Pranav Chimulkar: Hey guys, welcome to the Mad over videos podcast by guch, this is Episode 24. And today’s guest is Amanda. Amanda is from Dashlane. And she has been a social media person or digital marketer for almost about 10 years now. She’s worked with amazing brands before being attached. And she’s been at WWE something that everybody or all 90’s kids have grown up watching. So again, we’re going to have amazing conversations around that. And then she’s also been with AMC. It’s a television network. She’s done some good stuff back there. And then not just these being at these brands, but then what she really has that differentiates her is her expertise with the latest trends, again, in on platforms like Snapchat and Tiktok. So we’re going to be talking about those. So without much ado, I’d like to add Amanda to the stream. And please welcome Amanda.

Amanda Stoneall: Hi.

Pranav Chimulkar: What’s up, How’re you doing?

Amanda Stoneall: I’m doing great. Thanksgiving is coming up. So it’s been an interesting year to be thankful for.

Pranav Chimulkar: I’m sure. But before I actually go ahead with the conversation, I’d like you to introduce yourself a little bit more elaborately, because I don’t think I have done a great job at doing your introduction. So please tell us more about you, your role at dashlane. And previously, your background.

Amanda Stoneall: Absolutely. And I want you to know you’re doing a great job. I’ve been in social media for 10 years, which is crazy. Because when I studied communications, as an undergraduate, we had Facebook for school, we had Twitter that just started, Instagram was in its infant stages, but social media marketing wasn’t a thing. So, I’ve skipped around various industries, retail, entertainment, hospitality, technology. And I’ve worked on different sectors within those marketing worlds, whether it’s the strategy part, content creation, community management, and cadence as well as for analytics. So I understand all various aspects of social but, everyone’s kind of it’s a whole new world. It’s so new, it’s so fresh. We’re all just kind of learning as we go. So it’s an interesting world to be a part of for sure.

Pranav Chimulkar: Awesome. So I will ask you this question that I asked all the guests on the podcast. Why is Amanda Mad over videos?

Amanda Stoneall: I’m mad over video content because we’ve really taken the evolution of video and media, coming from radio coming from broadcasting, and taking it in, really beautifully evolved it into this new rich format that has subtitles for people who can’t always hear the words or are hard of hearing, two really beautifully defined graphics and visuals you thought only belonged in movies, maybe but now they belong everywhere. It’s just been really fun to see and I love consuming video content, whether it’s listening to the whole experience or watching it like others with muted. I love the way the video has evolved over time.

Pranav Chimulkar: Awesome. That’s a beautiful report because I haven’t heard a lot of people define the beauty of the medium so elaborately so articulately. So thank you so much for doing that Amanda. Now, coming to this point, I’ve been checking out your LinkedIn profile. And I’ve seen these two keywords as your role titles, having worked at AMC and WWE, I want to know the difference between them. The first one is a social media strategist. And the second one is Social Media Manager for the lesser-known people out there. Would you be able to elaborate on the difference between these two?

Amanda Stoneall: Absolutely. So I’m going to start backwards, going backwards into what a social media manager role is. Obviously, that depends on the company depends on the team. So typically, a social media manager will be doing a handful of different roles. Again, I can only speak to what I’ve done, but it usually involves making up a strategy calendar of where the content is going to be. Sometimes writing the content and ideating on the content. Posting the writing the copy for the content, posting it and then analyzing it at the end. So it’s kind of a role that specifically with many hats, you’re covering a lot of different bases there, versus when I was a social strategist at WWE, I got to be in a very niche opportunity. WWE has kind of become a forefront in social because they invested so much into social, they have specific teams for all these different areas, not just one Social Media Manager doing everything. So that kind of allowed me as a social strategist to really think about what was the main brand going to do versus what is told a diva is going to do versus how to push our CPG content versus working closely with the executive team on how to best promote their brand widely. So it can be everything. But the social media strategist really allowed me to be very refined in that role, if that makes sense.

Pranav Chimulkar: Yeah. I know this is a new position, this is a new career path. I mean, relatively, at least, when you look at most other marketing fields or verticals, there’s still quite mature when it comes to like, the understandings and skillsets that you need to be in those, right. When it comes to social media. Again, the whole social media world is not that mature. It’s been just over what 14, 15, 16 years. And I want to understand what kind of skills go into becoming a good social media guy. Because, again, if you look at B-school courses that train you in marketing, you would elaborately learn subjects and skills that you would pick up for other marketing roles. But when it comes to social media, what makes a very good social media person?

Amanda Stoneall: I think that’s definitely very subjective, but I think I know the thing, the level that the skill set that I attribute to my success being I’ve been very passionate about pop culture for most of my life. So the transition from different media’s, going from being obsessed with magazines to transitioning into this new digital medium, kind of was helpful for me. I really enjoyed the phrase or I don’t know what the tagline says, If you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life. Obviously, that’s not realistic. But I very much enjoy being on these social platforms, understanding kind of the way people speak and interact with each other. I’m a very social person. And I don’t think that is required for social media managers, but I love watching people interact and kind of understanding people’s behaviors, and no better place for that then. So this world of social media, I also think what has helped me is I have a slight passion for stats and data, I think anything you do on social kind of needs the data to back it up. Otherwise, you’re just posting for the sake of posting, which is fun, but it’s not realistic for a business plan and a strategy. So having that data to back it up, being able to read those metrics, and tell a full story out of that is vital. Lastly, just based on the different areas I’ve worked in, it obviously helps to understand the community itself. You know, I had a big learning curve coming into WWE really only knowing Dwayne The Rock Johnson, and learning about the different wrestlers, the different wrestling moves, the history coming into AMC, I was already a big fan of The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad so I kind of was able to leverage that. And here at dashlane I’m learning this whole different tech community that exists on Twitter and talking to them and interacting whenever there’s the big tech congressional hearings or other big news that comes out whenever Facebook launches anything or the new fleets on Twitter. I know that the community is always going to be talking about it.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. I think the way you’ve described your career path, sounds really fun like most of the part of your job is something that you would enjoy doing and getting paid for. Right? So I am really curious because I remember while growing up, and when we had the first social network that I was exposed to was called Orkut, something that a guy called Orkut Büyükkökten, who was an ex-Google employee did. And after that Facebook came, and then today we are on all sorts of other social networks. And it was always looked at by our parents, especially as things that would distract you away from your studies. Today, when you are getting paid to do something like that. I’d like to know how you explain your job to fittings.

Amanda Stoneall: Ah, well, it helps that I have very savvy, smart parents. My mom is very, very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I taught my dad to read it. And so they’re very open to technology in a way that I think a lot of a lot of parents aren’t. So that’s been really helpful. It’s, I think, I have a struggle more explaining this job to my grandmother, but she’s doing her best to understand as well. But what’s interesting is to your point, these earlier social media platforms, getting your parents permission to go on it. I remember when I was on Myspace back in the day, but they were kind of an evolution of what forums used to be. And those little communities they’ve always existed, you know, the classifieds, they used to call them in the newspapers, these little pockets of communities have always existed, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, they really just capitalized on how to expand that and make it more widely accepted. And intersectional. And acceptable for people.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. We’ll start talking about your role at WWE? I’d like to know, first of all, we all grew up watching WWE, everybody, I think if you had a 90’s life and if you’ve not watched it you’re going to be living under a rock, right? How did you land that gig? And the second thing, what was your expectation when you came into the job? And what did you come out as?

Amanda Stoneall: Well, what’s interesting is I’ve gotten a few of my jobs through LinkedIn, actually. So using LinkedIn as this living, breathing resume, it does work. There’s a lot of tricks out there. Some of them are legitimate, some of them are not. But definitely keeping your resume updated on your LinkedIn page has been essential. So it’s interesting because A, WWE was a very, it was a risky opportunity to take. I’m living in Brooklyn, commuting to Connecticut, where the headquarters are. That’s a two and a half hour trip one way was a risk, but it was the reward paid off. I was excited to be part of this massive team. With some of the smartest people, I’ve ever met. It’s still to this day, one of the most cohesive aligned teams I’ve ever worked with. We just there was a love and respect for each other that I think is essential to making such a good platform work, hands down. But yes, there was a lot of learning, there was a big learning curve of learning the history, understanding the nuances really coming in WWE has a massive presence on every single platform, but especially Facebook at that time because I started in 2014 so it was before Facebook kind of really evolved to where it is now. It was before Cambridge Analytica, it was when people were still kind of using Facebook. So it was a different world. WWE has hundreds of accounts just on Facebook alone, and all of them were owned internally in the company so it was a lot of content to create but also a lot of opportunities to go back to the blog or posting specific videos from the raw or Smackdown or pay per view, etc and like just really building each wrestlers brand.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. Then tell me who is your favorite wrestler and if you met a bunch of them who did you have the best experience with?

Amanda Stoneall: So before I started, I always claimed that The Rock was my favorite. And I started after the shield disbanded and I left before they came back. So, unfortunately, I don’t have any full ties to that. But I’d say my favorite faction to this day is one I got to be there when they were created. And that’s it. Oh god, no, their name is eluding me. It’s with the videos. Oh my god. Oh my god. Haha.

Pranav Chimulkar: So you can skip that. That’s okay.

Amanda Stoneall: Of course I know their videos. I know, God. Yeah, that’s one of my favorites. The people I met were very nice. You know, Vince would be in the hall sometimes. I saw Stephanie, I saw Triple H. Very nice, very considerate in the office in the office. So that was always kind of a crazy thing to experience.

Pranav Chimulkar: Awesome. So, tell me what kind of video content did web? I mean, like you said, WWE was established? Or was it always at a position where they did not have lack of eyeballs, right, people were glued to their TV sets, especially people in the lower age categories. And it wasn’t like they were struggling with the problem of acquiring new viewers. If you’re the first person to watch it, then you would go and talk to your friends about it. Even if they had not heard of it. You would tell them hey, you got to watch this. And and the viewership was never a problem. How did WWE ensure that they consistently put out great content? I’m not talking about the matches and programming of the actual wrestling content. That’s something which a lot of other teams would be taking care of. But when it came to social, how did they enjoy, because they were people who wanted to see what happened beyond the match, right? So I’m assuming a lot of content was created from behind the scenes and like interviews after the matches, etc, and a lot of fun stuff. Just give us an idea about what was the sphere of content that you’re created, and especially in video.

Amanda Stoneall: Oh God, I don’t even know, if we have enough time to talk about that. I could talk all day about the massive video library, past present future that WWE had at the time, and still does to this day. But obviously, what’s crazy about WWE, unlike any other show sport, anything out there is there’s no offseason, they are ongoing in Raw and SmackDown in pay per views. And don’t forget the other smaller series they launched while I was there to five live, NXT, of course, which was launched before me. So at any given time, there are at least five to seven shows going all at once. So they’re never hurting for new content from those series, they invested very heavily into a talented and successful video team, which developed a really good process of creating the content, getting it edited and ready to go for social. It was put as the primary as one of the primaries. In terms of receiving that content and getting the best content out there. Obviously, we don’t want to spoil pieces that you might want to get on the WWE Network, but you would always get really strong, strong content regardless. And they have such a big global presence that we get to hit so many different levels, so many different communities all at once. What was also great while I was there was they started launching YouTube channels. So we during my time there we launched Up Up Down Down their gaming channel with Xavier Woods, as well as Bella’s YouTube presence dedicated to Nikki and Brie. So separately, having those groups create video content just for YouTube was really exciting to also see.

Pranav Chimulkar: Right, as I said, they produce tons of content pieces, especially in video. One of your insights that you mentioned earlier while working at WWE, is quality, always transport quantity. Right? How did you ensure that all the content that is put out was at that massive scale, but each of them was engaging and clearly something that would be meaningful for someone who’s watching?

Amanda Stoneall: Right at WWE, you have so much content available, so it is about kind of narrowing in on what’s important, what’s valuable to the fans in the community, versus what additional content just in case because look at the world we’re in now you need that just in case video right now. So it definitely was a little bit harder to scale back on what was a priority there. I think it’s a little bit easier when you have smaller content 10 opportunities, but there was about what is engaging and you know, obviously, in all of these situations, it’s kind of a mix of what’s that team who’s working on it deems engaging and exciting, but have to trust in that team to know what they’re talking about, know that they are delivering the strong, the best, most engaging, most rewarding content out there to the fans.

Pranav Chimulkar: Right. Other than that, I think you also mentioned authenticity. Again, that’s something that’s very important when you are building an engagement with fans are with the community, right? How did you ensure that like, y’all put the authentic impressions of the WWE stars for the audiences outside the television sets?

Amanda Stoneall: Right. And you know, what’s interesting with the WWE fans is their persona in the ring sometimes varies from that YouTube presence that they’re giving. But it’s about making sure they’re comfortable, and they’re true to who they are. And then they can either be that ring character and that YouTube presence or a mix of both kinds of a few, interweave them into one another. But it’s about strength, staying true to yourself, and that that’s applicable, not just in the video content space, but in everything in social, there’s no right or wrong way to do social. No one if anyone tells you otherwise, they’re lying. And so it’s all about being true to yourself because what I deem successful, makes sense to me, but you might have a different opinion. And that still is successful. So it’s about being true to yourself being authentic. If you’re not going to ever post an Instagram story, why would you post one tomorrow? Thinking about things like that?

Pranav Chimulkar: True. True. I think as you said, if he continued talking about this topic, we are going to fall short of time. We already are at 22 minutes in the podcast. I want to take the next step by talking about your next role at AMC. What was that like? What were your roles and responsibilities? And we’d like to also play a video or two from that role. Again, we’ll talk through the campaigns. But what was the whole experience like working with a television network, right? You working with one organization, which was a part of a television network, and today you’re working with multiple shows, which are different from each other? And again, with a massive fan following? What does that like?

Amanda Stoneall: Yeah, no, it was truly a dream come true. To work at AMC, I was a huge fan, a huge Breaking Bad fan. So to get this role. And obviously, when I started in 2017, Walking Dead was top of its line. Better Call Saul was in its third season, we had fear in its third season. So there was a mix of shows, my favorite shows weren’t necessarily on anymore. But it was still a really exciting opportunity to be in this world. There was a little bit less of a learning curve for me because I had watched the walking dead. I was a lapsed viewer, which means that I had given up so I had to restart it from the very beginning. But that meant that content was fresh, because, prior to my time at AMC, I watched TV shows once and that was it. And AMC, I really had to learn to watch multiple times, because even when I watched it once, fans would pick up on stuff so easily. So I had to pick up on those small details, be able to pick out the little nuanced moments and details that I knew fans would pay attention to. It brought its own challenges. As I said, I was just strategy at WWE. Here, I was doing everything, all types of things. And I was able to use a lot of what I learned at WWE to help influence my role at AMC, everything from making sure we were but tracking our progress, how are we doing in the space to you know, what can we do to kind of influence voice and personality. At that time, Wendy’s was big, kind of the Twitter handle that everybody kept on referring to so it was about if how to kind of to use a wrestling term, how to kayfabe space. So, you know, Walking Dead has a very specific field. So it’s going to be kind of a little bit darker, they’ll have fun, but it’s never going to be, like an uplifting, positive, like social media experience necessarily, but you’re not coming for that versus on Better Call Saul. I wanted to make it feel very in-world, get all the jokes. But also is it written by Jimmy? Is it written by Saul? Is it written by Francesca? Like who could theoretically write the content type of feeling?

Pranav Chimulkar: Correct. So I want to play a video from I think y’all put out and then you can tell me what went behind making that content piece and any other stories that you’d like to share about that. So I would play that video, and then we can talk about it. So here it goes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7bwRa8l2fZ/

Amanda Stoneall: So I was um, I’m very proud of that video, because unlike other video pieces on in the past on the Walking Dead during my time, I pitched that entire idea and I wrote the scripts, and they kept the script so amazing. So what happened with that was, AMC is part of a sister network with BBC America. And Sir David Attenborough had a new show coming. Obviously, when you’re in a group of sister networks, you’re always trying to help each other. And that’s where using your voice and authenticity is really key to making sure how to promote a show that’s completely out of the world. Seven worlds on the planet have nothing to do with the walking dead on paper. But how do you bring that to life? How do you bring them together? So I wanted so Sir David Attenborough to narrate the Walking Dead swirled. And I pitched this idea, I wrote the script and kind of leveraging at that point, Miss Schoen was the lead and the main person on the, you know, kind of the protagonist. So taking her world, how would Sir David look at it from his lens. And it turned out really beautifully, and I think, really brought attention to, Seven worlds new plant one planet, but also still getting the world of The Walking Dead excited for the next season ahead.

Pranav Chimulkar: I can totally feel your excitement when you actually would have conceptualized the piece. Having said that, what went through your mind rather? When you were you were ideating this and when you were writing the script? And when it eventually came out? And you were able to put Sir David’s voice on that clip? What was on your mind?

Amanda Stoneall: I do want to just make a note that it’s not actually Sir David, something interesting to learn is, you know, obviously, so David is very popular and very much in demand. But because we are part of the same network that owns it, BBC America, we were able to use a voice doppelganger, if you will. So it’s not actually Sir David. But the concepts and the entire from the idea to the execution took less than a month, it was something that I was thinking about over winter break. Or over the holidays, Christmas in New Year’s, I was thinking about, okay, what if Sir David narrated the walking dead, and I pitched it, I wrote out a script and Okay, this is what it could look like. And it really did not take much time because the idea was really widely praised and enjoyed. And so the final execution ended up being such a delight and to be able to post it and see the progress just warms my heart.

Pranav Chimulkar: Such an amazing crossover. Because one would not think of those two, the voice and the visuals in the same place. So when you give that shock to the audience, I think that creates something beautiful, and people I’m sure would have reacted wonderfully to this post. Do you have any anecdotes or comments that you remember that are people who shared about this video if they posted something unique that really caught your attention?

Amanda Stoneall: I don’t because the Walking Dead community can be similar to the WWE community, it can be a little stuck in certain areas, but it was well-received. It’s so interesting to measure sentiment because it is a very, historically more of a manual process, trusting a computer can help you 50% of the time at best. So I know it was well-received, I know got over 200,000 views. But that’s an average day in the life of The Walking Dead. So it did well. And it was also featured as a spot on TV as well. So that was really exciting.

Pranav Chimulkar: It’s wonderful. Started from Digital screens and going on TV. I think that’s something that you take away. I think you would love that outcome, right?

Amanda Stoneall: Absolutely. You know, two birds, one stone all amazing.

Pranav Chimulkar: That’s a T-shirt quote now. Put that on a T-shirt, and I’m going to buy the T-shirt as well. So I got to the point where you mentioned earlier, while we were discussing what we wanted to talk about on the podcast, you also mentioned using the same video again, repurposing your content, because it’s always not possible for you to keep coming up with great quality content, day in and day out. Right. So when you know that a certain video piece works, how do you repurpose that? And I’m sure you know that. I mean, I want you to answer that. But I know the answer is obvious. But then I want you to answer that. Why would you repurpose the same video again?

Amanda Stoneall: Yeah, um, this started as a test at AMC. And I believe we actually did this a few times at WWE as well. But it really became a test to see, we know we’re going to make this many trailers. But we have more, we have more than that many weeks. So for making three trailers, but it’s six weeks before the show premieres, how do you kind of ensure you’re not losing steam and making sure you’re still using this really beautiful, well-added content? That so many people were involved in making? So how do you not let it die just because of one post or one posting time? And that’s where the repetition comes into play? I definitely think it’s it depends on the content, it depends on the audience. It depends even on the platform. I’ve done these tests now, not just at AMC, but also at dashlane. And certain platforms, it makes more sense to repeat content than others. But, you know the content best when it’s you who’s the decision-maker here. So you understand whether it makes sense to post it again or hold it. But the whole idea came from the fact that we’re living in this very fast-paced world. And there’s so much content out there. So much, people don’t have the time to watch and read and listen to everything. So if you hit them one time, and they don’t see it, there’s no reason you can’t post it a second time. You’re getting new eyes, you’re getting people who maybe saw it but didn’t pay attention. You’re getting people who watched it on mute. And now they’re curious to watch it with the sound. And each time it has been interesting to see because it’s been a successful experiment, I definitely think it helps to have to vary the video offset a little bit. So if you can start with a different, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, they all measure by three seconds is a view. So if the same three seconds exist, you’re gonna start to fatigue people very quickly. So change up the first three seconds, use a different thumbnail, always vary the copy, get people’s attention in a new way, but using the same beautiful video asset you have available to you.

Pranav Chimulkar: I think beautiful silver bullets that you just mentioned. But like you said, the same points may not be applicable for everyone. It’s for everybody to first create, evaluate and then iterate, you know, your content best and the best person to take that decision is going to be you.

Amanda Stoneall: Exactly and when I was at AMC, we discovered that two weeks was a good timeframe in which we could then repeat the content, but at dashlane I have a little bit more limited amount of content available. So it’s okay if I repeat a video post a month or two after because we don’t have that much video content, to begin with. So I’m just hitting a whole new batch of eyes. new viewers, new followers new engagement.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. Now that you mentioned dashlane, I would like to use this as a segue to our conversation about the first thing that I mean, this is something that caught my attention was when I went to dashlane.com. And there was this video on the homepage. Again, I went to the YouTube channel again this was one of the featured videos on the channel and something that was very unique about it was the title, right? There was the word random in that title, and it just caught my attention like and there are sometimes the words are these lines of thoughts that you can build upon, which are definitely going to catch people’s attention. So I like to play the video first and then you can tell me a little bit more about the video. So here goes the video.

Yeah, so I love the title, random on purpose. The second thing I just wanted to, bring to everybody’s attention. While positioning the company towards the end of the video. They said random passwords for everybody who uses the internet. Anyone who uses the internet can use dashlane. So you’re making it so approachable, so accessible to anyone who’s watching it. So it’s like you feel okay, this is something for me. So how do you get this video right? What went behind? I know you might be not the person who came up with this, but then how do you see this as an asset for your brand?

Amanda Stoneall: Right. So this came from the fact that everyone has passwords. Everyone has an average of 100 passwords even so it’s vital that you are being safe with your passwords with your online cybersecurity. And that’s where staying random keep hackers guessing kind of came into play. And, it’s funny, we wanted to get another Sir David Attenborough voice doppelganger for this. But because we weren’t at AMC, we had to use a different style. But it’s still beautiful. And the whole concept that a rabbit kind of stays alive by using random maneuvers by keeping their predators guessing. And that’s the same with passwords, you’ve got to stay random, not have something that’s really easy to hack, easy to infiltrate. Because so many, even the recent worst password offenders of 2020, the password is still in there, password one is still in there. 12345 is still in there. It’s like people want to be hacked. But staying random is the best way to keep people guessing. Or put them off their trail.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. I mean, so like you just brought out the whole idea. And people. I mean, they know what is the importance of the password for them. But they don’t want to take that additional effort to remember so many passwords, right? And that’s what dashlane solves, right? You don’t have to remember everything. But you still have the same ability as everybody else to have the most random password that no one could guess. I think the easiest way to hack, one of the basic methods that people use is guessing as you said, the words like a password or the numbers 12345. Or it’s a little step ahead of that would be if I know you as a person, and I know your pet’s name or your date of birth. These are things that people use as passwords and very easy to guess. So it’s a very important problem that dashlane actually solves for everybody. And it’s very important that nationally communicate the problem and the intensity of it. And then positions it.

Amanda Stoneall: Exactly. And, there are so many different video trends that were out there about using your details you grew up on and your pet’s name to what you said. And anytime people put that information out there that gives hackers and another excuse to try to track you and then hack you. And, that’s what’s so great about the random password generator. You can fit all the metrics in there how many characters do You need? Do you need symbols? Do you need a mix of numbers do you need capitals and lowercase, we got you, we can always create a random password that fits those. That’s completely unguessable.

Pranav Chimulkar: Correct. So, the next thing I want to talk about is using trends or occasions. Brands use this always, I think, you being a Social Media Manager prior as well, you’d know how to build a brand calendar, right? Every occasion that would repeat every year, you would have something planned in, right? When it came to dashlane, it was about this week of National Cybersecurity Awareness or rather the entire month, and one of the posts that you made on LinkedIn, I like to throw the post on the screen right now. And then maybe you can tell me a little bit about it, is this one. And I also would like to say that I have a couple of screengrabs from this video that I’d like to show when you continue to talk me through.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6727249569685483521

Amanda Stoneall: Absolutely. So what’s nice about working at a tech company like dashlane, is, we’re still fairly new for a lot of people. But we’re in a space that everyone kind of touches on at some point, and no one really understands. So it’s really a great opportunity for dashlane to be an educator and different tech, vocabulary, tech ideas, just things to educate yourself better things. Everyone should kind of have a basic sense of what encryption is. And it’s nice to use, very simple, but beautifully created video content to educate people on various vocabulary terms. Everything that comes in the tech space really.

Pranav Chimulkar: Right. I don’t know a lot about encryption. But what you’re trying to do through this video is like you’re just trying to explain to me as a layman, what is encryption? Basically, how advanced? Is it? Because when you say that, okay, it’s also being used by banks, governments, organizations, again, you’re sort of putting an idea in my mind that this is going to be safe. Right.

Amanda Stoneall: Exactly. And also one of the biggest questions we get on dash line socialists, why should I trust this third party tool, and using leveraging National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, leveraging these different opportunities to educate people on various topics in the tech space allows us to come back to the place where this is why dashlane is Rafi is is reputable, is trustworthy, is on your side, is not on big tech side but is on your side, as the people as the users as the businesses that are using it. We want everyone to be safe. That’s all we want.

Pranav Chimulkar: I can totally feel the struggle when it comes to communicating the aspect of security because there are plenty of password managers out there. Right. The second thing is, you keep reading about hacks on databases of companies. And we’ve heard a bunch of them even in the e-commerce domains where you also associate your payment details like your bank details and things like that. They’re very sensitive, and you could get bankrupt and somebody could get hold of your password. So this is going to be a struggle for brands in this space? Then how do you solve for building trust inside consumers, and especially on social? Because again, social is typically people come on social media to get entertained. And like when you’re talking about gaining their trust, what are the things that you follow? What are the tips and tricks that you sort of follow when it comes to building that trust in your pencil?

Amanda Stoneall: Yeah, I think what social really helps for especially in a smaller brand, like dashlane is to listen to your customer, you have essentially a focus group right at your fingertips. So if there are concerns issues, it’s important to acknowledge that you’re listening. And something like dashlane. Unlike my time at AMC, or at WWE, I have a support team as well, that has their own social. So I’m working very closely with them to make sure that they’re on top of it, I’m not adding more work to their plate or duplicating the work, but making sure that the person who’s having an issue, their needs are getting met. And that’s such a great way to build trust, I also very much pay attention to conversations about people who are like, I just had to reset my password for the 15th time. I like to come in and say, Hey, so I hear you need dashlane, it’s a great way to kind of show people I’m paying attention to. I know this issue. You don’t have to have this issue anymore. Follow me?

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. It’s not just important to listen to your customers in order to pitch your product. But oftentimes, it also helps you build your own copyright when you can speak the language of the consumers. I’ve seen examples where you could just lift off phrases from customer reviews that are possibly bad reviews on your competitors’ product, and then turn it into your brand’s copy.

Amanda Stoneall: Oh, absolutely. Although I definitely think not only is it good to listen to people but also people want credit. So I almost like to turn into the different tweets, reviews, whatnot, and acknowledge people on Instagram, show that this is your copy. I’m not trying to claim it to be my own. I still want to give you the credit, you still deserve the spotlight knowing that you made this incredible point or sentence, whatever it is, and just not only listen but acknowledge them.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely, I think that’s the best thing you could do to your consumer. I think if you can make them feel good and empowered when you can make them feel important, that’s when they will stick around. Right, they will value you as a brand. So that’s something kudos to you guys for openly admitting that this is something that comes from your consumers and putting them in the limelight. So I think you’re building champions for your brand that way.

Amanda Stoneall: No, definitely. Absolutely.

Pranav Chimulkar: The next thing I really wanted to talk about is Superbowl. I think Superbowl for most advertisers is the biggest extravaganza right? It comes to like that one spot that you can advertise, it possibly attracts the maximum eyeballs around the right and when it comes to putting the best self as the brand out there, most people like try to ensure that they invest heavily in getting the right video when it comes to the Superbowl ad. I’d like to congratulate you guys also on the kind of video that you produced for the 2020 season if I’m not mistaken. It’s the 2020 season ad that you shared. And then you can talk me through the process of how this helped the brand, get more attention after the news.

So relatable. When it came to the slates, that whatever was writing on the slate and the music, the jingle that comes in towards the end it. I mean, this is something that I’ve heard. It’s going to be stuck in my mind for a while. Again. Even though I know that okay, I’ve watched a video that that is so good sometimes I don’t remember the name of the brand. But here, I think it was so smart of the person who was responsible for making the jingle to also use the name of the brand and convert that into the jingle. so brilliant work there. Please tell me how did that come on?

Amanda Stoneall: Definitely. Um, so that Deaf that does predate my time, but I can still speak on it, it was such a big opportunity for the brand, anytime a brand has a Superbowl commercial, it’s such a big win such a big opportunity. And I think the team did it justice. Um, I think it’s important to note that earlier this year, dashlane, had a complete rebrand. And this commercial kind of went in line with the new vision they were going for, when you think of Password Manager, you kind of think of something dull or boring or annoying that you have to use. And we want to be the fun Password Manager, we want to be the one that you’re thinking about that so dashlane. And we’re having fun with you, but we’re making your life better. And I definitely think that commercial took it in the right direction. It’s fun, it’s playful. It’s memorable. And that’s, that’s what’s important. And again, this is another great opportunity where I’ve posted a few more times, because just because you saw it once on the screen in February doesn’t mean he took everyone took it in. So it’s good to reuse that content. And it made it was the lemons for the lemonade content I needed for other various social media content, whether it’s memes or just images or whatever, it definitely, it helps dashed line a lot.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. Again, you would also have used a bunch, I think the overall commercial would have been longer in duration. But when it comes to TV sports, you’d have a different down at it. When it came to like stories or posts on social media, you would have different cuts of the same commercial. Right?

Amanda Stoneall: Right. Oh, of course. I think the original commercials, one minute 30. And then we use a 30. A lot. We use 60 a lot, sometimes the 15.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. I think we’ve spoken enough about the brands that you’ve represented, that now comes in time to talk about brands that you’ve learned from or you admire, right. The first one you’d like to mention or speak to me about is…

Amanda Stoneall: Yeah, I have a few. Beyond ones, definitely Netflix. Netflix completely redefined voice agent. I would say about five years ago, using the first person is very Gen Z before Gen Z really had a set voice that we understood. And the way they have translated that voice into the different protocols. They have their Spanish one, their black one, they have their LGBT friendly one. They’ve really maximized how to speak to the different viewers, the different groups, different networks. So I think that’s inspiring. I also feel in the entertainment sector in particular, that Schitt’s Creek did an amazing job. I think. I first started following Schitt’s Creek, not just because I was watching it, and I was in the television space, but because they were doing things on Twitter that I hadn’t seen any other brand does and it made me want to come back just because I knew there would be things on Twitter I couldn’t find anywhere else. And that was important.

Pranav Chimulkar: Actually, I think I’ve seen a bunch of people using Schitt’s Creek GIFs as LinkedIn replies on threads.

Amanda Stoneall: Amazing, amazing. Yeah, I just think they know their voice very well. They have such a good library of content to play with. But then they also know how to kind of be irreverent in the space, drive other like news items into their conversations such as when the Pope recently announced that he was in support of gay marriage and then they will use an image of Moira rose from the show. I thought that was a great kind of tie in with everything. I think in terms of other verticals that are doing really great work. I think the Washington Post, kind of set a standard on Tic Tok that every other brand is really trying to compete with, they just really got it got in early, and understood it early. And it’s important because it’s not editing videos for tik tok. It’s make editing videos on tik tok. I think Joe Biden’s social team does a really great job of being proactive and reactive. And that’s a really hard space to navigate. But they do a great job and kind of rebuild trust that maybe, as the American people obviously voted for Joe Biden, thank goodness and but I think there’s a lot that the digital team kind of illustrates in a beautiful way. ACLU does a really great job. And I think the Ringer does a really good job as well.

Pranav Chimulkar: Absolutely. I also want to ask you, if there are marketers, or social media, people who you follow, or admire the work of, maybe people that you’ve seen on LinkedIn, or you’ve been seeing a bunch of posts from someone that has caught your attention? Now is the time to do these shout outs.

Amanda Stoneall: Absolutely. I think someone who’s done a really good job and is this entire team, obviously, but I’m going to give a shout out to my girl, Elizabeth Montemurro. On the Wisconsin Democrats, they really kind of set a standard when it came to reunions in entertainment. They were doing fundraisers for the Wisconsin Democrats, including Parks and Rec, Princess Bride. Mean Girls. They really found a niche in that space. And I think they did a really great job.

Pranav Chimulkar: Awesome. Anybody else is that comes your way.

Amanda Stoneall: Gotta give a shout out to my WWE team. And Heidi at AMC. I and I think even by people at Nickelodeon, Alex and Grace, I think they’re all doing amazing work.

Pranav Chimulkar: Awesome. Yeah. Coming to appreciating and being thankful about. It’s almost Thanksgiving, right? So this is a very personal question. What are you thankful for this year?

Amanda Stoneall: It’s been a tough year, I’m thankful for my health, I’m thankful to still have a job. And I’m thankful to be living with my sister and have my family.

Pranav Chimulkar: That is awesome. I think small things, small joy is that that keeps you going at what you do every day, need to be thankful for that. And then it’s just going to get better. From there. I think we’ve all seen the worst. And I hope things turn out well for everyone, each one of us, even watching. So on that note, I’d like to bring this conversation to an end. It has been an amazing experience Amanda, talking to you. And I hope people will watch this on YouTube or streaming this on any of the podcasting platforms, later on, get to learn a thing or two, and sort of implement that in their work. And also, I’m really thankful for you to have taken our time and joined us on the podcast, and tried to give back some of what you’ve picked up in these 10 years. So really, I’m glad that you could make join us on this podcast.

Amanda Stoneall: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.

Pranav Chimulkar: With that, we come to an end of the 24th episode of Mad Over Videos podcast, for everybody else who’s listening, we’ll be back tomorrow, the same time with a new guest. We will be joined by Sandeep from Google. We’ll be talking about his experience and using videos for marketing and more importantly sales. So for those who are still watching, please join us tomorrow at 10:30 pm PST and I guess 12 noon, Eastern. So with that, thank you so much.

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