Gia Adams Wheeler’s touch with technology started with Myspace during her teenage years where she would hop on to her computer after school and chat with her friends. Now as a seasoned brand marketer and a founder, she references Myspace as an example of how she would showcase to the world who she was during those early days: “What I loved about designing the page [Myspace] was how it was tied to your reputation… it was like buying a new outfit that represents you that you’d wear to school”.
Gia’s reference reminds us of Rex Woodbury’s article titled “Myspace, Tumblr, and the Long-Lost Weirdness of the Social Internet: Creative Self-Expression and the Next Era of Social” where he talks about how young people of today are longing for that old personalized, weird internet. It is actually funny that Myspace’s former CTO underlines what Gia mentioned during the interview:
When you go out to a bar, you don’t put on a white and blue uniform, a Facebook uniform. You’d put on all sorts of amazing things to stand out. You’d want to be radically different from all others. And that was the real value of Myspace.
With that, we can’t help but think…is web3 aiming to bring those experiences back? Are build-to-your-own-taste Metaverse lands an expansion of these early-day Myspaces?
In a way, Gia answers this question for us. As a brand innovator and marketer, Gia mentions that she keeps "surrounding herself with design and creative energy”. In her work, she always thinks about how she can build authentic engagements with the audience.
According to Gia, to be a brand innovator means sitting at the intersection of being a marketer, communicator, and storyteller. You always have to think about innovative ways to promote a brand or a product. You think “outside the box”. Gia mentions the movie House of Gucci and how it is actually a form of branded content, it is a new way of marketing. It is non-traditional and it is effective.
In which other areas we are influenced by such effective branding? In the movie, there was a scene about the fake Gucci and how Aldo went about using them as a way to expand the brand name. But to think that the movie itself was a way of branding…It totally makes sense when you think about it, but the thought doesn’t come to you naturally. That’s exactly why it is so effective.
Sabrina Meherally has a piece published by Harvard Business Review, titled “What It Means to Truly Think Outside the Box”. In her piece, she emphasizes the power of imagination and storytelling in actualizing the values of humanity, creating a more equitable future. Gia mentioned that if you are a brand innovator you are a storyteller. Imagination, creativity, storytelling…Every day we are told stories by people like Gia and Sabrina and then we find companies, brands, and people who tell us the kind of stories our authentic selves relate to. We find ourselves in the hopes of discovering a piece of our old Myspace pages in them.
During the interview, Gia told us about her aha moment in being a brand innovator when she was working at a PR firm fresh out of college. One of the accounts this firm worked with was Discovery Channel and they were organizing a local event in Boston. “It wasn't until I arrived at the world premiere that I realized like, oh my god, this is an opportunity for Discovery Channel to engage with all these people who may watch the show. It's another way for them to build credibility. I mean, they're an international brand, but this show is hyper-local. So like how could they refine this event to have more of a local tone to it.”
Gia’s realization formed two different grand ideas in our minds: 1) it is important to create experiences that bring the real and virtual worlds together 2) in their experiences, people are looking to find people like them. When Discovery Channel organized the event in Boston, they brought in local businesses as event partners.
Seth Godin has a phenomenal essay called “People like us do things like this.” In his essay, Godin explains how we are all driven by the question “Do people like me do things like this?” in our daily lives. Gia’s aha moment falls right into this category. Discovery Channel helped people in that area of Boston to answer whether people like them watched the shows on the channel.
According to Gia, when you are working on building a brand the target audience is at the core. Depending on the niche segment, the brand talks, looks, feels, and markets differently. It sounds like this strategy draws a thin line between innovation and brand building. If the brand is targeted toward dynamic, future-facing folks (like our web3 audience), then it is likely that the innovation is more emphasized in the brand than it would be otherwise.
But what if you don’t know much about emerging technologies? How to build experiences in those categories that are new?
Gia tells us “Although tech seems very intimidating to someone who hasn't necessarily had that term in their title, just go for it because you can learn. There are a ton of resources you just have to apply yourself, like with anything.”
We are 100% onboarded with Gia on this.
In this captivating episode, Gia Adams Wheeler shares her journey from Myspace to becoming a brand innovator and marketer, reminding us of the importance of creativity, authenticity, and storytelling in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape. As the lines between innovation, branding, and emerging technologies continue to blur, Gia's insights serve as an invaluable resource for anyone looking to make their mark in the world of web3 and beyond.
To hear more about Gia's inspiring experiences and to gain valuable words of advice from her, don't miss out on the full podcast episode. Dive into Gia's world and let her words guide you to "just go for it," as you explore the potential of your own ideas and the power of building authentic connections. Catch the entire podcast on LensTube for the video experience or tune in on Spotify for the audio version. Happy listening and watching!
As an added perk, subscribe to our publication to mint our NFT for Ep. 02:
Gia’s Billion$$ Bitcoin ideas
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How do we do something outside the box? It may not do well, but let’s try it.
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Listen to your audience and don’t be afraid to change.
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Use Google alerts. If there are certain things that you want to stay on top of, just put that in. And every morning you see it.
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You are who you surround yourself with.
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Although tech seems very intimidating to someone who hasn't necessarily had that term in their title, just go for it because you can learn.
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The information's out there. You just have to find the right network and the right resources to get there.
Don't miss out on the full conversation with Gia Adams Wheeler! Catch the entire podcast on LensTube for the video experience or tune in on Spotify for the audio version.
Ep. 02 would not have been possible without them: