On The Record with Dario Meli: “be genuine, be excellent”
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Last week, Agency Record interviewed Invoke partner Dario Meli for the series On The Record. The open format interview touches on Dario’s role at Invoke, HootSuite, Vidrollr as well as the future of Twitter and social media.
AR: Introduce us to yourself, your roll and your company.
Dario: My name is Dario Meli and I, along with David Tedman, run Invoke Media. My responsibilities are on the strategy and revenue generation side. Translation: I run sales and marketing.
AR: In one sentence, sum up your job.
Dario: When not working with my team to create best-in-class web-apps I form strategic partnerships with ad agencies and brands and make sure they are impeccably serviced*.
*Servicing clients isnt talk or nice dinners. It’s accomplishing business objectives and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it!
AR: You are a multi-venture man, so lets start at the core – tell us about starting Novare Res and the 2006 merger with Invoke Media.
Dario: This was very simple. Novare was more design oriented and focused on working with socially responsible organizations. Invoke was more technical but with the same core values. Complimentary skill-sets made working together obvious. It only took one afternoon coffee on a patio for Ryan and I to see it made sense. The rest was just paperwork.
AR: On to Hootsuite then, I know you are closely involved with the platform – take us from its beginnings through to its current success.
Dario: HootSuite, like all Invoke applications, was born out of a need to efficiently execute campaigns for our clients. It started with scheduling tweets and we quickly saw the opportunity to create a central dashboard suitable for a marketing team to really understand what was happening around brands from a social perspective. Monitoring, participation, and measurement have always been at the core. Check out the latest release. It’s just excellent.
AR: Vidrollr is a social video platform you are involved with, how does the platform leverage social aspects and how does it measure social ROI?
Dario: Vidrollr is a unique animal in that it fits into a few different holes. We’re combining it with traditional social media streams to create a social TV tool we call a Social Viewing Companion. It’s slightly under wraps right now but if anybody wants to see an excellent 2-screen approach to engaging and increasing television viewers they should contact me. ROI is measured using a few engagement metrics.
AR: What challenges have you overcome while both helping run a company and launch multiple platforms, what has been you most enduring lesson learned?
Dario: Running a small company with multiple products and services is certainly interesting but the biggest challenge is focus. Once HootSuite was allowed to completely focus on itself and no longer be distracted by some of the other Invoke products it simply rocketed forward. You can expect to see that exact same scenario at least twice this year with two different products. It is about to get very exciting especially for Memelabs, our contesting platform that is about to re-launch in a major way.
AR: How do you stay on top of emerging trends and keep your team informed and motivated?
Dario: Identifying emerging trends for the most part is pretty easy. Anybody can talk about whats going to be hot. Invoke excels in the execution within the context of the trends. We create excellent tools that address the needs of marketers who want to capitalize on the emerging trends, thereby getting a jump on competition, looking cool, and actually accomplishing business goals.
Keeping the team motivated and excited comes from the drive to make the best products available. They all have a voice and a say in the matter and each person contributes their absolute best. I couldn’t be more proud of the people I work with.
AR: Being a true twitterati, with such a unique view on the platform – where do you see it going next?
Dario: Twitter is wrapping things up and taking more control of their platform. Good for them! Tighter restrictions allow for more innovation, not less. Long gone are the days of simply producing another means of tweeting. There is no value in that. So what is next? It’s clear that Twitter has serious ambitions in the geo space, that’s no mystery, but I am as excited as anybody to see if they can take it to a new level and not merely replicate/integrate existing check-in style functionality. That would be boring.
AR: Will Twitter see rivals in the future?
Dario: Even back in the day when they were down as much as up nobody could unseat them. I would say that anybody posing a serious threat to Twitter will have to come from a completely different place.
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AR: Leave us with a little inspiration or word of wisdom for our readers:
Dario: Ha, I’m going straight-up corny on this one but it’s legit: be genuine, be excellent. There is no more room in this world for half-assed attitudes or products. Have an opinion, don’t be afraid to offend but don’t be afraid to sway either. Fluidity reigns supreme but there is a fine line between being fluid and being irrelevant.
Saving some of the best questions for last, Agency Record seeks out Dario’s views on the future of Twitter and social media. Be sure to check out the full article here and feel free to leave Dario your questions & comments below.
Want more information regarding Invoke’s Social Viewing Companion, Vidrollr, memelabs or our social media services? Contact us here.
