Our exec editor sits down with Real Branding's founder and its newly-appointed VP of Media to chat about user-generated content, integration and where the industry is going.

This week, industry stalwart Cory Treffiletti  joined San Francisco-based Real Branding as the agency's new Vice President of Media. I reached out to Cory and Real Branding founder Mark Silva to find out how this new relationship came about.

Brad Berens: Let's start with the basics. What will Cory's responsibilities as Vice President of Media be at Real Branding? To whom will he report and how will this position -- it's a newly-created position, I think -- fit into the current structure at the company?

Cory Treffiletti: This is probably best for Mark to respond to, but it is a newly-created position, and I will be reporting to the CEO, Steve Raizes. Mark can comment on the structure of the company, and I can tell you I am very excited to be a part of the vision for the future.

Mark Silva: Cory will be responsible for leading the vision, direction and evolution of a nationally-recognized media practice within a fiercely-independent, fully-integrated digital agency. This new role will focus on meeting client and industry demand for innovation and integration within media. Cory has a well-established and -published record for providing thought leadership and engaging winning teams to do great work-- a perfect fit for our agency.
 
We aspire to bring equal strength in all disciplines to our vision of an integrated, full-service digital agency-- to defy the "tyranny of the 'or'" and not simply become a creative, media nor account-led practice but excel at all in unison for our clients. That raises the bar for any part of our practice considering the quality of all-star talent we have in Account, Creative, Project Management and Strategy. After a national search, we're thrilled to bring Cory's incredible talent, strategy, energy and passion for digital media onto our team.

Berens: Cory, you are, at present, a resident of New York and Real Branding is San Francisco based. Are you relocating?
 
Treffiletti: Yes, I am. Through the course of the last year I recognized two things.

First of all, I love the west coast. I was there for seven years and after a year back on the east coast I have decided I want to stay put in San Francisco. That being said, Real has an office in New York, which allows me to satisfy my needs to be involved in both media markets-- what I consider to be the two most important media markets in the U.S.

The second realization I came to is that the west coast is the source of innovative ideas in marketing, whereas the east is the location for application. This means that most new ideas are created in S.F. and L.A. and applied to traditional media in New York. By moving my base back to the west coast I feel I can keep myself involved in both markets and stay on the bleeding edge of new media.

Berens: Many people know Cory as a specialist in and thought leader about user-generated content. Does his move to Real Branding signal a new investment by the agency in UGC?

Treffiletti: This is a question I am very eager to respond to. UGC has only been one of my many foci and has only been in the forefront over the last year.

I like to think that I am a thought leader in all applications of new media. I've been involved in planning online strategy since 1995: mobile, user generated content, desktop applications and many other forms of media over the last 11 to12 years. If you review my history you will see that I like to identify new media elements, describe how they can be applied to clients and customer strategies and integrate these ideas into holistic planning. UGC is one tool in the toolbox, but it is not and has never been a stand-alone strategy. The move to Real Branding will allow me to continue to examine the ways in which companies will use new media to meet their marketing objectives. I am really looking forward to it.

Silva: As an avid student, consumer and practitioner of all forms of digital media, Cory naturally explores the leading edge and has suggested trends in advance of their arrival. Real Branding brings these applications to our clients as they fit their strategic, consumer and executional requirements, and he has a track record of innovating in user-generated content and beyond.

But we are not new to UGC:

• We were one of the earliest to distributed advergames in banners that served our client's recruitment and product launch goals to drive consideration and trial respectively. (Lime Football for Corona and Sprite ReMix mixer-in-a-banner, for examples).
• We created some of the early instant messenger platform marketing successes.
• For "V for Vendetta" we have an integrated media idea with the "V-monologue" running currently.
• We launched one of the original, character-driven, UGC-marketing websites for Captain Morgan called "The Captain's Blog."

So, UGC will not be a new investment, but Cory will certainly bring added perspective and energy to this area within our practice.

Berens: Mark, what's the larger strategic reason for Real Branding to hire somebody like Cory?

Silva: We see a huge unmet demand out there from companies that want integrated solutions that go beyond simply media planning and buying-- perhaps even creating a new model for funding and delivering strategic solutions for marketing communications, starting with the digital channel.

These solutions must be idea-driven and bring high value to the company's business drivers (sales, relationships, et cetera). Discussions isolated in analytics, account, creative, media or strategy will only go so far to addressing this goal. Our team is dedicated to the vision of defining and delivering great value to our clients in an innovative and integrated solution.

Berens: What specific new skills does Cory bring to the Real Branding table?

Silva: Cory has built world-class, winning practices under a vision of guiding clients through the complexities of new media while delivering value, relevant solutions and solid thinking. He's mentored some of the most respected folks in digital media today. Cory brings the ability to deliver on our client needs today while keeping them informed to capitalize on the innovator's advantage. And, he does so in a way that will allow us to scale to a much larger size while keeping our boutique personality and approach.
 
In complementary skills, Cory shares our vision of great thinking comes through integration with other disciplines and the need for equal strengths in all disciplines. He's not shy to share his perspective, which fits with our culture. Ultimately, this objectivity may be the only reason agencies will exist in the future.

Berens: Let's follow up on the word "integrated." Integration as a theme, strategy or just plain idea is much bandied about and, to my mind, it is key to the future of advertising in all channels, but it's also hard to define. So, a) how would each of you define it, and b) how would you articulate how key integration is to the future of Real Branding?
 
Silva: Integration involves a cross-pollination of thought leadership, exploration, best practices and ideation. It's the blurring of the lines for strategy and the definition of lanes for execution.
 
Integration is sometimes best defined by what it is not:

• It is not flipping a concept over the cubical to media or creative
• It is not calling another office/network agency to get the download from a specialist
• It is not endless meetings to agree on a brief
• It is not the way to jack client billables
• It is not a justification for irrelevant roles/participation
• It is not a marketing concept

One more "not"-- the "Not Invented Here" mentality is integration poison.

Integration is key to the future of marketing, and therefore Real Branding, because clients are demanding accountable, inspired solutions, and digital media touches every aspect of marketing.

To be specialized and -- in our case -- fiercely independent, means having strong generalized disciplines that work in lock-step for our clients. That's why we have and attract the top talent in each area. Because they want to be great and know that to do so you have to work exceedingly well with others and be driven by integration to make it work.
 
Brad Berens is executive editor for iMedia Communications. Read full bio.