving to where the rest of us are and I was wondering if you could comment on that yeah I mean it's classic There Was Fear about Elvis right he like shook his hips and was like [ __ ] devil and everybody shut it down you know I mean this is just our culture every school will have a Facebook page and integrate it into their world in five years or three or seven I'm not you know I'm not tradus or Yoda but you know the fact of the matter is it's going to happen because it's our culture this is the same old game you know how about formspring has taken over you know grammar school world and and that age group how many people here don't even know what formspring. me is don't lie raise your hand yeah I mean you know still a small site just getting traction but huge it's an anonymous Q& A platform and of course it's attractive to kids because if you don't know who's asking a question really ridiculous questions start getting asked and it's really become a shitalking platform but you know the fact of the matter is that all these things will be incorporated because this is the same old game especially to an organization and you guys should clap it up for yourselves because this is an old school organization you guys have done it right and it's got real traction we've been through this Rodeo before I was on stage in 1997 after a guy stood on stage before me and said this Punk kid is going to try to convince you that he's going to sell wine on the internet nobody's going to buy anything on the internet you're going to really buy something from Amazon you're going to go to Barnes & Nobles so I got on stage and said that guy's a [ __ ] you know and he's going to be on the wrong side of history and there's a ton of people right now who are going to be on the wrong side of history and that's what I'm obsessed with especially when you publicly speak and it's being recorded do not be on the wrong side of History do not say that you're going to not check in and then be like I [ __ ] love for square you know that's cheese that's a bad place to be you know and you see it all the time those schools that principal I'll call his ass email me I'm dead serious he's going to be on the wrong side of History unless he's 79 and wants to retire next year if he wants to be a principle long term we need to punch him in his face oh she she's on the [ __ ] wrong out of History okay well then she's [ __ ] awesome sorry Miss principal Thompson one more please oh there's several hands wherever the mics are I'll get you out I I'll come up and we'll hug it out after hey what's your name it's on yeah just close my name is Julie hey Julie um I have you were talking about uh being uh happy with your grandmother for being on Facebook yep um I have an 88-year-old mother who's on Facebook phenomenal and I have three grandchildren who are under three who are playing with iPads well iPads and mobile phones yep so I'm interested in hold on you're you have grandchildren that are under three that actually have mobile phones well they play with their parents okay okay because that was about to get really awesome and I had I was like [ __ ] this is moving maybe even faster than I thought go ahead well I was wondering if as you say you like to see into the future but I look at these little ones um and this is the world that they know and so how do you see that playing out impacting everything I mean I think they could blow past we have to be where they're going to be right I mean if we're going to want to sell to them we're going to have to be where they want to be and if they're not reading newspapers listen some guy bought 800 horses the day before Henry Ford created the car he [ __ ] lost he deserved it it's business has no feelings business doesn't care about us business and technology will continue to change it's our job to adjust to the marketplace when I see listen I'm going to get arrested real soon get ready for it and here's why every time I go out the amount of hovering and peeping I'm doing on 13 and 14 year olds I'm going to jail you know at first I was like okay don't do it to the girls I'll guys but I'm like well that's even creepier so I was like you know I'm like how do I do this because I watched the kid the other day at Best Buy ironically big shout out to them the second time literally Facebook you know I was waiting for somebody who I was meeting Facebook which video game should I buy and just sat there and un checked and then bought on that and then and this is why the story is important that same night went to a movie and watched the person in line in front of me and the person was like 60 70 and I looked you know they had their phone again I'm not joking I'm peeping a lot cuz I'm doing market research anyway I'm not a yent I promise and so I'm like is that a blue is that tweet deck I'm like he doesn't have tweet deck so I looked sure enough 67y old demo on tweet deck which movie should I go watch town or I can't remember the other one literally got his answers and then pick town I mean crowdsourcing data on location of point of purchase do you think that's going to matter to Walmart and Target and to movie theaters and Sport I mean that's going to matter to all of us you think that's going to matter to Wine Library when people walk in I got this huge display I really want you to buy this Chardonnay and you don't give a rat's ass because you're getting context from your friend base and more importantly what's going to happen when search changes because if you think it's going to stay the way it is I really disagree because I think it's really interesting if somebody like Facebook eventually gets into the search game seriously cuz the context of your relationships matters a lot more and even their relationships it's going to be like the Kevin Bacon thing you know like when I'm searching for something do I really want to get the information from somebody who hired an SEO firm or do I want to get it you know do my friends want to go and type in wine on Google or do they want to search wine on Facebook and get my results of all my data I think it's going to get real fascinating I think we're really bad and thinking this is just the way it is and I think there's a ton of [ __ ] happening and those people that grow up because I grew up watching you know Scooby-Doo and playing outside and playing whiffle ball they're not and we need to figure it out hence why people have made billions of dollars by putting ads in video games something you couldn't do to a kid in the 70s CU guess what Atari didn't come and dominate yet Frogger greatest game of all time guys thank you so much for having me thank you have a great day I don't want to go can I stay e