Christy Tanner’s Post

🦁 Congratulations to Iris Mwanza on the publication of her new novel “The Lions Den,” and thank you to New York City for the sublime launch event weather! 🌆 ✈️ In conversation with Blessing Omakwu, Iris described why she likes to write on planes and how she manages to avoid the temptations of airplane movies. 🗞️ Her inspiration for this thriller about a human rights lawyer in Zambia defending a young, queer client arrested by corrupt police came from a news story she read a decade ago. 📚 Nine years in the making, Iris’s book is “an evocative, touching, and--in multiple senses--moving portrait of Zambian life and politics at a moment of great transformation. And in the tradition of Zambian storytelling, it shows us, it teaches us, how ordinary people, in extraordinary circumstances and under persistent forces of oppression, can neverthless extend and bend the arc of justice,” according to Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows: An Elegy. ⚖️ Yes, ordinary people can extend justice under persistent forces of oppression, and if you need reinforcement at this point in our time and history, check out “The Lion’s Den.”

🧠 Instinct is key to how marketing influences behavior, according to Leslie Zane, featured in conversation with my Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips colleague, Joanna Stone.

“Imagine facts as a brand” - Maria Ressa issuing a call to action to the media and advertising community, while accepting the well-deserved LionHeart Award from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Her full speech is contained in in the post: 🎧

On a roll: My colleagues Jay Kirsch and the Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips team represented G/O Media, a portfolio company of Great Hill Partners, in the sale of tech media pioneer Gizmodo.com to Keleops, as it expands in North America. #DigitalMedia #MergersAndAcquisitions #ODPTMT #Oaklins

Congratulations to my colleague Jay Kirsch and the Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips team, who advised Active Interest Media on the successful sale of Taunton Books to ABRAMS. This strategic acquisition will enhance Abrams' portfolio and provide new distribution channels, benefiting both companies. #Media #MergersAndAcquisitions #ODPTMT #Oaklins #BookPublishing

A long read & worth it. There is so much nuance in the details here — a history of certain photo agencies, pool photography, rights and archives + an assessment of our historical and contemporary understanding of this particular depiction of D-Day in media and pop culture. This quote stands out to me, amid the push for commodification of archives to train LLMs as well as the consolidation of media ownership: “… secrecy reflects a dangerous trend in mismanaging historical archives. One cannot underestimate the determination of privatizers to enclose the information commons.” Going forward, we have the technology to embed dozens of signals of trust into journalistic images and video. I hope to see it widely adopted, along with assertive sharing of the details. Transparency leads to greater trust, and we all would benefit from more of both.

Integrity. Curiosity. Critical thinking. These are key qualities top CMOs look for when hiring leaders to create innovation in technology and marketing. AMA New York's "Marketing Innovation: More than Just Tech" panel featured the wisdom above, plus seven rockstar CMOs and these top takeaways: 📈 Create a culture that allows for experimentation, in which "instead of failure, it's learning," advised Josh London, CMO of Reuters. 🎯 Centering people - both customers and employees - is critical to success in "transformations that actually happen," according to Janet Balis - CMO Practice Leader for EY. 🚀 Back to hiring: Minjae Ormes, VP of Marketing for LinkedIn says she looks for "systems thinkers and actors" who continually ask: "How do things connect in time and space?" As another panelist put it: "The best marketers are adept at spotting trends -- turning dots into lines," which is of course where curiosity and critical thinking come in. Congrats to AMA's Marketing Hall of Fame inductees and to all of the excellent speakers who made this such a fun and engaging day: Samantha Maltin - Sesame Workshop, Benji Baer - CBRE, Soyoung Kang - eos Products,  Fernando Machado, Madonna Badger, Dr. Sabrina Kizzie, DBA, MPA, Jeff Marshall, Tom Burrell, Raphael Bemporad, Fatima Jones, Steve Jones, Donnovan Andrews, Blair Nelson Marlin, David Berkowitz, Dan Lowden - BLACKBIRD.AI, Tessa Burg - Mod Op Special thanks to Peter Weingard of Wipro - who's not pictured since it was he who took this excellent photo from his moderator's POV!

The future of streaming is profitable and here’s why: Three major forces are accelerating transformation and new business models, and they’re outlined expertly in the Economics of Streaming, a panel led by my Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips colleague Richard Glosser. 🌤️Major companies and startups are now rapidly adopting cloud and AI technologies to lower expenses and create new revenue opportunities, as discussed by Amagi Corporation CEO Baskar Subramanian, who shared how his company enables customers' transitions. ✅1️⃣ 🎾🧠 We've learned a few things during recent years of growth and experimentation -- enabling smarter choices and better investments going forward, as framed by Scott Shapiro, EVP Corp Dev for Sinclair Inc., who shared Tennis Channel’s multi-platform distribution strategy. ✅2️⃣ 💲There's an exponential difference in multiples for profitable vs. unprofitable companies, Michelle Noon, Managing Partner of Clearhaven Partners explained. As investors, founders and owners pursue exits, there will be an even greater focus on profitability, and it will be enabled by 1️⃣ and 2️⃣ ✅3️⃣ Thanks to Dan Rayburn and his NAB Show’s Streaming Summit for inviting both Richard and me as speakers! It was great to connect with so many leaders shaping this industry — and to share our experiences and insights.