So, let’s clear one thing up…I had decided on Media Metaverse as the title of my podcast on MediaVillage long before a certain social media CEO decided to co-opt the word and rebrand his entire company. I’m sticking with it because I truly am a believer that the next phase of business and enterprise transformation will be about the further embracing, immersive visualization, and maturation of how we use digital; with hopefully a dash more respect to the consumers whose minds and wallets we are trying to tap.

Fair warning, if I am sometimes come off as a contrarian, I fall on no swords. Show me numbers that prove me wrong, and I’ll be the first to admit it. However, given that the game is currently mostly rigged to give preference to only the largest in the almighty name of efficiency, it’s time to shine a spotlight on those players who don’t normally get seen or those who have yet to be discovered in the vast expanse of fragmented, but valuable, nascent, and innovative media channels that we call the Media Metaverse. 

And it made all the sense in the world to me to start my first official episode with my nemesis of over a decade. As Omnicom Media Group’s resident futurist and Emerging Media champion, I would always find myself tuned in to the words of my prime competition in the marketplace at Publicis, Rishad Tobaccowala.  At one point there was a possibility of a merger between the two organizations, and (don’t tell anyone) I was actually looking forward to being able to work together with Mr. Tobaccowala. While that didn’t end up happening, I think of this launch episode as my personal “Marvel’s What If?” on what a collaboration between the two of us would have sounded and felt like. If this is any indication, that area of the multiverse where we did collaborate frequently, must be awesome. (Oh, and I am Iron Man.) Enjoy.