Prime Video's Social Head of Series Pins AR's Potential for Fans to Socialize

With hard work and a tireless work ethic, Ken Gibbs worked his way up to be Head of Series, Social at Prime Video. Today, he's also part of Adweek's Social Media Council and shares why he thinks augmented reality (AR) could provide a new potential for marketers to create experiences that encourage fans to socialize in real life. Discover his behind-the-scenes of BET's iconic #MannequinChallenge at the Soul Train Awards, how he navigated the workplace at a start-up post-acquisition, and the work he deems as "best-in-social." How did you get to where you are today? Any noteworthy aha-moments along the way? Through hard work and help. As a young person I had a tireless work ethic but no idea what the path to where I am now looked like. I was lucky enough to meet good people along the way, like Theda Sandiford, Kevin Liles and others, who were kind enough to help me see those paths. I like to think that the old adage, “good help is hard to find,” rings true, but that experienced leaders know what good help looks like. I think the leaders that recognized my work ethic and talent, took steps to put me in certain rooms and introduced me to certain people helped me mold and focus my work ethic. What new or up-and-coming innovation(s) are you most excited about and how do you think it will change the future of marketing? AR. It’s not the best consumer experience right now for people to have their heads buried in their phones, especially when it stops them from socializing with people in their physical presence. Right now, as social media marketers, we’re focused on generating more evidence of individual engagement on the platform (a like, share, comment, etc). AR could allow us to create marketing experiences that allow fan communities to engage and actually socialize in real life while still creating compelling content they will want to share across social. If you could only do organic social on one platform for your brand, which would it be and why? Twitter. Even though you can have images, video and audio on Twitter, the ability to craft and highlight a brand voice is crucial and seldom as impactful (at such low production costs) on other platforms as it can be on Twitter. What’s one piece of work from your career that you’re the proudest of? When I got the entire red carpet of the Soul Train Awards to do the mannequin challenge, including the host Erykah Badu. When you’re leading social for a brand, you’re often bombarded with ideas, because everyone is on social and wants to contribute to the latest trend. This was a rare opportunity to have everyone involved in a social stunt that was able to build long lead awareness for the show on social, but also be integrated into the cable broadcast. This also could not have happened without Tracy Cloherty from talent and Tracy McGraw from PR, because they own the carpet. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BET Networks (@bet) Was there ever a time where you questioned your career path? How did you handle that? Yes. I walked out of school into an incredible startup situation where we were acquired, and I got relocated to NYC. In a matter of months almost the entire team was let go and entirely new leadership brought in. I was one of the few remaining original team members and an anomaly. The new folks knew each other from the magazine world, school or just being from New York—and I was the guy from Boston. My boss told me in no uncertain terms that he had been told to let everyone go. It was an eye opener that you could nurture a brand to the point where it was good enough to be acquired, but the new buyers didn’t think you could take it the next level. I was terrified that I’d find myself without a job and forced to go home to Boston. I doubled down on proving my worth to new leadership, who were traditional journalists without much knowledge of digital strategy, which I could offer. Not only did it work, but I learned new things from them and eventually promoted. How do you pick and develop the talent on your team? I look for people who have an organic love, understanding and curiosity for social media and then work with them to understand how all elements of that love translate into the business. The social space is in a constant state of change and I think it’s important to find people who are intrigued by that. It helps guard against burnout. What is one thing marketers who are not in social should know about? The audience has flocked to social media to escape the traditional methods of marketing and advertising. You need to contribute to the conversation on social, as opposed to interrupting it as you do on TV, print, and radio. What’s the first post to come to mind when you hear “best-in-class social”? Wendy’s national roast day. A brand that sells burgers and fries, with a mascot of a little girl, has the country begging to be insulted by them. Recognition and engagement is off the charts, in a moment their competitors cannot copy. https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1359895187464613889 What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Did something great? Do it again. Consistency is one of the most important things in business. What one question would you ask the marketing community and why? The world is multicultural, so why isn’t multicultural our baseline for all marketing?

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Prime Video's Social Head of Series Pins AR's Potential for Fans to Socialize

Ken Gibbs talks how marketers can get fans to engage in real life, his work at BET and more

Julian Gamboa

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Julian Gamboa