Navigating D2C Commerce and Media Integration

This chapter explores the intricacies of conversion rates and marketing metrics in the direct-to-consumer landscape, emphasizing the role of content in fostering customer loyalty. It also highlights the evolving relationship between media companies and commerce, showcasing successful examples such as the strategic partnership between outdoor brands. Additionally, the discussion includes innovative approaches like Hodinkee's blend of e-commerce and storytelling in the watch industry, underlining the importance of authenticity and adaptation in today's market.

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My guests this week are Jesse Jacobs and Mike Kerns, co-founders and partners at The Chernin Group, TCG, a multi-stage investment firm dedicated to building consumer businesses. Many think of TCG as some of the best media investors in the world, and in this discussion, you’ll quickly see why. In our conversation, we cover how TCG identifies creators that they can help build businesses with, how established companies should think about influencers and media today, and what innovations they are most excited for in the creator space. As I become more heavily involved in building new media properties, Jesse and Mike are always my first point of call for advice, and I’m so excited to share this with you. Please enjoy my conversation with Jesse Jacobs and Mike Kerns.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – also known as MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. MITIMCo doesn’t care how small, new, or un-institutional your firm is if you have the potential to generate amazing results that support MIT’s pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation.

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Show Notes

[00:03:32] - [First question] - The history of TCG

[00:04:30] - iFilm (Discontinued)

[00:07:08] - Full Screen

[00:07:13] - Crunchyroll

[00:10:46] - Uniting properties across all of TCG’s brands[00:11:14] - Barstool, MeatEater[00:12:00] - Headspace, Food 52, Hodinkee, Surfline

[00:14:03] - Accidental businesses and pre-commercial success[00:14:53] - Exploding Kittens

[00:16:05] - Evaluating the potential of a new pitch

[00:19:12] - Testing, tracking and understanding media brand conversions

[00:21:13] - The most important things happening in media in 2021[00:25:12] - Analysis of MeatEater from content to commerce

[00:27:22] - First Lite

[00:29:21] - Replacing your own sponsors with owned companies