TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER JOURNEY.
I started my career as an engineer, working on 3D sound technologies at Dolby. I liked making products that empowered others to create, so that’s been kind of the threads through my career. Prior to joining Logitech, I founded a company in the creator space in the early days of user generated content enabling brands to connect with their fans beyond just likes and comments. We enabled brands to create interactive, user generated viral campaigns. After doing that for three years, I wanted to get back into the mix of hardware and software. Hardware was reaching a pivotal point where it was no longer a disconnected device. Logitech was a well-known company in the consumer PC consumer electronics space, and they were reinventing themselves.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DID THE PANDEMIC PRESENT IN THE MARKETPLACE FOR YOUR
BUSINESS?
Eighteen months prior to the pandemic, we acquired Streamlabs, a live streaming software allowing users to easily stream themselves and their game play. It essentially allows anyone to create TV quality broadcasts from their bedroom. We saw the market moving in this direction, but the pandemic propelled everything a few years forward.
At the start of the pandemic, we saw many people turning to live streaming to overcome isolation and help raise awareness and funds for those most impacted by the pandemic. As the pandemic endured, many decided to become creators, sharing their passion, building communities and finding ways to monetize. Quite a few found success and some became internet superstars. Take Khaby Lame, an ex-factory worker in northern Italy – he blew up on TikTok after he got laid off due to covid. He’s now a Millionaire!
Creators really are the most influential people of the next decade. We’re moving from Media Corporations producing hundreds of TV shows consumed by billions. To millions of independent creators creating millions of shows daily catering to billions of people.
Over the last decade – creators have been making money almost exclusively via ad rev share and brand sponsorships. In fact, Influencer Marketing revenue grew more than 8x in the last 5 years to reach nearly $14B in 2021. The reduced effectiveness of traditional ads and the stricter privacy laws – will further drive the growth of influencer marketing. It is estimated to quadruple over the next 5 years.
TELL US ABOUT THE SHIFT YOU’VE SEEN WITH MARKETING AND INFLUENCERS.
There’s a shift in how brands need to think about reaching their audience. It’s becoming increasingly more expensive to buy access to audiences. Creators are building direct authentic connections with consumers – and building loyal fanbases. Over the past few years they have diversified their income and no longer want to promote any product/service to their audience. A recent survey by UTA – revealed that 40% of consumers in the US have already paid creators directly. They are paying them to support them – to get access to exclusive content and shout-outs, for virtual meet-and-greets, merch and more. Creators are now referred to as solopreneur: creating a business as an enterprise of one – the ultimate decentralized model where anyone can create a scalable business as a single individual. In this context, it’s critical that companies think of creators like sports brands think of athletes. You don’t just sponsor an athlete or team for 1 game. It’s a long-term relationship based on common values and trust!
AT LOGITECH, HOW DO YOU WORK WITH CREATORS?
We don’t utilize creators, we serve creators and partner with them. We look to first align our values. With creators, you decide to work with their audiences and it’s built on trust and having an authentic voice in a relationship.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CONTINUE AND EVOLVE AND GROW YOUR COMMUNITY?
The world is more dynamic than it’s ever been and things are evolving faster than they ever did. You need to know where you’re going, but at the same time, be ready to adapt to the environment we live in.
We did the first TikTok live show two years ago, before people were thinking about live streaming. This year, we did the first award show within a Metaverse together with Roblox. We’re going to continue to evolve in the way that we engage the community.
TALK TO ME ABOUT THE CONVERGENCE BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL?
I’m very bullish and passionate about how this is all going to shake out. For the next 10 years, we’re going to continue to see this evolve. I look at my kids and realize their relationship to digital and physical is different than mine as they blend the two in a much more seamless way. Although both digital and physical are still fairly disconnected at the moment, there are different ways to interact and engage with virtual environments that feel more natural.
Another model is more hybrid – we’re already used to having a phone in our hands, allowing us to talk and connect and listen to the news in real time no matter where we are. The next step is to overlay relevant contextual information in real-time. It’s like having a sixth sense.
TELL US ABOUT THE CLOUD GAMING PLATFORM YOU LAUNCHED LAST WEEK.
Cloud gaming is a super-exciting new way to play games. I love that you can access game libraries from anywhere. What we wanted to do was challenge ourselves to build a device that was perfectly optimized for cloud gaming. This meant precision controls similar to a high-end Xbox controller—a large HD screen, amazing battery life and lightweight design so players can enjoy long gaming sessions, without any compromises.
LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT IS THE FUTURE FORWARD?
The world is expecting a certain level of authenticity. Creators know this better than anyone because they’re engaging one-on-one with their community every day. Partnering with creators brings back a high touch that you have a tendency of losing as you get bigger. This whole creator economy is opening up a world of services that is actually enabling everyone to participate in the ecosystem.
We’re going to see people engage more and more in both the physical and digital spaces. We’ve seen people go purely digital during the pandemic, but as the world has reopened, the lines between digital and physical are increasingly being blurred. Virtual reality and augmented reality are transforming how we interact with others, the experiences we’re having from home, as well as, how we experience the physical world around us.
THE PAST TWO YEARS HAVE BROUGHT A LOT OF CHANGE. TELL US ABOUT THE PIVOTS
YOU’VE HAD TO MAKE.
It’s funny because it came out of the startup ecosystem and pivot became a big thing in Silicon Valley 10 years ago. People were talking about pivots every time they were changing their strategy or the way they were thinking about their business. Life is a journey. Pivots, in that context, could refer to anytime you make a significant change in your life.
I am a very intuitive person. Important decisions in my life have been driven by two things: Pursuing my passions and driving positive impact. As you go through your life and your career, your ability to have impact naturally grows but the greatest impact comes from empowering others.
SoundBytes is a marketing collective bringing best-in-class marketers together to propel collaboration, innovation and deal-making featuring a diverse range of speakers and addressing key topics across entertainment, music, sports and media. The mission of Soundbytes is to build community, create authentic connections by sharing insight and intel to help propel collaboration and business objectives forward into the future. Run by Michelle Edgar and Jessica Nuremberg, SoundBytes has curated over 30 sessions featuring Fortune 500 C-suite marketers.
