Quantum News
NEWS AND UPDATES ON QUANTUM PARTNERS AND PROJECTS
Quantum Media is one of “America’s Best Management Consulting Firms” for the 5th Year in a Row in the Forbes/Statista Ranking
March 12, 2024
Quantum Media was honored again in 2024 as one of the top consulting firms in the US by Forbes and Statista. And as in each year, Quantum Media is among the smallest firms named, having three Principals and three Senior Consultants. The firm was recognized in three consulting categories of Digital Transformation, Internet, Media & Entertainment and Marketing, Brand & Pricing.
The Forbes Statista survey selected only 190 firms within 32 categories out of “more than one million management consulting firms in the United States.” Read the story and scroll down to the full list in Forbes.
“We love being recognized as great consultants in our specialties of media and entertainment,” said Quantum Media Principal Erica Gruen. “Our clients appreciate our ability to form strategies that they can execute easily.”
Quantum Media’s consulting work has spanned every aspect of the media business, from developing an Internet business strategy for a Fortune 500 company to advising a young entrepreneur on launching a niche digital product.
More information on Quantum Media, including a list of clients and some news articles about Quantum’s work, is available here.
Principals
- Alisha Alonso – Strategic planning, product development, M&A, media & information services
- Erica Gruen – Television and online content, advertising and marketing strategy, business development
- Ava Seave – Operating and strategic planning, audience development, non-profit management and strategy
Senior Consultants
- Touseef Mirza – Professional executive branding, corporate branding and brand identity
- Judi Allen – Strategy, content distribution, advertising partner negotiations and measurement
- Jeremy Kagan – Growth and innovation and strategic advisor to startups and digital media companies
Founding Principals
- Christine Arrington – Strategic planning, launches and relaunches, international publishing, website development
- Carla Graubard – Strategic planning, branding, CRM and partnership marketing, new business development, traffic and content monetization
Advisors
- Harold Clarke – Book and Magazine Media Brands Executive
- Margaret Downs – Executive coach, strategic and organizational consulting
- Gretchen Grant – Digital publishing executive
- Jean Hellering – Financial/business modeling and business analysis in publishing and direct marketing.
- Anne Kinard – Circulation, marketing, strategic planning, models, fulfillment
- Soo Koon Lee – Vice president of finance at ThermAvant Technologies
- Brian O’Leary – Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group
As with all Forbes lists, companies do not pay any fee to be considered. The winners for the best consulting firms in the U.S. were determined on the results of two independent surveys:
- Expert Survey: 10,000+ management consulting executives or partners were invited to make recommendations for consultancies in 16 industries and 16 functional areas
- Client Survey: 1,200+ clients were prompted to evaluate management consultancies they have worked with during the last 4 years
#consulting #strategy #marketing #media
Research guide to trends in Gen Z news consumption features SME Ava Seave, Quantum Principal
January 8, 2024
Digiday + Research's just published a deep dive piece on Gen Z and news consumption. One of the big take-aways of the research is what many suspected, but now it is proven: “Gen Zers discover breaking news through social media first.” Quantum Principal Ava Seave, one of the SME's interviewed, is always thinking about the cost of distribution from the point of view of Quantum's clients; she noted that, "The sad truth about media is, you can almost never drop any format because if you do that, you’re going to miss a bunch of people….It’s best to keep adding different formats and try to optimize the production of the news that fits on those channels. Write once, publish many times — that’s how media companies make money.” Read the entire research piece by Dania Gutierrez in Digiday here. #ManagementConsultants #managementconsulting #NewsConsumption #genz
Sustainable Media Center run by long-time Quantum ally Steve Rosenbuam unites older and younger activists to make social media safe
October 13, 2023
The newly-formed Sustainable Media Center, run by Steve Rosenbaum, a Quantum Media client and ally for more than two decades, is “intent on stopping companies from using algorithms to push damaging information to vulnerable youths, dark things like suicide methods,” said the AP in a feature article. Quantum Media Principal, Ava Seave, has been on the Board of Directors since the non-profit's founding.
Rosenbaum explained that “When you find that what you helped build is causing more harm than good, there’s no way you can get up in the morning and not do anything about it,."
Read the full article by David Bauder detailing the problems SMC has identified and how they are approaching the solutions.
#media #managementconsulting #socialmedia
Quantum Media Principal Erica Gruen discusses the media M&A environment with Adweek
August 25, 2023
Adweek's Mark Stenberg recently evaluated the state of media M&A. Overall, although he says that “a cocktail of adverse economic factors has brought the number of merger and acquisition deals in the media sector this year to its lowest level since 2020," he predicts that there will be an uptick in deals. Delving into just why that is the case, he spoke to Quantum's Erica Gruen, who explained, "“If a company is completely ad-dependent, they are in a bad position. If they have thought about the new ways in which users are consuming media and how they are going to diversify to meet those needs, they are going to be alright.” Read the full story, in Adweek, After Record Downturn, Media M&A Shows Signs of Rebound.
#managementconsulting #media #MandA
Intentful, AI copywriting tools trained on brand data is featured on Marketecture interview
April 19, 2023
Founded in 2021, Intentful is one of the first content creation companies to use generative AI technologies. It leverages the GPT large language model framework in concert with its customers’ data to create a range of content. Intentful trains discrete AI instances on its brand clients’ data, which it says increases the speed and reduces the cost of generating high-quality, relevant content. Marketecture’s Jeremy Kagan (who is also a Senior Consultant with Quantum Media) talks with CEO Marina Petrova and COO Bruce Amick about its customer use cases. Watch an exceprt from the interview here.
#strategy #consulting #AI
Winner of our 2023 Complimentary Consulting
April 3, 2023
Quantum Media announces our 3rd Annual Recipient of Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Sessions to... Pelican — a platform created to help families save for their children's college education — founded by Alexandra Bono. We will publish an individual story about this woman owned/lead company and the project we will be helping Pelican's team with in the coming months.
Thanks to all of the companies and nonprofits which applied for the sessions, but weren’t chosen this time. There is a lot of talent out there!
#strategy #managementconsulting #media
Quantum Principal Erica Gruen notes in Adweek story the highly competitve nature of publishers becoming marketing agencies
March 23, 2023
The women's newsletter publisher theSkimm is launching a creative agency, SKM Lab. They are joining many others in attempting to make their branded content division into a client-facing business. Erica Gruen, Quantum Media's expert in advertisng and agencies said that “The challenge is that this agency will have a lot of competition, including from other publishers like Condé Nast, who have bigger audiences and more resources. They are going to have to be small but mighty.”
Read the full story in Adweek.
#strategy #management consulting #media
Quantum Media is Recognized as One of “America’s Best Management Consulting Firms” for the 4th Year in a Row
March 17, 2023
Quantum Media was honored again in 2023 as one of the top consulting firms in the US by Forbes and Statista. And as in each year, Quantum Media is among the smallest firms named, having three Principals and four Senior Consultants—quite a contrast with the giants A.T. Kearney and Accenture. The firm was recognized in the four consulting categories of Digital Transformation, Internet, Media & Entertainment and Marketing, Brand & Pricing.
The Forbes Statista survey selected only 199 firms within 16 categories out of “almost 1 million management consulting firms in the U.S. (a 2% increase from last year).” Read the story and see the full list in Forbes.
“We are proud to be recognize once again as great consultants who are specialists in our field,” said Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave. “We are grateful to our awesome clients! They know that we may be a small group of professionals, but we know what we are talking about when it comes to the strategy and execution of digital transformation in media and entertainment companies.”
Quantum Media’s consulting work has spanned every aspect of the media business, from developing an Internet business strategy for a Fortune 500 company to advising a young entrepreneur on launching a niche digital product.
More information on Quantum Media, including a list of clients and some news articles about Quantum’s work, is available here.
Principals
- Alisha Alonso – Strategic planning, product development, M&A, media & information services
- Erica Gruen – Television and online content, advertising and marketing strategy, business development
- Ava Seave – Operating and strategic planning, audience development, non-profit management and strategy
Senior Consultants
- Margaret Downs – Executive coach, strategic and organizational consulting
- Touseef Mirza – Professional executive branding, corporate branding and brand identity
- Judi Allen – Strategy, content distribution, advertising partner negotiations and measurement
- Jeremy Kagan – Growth and innovation and strategic advisor to startups and digital media companies
Founding Principals
- Christine Arrington – Strategic planning, launches and relaunches, international publishing, website development
- Carla Graubard – Strategic planning, branding, CRM and partnership marketing, new business development, traffic and content monetization
Advisors
- Harold Clarke – Book and Magazine Media Brands Executive
- Gretchen Grant – Digital publishing executive
- Jean Hellering – Financial/business modeling and business analysis in publishing and direct marketing.
- Anne Kinard – Circulation, marketing, strategic planning, models, fulfillment
- Soo Koon Lee – Vice president of finance at ThermAvant Technologies
- Brian O’Leary – Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group
As with all Forbes lists, companies do not pay any fee to be considered. The winners for the best consulting firms in the U.S. were determined on the results of two independent surveys:
- Expert Survey: 10,000+ management consulting executives or partners were invited to make recommendations for consultancies in 16 industries and 16 functional areas
- Client Survey: 1,200+ clients were prompted to evaluate management consultancies they have worked with during the last 4 years
#consulting #strategy #marketing #media
Attention, young companies! Quantum Media to offer 3rd Annual Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Sessions
January 3, 2023
We love to work with startups! So, Quantum Media again is offering complimentary business consulting sessions to two or three select young businesses or startups. These can be for-profit or nonprofit firms, with preference given to minority- and/or women-owned-and-led enterprises.
Quantum Media is meeting the current moment’s need by utilizing its experience and acumen to help firms and individuals by addressing their business issues, challenges, and questions, and by providing guidance on the best way to move forward. The goal is for the applicants to feel that their experience with Quantum Media is easy, focused, and highly valuable.
In 2022, Quantum Media was recognized by Forbes Magazine-- for the third year in a row --as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms.
How the Process Will Work
The complimentary session will consist of two one-hour Zoom sessions, with the first one to discuss materials which the winner has sent to Quantum after the company has won and sent in advance, and the second to give our final recommendations.
To qualify for the complimentary consulting sessions, the applicant’s challenges must be:
- Within the disciplines of strategy, operations, or marketing
- In the industries where Quantum Media has deep expertise, broadly defined as media, information, or entertainment businesses and nonprofits
This initiative launched today will accept applications through January 20, 2023.
To enter, applicants should use the Google form here, which asks for 10 short responses. NOTE: The entry window is from January 3, 2022 through January 20, 2023.
Past Complimentary Consulting Sessions
To learn more about past winners of the Complimentary Consulting Sessions and the work Quantum Media did with them:
For the 2021 Winners:
- Intentful “Intentful, a winner of Comp Biz Strategy Consulting with Quantum, is changing the world of traditional content creation”
- Unicord.gr “[The owner] and the team were pleased with the sessions. The owner wrote: “They were a revealing eye opener. It clarified the strategic direction we should take going forward. It was a most fruitful experience.”
- Studio Hali Bey “Quantum Media guides Studio Hali Bey through a pivot to predicting trends, as a service
For the 2020 Winners:
To apply for the 3rd annual session in 2023, applicants should use the Google form here.
Good luck!
#strategy #consulting #marketing
Quantum Principal Erica Gruen spoke as Subject Matter Expert at advertising industry panel. In-Person!
December 3, 2022
Erica Gruen was a Subject Matter Expert at the FirstFold AdPushup event for agencies and publishers, held at Google Chicago in November. The panel discussed changing patterns of consumer spending and advertiser spending; the impact on publishers; and how publishers might brave the coming recessionary period. (Erica and all of Quantum members are extremely happy that in-person industry confabs are starting up again.) Picture Erica Gruen, second from right.
#managementconsulting #strategy #advertising
Laura Mayer’s new podcast “Shameless Acquisition Target” features Quantum’s Ava Seave on the essential problem with media acquisitions
August 18, 2022
Podcast maven Laura Mayer is exploring hilariously podcast economics in Shameless Acquisition Target. She makes fun of herself brutally in the process, and yes, she IS shameless in trying to get someone to buy her podcast production company; but if not that, then at least a T-shirt. Mayer interviews Ava Seave about why media acquisitions typically work out badly for the acquirers. Seave points out that mostly the acquirers fall in love with the product and just pay too darn much.
To hear all episodes of the podcast go here; to hear Seave's interview, listen to Podcast 2.
#managementconsulting #media #strategy #podcasting
Intentful, a winner of Comp Biz Strategy Consulting with Quantum, is changing the world of traditional content creation
May 23, 2022
Intentful.ai is one of the three winners of Quantum’s Second Annual complimentary consulting program. The company is a content marketing service that leverages data and AI to create high-quality, targeted content relevant to audience interests and search intent. They have successfully introduced new high standards for quality and relevance while drastically reducing costs and turnaround times for article writing for all kinds of clients.
Quantum Media Senior Consultant Margaret Downs worked with CEO/Co-Founder Marina Petrova, to answer several key questions as they expand their sales.
The consult attacked the overall question about how to explain the value they deliver to customers, especially those who don’t understand what AI is, or have a negative view of AI, including:
- Finetuning the brand to encompass a broader market footprint and to communicate what differentiates the company’s offerings and capabilities while at the same time segmenting and prioritizing their target markets
- Demonstrating results and impact
- Explaining return on investment for their services
- Pursuing competitive advantage by making themselves indispensable full-service partners with their clients
Since Downs and Petrova’s meeting, Intentful.ai executives have been invited speakers at Oxford's Said Business School’s AI program, Exeter University and The Future of Modern Marketing conference.
#managementconculting #media #strategy
Quantum Principal weighs in on Conde’s digital transformation
May 4, 2022
In Adweek reporter Mark Stenberg's coverage of Conde Nast's recently announced growth and profitability, he asked Quantum Principal Ava Seave about their success. She said that "in addition to making its business-development efforts more future-facing, their moves also trim operational costs—a linchpin of its return to profitability." Read the full story. #strategy #managementconsulting #media #digitaltransformation
Erica Gruen, Quantum Principal is interviewed by Scott Harris, podcast host of Finding Home
April 17, 2022
In this podcast series, Scott Havens interviews leaders in their field about their backgrounds and what formed them. Tune in now to hear Erica’s inspiring story of how she became one of the most innovative leaders in television, advertising, and new media technologies." Hear the entire interview.
Post-merger integration plus post-pandemic office return is a package of unpleasantness, says Quantum Principal Ava Seave in Digiday Story
April 14, 2022
Digiday's Sara Guaglione has summarized the management decisions of three large merged companies in their return-to-office policies. In the story, Quantum Principal Ava Seave said about mergers that the company employees "in this situation are unsettled and distracted for months and months. Coming back to the office after the pandemic is also a gigantic change that people may not like,” she added, so why not just rip off the band-aid. Read the full story.
#strategy #mergers #consulting
Comp Biz Strategy Consulting with Quantum results in immediate benefits for Unicord.gr
March 23, 2022
Unicord.gr, founded in 2021, is a manufacturing company with the novel idea to introduce pet accessories as both useful and safe, but also as luxury handmade collars and leashes that present like “jewelry for pets.” They are one of the three winners of Quantum’s Second Annual complimentary consulting program.
Today, the Unicord products are sold in pet shops in Greece, Cyprus and Riyadh; Direct-to-Consumer sales are available via the website and Instagram.
Quantum Media worked with Founder & Designer, Iliana Drakou, Business Lead Machi Panteliadou and advisor Jack Florentin to answer their key question: how should they expand the company’s top line and operating profits?
Three of the top takeaways from the consult:
- Instead of exploring additional pet accessories, the company is sticking to “going deeper” into the specialized product of all things collars and leashes; this will help them get even better at production and design, learning how to make the items faster and cheaper.
- Unicord.gr’s first priority is to expand within Greece, where they understand the culture of pet ownership and have connections in retail and wholesale. Any new international sales will come from DTC.
- The company has taken it on board that not only is a dog not a cat, but neither are the owners, nor the way to market to owners of these pets.
Ms. Drakou and the team were pleased with the sessions. She wrote us that, “They were a revealing eye opener. It clarified the strategic direction we should take going forward. It was a most fruitful experience.”
Quantum Media guides Studio Hali Bey through a pivot to predicting trends, as a service
March 21, 2022
Quantum Media consultants completed a second annual round of complimentary consulting projects for three promising young entrepreneurial companies in early 2022. Hali Bey Ramdene, owner of Studio Hali Bey, was one of the very promising recipients of the consulting help.
Studio Hali Bey is a media consultancy that was working with clients to help them figure out
- Which topics are trending and why
- What data essentials must be considered
- What the psychographics of the customers are so information can be tailored to them
Bringing this information together for a single client was hard to scale, and Ramdene wanted to figure out how to do that. Quantum Media advised pivoting to a service that predicts trends, where Studio Hali Bey could produce one to three valuable packages of content that could be resold to several companies.
Quantum Media recommended that Ramdene consider three kinds of business models that she could then combine with parts from each. Those were:
- A Proprietary Database. A collection of data which is relatively complicated to find but which can be compiled comprehensively and then needs analysis.
- A Signals Database. Identifying social and behavioral shifts and their outward manifestations.
- A Consortium or Think Tank. “Futurist experts” from a variety of backgrounds and industries who work independently but could market themselves together.
The final guidance was for Ramdene was to specialize in a content category and to collect her “greatest hits” from her previous work and articulate her methodology from those cases.
#strategy #marketing #consulting
Quantum Media Named—for 3 years in a row—One of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms, by FORBES and Statista
March 15, 2022
Quantum Media was recognized as one of America’s best management consulting firms for 2022, after a survey of 7,500+ management consulting executives and partners along with 1,300+ senior executives who have worked with management consultancies. In total, just 218 management consultancies were named to the list. Read the story and full list.
This is the third time Quantum Media was honored in this way, the first being in 2020. Again, Quantum Media is among the smallest firms named to the list, having six Principals and two Senior Consultants—quite a contrast with the giants A.T. Kearney and Accenture consulting firms. The firm received 4 stars (frequently recommended) in the Internet, Media & Entertainment and “Marketing, Brand & Pricing” consulting categories.
“We are jazzed to be chosen once again as one of the best management consulting firms in America,” said Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave. “We work hard to bring our expertise to media, information and entertainment clients that will help their businesses grow and succeed.”
In addition, she cited Quantum Media as continuing to be part of the digital transformation of so many media companies. “So many companies are still struggling with the business model changes and the consolidation – many challenges remain.”
Quantum Media’s consulting work has spanned every aspect of the media business, from developing an Internet business strategy for a Fortune 500 company to advising a young entrepreneur on launching a niche digital product.
More information on Quantum Media, including a list of clients and some news articles about Quantum’s work, is available here.
Principals
- Alisha Alonso – Strategic planning, product development, M&A, media & information services
- Christine Arrington – Strategic planning, launches and relaunches, international publishing, website development
- Carla Graubard – Strategic planning, branding, CRM and partnership marketing, new business development, traffic and content monetization
- Erica Gruen – Television and online content, advertising and marketing strategy, business development
- Jean Hellering – Financial/business modeling and business analysis in publishing and direct marketing.
- Ava Seave – Operating and strategic planning, audience development, non-profit management and strategy
Senior Consultants
- Margaret Downs – Executive coach, strategic and organizational consulting
- Touseef Mirza - Professional executive branding, corporate branding and brand identity
Advisors
- Judi Allen -- Television creation, distribution and measurement
- Harold Clarke – Book and Magazine Media Brands Executive
- Gretchen Grant – Digital publishing executive
- Anne Kinard – Circulation, marketing, strategic planning, models, fulfillment
- Soo Koon Lee – Vice president of finance at ThermAvant Technologies
- Brian O’Leary – Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group
#consulting #strategy #marketing
Axios Pro Deal Newsletters are the same, but different, Quantum’s Ava Seave comments to Adweek
January 25, 2022
Adweek's Mark Stenberg, in an article about Axios' new push into subscription newsletters, talked with Ava Seave, Principal at Quantum Media. “Across all of the products Axios has launched, the throughline remains their dedication to distilling news into digestible nuggets, then presenting only the most critical pieces. " Seave pointed out. “They know the size of the market and who they’re targeting, and they have experience in marketing newsletters,” Seave said. “So the question is: will the experience work as a very expensive subscription?” Read the full story. #strategy #managementconsulting #media
PE Firm-backed Recurrent is acting like old-timey publishers, says Quantum Principal Ava Seave: many titles, shared services
January 24, 2022
Digiday's Sara Guaglione, in writing about a new roll-up of media properties, called Recurrent Ventures, owned by North Equity, asked Quantum Media Principal, Ava Seave, what she thought about the approach. She said they were making decent management decisions, but nothing new. “In Seave’s view, the approach reflects the cyclical restructuring of traditional media companies that operate legacy titles with brand value but suffering businesses. The titles get consolidated under an owner, then sold off piece by piece to operate independently or by smaller owners, and then are scooped up by another parent company." Read the full story.
Multiple revenue streams for media companies are table stakes, said Quantum Principal Erica Gruen, in Adweek Story
January 19, 2022
Commenting for Adweek on theSkimm's virtual course series, SkimmU, Quantum Principal Erica Gruen. “It’s clear that in media today, you have to have a diverse revenue-stream operation going on,” Gruen said. Read the full story.
Quantum Media Announces our 2nd Annual Recipients…
January 16, 2022
… of Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Sessions to three extremely promising young entrepreneurial companies; all three companies are also minority- and/or women-owned or lead. The companies and founders are:
- Places Dot — a technology media company that helps businesses get discovered across multiple digital channels through an activities marketplace and a data-driven and AI-powered content engine — co-founded by Marina Petrova
- Unicord.gr — hand made fashion pet accessories— founded by Iliana Drakou and Andromachi Panteliadou. Based in Thessaloniki, Greece.
- Studio HaliBey— Food & Wellness creative consultancy—founded by Hali Bey Ramdene
We will publish the individual stories of these companies and the projects we will be helping them with in the coming months.
Thanks to all of the companies and nonprofits which applied for the sessions, but weren’t chosen this time. There is a lot of talent out there!
#strategy #marketing #consulting
Circling Back To: James Ledbetter
December 19, 2021
James Ledbetter was Editor of Inc. and Inc.com in 2015, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
Today Ledbetter is Chief Content Officer at Clarim Media, which works with brands on event programming, audience development, and content. He's also Editor and Publisher of James Ledbetter's FIN, a fintech newsletter.
Ledbetter previously held staff positions at Slate, Reuters, Time, and The Village Voice, and has written articles for many other publications. He's the author or editor of six books, including "One Nation Under Gold: How One Precious Metal Has Dominated the American Imagination for Four Centuries."
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Todd Krizelman
December 12, 2021
Todd Krizelman was co-founder and CEO of MediaRadar in 2015, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Disruptor series.
Today Krizelman continues as CEO at MediaRadar, the SaaS big data and analytics firm viewed by many as revolutionizing the ad selling process. MediaRadar disrupted the role of traditional research firms by collecting and creating its own research and then packaging its findings specifically for ad sales professionals.
Prior to co-founding Media Radar, Krizelman worked in publishing at Bertelsmann, and was co-founder and CEO of theglobe.com, one of the world's first social media sites.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Quantum’s Seave explains how ArchDigest’s global editorial rationalizes costs and revs
December 1, 2021
In Digiday's story, about Architectural Digest's new editorial philosophy of global stories and globally produced print issues, Quantum Media Principal, Ava Seave, spoke to reporter Sara Guaglione about the advantages and disadvantages of non-local editorial. On the one hand, Seave said, "luxury content with luxury advertising, has for a long time been international,” but on the other hand, she questioned whether there are enough readers interested in globalized versus localized design stories to support this transition. To read the full story go here.
#strategy #marketing #consulting
Circling Back To: David Levin
December 1, 2021
David Levin was President and CEO at McGraw-Hill Education in 2015, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
McGraw-Hill was undergoing major transitions at the time: It had been privately held for only three years and had a newly revamped corporate structure. And for the first time in its history, the company had more revenue from digital products than from the sale of print books.
Levin is currently chairman of SparkBeyond, a software company he joined in 2020 that developed an AI-powered research engine capable of finding complex patterns in data. The technology is being used by Fortune 500 companies in fields including finance, e-commerce, and healthcare.
Levin is also University Entrepreneur in Residence at Arizona State University.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Quantum Principal Believes Axios’ B2B Expansion Can Give Them Customer Captivity
October 14, 2021
In Digiday's article about Axios HQ software-as-a-service which is “designed to teach companies how to write it its trademarked editorial style of ‘Smart Brevity’ for internal communications,” Quantum Principal, Ava Seave says the product has a lot going for it to capture and keep business customers. She said, “The nice thing about a B2B business is that people get used to it and it gets embedded into their backend,” which ultimately makes it harder for those professional clients to end licensing deals. To read the full story, go here.
#strategy #managementconsulting #b2b
Quantum Media to offer 2nd Annual Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Sessions
October 8, 2021
Considering the ongoing business and social challenges of 2021, Quantum Media again is offering complimentary business consulting sessions to three select young businesses or startups. These can be for-profit or nonprofit firms, with preference given to minority- and/or women-owned-and-led enterprises.
Quantum Media was recently recognized by Forbes, for the second time annually, as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms. Quantum Media is meeting the current moment’s need by utilizing its experience and acumen to help firms and individuals by addressing their business issues, challenges, and questions, and by providing guidance on the best way to move forward. The goal is for the applicants to feel that their experience with Quantum Media is easy, focused, and highly valuable.
How the Process Will Work
The complimentary session will consist of one two-hour Zoom session, based on analysis done by the Quantum team in advance.
To qualify for the complimentary consulting sessions, the applicant’s challenges must be:
- Within the disciplines of strategy, operations, or marketing
- In the industries where Quantum Media has deep expertise, broadly defined as media, information, or entertainment businesses and nonprofits
This initiative launched today will accept applications through November 21, 2021.
To enter, applicants should use the Google form here, which asks for 10 short responses.
Past Complimentary Consulting Sessions
One project was completed for Stef Alicia McCalmon, Founder and CEO of SAM, an organizational design company that helps firms “use design thinking methodology to build more equitable and inclusive tools to honor the diversity of your company, customers, and the communities you serve.” Then SAM helps the firms tell their story to drive more impact, in the push for a more just society.
Ms. McCalmon said, “I had the pleasure of working with Quantum Media last year to strategize around SAM’s brand positioning, competitive advantage, and pricing. Their streamlined approach to learning about my business made our sessions efficient, fruitful, and enjoyable. One year later, their recommendations continue to inform how we articulate our value proposition and execute our go-to market strategy.”
Another project was carried out for Dr. Artika Tyner, founder of the nonprofit firm Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute. She was determined to end the “school-to-prison pipeline” by creating “new pipelines to success for all children, through promoting reading and diversity in children’s books.”. Dr. Tyner said, “Quantum Media provided our nonprofit with a guide to becoming more efficient, sustainable, and marketable. We are using the plan to strengthen our nonprofit in real time. It became our blueprint for growth and development. The resources and tools we received were invaluable. I want to thank Quantum Media for this generous outpouring of support and motivation when we needed it the most.”
To learn more about past winners of the Complimentary Consulting Sessions and the work Quantum Media did with them:
To apply in 2021, applicants should use the Google form here.
Good luck!
#strategy #consulting #marketing
Ava Seave, Quantum Principal, Discusses Facebook Business and Policy on France 24’s The Debate
October 6, 2021
On the daily news analysis show, The Debate on France 24, host Francois Picard assembled four experts from around the world to discuss the Facebook outage and the anti-FB whistleblower, Frances Haugan. Quantum Principal Ava Seave said that a forced break up of the company – for example by spinning off Whatsapp and Instagram – could not happen under the current anti-trust regulations. She also spoke about Haugan's assertion that it would be possible for Facebook to do a lot better and solve the problem of balancing safety for citizens with growth. Seave pointed out it wouldn't be easy operationally, but with a 33% operating profit in 2020, they had plenty of room to make these management changes and still stay wildly profitable. You can see the full show here.
#strategy #consulting #management
Circling Back To: Neal Shapiro
October 2, 2021
Neal Shapiro was President and CEO of The WNET Group in 2015, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
He continues in that role today at The WNET Group, overseeing public television stations in New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey, with a combined monthly audience of more than 9 million viewers. The WNET Group produces popular PBS series including Great Performances, American Masters, and Nature. Under Shapiro's leadership, arts and culture offerings have nearly doubled and new fundraising records have been set.
Before joining The WNET Group in 2007, Shapiro was President of NBC News. He also spent 13 years at ABC News as a writer and producer. Among the numerous awards he's received are 32 Emmys and 31 Edward R. Murrow Awards.
SHAPIRO INTERVIEW ON THE FUTURE OF MEDIA
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Beth Comstock
September 26, 2021
Beth Comstock was Chief Marketing Officer at GE in 2014, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Comstock also held the positions of GE Vice Chair of Innovation and President of Integrated Media at NBCUniversal, where she was involved in the development of hulu. She'd been with the company for almost 30 years when she left in 2017.
Comstock's book, "Imagine It: Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change," was published in 2018.
Today she's a co-founder of climate-focused investment company Climate Real Impact Solutions. Comstock is also a director at Nike, a trustee of The National Geographic Society, and former board president of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum.
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Sree Sreenivasan
September 20, 2021
Sree Sreenivasan was Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Before joining the museum, Sreenivasan was on the faculty of the Columbia Journalism School for 20 years, and served as the university's first Digital Officer.
In 2015, he was named one of Fast Company magazine's Most Creative People of the Year. He also served as chief digital officer of the City of New York from 2016-2017.
Since the start of the pandemic, Sreenivasan has hosted a daily online conversation addressing the global health, finance, and racial injustice crises. The show is simulcast on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Sreenivasan is currently the Marshall Loeb Visiting Professor of Digital Innovation & Audience Engagement at the Stony Brook University School of Communication and Journalism.
SREENIVASAN AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY
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Circling Back To: Betsy Morgan
September 5, 2021
Betsy Morgan was CEO of Blaze Media in 2014, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Disruptor series.
Prior to joining Blaze, the multimedia network launched by conservative TV commentator Glenn Beck, Morgan was the first CEO of The Huffington Post. She'd also held a number of positions at CBS, including Senior Vice President for CBS Interactive and General Manager of CBSNews.com.
Today Morgan is with Magnet Companies, which she co-founded in 2018. It's a private equity-backed holding company that acquires and builds direct-to-consumer companies. Morgan also holds seats on a number of boards, including TripAdvisor, Chartbeat, and theSkimm.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Michael Kubin
August 28, 2021
Michael Kubin was Executive Vice President: Media of Invidi in 2014, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Disruptor series.
Kubin continues as EVP today with Invidi, a technology company providing advertising and marketing services to cable and satellite TV providers, and has been described as an "evangelist" for addressable television. He joined the firm as a board member in 2003 and has held an executive position there since 2006. Kubin is involved with the Invidi's global expansion, particularly in Latin America and Europe,
Prior to joining Invidi, Kubin helped create Corinthian Direct, a subsidiary of Corinthian Media Buying, and was president of the U.S. subsidiary of travel company Club Med Inc. Kubin also co-founded Media Incorporated, which was sold to the Interpublic Group, and web-based advertising tracking firm Evaliant, which was sold to CMR.
KUBIN OPINION PIECE ABOUT HYPERTARGETING
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Warren Schlichting
August 21, 2021
Warren Schlichting was SVP of Media Sales and Analytics at DISH Network in 2014, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Disruptor series.
Before joining DISH, Schlichting held leadership positions at Comcast and was co-founder and CEO of Yucatan Foods.
Today he's EVP and COO of Poly, which designs and sells audio and video workplace products and was formed by the merger of Plantronics and Polycom. Schlichting oversees Poly's product and services business units, product marketing, corporate strategy, and business development.
Prior to joining Poly, Schlichting spent four years as the Group President of Sling TV. Under his leadership the company became profitable and formed long-term partnerships with Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
SCHLICHTING INTERVIEW ABOUT BUNDLING
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Steve Hasker
August 14, 2021
Steve Hasker was President, Nielsen Global Product Leadership in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Originally from Australia, Hasker has also lived and worked in North America, Europe, and Asia. He spent more than a decade with McKinsey as a partner in the global media, information, and technology practice, and was CEO of CAA Global, a TPG Capital portfolio company.
Today Hasker is President and CEO of Thomson Reuters, which he joined in 2020. He's a board member of the Johnny Mac Tennis Project, affiliated with John McEnroe, which raises money to involve children from low-income families with tennis.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Bonita Stewart
August 8, 2021
Bonita Stewart was Google VP, Americas, Partner Business Solutions, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series in 2013.
She was the first black woman to be named a vice president at Google when she took the position in 2011.
Today Stewart is VP, Global Partnerships, overseeing the largest U.S. publishers across media/entertainment, news/publishing, mobile apps, search and commerce. Stewart is the co-author, with Jacqueline Adams, of the book "A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive." She also pioneered the concept for Howard West, a computer science immersion program for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), powered by Google.
INTERVIEW WITH STEWART ABOUT GENERATIONAL DIVERSITY STUDY
INTERVIEW WITH STEWART AND ADAMS ABOUT THEIR BOOK
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Rob Grimshaw
July 31, 2021
Rob Grimshaw was managing director of FT.com (at The Financial Times) in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Grimshaw was with The Financial Times for 14 years, holding positions including Advertising Strategy & Global Online Director. He headed the commercial development of the company's business-to-consumer business and product portfolio.
Today Grimshaw is Group CEO of Simply Conveyancing, a UK-based law firm specializing in real estate he joined in 2020.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Quantum Principal Analyzes FT Bureau Expansion for Digiday as Indicator of Specialization
July 28, 2021
In an article in Digiday about The Financial Times' bureau expansion to Houston and to Los Angeles, Peter Spiegel, US managing editor of the FT, tried to explain the move as looking for “global Americans” – whoever they are! Quantum Principal, Ava Seave, found that explanation inadequate, instead pointing out that these two cities are primarily one-industry places (Houston in energy and LA for media and entertainment) and that industry specialization was a much more likely reason for the activity. The read the full story, go here. #strategy #consulting #specialization
Circling Back To: Mike Perlis
July 25, 2021
Mike Perlis was CEO of Forbes in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Perlis continues at Forbes today, as Vice Chair. He serves on a number of boards, including Huffington Post and the Newhouse School of Public Communications, and is an Outward Bound trustee.
Prior to joining Forbes, Perlis was President and CEO of Ziff-Davis Publishing, Publisher of GQ, President of the Playboy Publishing Group, and Publisher of Runner's World and Men's Health. He was also a General Partner at SoftBank Capital.
PERLIS PODCAST INTERVIEW ABOUT CAREER DECISIONS
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Ann Sarnoff
July 17, 2021
Ann Sarnoff was COO of BBC America in 2013, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Prior to joining BBC Worldwide in 2010, Sarnoff was at Viacom. She was head of consumer products and business development at Nickelodeon, where her team created the TV channel Noggin. Sarnoff was also involved in the creation of the TV Land and VH1 Classic channels, and served as EVP of business strategy and program enterprises at VH1.
Sarnoff became CEO of Warner Bros. in 2019. She's the first woman to hold that position at the company. In 2020, she was named Chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, responsible for all of the company's content-focused teams, including the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Television Group, HBO, TBS, and WB Animation.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: David Liu
July 10, 2021
David Liu was the founder and CEO of XO Group in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
XO Group had its origins in 1996 as wedding site The Knot, which Liu co-founded, and grew into a global media and technology company with content designed for audiences in different stages of life including marriage, pregnancy, and raising children. Liu remained with the company for 22 years before leaving in 2018.
Today Liu holds seats on a number of boards, including Rebelle Media, Humanity Forward, and Constellation Agency. He also served as chair of the national finance committee for the presidential campaign of Andrew Yang from 2019-2020.
XO GROUP BECOMES PRIVATELY HELD
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Ava Seave is interviewed by France 24 about Bezos stepping down from Amazon
July 6, 2021
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is handing over the reins of his $1.7 trillion shopping and entertainment empire to Andy Jassy. In and interview with France 24 anchor, Francois Picard, Quantum Principal Ava Seave calls it "a really good strategic move by Bezos." With Amazon under such intense scrutiny - facing a restive workforce and calls for tighter regulation, "it makes sense for ‘the richest guy in the world’ to step away from managing the company." Nevertheless, Ms. Seave is quite certain that he will still maintain a certain level of influence and "the company will, in fact, proceed as if Bezos was the head." To see the video, go here.
#strategy #consulting #leadership
Circling Back To: Jon Axelrod
July 3, 2021
Jon Axelrod was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Axelrod continues today in those roles at ERA, New York City's leading technology accelerator and early stage venture capital fund. Since its start in 2011, ERA has invested in more than 215 startups.
Prior to the launch of ERA, Axelrod was Co-Founder and Co-CEO of MusicGremlin, which launched the first entirely cloud-based music service.
He was also Co-Founder and President of Music123, an e-commerce company that became one of the largest musical instrument retailers in the U.S.
Axelrod currently serves on the Investment Advisory Committee of New York State's Innovation Venture Capital Fund, and is on the Board of Overseers of Beth Israel Medical Center.
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Albert Cheng
June 26, 2021
Albert Cheng was EVP and Chief Product Officer, Digital Media, for the Disney/ABC Television Group in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Cheng, who began his career as an engineer, interned at Disney while a business school student years before joining the company at the executive level. Later, Cheng and his digital media team oversaw the development and operations of digital media content platforms and interactive television technologies. His group also created and developed the ABC.com Full Episode Player and the Oscar Digital Experience.
Since 2018, Cheng has been Chief Operating Officer and Co-Head of Television at Amazon Studios, where he was recently one of the leaders of the company's "VOICES: API Representation in Film & Media" project.
AMAZON STUDIOS API REPRESENTATION PROJECT
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Charlie Redmayne
June 18, 2021
Charlie Redmayne was CEO of Pottermore, JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" digital publishing business, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series in 2013.
Under Redmayne, Pottermore had 23 million visits and five million accounts set up within the first two weeks of the site's launch.
Redmayne was Chief Digital Officer at HarperCollins before leaving to launch Pottermore. He returned to the publishing company as CEO several years later. Today Redmayne is CEO of HarperCollins UK, with responsibility for the UK, Ireland, India, and Australia.
REDMAYNE INTERVIEW ABOUT CHANGES IN PUBLISHING
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Ben Lerer
June 12, 2021
Ben Lerer was co-founder and CEO of Thrillist Media Group in 2013, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Disruptor series.
At the time, the digital media company had more than four million daily subscriptions, with content and shopping options targeting a young urban male demographic.
Today, Lerer is CEO of Group Nine Media, a digital media company formed in 2016 with a $100 million investment from Discovery. It combined three startups -- Thrillist, NowThisMedia, and the Dodo -- with Seeker (formerly Discovery Digital Networks). It's also been backed by German publishing firm Axel Springer and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. Lerer has also been a managing partner at Lerer Hippeau since 2010.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Jonas Bonnier
June 5, 2021
Jonas Bonnier was President and CEO of the Bonnier Corporation in 2012, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Bonnier Corporation, a family-owned international media company, began as a bookshop more than 200 years ago. Under Jonas Bonnier, it acquired 18 magazines from Time Inc., turning Bonnier Corporation and its American partner, World Publications, into one of the largest consumer publishing groups in the U.S.
Bonnier stepped down as CEO in 2013 but remained as chairman of the board.
In addition to his corporate roles, Bonnier has been a journalist, screenwriter, and novelist. His thriller, "The Helicopter Heist," published in 2019, is a novel based on the true story of a Swedish robbery plot.
To sign up for notifications about upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Liz Schimel
May 29, 2021
Liz Schimel was EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Meredith National Media Group in 2012, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Schimel was previously a Vice-President at Nokia and AT&T, and SVP of Entertainment at Comcast. After leaving Meredith, Schimel was President of Conde Nast International and entrepreneur-in-residence at Comcast Ventures.
From 2018-2020, Schimel was head of business at Apple News+. In March, she joined the board of GameOn Entertainment Technologies.
SCHIMEL INTERVIEW ON THE FUTURE OF PUBLISHING
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Alan Murray
May 23, 2021
Alan Murray was Executive Editor, Online, at the Wall Street Journal in 2012, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
At the Journal, where he had previously been Washington bureau chief and assistant managing editor, Murray had editorial responsibility for the web sites, including WSJ.com and MarketWatch, and for the Journal's books, conferences, and television operations.
Murray has also been CNBC's Washington bureau chief, and the cohost of the nightly Capital Report. He is a former President of the Pew Research Center and the author of numerous books.
Today, Murray is President and CEO of Fortune Media Group, leading the transformation of the company from a publishing brand to a fully integrated publishing, events, and digital media business.
INTERVIEW WITH MURRAY ABOUT FORTUNE MEDIA
2021 PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH MURRAY
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Lockhart Steele and Alexis Juneja
May 15, 2021
Curbed co-founders Lockhart Steele and Alexis Juneja had already presided over its growth from a blog to a successful digital media company in 2012, when they were featured speakers in Quantum's Media Disruptors series.
By the end of 2011, Curbed Network had launched national versions of Curbed and Eater. It was acquired by Vox Media in 2013. Steele remained at the company as Vox Media editorial director until 2017, when he was fired for sexual misconduct. In 2018, he started Five Blades, LCC, and describes his job there as "Chief Dreamer."
In recent years, Juneja has been SVP for areas including talent acquisition and development at renewable energy firm Arcadia, an angel investor and venture partner at NextGen Venture Partners, and a principal at Early Stage Advisors, working in strategic HR and advisory services to CEOs and senior team leaders.
STEELE'S FIRING FROM VOX MEDIA
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Albert Wenger
May 9, 2021
Albert Wenger was Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures in 2012, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Wenger, who continues in that role at USV today, led the venture capital firm's investment in Etsy, Twilio, and MongoDB. Under Wenger's leadership, USV recently created a dedicated fund for investment in tech companies working to combat the effects of climate change.
Wenger was also an angel investor in Etsy and Tumblr, and was president of deli.icio.us prior to its sale to Yahoo. He currently sits on numerous boards, including Foursquare, Wattpad, and Twilio.
WENGER ON CLIMATE TECH INVESTMENT
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Vivian Schiller
May 1, 2021
Vivian Schiller was Chief Digital Officer at NBC News in 2011, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
Today she's Executive Director of Aspen Digital at the Aspen Institute, where she leads programs in media and journalism, technology, cybersecurity, and innovation.
Schiller has previously been President and CEO of NPR; Global Chair of News at Twitter; General Manager of NYTimes.com; Chief of the Discovery Times Channel, and Head of CNN documentary and long form divisions.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: David Carey
April 23, 2021
David Carey was President of Hearst Magazines in 2011, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
During the eight years he served as President, the company more than doubled in size, acquiring more than 100 magazines in 14 countries in 2011 alone. Carey went on to become Chairman of Hearst Magazines and today is Hearst SVP, Public Affairs and Communications.
Prior to joining Hearst Magazines, Carey was group president at Conde Nast, and publisher of The New Yorker. He currently serves as a trustee of the Whitney Museum, is on the board of directors of Harvard Business Publishing, and is a member of the advisory board of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: John Borthwick
April 17, 2021
John Borthwick was CEO and co-founder of venture capital incubator Betaworks Ventures in 2011, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
He continues today in those roles at Betaworks, an early investor in companies including Giphy, bitly, and Chartbeat. Other investments made by Betaworks include Venmo, Tumblr, and Twitter.
Before launching Betaworks in 2008, Borthwick was SVP of Alliances and Technology Strategy for Time Warner Inc., and head of AOL's product development studio. He currently serves on the boards of WNYC, New York Public Radio, Data & Society, Giphy, Dots, and Blade.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Steve Rosenbaum
April 9, 2021
Steve Rosenbaum's book, "Curation Nation," had just been published in 2011 when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru Series.
Rosenbaum is also an entrepreneur and a filmmaker, producing and directing films including "7 Days in September" and "With All Deliberate Speed." He created "MTV News: Unfiltered," the first commercial use of user-generated content, and launched digital video companies including CameraPlanet.com and Magnify.net. In addition, Rosenbaum has given two TED talks, received two patents in video technology, and written a second book, "Curate This."
Today Rosenbaum is executive director of the NYC Media Lab, a consortium of colleges and businesses working to generate innovation and job growth in media and technology.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Eric Hippeau
April 3, 2021
Eric Hippeau was an advisor at Lerer Ventures in 2011, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
He was previously publisher of PC Magazine and chairman and CEO of Ziff-Davis. Hippeau also founded ZDTV, a cable channel dedicated to technology and the internet, and was CEO of HuffPost.
Today, Hippeau is a managing partner at Lerer Hippeau, an early stage venture capital fund, and sits on the boards of BuzzFeed and Marriott International.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
What is old is new again: “Memberships” for magazine subscriptions, popular in the 1990s, are back, making price discrimination easier, says Quantum Principal in Digiday article
March 31, 2021
In the article, How Good Housekeeping’s membership is changing the reader-publication relationship, Ava Seave, Quantum Principal, explained that “GH is finding that the limit of what fans were once willing to pay, originally thought to be $12 per year, is actually $20. And since most of the items GH is offering to readers at that higher price tag are digital assets, the costs for GH end up being pretty nominal.” Read the full story. #strategy #pricing #consulting #marketing
Circling Back To: Tina Sharkey
March 26, 2021
Tina Sharkey was chair and global president of BabyCenter in 2011, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
BabyCenter was a division of Johnson & Johnson and became the largest platform in the world for new and expectant mothers. Sharkey also served as President of the Sesame Street Digital Group and co-founded iVillage. She went on to co-found Brandless, which was designed to compete with Amazon and other online companies by offering consumers lower cost (brand-less) grocery and household products. She served as CEO until 2019. Brandless briefly folded in 2020, but has since been acquired by new owners and is under new leadership.
Sharkey was elected to the board of directors of PBS in 2020.
FAST COMPANY STORY ABOUT BRANDLESS
BUSINESS INSIDER STORY ABOUT BRANDLESS
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#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Steve Waldman
March 19, 2021
Steve Waldman was senior advisor to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2011, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series. While at the FCC, he led an agency-wide effort to assess the state of media across all platforms, resulting in a comprehensive report, "The Information Needs of Communities: The changing landscape in a broadband age."
Today Waldman is the co-founder and president of Report for America, a national service program that places emerging journalists in newsrooms. He previously served as National Editor of U.S. News & World Report and as editor-in-chief, president, and co-founder of Beliefnet, a multi-faith spirituality website.
REPORT FOR AMERICA WALDMAN BIO
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Quantum Media Named—for the 2nd Time—as One of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms, by FORBES and Statista
March 16, 2021
Quantum Media was recognized as one of America’s best management consulting firms for 2021, after a survey of 7,500+ management consulting executives and partners along with 1,000+ senior executives who have worked with management consultancies. In total, just 231 management consultancies were named to the list. Read the story and full list.
This is the second time Quantum Media was honored in this way, the first being in 2020. Again, Quantum Media is among the smallest firms named to the list, having five Principals and three Senior Consultants—quite a contrast with the giant McKinsey consulting firm. The firm received 4 stars (frequently recommended) in the Internet, Media & Entertainment consulting category.
“We are so honored to be chosen as one of the best management consulting firms in America, for the second year in a row!” said Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave. “Since we were founded in 1998, we have worked very hard to bring actionable plans to our clients that will help their businesses grow and succeed, primarily in the media, information, and entertainment sectors.”
She said, “We have held Media Guru events with the Harvard Business School Club of New York for 23 years now, and that likely played a role in this.” She added that in 2021 so far, Quantum has booked four media legends for the program: Rick Berke, founder of STAT, the health and medical property; Jessica Lessin, founder of the finance/tech media company The Information; President and CEO of New York Public Media Goli Sheikholeslami; and Graydon Carter, longtime editor of Vanity Fair, now the head of the startup Airmail.
In addition, she cited Quantum Media as having been in on the ground floor of the digital transformation of so many media companies. “This, of course, was one of the most difficult challenges our industry ever faced, and we were well positioned to tackle it early on,” she said.
Quantum Media’s consulting work has spanned every aspect of the media business, from developing an Internet business strategy for a Fortune 500 company to advising a young entrepreneur on launching a niche digital product. Unlike the Principals of most consulting firms, Quantum Media’s five Principals all have held operating positions in major media companies, as CEOs, Presidents, and General Managers. Of the eight Principals and Senior Consultants, six hold MBAs (three from Harvard, one from Stanford, one from Wharton, and one from NYU), one holds an MS in Educational Psychology, and one holds a PMD from Harvard.
More information on Quantum Media, including a list of clients and some news articles about Quantum’s work, is available here.
Principals
- Christine Arrington – Strategic planning, launches and relaunches, international publishing, website development
- Carla Graubard – Strategic planning, branding, CRM and partnership marketing, new business development, traffic and content monetization
- Erica Gruen – Television and online content, advertising and marketing strategy, business development
- Jean Hellering – Financial/business modeling and business analysis in publishing and direct marketing.
- Ava Seave – Operating and strategic planning, audience development, non-profit management and strategy
Senior Consultants
- Alisha Alonso – Strategic planning, product development, M&A, media & information services
- Margaret Downs – Executive coach, strategic and organizational consulting
- Touseef Mirza - Professional executive branding, corporate branding and brand identity
Advisors
- Harold Clarke – Book and Magazine Media Brands Executive
- Gretchen Grant – Digital publishing executive
- Anne Kinard – Circulation, marketing, strategic planning, models, fulfillment
- Soo Koon Lee – Vice president of finance at ThermAvant Technologies
- Brian O’Leary – Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group
#consulting #strategy #marketing
Circling Back To: Brian Napack
March 12, 2021
Brian Napack was President of publishing giant Macmillan in 2011, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Today he's President and CEO of John Wiley & Sons, which he joined in 2017. Napack has served on the boards of numerous companies in education, publishing, and information, and since 2020 has been Chairman of the Board of the Association of American Publishers (AAP). He is also the founder of Disney Educational Publishing and a co-founder of Disney Interactive. Napack is involved with advocacy organization Zero-to-Three, which works to ensure that young children have a strong start in life.
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PUBLISHERS
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Circling Back To: Debra Lee
March 5, 2021
Debra Lee was Chairman and CEO of BET Networks in 2010, when she was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Lee held those positions at BET Networks for 13 years. Today she is co-founder and partner of The Monarchs Collective, which supports diverse candidates for executive roles and boards of directors. The search firm, established in January, helps corporate America “discover, develop, and promote exceptional Black and women executives.” Lee currently holds seats on the boards of AT&T, Burberry, Marriott, and Proctor & Gamble.
LEE LAUNCHES SEARCH FIRM
MONARCHS COLLECTIVE
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Circling Back To: Tim Armstrong
February 27, 2021
Tim Armstrong was Chairman and CEO of AOL in 2010, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
He remained in those roles until 2015, when Verizon purchased AOL. He's currently the CEO of The DTX Company, a product, design, and technology firm focused on the direct-to-consumer economy, that he founded in 2019. Among the companies DTX has invested in are beverage company Iris Nova, footwear brand Margeaux, and online bra brand Third Love.
ARMSTRONG IN 2010
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Circling Back To: Mathias Dopfner
February 20, 2021
Mathias Dopfner was Chairman and CEO of German media conglomerate Axel Springer in 2010, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Dopfner continues in those positions today at Axel Springer, which became a private company after U.S. based private-equity firm KKR acquired a 45% stake (in 2019). Axel Springer has been active in the U.S. in other ways as well by expanding its division Insider Inc. (formerly known as Business Insider). Insider used to be primarily in the U.S., but is now an essential element of Axel Springer's international growth plans. In fact Insider Inc. had a robust second half of 2020, with 30% revenue growth while turning a profit by not substantially changing its practices when the pandemic began, but continuing to focus on subscriptions and rely on a form of automated advertising that many competitors had dropped.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Circling Back To: Chris Anderson
February 12, 2021
Chris Anderson was editor-in-chief of Wired magazine in 2009, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Under Anderson, Wired circulation grew from 500,000 to 825,000. It won eight National Magazine Awards, including the top prize for General Excellence in three different years, and in 2010 was named magazine of the decade by Adweek. In 2012, after 12 years at Wired, Anderson left to become CEO of 3D Robotics, a company he co-founded. Anderson, who trained as a physicist, has also written several best-selling business books, including The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
ANDERSON IN 2009
ANDERSON LEAVES WIRED
Quantum consultant helps explain why Brit + Co. is strongly pivoting from ads to subscription products
February 10, 2021
In the Digiday story, Why Brit + Co wants to help women create companies to grow its own consumer revenue, Quantum Principal Ava Seave sheds light on why online learning can scale whereas advertising cannot for a company like Brit + Co. Read the full story. #strategy #managementconsulting #onlinelearning
Circling Back To: Thomas Gensemer
February 5, 2021
Thomas Gensemer was CEO and managing partner of Blue State Digital, which created the online strategy for the first Obama presidential campaign, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series in 2009.
Today, Gensemer is chief strategy officer at Public Policy Holding Co. (PPHC), a group of advisory firms specializing in government affairs and political marketing. PPHC works with more than 500 clients.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
“Fractional—Interim Management” is an Area of Longstanding Expertise for Quantum Media
February 5, 2021
Since its founding in 1998, the Principals in Quantum Media consulting group have undertaken a number of critical assignments as “Fractional—Interim Management” leaders. These have included work overseeing general strategy, consumer marketing, business development, content analysis, and work as interim editor-in-chief, for companies such as Rodale, Weightwatchers, Fairchild, Mad Magazine, Golf Digest, ProCirc, and more.
Fractional executives don’t function as consultants in the classical sense. Rather, they take an active leadership role in the company that hires them, by implementing, executing, and leading, as a permanently hired executive would do. A key difference between “outsourcing” and “fractional—interim management” is that the latter is a time-defined role rather than being project-defined, and it is based on a job definition, not a project definition. For this work the professionals are more integrated into the system, rather than simply providing “outsourcing” work.
Quantum Media Principal Erica Gruen, for example, worked as interim management at Rodale, where she led the creation of its deeply integrated Business Development department. She then oversaw the creation of an Entertainment Division within that company during 2006-2008. She functioned as chief of this Entertainment unit and created a $20 million online paid-subscription business from scratch. This included the launch of TheBiggestLoserClub.com with NBC and Reveille, and creation of the CelebrityFitClub.com with MTV. In addition, Ms. Gruen led the launch of a line of New York Times bestselling books and custom magazines around NBC’s primetime series “The Biggest Loser.”
Another example is the work of Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave, who acted as a Chief Audience Officer for Weightwatchers Magazine for eight years, on a one-day-per-week basis. She carried out strategic leadership and analysis, as well as directing the day-to-day management of all magazine circulation matters, including the direction of outsourced distribution, newsstand, and fulfillment agencies. This resulted in an increase of the publication’s audience reach and profitability, built on analysis of sources, direct response sales (digital and physical), segmentation, channel expansion, budgets, and operational plans.
Jean Hellering, another Quantum Media Principal, did “fractional—interim management” work for Fairchild and for Mad Magazine. Jean worked together with Quantum Media Advisor Anne Kinard to fill the roles of Finance Director and Planning Director for the Consumer Marketing Division of Fairchild. A subsidiary of Conde Nast, Fairchild’s titles include Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) newspaper and website, Footwear News weekly magazine, and Style monthly magazine. Their responsibilities included overseeing all accounting activity, forecasting, monthly reporting of performance, and fulfillment house management. They also oversaw a fulfillment house conversion and oversaw creation of the extensive programming needed to enable the fulfillment of a paid subscription website. Then they managed the transition of WWD from a daily paper to a weekly magazine. During the acquisition of Fairchild by Penske Media, Jean and Anne provided extensive reporting during negotiations and oversaw the transition of financial activities to Penske Media systems and procedures.
At Mad Magazine, Jean was responsible for all aspects of subscription marketing for the classic humor magazine for five years. The number of paid subscriptions increased by two thirds during that time.
Ava Seave and Carla Graubard worked as fractional executives for Golf Digest and its sister properties. Carla was initially engaged as acting head of consumer marketing, business development, and strategic planning. Following Carla’s work, Ava and Carla worked together in an expanded capacity, first for The New York Times (owner) and then for Conde Nast (subsequent owner), carrying out this and expanded work that was successful and evolved for more than 10 years.
Ava Seave said, “The current business environment seems ideal for ‘fractional—interim management’ work, since many companies are pivoting in new directions, rethinking their strategies, and wanting to launch new businesses and sub-businesses.”
Circling Back To: Craig Newmark
January 29, 2021
Craig Newmark had founded Craigslist, and used the title "Customer Service Representative" there, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series in 2009.
Today, he receives almost half of the listing giant's profits. (In 2018, Craigslist broke $1 billion in revenue.) Newmark uses his fortune to fund numerous philanthropic causes, including protecting journalists, increasing cybersecurity, and ensuring the integrity of elections.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
- NEWMARK IN 2009
- PRIVACY VENTURE FUNDED BY NEWMARK PHILANTHROPIES
- NEWMARK PHILANTHROPIES
- NEWMARK SPENDS $200 MILLION TO PROTECT JOURNALISM
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: CRAIG NEWMARK
January 23, 2021
Craig Newmark had founded Craigslist, and used the title "Customer Service Representative" there, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series in 2009.
Today, he receives almost half of the listing giant's profits. (In 2018, Craigslist broke $1 billion in revenue.) Newmark uses his fortune to fund numerous philanthropic causes, including protecting journalists, increasing cybersecurity, and ensuring the integrity of elections.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
PRIVACY VENTURE FUNDED BY NEWMARK PHILANTHROPIES
NEWMARK PHILANTHROPIES
NEWMARK SPENDS $200 MILLION TO PROTECT JOURNALISM
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: STRAUSS ZELNICK
January 16, 2021
Strauss Zelnick was President and Chair of video game company Take-Two Interactive in 2009, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series. He'd previously been president of 20th Century Fox and head of BMG Entertainment.
Today, Zelnick continues at Take-Two Interactive as Chair and CEO. He's the founder, CEO, and managing partner of private equity firm ZMC, and is the former chairman of Columbia Music Corporation.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
WIKIPEDIA PAGE
ZELNICK MEDIA COMPANY BIO
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: MICHAEL SILBERMAN
January 8, 2021
Michael Silberman was General Manager of digital media at New York magazine in 2008, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
While at New York, Silberman quadrupled digital revenue and increased audience more than tenfold. He also launched Vulture and The Cut as separate sites.
Today, Silberman is SVP Strategy at Piano, a software firm which provides a business platform for digital media. Silberman's division delivers product strategy, launch services, and revenue optimization to clients including some of the world's largest media companies.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
SILBERMAN'S LINKED IN PROFILE
MODELING SUBSCRIPTION SUCCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
SILBERMAN'S PIANO BIO
OVERVIEW OF PIANO
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: NORMAN PEARLSTINE
January 1, 2021
Norman Pearlstine was chief content officer for Bloomberg in 2008 when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series.
Today, he's the executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, where he's just moved into a senior advisor role while a search for his successor is underway. Pearlstine came out of retirement in 2018 to run the paper after it changed ownership.
During five decades in journalism, Pearlstine spent many years at the Wall Street Journal as a reporter and in positions including managing editor and executive editor. He was also editor in chief of Time Inc.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
PEARLSTINE'S ADVISORY ROLE
WHAT PEARLSTINE HAS LEARNED IN FIVE DECADES
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: DAVID ZASLAV
December 20, 2020
David Zaslav was President and CEO of Discovery in 2007, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's "Media Guru" series.
Zaslav continues to hold the positions of President and CEO of Discovery today. Discovery's brands now reach more than 3 billion cumulative viewers in over 220 countries. Under Zaslav, the network's annual revenue has increased from more than $3 million, with operating income at 31% of revenue, in 2008, to more than $11 million in revenue with operating income at 27% of revenue in 2019. Last week, the network announced it will launch a streaming service in January.
DISCOVERY TO LAUNCH STREAMING SERVICE
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Planting People Growing Justice Nonprofit Completes Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Project with Quantum Media
December 18, 2020
Dr. Artika R. Tyner is a passionate educator, author and advocate for justice. She is committed to training university students to serve as social engineers who create new inroads to justice and freedom in her professional capacity.
And in her “spare time” Dr. Tyner is also involved with much younger children. In 2017 she formed Planting People Growing Justice Institute (PPGJI.org) to “plant seeds of social change through education, training, and community outreach” as she explained in a recent article in the ABA Journal.
PPGJI focuses on diversity in children’s books by donating multicultural books to schools and community organizations, helping children with reading, and training leaders about reading diversity. Dr. Tyner’s energetic approach to these fundamental societal goals through PPGJI attracted the attention of Quantum Media.
To address the business and social challenges in 2020, Quantum Media, a consulting firm with deep expertise in the media, information, and entertainment industries, offered complimentary business consulting sessions to young businesses or startups. Preference was given to minority and/or women led organizations.
Dr. Tyner’s nonprofit was selected by Quantum Media for its need for guidance on the best way to move forward. Quantum Principal’s Ava Seave and Jean Hellering helped answer questions about how to more effectively engage in branding and marketing for the organizations’ books and services as well as to more effectively find corporate sponsorships.
Key takeaways from the session include advice for PPGJI and Dr. Tyner to:
- Simplify and clarify the mission to include only three areas: “Encouraging reading,” “Diversity in books,” and “Promoting leadership”
- Take time to do an annual plan of programs and activities
- Establish a basic fundraising campaign schedule to communicate with supporters, suggesting twice per year
- Move the fulfillment of book sales to a publishing partner either via an Amazon affiliate relationship, or through a distribution, or licensing deal with an appropriate publisher
- Offer Corporate Sponsorships or Corporate Partnership through a standard set of benefits and prices to make the discussions of these programs easier. Some benefits might be to give the corporations access to a support video that is not available to the general public, the company’s logo and live links on Planting People’s home page or corporate recognition/advertisement in your support materials.
Dr. Tyner said that the Quantum Media written report and Zoom sessions will get her much closer to her immediate goal of having PPGJI.org become “sustainable.” #strategy #consulting #diversity #media #PPGJI
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: ANDY SAREYAN
December 14, 2020
Andy Sareyan, President and CEO of Andrew McMeel Universal, was a Media Guru in 2007.
Sareyan was President, Better Homes and Gardens, and Meredith Publishing Group EVP in 2007, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum’s Media Guru Series.
He also spent 18 years with Time Inc., where he was president of Entertainment Weekly and the Parenting Group, and was founding publisher of Real Simple magazine. Since 2014, Sareyan has been President and CEO of Andrew McMeel Universal, a leading publisher of comics and humor products, cookbooks, puzzles, and games. McMeel also syndicates cartoons including Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
SAM, a DEI consultancy completes Quantum’s Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Project
December 9, 2020
Stef Alicia McCalmon is an award-winning strategist and marketer who believes in the power of storytelling to inspire leaders to build equitable organizations. She is the CEO and co-founder of SAM, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy and content company. Ms. McCalmon’s work focuses on the intersection of media and advocacy, and her creative approach attracted the attention of Quantum Media.
To address the business and social challenges in 2020, Quantum Media, a consulting firm with deep expertise in the media, information, and entertainment industries, offered complimentary business consulting sessions to young businesses or startups. Preference was given to minority and/or women led organizations. Ms. McCalmon’s company SAM was selected by Quantum Media for its socially focused entrepreneurship and its need for guidance on the best way to move forward.
As a relatively new business in a DEI advisory market with pressing, actionable needs, SAM’s challenge is to communicate its unique offering effectively and grow its client base. Ms. McCalmon asked Quantum’s Ava Seave and Alisha Alonso for guidance about strategies to compete with both large corporations and small consulting businesses, structuring and pricing packages competitively, and a viewpoint about monetization models for its weekly newsletter.
Key takeaways from the session centered around defining the ideal clients’ problem statement that SAM is uniquely able to handle. Ms. McCalmon’s values and motivation for being in business is important, but Quantum helped her articulate the value and expertise she brings when a client needs to address a particular DEI management issue. She is able to describe how her service is an Organizational Design practice and can effectively tie it to her clients’ business value.
How to structure and price packages is a challenge for any consultant, and QM helped Ms. McCalmon shift her approach to make the client feel confident their needs were understood by investing as much time with them as possible upfront. QM demonstrated how to craft a proposal in modules or steps with different pricing so the client understands their optionality and gives more flexibility to finalize terms that make sense for both SAM and the client.
Lastly, QM addresses Ms. McCalmon’s weekly newsletter the tuesday tab as a marketing tool for her consulting practice. While compelling and beautifully written, QM suggested keeping a very focused approach and maintain its separation from her specialization in education and advisory services in the DEI space.
“Quantum Media heard and thought through some of my most challenging issues and really gave me a lot to think about. They helped me organize my approach and I feel better equipped to articulate how my passion and expertise on DEI issues can support a client to achieve their goals,” said Ms. McCalmon. #strategy #consulting #DEI #media
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: PHIL BIRSCH
December 6, 2020
Phil Birsch, President and Publisher of Playbill, was a Media Guru in 2007.
Phil Birsch was President and Publisher of Playbill in 2007, when he was a featured speaker in Quantum's Media Guru series. He holds those same positions today, during what is perhaps the most challenging time in the history of the 136-year-old publication, now that theaters around the country have closed due to COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, Playbill has added online content including benefit concerts and other performances, and traffic to playbill.com has increased by one million to three million users. Read more here.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT PLAYBILL (Video starts at 1:02)
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Chris Halpin, EVP of the NFL And Quantum Media’s Latest Media Guru, Oversees Connections with 187 Million Fans Across Many Media Platforms
December 2, 2020
Chris Halpin spoke as a Media Guru for Quantum Media at an October 11, 2020, Zoom meeting. He is the National Football League’s Executive Vice President in charge of marketing, data, and analytics. He oversees media contracts, sponsors, videogames and more, touching 187 million fans across the world.
Mr. Halpin said the NFL has the most avid and engaged fans of any sport in the world. “Our fan base lines up with the population of the total U.S.,” he said, “in that we have about 55% male and 45% female fans—the highest proportion of female fans of any of the major sports.”
The NFL gathers data on those fans, directly from 44 million of them and also from Nielsen, from the fans’ TV consumption, and from other sources on 10 clusters of overlapping behaviors. From all that data, the organization creates rich profiles of those fans and benefits from their enormous lifetime value to the NFL; The highest lifetime value fans are the season ticket holders.
Mr. Halpin said that of the 32 franchised clubs, each bears its own expenses. The League itself has 1,300 employees based in New York, Mexico City, Toronto, Shanghai, and Los Angeles.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the NFL’s 2020 season. The League closed its offices on March 11th, and its employees began working from home. The organization held a virtual draft in April, set up 32 testing sites over the summer, and completed 600,000 tests across the NFL, while also instituting contact tracing.
Mr. Halpin concluded, “Covid required the reimagination of all of our workflows!”
By November more than half of the teams were allowed to have a set number of fans in the stands.
More recent issues were discussed at the owners’ Zoom meeting just a few days before the Media Guru event. Mr. Halpin said a few proposals were considered on the need to hire more diverse employees, particularly since some 70% of the players are black. The League is now in the process of hiring more diverse offensive coordinators, for example.
Another issue discussed was the need to continue attracting more young fans. “We have a massive effort on the front of encouraging youth sports participation,” Mr. Halpin said. Also, reaching younger fans requires dealing with the decline of TV viewership by younger viewers and their migration to platforms like YouTube and social media. As early as five years ago, the League began encouraging and assisting the players in setting up their own social media followings.
The issue of injuries and concussions was also discussed. Progress has been made on that front, with total injuries down by one-third in the last two years. The League has also committed $200 million to research and development work with GE on improved helmets and other injury reducing projects.
Finally, Mr. Halpin said the focus of his job is the fans and the NFL’s engagement with them. “The fans are at the core of it all,” he said.
#strategy #consulting #NFL #sports
Quantum Media Completes Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Project with La Muse Press
December 2, 2020
The small, independent book publisher La Muse Press was chosen by Quantum Media from among several applicants for a complimentary consulting engagement. Owned by Mary Banks, La Muse Press is based in Baltimore, MD.
Considering the business and social challenges of 2020, Quantum Media had announced that it would offer complimentary business consulting sessions to three select young businesses or startups, with preference given to minority- and/or women-owned and led enterprises. This was the first of the three projects to be completed.
Mary Banks started La Muse Press in 2011 when she self-published her book STREET MAGIC: STORIES AND TALES. It offers a powerful, artful vision of the “gritty reality” of the lives of African-Americans. She went on to assist other authors with publishing their books, and she turned her business into an LLC in 2018.
Quantum Media’s Christine Arrington and Touseef Mirza worked with Ms. Banks to answer her key questions, including: How could her business be more profitable and sustainable? How narrowly should she focus her strategy?
Some of the top takeaways from the consulting project were as follows:
- Refocus her services from general publishing to being specifically a book writing coach and self-publishing consultant
- Use her own book as a way to connect with independent bookstores that sell books like hers, by offering to read excerpts and sign books, while also offering her book coaching services, via Zoom or in-person, to these bookstores’ customers
- Reestablish her positioning more narrowly as follows: MARY BANKS IS A SUCCESSFUL SELF-PUBLISHED WRITER AND BOOK PUBLISHING COACH WHO CELEBRATES DIVERSE VOICES
As a result of working with Quantum Media, Ms. Banks said “I now have repositioned myself as a book writing coach. I also plan to create a book writing membership that includes accountability check-ins and a virtual co-working space for writers.”
#strategy #marketing #consulting
photo: Mary Banks during consulting session.
When Media Gurus Speak, They Speak To Quantum Media: Mary Berner
November 29, 2020
Mary Berner, President and CEO of Cumulus Media Inc., was a 2006 Media Guru.
When Berner was a featured speaker in Quantum’s Media Guru series in 2006, she was President and CEO of Fairchild Publications, leading the company as a standalone and remaining at the helm when it became a division of Conde Nast Publications. Berner then served as CEO of Reader’s Digest Association, during the time of an unprofitable acquisition. Berner has also been President and CEO of The Association of Magazine Media (MPA). In 2015, she became President and CEO of radio giant Cumulus Media Inc. The company filed for Chapter 11 in 2017 but under Berner went through a successful restructuring, reporting a 5.5% increase in profits in 2019.
READER’S DIGEST ACQUISITION ATTEMPT
CUMULUS MEDIA ANNUAL REPORT 2019
STATEMENT BY BERNER ABOUT CUMULUS EMERGING FROM CHAPTER 11
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
November 22, 2020
Arianna Huffington, writer, speaker, and co-founder of the Huffington Post, was a 2006 Media Guru.
Huffington was a featured speaker in Quantum’s Media Guru series in 2006, one year after she co-founded the news and politics site Huffington Post. She stepped down from her role there in 2016 to found the startup Thrive Global, focused on health and wellness information. Huffington is currently CEO of Thrive Global. This month BuzzFeed Inc., whose CEO Jonah Peretti was also a Huffington Post co-founder, agreed to acquire Verizon Media’s HuffPost (as it was renamed in 2017) as part of a stock deal, uniting two of the larger players in digital media.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
HUFFINGTON SPEAKS ABOUT THRIVE GLOBAL
BUZZFEED ACQUISITION OF HUFFPOST
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA: JIM CITRIN
November 14, 2020
Jim Citrin, who leads Spencer Stuart’s North American CEO Practice, was a 2005 Media Guru
When he was a featured speaker in Quantum’s Media Guru series in 2005, Jim Citrin was with Spencer Stuart: Technology, Communications & Media and Board Services practices. Today Citrin leads the firm’s North American CEO Practice. He’s worked with clients on more than 750 CEO, board director and other top management searches and succession assignments.
To hear from Quantum Media’s latest gurus, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA
November 8, 2020
WHEN MEDIA GURUS SPEAK, THEY SPEAK TO QUANTUM MEDIA
Jeff Housenbold, Managing Partner of Softbank “Vision” Funds, was a 2005 Media Guru
When he was a featured speaker in Quantum’s Media Guru series in 2005, Jeff Housenbold was just beginning his 11-year run as CEO of Shutterfly. Now Housenbold is the Managing Director, America, at Softbank, one of the most controversial and complicated private equity funds, with over $200 billion in two vision funds.
Housenbold’s Linked In profile.
To attend talks by upcoming Media Guru speakers, go here.
#consulting #strategy #leadership
Looking for direct-to-consumer revenue, Eater offers readers a wine club that Quantum consultant finds problematic
October 26, 2020
“As a digital publication that covers the local restaurant and beverage industry, Eater has not only covered the disruptions that the coronavirus crisis has had on those businesses, but has needed to adapt its own business and editorial strategy to solve for those very same challenges,” wrote Digiday’s Kayleigh Barber about the media property’s efforts to try find more revenue not connected to content about local restaurants. In the piece, Quantum Media’s Principal, Ava Seave, thinks they will find success here with difficulty because of the vast number of competitors, and the “off message” nature of national sales for very locally oriented food content. To read the full story, go here. [Illustration from Kitchen Kapers.] #strategy #consulting #ecommerce.
And the winners are….
October 7, 2020
...three extremely promising young companies for Quantum Media’s Complimentary Business Strategy Consulting Sessions!
All three companies are also minority- and women-owned or lead. The companies and founders are:
- SAM — a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy and content company— founded by Stef Alicia McCalmon
- Planting People Growing Justice — a leadership institute that “seeks to plant seeds of social change through education, training, and community outreach.”— founded by Artika Tyner
- La Muse Press — a book publishing and consulting business “assisting aspiring authors with writing and self-publishing”—founded by Mary Banks
We will publish the individual stories of these companies and the projects we will be helping them with in the coming months.
And finally, thanks to all of the companies and nonprofits which applied for the sessions, but weren’t chosen this time. There is a lot of talent out there!
#strategy #marketing #consulting
Quantum Principal advises: If eCommerce shop works for Golf.com, competition is sure to enter
September 16, 2020
Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave is a big believer in multiple revenue streams for publications. However, the near ubiquity of eCommerce shops and buying guides in digital publications means that the profits will be thin as more and more organizations enter. And of course there is always Amazon. In Kayleigh Barber’s Digiday piece, ‘One endless loop’: How Golf is using its new retail marketplace as a first-party data play, Seave explains that low barriers to entry will be a problem pretty quickly. To read the full story go here. #media #strategy #consulting.
“It’s worth testing,” says Quantum Principal about GQ’s ecommerce efforts
August 25, 2020
For Digiday’s “Content and Commerce” story on GQ's increasing ecommerce efforts, Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave agrees with the publication that it is a good idea to test their efforts to understand the financial and brand value. She added that "Launching a merchandise shop serves as a level of 'validation' for a publisher that it 'has a certain quality and taste.' To read Kayleigh Barber’s full story, ‘It’s worth testing’: GQ is moving from recommending products to selling its own, go here. #media #strategy #consulting.
Quantum Media to offer complimentary business strategy consulting sessions
August 16, 2020
Considering the business and social challenges in 2020, Quantum Media, recently recognized by Forbes as one of America’s best Management consulting firms, is meeting the current moment’s need by offering complimentary business consulting sessions to 3 select young businesses or startups, for profit or nonprofit, with preference given to minority- and/or women-owned and led enterprises.
- We will utilize our experience and acumen to help these individuals by addressing their business issues/challenges/questions, and provide guidance on the best way to move forward.
- We want the applicants to feel that their experience with us is easy, focused, and highly valuable.
The complimentary session will consist of a one 2-hour zoom session. The session will be based on analysis by the Quantum team done in advance.
To qualify for a complimentary consulting session, the applicant’s business/startup issues/challenges must be
- Within the disciplines of strategy, operations or marketing
- And in the industries where we have deep expertise: broadly defined as media, information or entertainment businesses and nonprofits.
This initiative will be launched on August 17, 2020 and will accept applications through September 9, 2020. will be shared and marketed for 3 weeks through social media and pertinent networks.
To enter, applicants should use the Google form here, which asks for the following topline information:
- First Name, Last Name
- Company/Organization name
- Company/Organization short description
- Company web site link
- Email address
- Are you a minority-, woman-owned business?
- What industry or industries are you in?
- How many years has your company/startup has been running?
- How many employees/volunteers work for your company?
- What are the 2 or 3 questions you would like Quantum Consultants to provide guidance on?
#strategy, #consulting, #media
Quantum Media Adds New Senior Consultant Touseef Mirza
August 4, 2020
The media consulting firm Quantum Media has added to its team the experienced brand and marketing strategy consultant Touseef Mirza. She has more than 20 years of experience working on brand identity and strategy, communication, leadership, content strategy, and marketing outputs for a variety of firms, including media and marketing firms.
This comes in the wake of Quantum Media recently having been named by Forbes and Statista as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms 2020, one of 222 firms so honored. This recognition was based on a survey of 7,500 partners and executives of management consultancies and of 1,000 senior executives who worked with such firms.
“I am excited to join a group of seasoned and personable consultants at Quantum Media,” said Touseef, “And I look forward to helping the firm reach even greater heights!”
Touseef Mirza provides consulting services on Personal brands for executives and Corporate brands for businesses. She brings notable expertise across a broad range of valuable topics: creative strategy, brand identity, verbal identity, strategic positioning and messaging, content strategy and development, user experience, digital outputs, website development, and marketing strategy.
In addition to her years of brand and marketing strategy consulting, Touseef is an Adjunct Professor at the NYU program of Integrated Digital Media teaching personal branding. She is the former Chief Marketing Officer of the Advertising Research Foundation, and founder and host of the ClarityConnects Podcast that explores the human essence in brands.
She also is co-founder of the CoreConnect Conference on marketing made human, and she is founder and host of the New York Branding Meetup. She holds an MSc in Occupational & Environmental Health, and a BSc in Chemisty and Toxicology from Montreal University.
Touseef has spoken at many events, including those held by Google, the General Assembly, Euronet, Neuehouse, and many more.
Touseef Mirza can be reached at touseef@clarityconnects.co, and at 917-548-3410. You can read more about her at QuantumMedia.com and here at www.touseefmirza.com.
#consulting #media #strategy #branding
Amanda Hesser, Co-Founder and CEO, Food52 shares “customer first” practices
July 29, 2020
Quantum Media Principal Erica Gruen reports on a talk by Amanda Hesser and their decades long acquaintance.
I first became acquainted with Amanda in 1998 when I was running Food Network and she was food reporter for the New York Times, where she wrote a scathing review about our star, Emeril Lagasse (and about which she and I much later shared a good laugh). Ten years later, she left the Times to found Food52 with Merrill Stubbs, a freelance food editor. The rest, as they say, is history, as Food52 sold a majority stake in the business last year to The Chernin Group, valuing the company at $100 million.
Our Advisor, Gretchen Grant, recently interviewed Amanda (on Zoom) as part of the Quantum Media Guru series, co-sponsored with the Harvard Business School Club. Here is a report on that conversation.
Amanda describes Food52 as “a comprehensive resource for people who see food at the center of a well-lived life,” focusing on community, content, and commerce. It’s a brand centered on serving its people – not strictly a media company, not strictly a commerce company, but a seamless blend of the two.
That said, commerce is 75% of Food52’s revenue (the remainder is advertising sales), and Food52 has had phenomenal success. “We are data-guided, not data-driven,” says Amanda, emphasizing that building community, an emotional relationship and trust with the customer are the bedrocks of her business, and that voice and point of view are so important in building those. “Think about your consumers and how to meet their needs – our brand should be a resource and be genuine.” (N.B. The company recently brought on Claire Chambers, previously VP/General Manager, Home at Walmart e-commerce, as its first Chief Commerce Officer, reportedly to expand its product line and retail presence.)
The genesis of this commerce has been slow, steady and organic, starting by collaborating with the Food52 community in creating products. Amanda told a fascinating story about how Food52’s cutting board – its first product – was born. The site put out a survey with 10 questions for readers regarding features they would like in a cutting board, and then solicited open-ended suggestions as an 11th question. An astonishing 10,000 people responded to the survey, and fully 5,000 of those took the time to submit their own ideas. This taught the team early on that there was real need for product innovation, and that the Food52 audience trusted the site to create exactly those kinds of products for them.
Amanda described Food52’s character as “scrappy” – “invest when you feel confident.” Consequently, the company’s growth has not been “hockey-stick” in nature, but rather “fast and steady.” Listening to the customer, being guided by data, and testing steadily: these are the ingredients for launching and succeeding in one of the most competitive areas of content and commerce in digital. Clearly, it’s a recipe that works!
#media #strategy #consulting
Online sales of sex toys are an opportunity for publishers, explains Quantum Principal
July 7, 2020
For Digiday’s “Content and Commerce” story on the “rise” of the sale of sex toys (that is Digiday’s double entendre) Quantum Media Principal Ava Seave had a few comments…. about delivery of the products. She advised publishers to monetize any sex toy content by sticking with affiliate sales or at the most aggressive, arrange for drop shipping. But she discouraged them from taking an inventory risk on their own branded product what is likely not a long term trend. To read Kayleigh Barber’s full story, Sex toy sales are up and publishers are seeing an opportunity to grasp go here. #media #strategy #consulting
Prof Ruth Gunther McGrath shows how to identify Leading Indicators that Provide Early Warnings of Inflection Points
June 24, 2020
Quantum Principal Jean Hellering reports a summary of a virtual Zoom event on June 2nd from WARC Talks and Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership.
“Leading Indicators of the Future: Covid-19” Edition was presented by Rita Gunther McGrath. She spoke on how to spot leading indicators, create an early warning system, and forecast possible future scenarios. McGrath is the author of the book Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) and a long-time professor at Columbia Business School.
What is an inflection point?
- A moment when all assumptions about business come unglued
- Assumptions based on existing business metrics no longer apply
- Businesses at an inflection point will either reach new heights or decline depending on their response
- We are in the midst of a historic inflection point due to the Covid-19 crisis and its economic impacts that is going to dramatically influence business.
Developing Early Warnings. Metrics used by business for decision making and developing strategies are either
- Lagging – Most financial metrics tell you where you were/ Quantitative
- Current – Engagement metrics that tell you where you are / Quantitative
- Leading – Information about things that haven’t happened yet / Qualitative, stories, hypothesis
Future scenario prediction. An appropriate measure of the success of a leading indicator should not be if it was simply predictive; it should be measured by the organization’s preparedness. If this thing happened would we be ready?
- In the mid-1990’s IT professionals realized that in 2000 computers would malfunction, and called the phenomenon “Y2K” – the Year 2000. When, Y2K came it was a non-event because the early warnings were heeded
- Current pandemic is example of failure to read leading indicators
Future scenario vocab.
- Strength of the signal of early indicators starts very weak the farther away from the event you are and gradually gets stronger until you reach the “Time Zero” where there are facts and evidence.
- “The Degrees of Freedom” for decision making are the inverse, at Time Zero, you have very little ability to take action.
- Early warnings move decision frame back to when you have more time to act. This is called “The Period of Optimal Warning.”
Gunther’s model for identifying leading indicators
- Define a set of Time Zero events then work backward to identify what would need to happen before that event becomes reality
- Pick two major uncertainties and assign two different values to each create a 2X2 grid.
- Create stories for each combination
- Write headlines for each story, these are the Time Zero events
- Important to focus on predictions not preferences. For modeling purposes each of the 4 futures could happen.
- Pick a time frame that reflects the length of your planning time horizon. Could be as long as 10 years for industries like mining.
- Describe what would be happening during each Time Zero scenario
- Then think about what would be happening today and at key time intervals, such as 6-month periods, for the Time Zero event to occur. Things you would be able to observe if we were heading to that Time Zero scenario.
- The events at each time interval are the leading indicators to track.
The recording of Professor McGrath’s presentation is available for viewing until June 30th. Watch the recording here.
Illustration is slide from Professor McGrath’s talk Leading Indicators of the Future
Entrepreneurial Optimism is Warranted, Even During this Pandamic: HBS Professor William Sahlman Makes the Case
May 27, 2020
Quantum Principal, Christine Arrington reports a summary of a virtual Zoom event on May 13th, from the Harvard Business School Club of New York.
Professor Sahlman made a strong optimistic case for the future of the world we’re in right now in a talk entitled “Entrepreneurial Solutions to World Problems.” Yes, things are really bad economically and healthwise for people around the globe, but with the right response, our world can come back stronger than ever. Sahlman proceeded to give examples of the latest new, innovative companies that are likely to thrive in the coming years, along with the principles behind their success.
THE TWO GREATEST INVENTIONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Professor Sahlman asserted that “the two greatest inventions of the 20th century are: THE STARTUP and “VENTURE CAPITAL.” Quite a powerful assertion, which he then proceeded to defend.
The risk and uncertainty of the present moment make the entrepreneurial process particularly valuable, he argued. In a nutshell, entrepreneurs, he said, “acquire financial, human and other resources to run structured experiments,” and then, “investors give only enough money to run a sensible experiment.”
The venture capital model is to “identify great people with outstanding ideas and give them money to run structured experiments that reveal information about the team, the competition and the opportunity.” Then the bottom line is: “kill losing projects, accelerate winners.”
Professor Sahlman used UberCab and AthenaHealth as examples of success that came out of the 2008 recession. He described how cabs in 2008 were using “aging and inefficient technology”—radio dispatch with no real two-way communication and no GPS coordination between client and driver. The UberCab concept was different, aimed at professionals in American cities, using the latest consumer web and device technology, and in the beginning using “luxury automobiles—Mercedes Sedans.”
The principles Sahlman identified for decision making rested on:
- Smart, informed identification of opportunities
- Awareness of the risk-reward probabilities for any given venture
- Clear understanding that in the new business its customers must be willing to pay enough to satisfy all claimants on the business’s value: suppliers, employees, founders, government, and investors. (See illustration.)
CUTTING EDGE BUSINESSES IN PROCESS
Sahlman described cutting edge, innovative businesses that have been launched in three categories: health, education and energy and environment.
Each of these companies and categories embodies a dramatic “risk and return” potential, with a high risk and high chance of not making a profit contrasted with a low potential—for a possibly outsized profit. Understanding these models can help in the entrepreneurial and venture-capital decision-making processes going forward.
One of the most ambitious of the ventures Professor Sahlman described is Moderna—a somewhat controversial company, with a clearly innovative, game-changing approach. It is an American biotech company focused on drug discovery and development based exclusively on messenger RNA. Moderna is “attempting to insert synthetic mRNA into the living cells of patients that would reprogram their cells to create their own therapies and vaccines, rather than” those therapies and vaccines “being created externally and injected as with conventional medicines.”
The company has worked on treatments in the therapeutic areas of cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal diseases, as well as selected targets for cancer. Right now Moderna is working on a possible COVID-19 vaccine.
Professor Sahlman also presented descriptions of innovative education companies GSV Accelerate, Southern New Hampshire University, EdX and Coursera.
These were followed by energy and environment case companies including CFS, Terrapower, Breakthrough Energy and Lyft.
Kara Swisher Predicts Covid-19 Pandemic Will Accelerate Dominance of Big Tech – and other Tech and Media Trends
April 26, 2020
Quantum Media Senior Consultant, Margaret Downs reports on the highlights of a talk by technology business journalist and entrepreneur Kara Swisher. Swisher spoke with the Harvard Business School Club of New York on “Coronavirus & Big Tech” in an interview with Chitra Nawbatt of Genpact.
Following a career at the Wall St. Journal, in 2014 Kara Swisher cofounded the Recode website with colleague Walt Mossberg. A year later they sold the site to Vox Media, and since then have innovated across the podcast space (Recode Decode, Pivot) and the conference industry (All Things Digital, Code). Swisher also contributes to the New York Times opinion section.
In a wide-ranging interview, Swisher opined on the fallout and opportunity created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic as an accelerator of trends in technology
- Big Tech Gets Bigger: “This is a boon to the Big 4 Tech companies. They will suck up all the talent. They will go for the top 5% of everyone’s businesses, go for the heavy-duty talent and get rid of people they don’t really want. They have so much money and power.” Amazon faces huge challenges with safety and warehouses, but “who will take on Amazon after this?”
- Culling of the Start-Up Herd: The pandemic presents an “opportunity for VC’s to cull the herd.” They are in a position of power now, especially those who recently raised money. “There will be a culling of the best ideas and that is a good thing.” IPO’s will not return in Q4. They were already slow going, and now will be even slower.
- Regulatory Threat Diminished: Swisher thinks that Big Tech will get a big pass on regulation in the US, though people won’t necessarily let them get bigger. “The US government will have its hands full for a decade and won’t be that focused on controlling them.” Stateside, she foresees partisan fighting and a lack of energy to attack big business. But expect more aggression toward Big Tech outside of the US.
- Big Tech Moving into Healthcare: Amazon and Apple started moving into healthcare before the pandemic. As giant companies that need to “eat to get bigger,” she sees them (along with Google) moving further into the healthcare space as well as transportation. Healthcare is very broken in the US, however, and won’t be as easy to penetrate as the sectors they have already taken.
- Downturns are ripe with opportunity for start-ups: Google and other important tech companies started in times of scarcity. She’d like to see tech rise to the challenges of our age, especially climate, and thinks the first trillionaire will be in climate tech.
The pandemic as an accelerator of trends in the media sector
- Streaming Media: “I wouldn’t want to own a movie chain to save my life right now.” People were already going to streaming, especially young people; the pandemic just accelerated that trend. Staying at home gives people a chance to try things out. But it’s a tough business with a lot of entrants. “How will they differentiate to capture eyeballs and make them stick?” Swisher sees content as king. “Go 90 didn’t work because the content wasn’t good. HBO is good at programming; that is king no matter what platform.”
- Entertainment: “Hollywood is full of great ideas.” Swisher speculated that perhaps people won’t care as much about production values after this experience. She recalled watching Billie Eilish performing on her patio, and it worked. “YouTube rises up to meet Hollywood, which is coming down.”
- Social Media: “Actually helping society now, where it had cheapened and trashed our society. Now I’m more delighted by it – people are doing wonderful creative things. We are starting to see how this media should have been… I hate to compliment Mark Zuckerberg, but they’ve been OK.” According to Swisher, social media has done a better job than cable at cleaning up bad information around the pandemic, “knocking off the lunatics and hoarders,” and better than they had done in the political space.
- TikTok: She sees TikTok as a great product with big potential despite controversies around China—a real challenge to Instagram, and a lot of fun. “Now it’s a lot of people dancing around but there’s a lot more you could do in a more substantive way,” such as business advice and influence. She has no worries about TikTok’s monetization over time with the same kind of creative marketing under development that she sees with Instagram.
So, who will succeed in these times? “Those with the ability to shift depending on what happens.” Swisher herself is constantly switching. She launched into podcasts 5 years ago. She was ahead of others on the digital front but went back to the New York Times to do a column because it’s a powerful platform.
In case you have a little extra time for looking backwards, though, Swisher thinks her Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interviews will go down in history, as well as her Mark Zuckerberg interview.
Quantum Principal weighs in on Covid and print magazines
April 14, 2020
For Glossy’s article, How lowered ad spend and Fall disruption will affect the September issues, the author Danny Parisi interviewed Quantum Principal Ava Seave about how the lack of Fall collections might badly affect the business. Seave commented that raising subscription prices might help—but only down the road. You can read the full story here,
Advice for publishers and agencies on dealing with pandemically-induced financial coma
April 7, 2020
One of the paid subscriptions that we at Quantum have been pleased to shell out for over the last year is the invaluable Digiday. For that media property’s first member-only Zoom talk, President and Editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey interviewed Bryan Wiener, a veteran media and advertising executive, who was former CEO of ComScore and 360i. Wiener spoke about strategic thinking vis a vis the deep business challenges presented by Covid-19.
Here are some of Wiener’s top considerations:
- Is it structural? Will this crisis accelerate a structural change that is happening for you part of the industry, or is it temporary – will have a beginning, middle and end? “If you don’t answer this, you could be putting out the wrong fire.”
- Lay offs. Knowing if the crisis is causing temporary or permanent changes dictates how fast you need or want to lay off staff.
- Simplify. Everything. The company should have fewer priorities and eliminate non-essential tasks.
- Think efficiency. Eliminate long meetings – and instead plan only short huddles as needed.
- Tone. Communication with employees and customers should be “led with empathy.”
- DROOC. (Don’t Run Out Of Cash) Budget quarter by quarter, adjusting as you go. And if you need to borrow, even though “debt sucks,” that might be the only answer.
- Unknown unknowns. One way to plan for contingency spending or cutting is to consider the question, “What will have to change in the future to make additional cuts?”
- Marketing still matters. You may be tempted to cut “all” marketing, but don’t do that. “You will need to reduce spending, but do it thoughtfully.”
QUANTUM MEDIA RECOGNIZED BY FORBES AS ONE OF “AMERICA’S BEST MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS 2020”
March 17, 2020
Quantum Media, a media management consulting firm founded in New York City in 1998, has been named by Forbes and Statista Inc. as one of “America’s Best Management Consulting Firms 2020,” after a rigorous two-part independent survey process. Read the full published story.
More than 7,500 management consulting firm partners and executives were surveyed covering 16 industries and 16 functional areas. Through recommendations the most recommended management consulting firms were identified—223 total in the U.S. Quantum Media was included in four different categories: “Internet, Media & Entertainment,” “Digital Transformation,””Marketing, Brand & Pricing,” and “Strategy.”
“We are so gratified to be given this honor,” said Ava Seave, a Principal with Quantum Media. “We love nothing more than helping our clients succeed, excel, and transform themselves when needed, and this award acknowledges our efforts.”
She continued, “We have to believe that the frequent Media Guru fireside chats we have held at the Harvard Business School Club of New York—for 22 years now!—played a part in this. We have hosted the most amazing media leaders, from all over the world.”
In addition, she cited Quantum Media as having been in on the ground floor of the digital transformation of so many media companies. “This, of course, was one of the most difficult challenges our industry ever faced, and we were well positioned to tackle it early on,” she said.
Quantum Media’s consulting work has spanned every aspect of the media business, from developing an Internet business strategy for a Fortune 500 company to advising a young entrepreneur on launching a niche digital product. Unlike the Principals of most consulting firms, Quantum Media’s five Principals all have held operating positions in major media companies, as CEOs, Presidents, and General Managers. Of the eight Principals and Senior Consultants, six hold MBAs (three from Harvard, one from Stanford, one from Wharton and one from NYU), one holds an MS in Educational Psychology and one holds a PMD from Harvard.
More information on Quantum Media, including a list of clients and some news articles about Quantum’s work, is available here.
Principals
- Christine Arrington – Strategic planning, launches and relaunches, international publishing, website development
- Carla Graubard – Strategic planning, branding, CRM and partnership marketing, new business development, traffic and content monetization
- Erica Gruen – Television and online content, advertising and marketing strategy, business development
- Jean Hellering – Financial/business modeling and business analysis in publishing and direct marketing.
- Ava Seave – Operating and strategic planning, audience development, creating and launching new products and businesses, non-profit management and strategy
Senior Consultants
- Alisha Alonso – Strategic planning, product development, M&A, media & information services
- Margaret Downs – Executive coach, strategic and organizational consulting
- Gretchen Grant – Digital revenue and strategy consulting
Advisors
- Harold Clarke – Book and Magazine Media Brands Executive
- Anne Kinard – Circulation, marketing, strategic planning, models, fulfillment
- Soo Koon Lee – Vice president of finance at ThermAvant Technologies
- Brian O’Leary – Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group
Quantum Media weighs in on publishers selling inhouse tech in a B2B play
March 3, 2020
Quantum Media Principal, Ava Seave, was quoted about the strategic implications of consumer facing publishers pivoting to B2B products in Digiday article “Sports publisher Minute Media makes half its revenue from licensing tech.” Seave talks about both pros and cons from the customers’ point of view: saving time and money, but giving away a lot of information about their businesses. To read the full article, go here.
