Latest / The Marketing Brief / Scott & Brian Explore Video as THE Marketing Vehicle (S2 E16)
Transcript
- Brian: Hello, and welcome back to the Marketing Brief Podcast. I am your host, Brian Aquan, and this is the podcast where we talk about really anything across the marketing landscape, kind of whatever comes up with the guest. of course, I have a guest. I do have to do this by myself. So really excited to welcome in a man with three first names, Scott David Martin. Scott, welcome to the podcast. Scott David Martin: Thank you, Brian. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you having me on. Brian: I I'm excited to have you on. I'm excited for the guests to to hear about what you're doing. How would you describe what you're doing? I know you have a ton of experience in expeditions and now Scott David Martin: Yep. Yep. Brian: you've started your own company. So how would you like to introduce yourself to the podcast? Scott David Martin: Yeah, well, my name is Scott David Martin. My parents thought it would be a great idea to give me three first names in the early 80s when serial killers were becoming a thing. So I had a choice of becoming a serial killer or an artist. And lucky for everybody else, I chose the latter. But really, what Brian: You chose the latter, but Scott David Martin: happened my career is it starts with gratitude, right? I was able to run an in-house team for 18 years and travel the entire world, basically, six continents. And towards the end of that in-house career, really did start focusing on expedition ships. So about 14 months ago, I decided to leave that in-house job and start a new company called Wabu Creative. And really what we are is we are an expedition video partner and our focus is really on helping marketing teams build video infrastructure versus video production. And what I mean by that is video production is very traditional, right? It's let's get a brief, let's get a deliverable, let's submit an invoice and we're done, right? I did that for many years, right? And what I saw when we did that is we didn't get the compounding results that you should get from video. So that's why now when I focus on video and marketing, it's about infrastructure, not just production. So I think that's probably the the 30,000 foot view to keep it brief. Brian: Yeah. No, that's a really interesting approach on the video infrastructure. Certainly, video creative telling stories has been so important to every marketing department. Every brand wants to be a media company. So there's a lot to mine there in terms of setting up how you do it. And then you're using in-house people, you're using external people. w how has it been going, I guess, 14 months in? Scott David Martin: it's it's been amazing, right? I really, really enjoy competition, right? So leaving the in-house game where I think it's really focused on output, I think once you come externally, it really becomes about outcomes, right? So one of the things that I saw in-house is that our executives would spend in-house and they would also spend on external companies. But the mistakes that I would off often see is these two teams would be siloed, right? And when these two teams were brought together and the in-house team was working collectively with the agency, that's when I really started to see major results, major ROI, hockey stick growth on engagement charts, right? So that's really why I started my company is I really felt like there was a need. For these marketing teams to have a partner on the outside that understood the in-house operations. That's really been my focus. And I gotta be honest, I'm really enjoying it because I love meeting new people. And once you become external, that really becomes the game. You're really focused on marketing 100% of the time. Whereas when I was in-house, I was much more focused on operations. Even though I was inside of a marketing department, I wasn't living and breathing marketing every day, which I believe now I am, because it's It's part of my lifeline, it's part of bringing my business to the forefront as well. Cause I think when you work in-house, there's an opportunity cost, right? And I think that opportunity cost for me was I became invisible once I left that company. So then I had to market myself as well. So I think to answer your question directly, I think starting a business is the scariest thing you can ever do and the most fun thing that you can ever do. So depending on the day, and today's a pretty good one, I'm gonna say, hey, 100%, go do it. Brian: Good. I'm glad we caught you on a good day. Scott David Martin: Yeah, good one, right? It's only ten percent, right? If we if it's a law of numbers, you're gonna have ten percent of bad days. So maybe yesterday was one of my ten percent days, right? Yeah, exactly. Brian: There you go. And we got it behind us. We were talking a little bit before we started recording about how you were launching ships. And I was like, what does this mean? You were launching ships. Can you explain how you were kind of got into this? And I I love how you weaved in the marketing of just like, I have to go to an area and then I figure out the marketing. Scott David Martin: Yeah. Brian: So I'll I'll let I'll let you explain it. Scott David Martin: Yeah, yeah. One of the one of my most favorite projects ever, this was way back in 2022, when a company called Seaborne was getting ready to launch their expedition vessels. Now, expedition vessels are very unique. They're not like cruise ships, right? These are much smaller vessels, sometimes 200 guests or less. And what's very unique about these vessels is their polar PC polar ice crushers. They can go anywhere, right? So when Seaborne was launching their second ship, because we had already Launched their first ship, they were launching it in a place called the Kimberly. And when they called me and said, Hey, we're launching a ship in the Kimberly, I said, Where's the map? I don't Brian: Yeah, where is that? Scott David Martin: even know what the Kimberly is, right? So, long story short, Kimberly is this beautiful stretch of coastline on the northwest region of Australia, right? It's basically the Alaska of Australia. And our task became: we need you to go to this very remote area. Figure out exactly what we should be showing our guests. So it was a scouting mission as well. We were with the the expedition leader, and then film it all and start to promote this ship before it's even sailing. So that that really for us became the ultimate marketing challenge, right? You have a product that doesn't exist yet. But you need to sell this product in a very unique destination. So it became an operational challenge, it became a marketing challenge, and those are the ones that we really, really enjoy. So when I think about challenging marketing projects, that one in the Kimberley region in Australia a few years back was one of the most challenging marketing projects I was ever given. Yeah. Brian: That's amazing. And I assume you get there, you see what's most beautiful, what's most captivating about this place. And obviously that's going to become a focus. How do you then work from the consumer base to get what they might be excited about and make sure like those things meet in the middle? Does that make sense? Scott David Martin: Absolutely, absolutely. Because I think with marking, it always starts with the audience or in this situation, the guest, right? So I think what's interesting, especially for me as being a first time Explore to the region of Australia, I am essentially a great beta test for others that are learning about this. So the questions that I have on day one or day two or letter letter A in the alphabet or let letter B in the alphabet, I'm writing those questions down, right? And what we actually found when we started marketing that is we need to dig deep into those questions, right? So we did create a very traditional campaign with the 30-second hero and all of these shouldering assets, right? These content pyramids that we all know and love, right? That really is where my view on video marketing started to change, right? Because for the last 10 or 15 years, I've been creating these high funnel assets or top of funnel assets, 30-second commercials, and that was big swing. What are we gonna do? What's gonna make it, right? But what I noticed when we started doing the Kimberly region is it was more of a full funnel approach, right? And that hero asset became less and less important the further along we got, right? So one of the projects that actually came out of that, that I think is super interesting and super timely for marketing today is AEO video structure. And what that means is basically we started to take all of the questions that guests were having at the Kimberly. And they were calling the call center, right? We took those top 20 questions and we made videos about those, right? And what was interesting is this was the third phase of marketing in this region. It was the most successful, right? Because we understood exactly what the guest needed, what they wanted, and we now understood what was so special about this region. So we made an 18-part series specifically answering those guest questions. And the video watch rates on that series were some of the highest I've ever seen in the industry. Some of those videos were watched to 97% or 98%. And we know that that's watching it all the way to the CTA. So that was something as we did that beautiful project in Kimberley, Australia, understanding AEO and understanding what the guest was going to ask and being in the mind of the guest, that became the unlock to marketing a region that nobody knew about. Brian: Yeah. Yeah. That's a special challenge of just like no one knows what this is. How how long was the content? Like how long was each video? Scott David Martin: So the AEO video series, those range between 60 and 90 seconds. We found that to be kind of the perfect ingredient, right? And what was interesting is it was a gamble when we started because we were putting it in paid media, where mostly what we had seen is 30 seconds is basically a movie at that point. So we were very timid about throwing these long form videos into paid media, right? It was, hey, let's take a risk here. Let's gamble, let's put some spend into this. And after one month of spend, we were like, wait a minute. Why are people watching the 90 second video to 90%? And our 30-second video is still getting the traditional 50% watch rate, you know, and benchmarking Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: and travel. That's when things shifted for us too. Because honestly, I'll be honest with you, Brian, I was way more proud of that 30-second video as a creative, right? Brian: Yeah. Yeah. Is it polished? Scott David Martin: That was the one I was like, hey, take a look at this. But when I looked at the analytics and I pulled under the hood, I was like, wait a minute, we need to stop focusing on this hero asset. It's still part of the funnel. The shoulder Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: assets are still part of part of the funnel. But if we want video to compound, we need to be focused on these AEO videos. Brian: Absolutely. And starting customer first is always a a win. The the the idea Scott David Martin: It always wins, right? Brian: that you're answering questions before they're even being asked is very engaging as well, right? You you you've built in that feedback loop of getting information from customer service and then building specifically a solution for that, which I love that. Chef's kiss right there. Yeah. Scott David Martin: Yeah. And the and the marketing team's excited about it. The sales team is excited about it because the sales team has all of these operators that are trying to sell expedition. They've never been to the Kimberly. They've never been on the ship, right? Brian: Mm-hmm. Scott David Martin: And sure, we could have a bunch of training series that would waste everybody's time because nobody has time right now. But it's like, hey, watch these 18 videos that are two minutes or less. And by lunchtime, you're all of a sudden an expert. In the Kimberley region, a region that you had no idea how to sell three hours ago, right? And the other thing that Brian: Yeah, absolutely. Scott David Martin: we got too from the executives is the call center was starting to dis decrease. So the resources Brian: Yes. Scott David Martin: going into your call center, it was like, wait a minute, we can take less resources in the call center and put more resources into marketing, Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: which is just beautiful for bottom line, right? Brian: Yeah. man, a solution that solves solves two problems. That's great. Scott David Martin: Oof. Exactly. Exactly. Yep. Brian: Well, you and I were connecting over authenticity as kind of a theme for breaking through. is that what you're kind of leaning on right now in Scott David Martin: Yes. Brian: in this kind of mid mid two mid twenty twenty-six time of trying Scott David Martin: Yes. Brian: to use auth authenticity to reach consumers? Scott David Martin: Definitely. I think authenticity in 2026 is the most scarce resource out there. And we're all desperate for it, Brian. You know, because even this conversation with you feels so real. It feels so authentic. And it's like, this is so refreshing from what I'm seeing in my feed and everything that's being put out to me every single day, right? And it's because we have all these new tools, right? All these shiny tools. We have AI that can do everything, right? And it can do it fast. And for an operational mind, that's amazing. I love efficiency. So my operator mind wants to lean into that argument immediately, right? But the creative and the marketing mind, if you really start to look under the hood. And start pull back the data. Sometimes AI is working, but sometimes that AI is pushing you away, right? And I think that is a very delicate balance, especially for these big brands, right? Because big brands have spent their entire life cycle building up trust. And we know that overnight trust can be broken, right? Brian: Yes. Scott David Martin: And I think that the number one thing that we can do as marketers or at or creatives. Is show the audience craft. Show them time. They will Brian: Hmm. Yeah. Scott David Martin: feel that. And that's why we're seeing so much of this lo-fi stuff break through the noise. RAEO video series was not the best film interviews I've ever done in my video career. These were interviews shot in a corner in a hotel room because that's when the experts were available, right? Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: And that switched everything, right? It's like Make it authentic, make it about the experts. Don't bring in a voiceover that the video producer Scott has written. Like, who cares what Scott has to say, right? Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: I want to hear it from the vice president of Expeditions, the person that has actually designed this itinerary, put boots on the ground, speaking to me, being like, This is the reason that you want to see iceberg alley in the Arctic, right? That sticks with me, right? So Brian: Yes. Scott David Martin: I think authenticity. anyone in marketing right now, and it's hard, right? Because we have briefs, we have reviews, we have executives, we have bosses, but everybody can cut through that bullshit. I don't know if we're allowed to talk say that word on the podcast, but cut Brian: Sure. Yeah. Scott David Martin: through all of that noise and then bring authenticity to the forefront, I think is the number one marketing advantage in 2026. Brian: Yeah, and we've seen the success of behind the scenes video. being able to tell that story to people, I think is what engages them. And I think, you know, what sometimes gets lost is that humans are still making the decision to buy, right? Scott David Martin: Absolutely. Brian: And humans want emo want emotion it, they have or they, you know, arrive through emotion and they make emotional decisions. and and humans wanna speak to humans. They want to see humans. Reality TV is still very, very popular. We like to see people as we see ourselves. Scott David Martin: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I love that you're on that wavelength because when we think about our funnel, right? Especially the awareness piece, when you think about awareness, I think awareness A stands for authenticity. Because I don't think you can cut through that awareness channel today without being authentic, right? And I think one of the greatest lessons for me is being my own running my own business now, doing it for 14 months, having to do marketing for my own business, and watching when I go out into the world and put something that's in Inauthentic, flop, right? I see the data come back and I'm like, wow, I was incredibly inauthentic there. Or I was trying to teach something, right? Like LinkedIn is a space that I'm very bullish on right now because I believe Vink LinkedIn is filled with a bunch of inauthentic posts. So Brian: Sure is. Scott David Martin: it is a great space for you to come in and be authentic and be real and cut through the noise. And every week I'm watching my data and my analytics come in and I can always point back to being like, there's a big hockey stick spike when I was being authentic. Yep. Mm-hmm. Brian: Yeah. Yeah. That's a good proof point right there. Well you're I I've been asking my all my guests one question in season two of the podcast. And the question has been, what is your superpower? Do you know what your superpower is, Scott? Scott David Martin: Wow, I think my superpower is optimism in the face of adversity. Right, right. And I think, Brian: Okay. Yeah. Scott David Martin: I think that can be every single person's superpower, right? Because there's so much that we don't own nowadays in 2026, like getting back to the human versus the machine, Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: that if you can every day show up with optimism, I think that puts you up ahead of 95% of the pack right now. Because sure, we could look at AI and marketing and be like, we're all gonna lose our jobs, or it's gonna replace me, or it's gonna do this. But if you start to look at these things optimistically, you start to change your whole approach and you start to rewire. Your mindset around failure, right? Like even me leaving an in-house organization that I built for 18 years, 14 months ago, is an irresponsible decision. It is. It really is. But I was starting to lack authenticity in that space. I was starting to lack optimism. So even though externally it looked great, internally I was losing my soul, right? So Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: I think that is where it is, right? If if you're in a situation, you're in a job, wherever you are, I think the superpower for anybody is optimism. So I don't Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: think I'm unique, but I think it's something that I very, very much focus on every single day is that optimism is really the only thing I control. All of these other factors are owned by other things, other people, other machines, right? Right? So if I had a superpower, I would think it would be optimism. Yeah. Brian: I love it. It's coming through. I'm I'm an optimistic person as well. And I really loved this quote I heard from Michael J. Fox, right? Who Scott David Martin: Mm. Brian: has certainly dealt with adversity, talking about optimism and how practicing gratitude is Scott David Martin: Yes. Brian: a way to to to keep optimism persistent or or to keep being optimistic, right? To to have it always kind of exist. And and I've Scott David Martin: Absolutely. Yep. Brian: taken that on and I've really looked at like what practicing gratitude. kind of is in my life, right? Like I have a six-year-old son. I can go look at him and be like, I'm so grateful. This is amazing. Scott David Martin: Absolutely. Brian: But I think truly practicing gratitude is looking at the times when things didn't go well and you got laid off and you're looking for Scott David Martin: Yep. Yeah. Brian: work and things didn't go your way and being like, you what, I'm grateful this for this too because of what it taught me. And that's when I started to really unlock that wow. Optimism is sustainable if you Scott David Martin: Yes. Brian: practice gratitude to get there. Scott David Martin: Yes. And as marketers too, right? I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go look at another spreadsheet or I'm gonna look at another analysis or I'm gonna look at some data and I'm inevitably gonna see some of my creative is going to fail, right? And that is not going to feel good. It's not going to feel good, right? And I used to look at those numbers and be like, I'm failing as a marketer, I'm failing as a creator, I'm failing my business, I'm failing my family. What am I thinking? I should have stayed in my in-house job, right? Brian: Yeah. Yeah. Scott David Martin: But rewiring all that and being like, I am so thankful that I am learning at this pace, right? That is such a different mindset than constantly looking at failure, right? And I grew up playing baseball, so I feel like I have a healthy relationship with failure. Even if you're awesome at baseball, you're getting a hit four out of 10 times. And I wasn't awesome, right? I was division three. My first dream was to play center field for the Chicago Cubs. And Pete Crow Armstrong, who's doing it right now, he's the Guy. Holy cow. I could have never done that right. But I didn't fail at becoming a professional baseball player. That just wasn't my path. My path, I truly believe, was become a video partner for people. And that would have never showed up at my doorstep unless I failed at hitting, throwing, catching, right? And now I look back at my baseball career, not as failure, but hey, I am so grateful for that baseball career that taught me how to handle failure. Because I think Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: that was one of the greatest skill sets that I brought into video and into marketing. Brian: Yeah, and I'm sure competition comes from that as well. Scott David Martin: yeah, and competition's increasing, right? Because we're seeing, I mean, every week I'm seeing big companies, whether it's Pixar or Disney or other companies that I won't name, laying off tremendously creative people. Right. Brian: Mm-hmm. Scott David Martin: So then you're also thinking to yourself, as a marketer, as a creative, you're seeing these people come into the market and you're like, wait a minute, what's happening here? Right? Are things shifting? And I think again, it's just remaining optimistic that if you truly, as a creative person or as a marketer, want to help people, you are going to help people. And that's really what my focus has been for the first 14 months of starting my company is how do I go to businesses and transform them, not be a transactional partner? That's not at all. Brian: Right. Scott David Martin: All what I wanna be, right? Brian: Yeah. Totally agree. Well, how do people get in touch with Scott David Martin if they want to get involved with Wabu or what you do? Scott David Martin: Yeah, I mean check us out. Wabu creative dot com is the probably the best place to see our work. And then I'm highly active on LinkedIn. I post Monday through Friday over there. And right now I'm sharing stories of adversity as well with my wife and kids moving to Argentina. They're already down there. I'm joining them in nine days. And that whole process for us has been riddled with conflict and struggle. And that's what I'm doing in my own personal marketing right now. And Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: that's actually what I'm finding cuts through the noise more. If I'm trying to teach something or teach marketing, you know. My impressions are going down on LinkedIn. My engagement is going down on LinkedIn. But if I start to talk about, hey, my wife called me and she was unhappy, and this was 14 months ago when I was working a job that we all loved, and now we're moving to Argentina, that's real talk. That's hey, Brian: Yes. Scott David Martin: when your wife says she's unhappy, you need to do something about that, Brian: Yes. Scott David Martin: right? And I don't have all the answers. I'm in the messy middle and sharing it all. So I think that's Brian: Yeah. Scott David Martin: a a great way to market, right? It's just to be authentic about things. Yep. Brian: Be authentic. Live live your truth. Well, it's Scott David Martin: Exactly. Brian: I've really enjoyed our conversation. I'm sure we're going to keep in touch. I think so. Scott David Martin: definitely, Brian. This is the beginning for us, for sure. Brian: Well, thank you for being a guest on the Marketing Brief podcast. to all the listeners out there, stay curious. Scott David Martin: Yeah, definitely. Thank you