Video: Initiative's Maureen Bosetti on the Future of Media Partnerships

BOSETTI: This is a new title for me. I recently joined Initiative. It was about a year ago and I was the Chief Investment Officer.  But we're now pivoting the company to be much more ecosystem‑led within the media landscape.  How do we really go out there and create partnerships across the landscape beyond just paid media? 

BOSETTI: We're really trying to find every asset within the arsenal of both our clients as well as our media partners to create those right partnerships again that may be beyond monetary transactions.  That's really the direction that Initiative is moving into and hence why we have changed the name of our group to be the Partnerships team.  Watch the full interview with Maureenhere.

BOSETTI: The biggest priorities for us are really trying to make sure that we identify the optimal partners out in the landscape.  How do we really make sure that we're doing deep audits within all of our different partnerships?  I'd say it's a different focus for people because we're traditionally used to looking at supply and demand economics, and now it's really about looking at the value of a partnership through a different lens. How do we develop content?  How do we activate marketing partnerships?

BOSETTI: I think the media partners are really trying to find ways to utilize all their assets as well.  If you're NBCUniversal -- they have an arsenal of TV networks, digital sites; they have theme parks, movies.  So they have an array of assets, and they want clients to take advantage of all that to really help extend their reach because they know that TV ratings are still are contracting and you cannot generate the same kind of reach that you used to be able to generate. 

BOSETTI: The ad model in television hasn't changed at all.  But now everything else around them has evolved and changed and we live in a very different landscape than we did, even five years ago. 

BOSETTI: I believe strongly in relationships. I truly believe that if you're a good partner to the partners you will get more value out of that. It's just good business as a human being to be a good partner. So, I still hope that for the next six‑to-seven years this is still a relationship business because otherwise we're going become too transactional and we'll lose the personal aspect that I truly believe is still important to this business. 

Watch the full interview with Maureen Bosetti here and view the entire Legends & Leaders Interview Series here.

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