Viacom — BLOCK & TACKLE — Thomas De Napoli

Advice to students interested in pursuing careers in entertainment and media from grizzled industry veterans.

LeadershipThomas De NapoliOctober 26, 2019CNN, Alexander Marquardt, Viacom, Georgetown University, Boston Consulting Group, BCG, A&E, Hoya, Career Advice

In Good Company

Meet the members of my team at Viacom Velocity.

StrategyThomas De NapoliOctober 25, 2019Viacom, Sean Holladay, Strategy

Commit to Something: Brands in the Era of No Neutral

The PR ordeal that Equinox and Soul Cycle became entangled in this week illustrates the power (and vulnerability) of being a brand that takes a stand on issues that matter to its consumers.

Marketing, StrategyThomas De NapoliAugust 11, 2019Equinox, Boycott, SoulCycle, Stephen Ross, Donald Trump, Cancel Culture, Viacom, LGBTQ, Josh Brown, Ritholtz Wealth Management

The "Wild West" Just Got a Little Less Wild...and That's a Good Thing

Unilever’s strategic investment in a leading influencer data platform represents an important brand-led effort to tame the influencer marketing business

Marketing, StrategyThomas De NapoliJune 12, 2019Cannes Lions 2019, Cannes Lions, Unilever, WSJ, Wall Street Journal, Viacom, YouTube, Famebit

Selling to the Streamers

Media companies of all sizes may have to get used to creating and selling content to rivals who are cannibalizing their core business models

StrategyThomas De NapoliMay 30, 2019Digiday, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Viacom, WarnerMedia, Comcast, NBC

Why the Globalization of Content Matters

An unexpected encounter with screaming throngs of Gen Zers brought to life a timely trend about cultivating global cultural awareness, dialogue and inspiration through content.

Strategy, MarketingThomas De NapoliMay 10, 2019Viacom, TXTNYC, TOMORROWXTOGETHER, TXT, kpop, BTS, globalization, korea, south korea, china, asion

4 Strategies for Driving Corporate Innovation

Want to learn 4 strategies that corporate innovators and startup founders can use to navigate change?

I interviewed transformation expert and "Predicting the Turn" author, Dave Knox, on the mindset required to lead innovation within large companies and straight-forward frameworks that are being used by leading brands like Coca-Cola, P&G, UnderArmour and Chobani, that we can all adopt to participate in the startup ecosystem.

3 Industry Trends I Learned from Being a Brand Film Festival Juror

It's been a big week of media conferences and events in NYC including Brandcast, New Fronts and Social Media Week. Here are my takeaways (and links to great work) from one of them, the Brand Film Festival, about the exciting directions the Branded Content business is headed, and how we can get better together.

How Publisher Collaborations Fueled Chipotle's Latest Campaign

Case study about how big companies and startups in the media world can work together to reach bigger audiences, with programming that matters, while making money in the process.

LIT! Won the Adweek Arc Award

Viacom Velocity took home the top honors during the Adweek Arc Awards at SXSW for our work on LIT! Above the Noise for Beats by Dre.

MarketingThomas De NapoliApril 23, 2019SXSW, ADWEEK, SXSW2019, SXSW19, LIT, MTV, Viacom, Dario Spina, Beats, Beats Headphones, Beats by Dre, Dayo Harewood, Elizabeth Carter, Tyler Hissey, Mette Towley

The YouTube Animation Revolution is Upon Us

As premium streamers like Netflix and Amazon add animation to their lineup of original series to attack families and children, driving prices of cartoons up by 2x, a quiet revolution in animation is happing on YouTube as well.

StrategyThomas De NapoliFebruary 12, 2019Animation, YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, APPL, NFLX, Hulu, TheOdd1sOut, Domics, Content, Streaming, Viacom, MTV, Liquid Television, Adult Swim, Warner Media, Beavis and Butthead, Cartoon, Cartoon Network

Learn or Get Left Behind

The best way to be valuable in an industry facing constant disruption is to be able to adapt. The best way to become great at this skill is through lifelong learning.

Leadership, StrategyThomas De NapoliFebruary 5, 2019Viacom, Apple, APPL, VIA, Google, GOOG, Facebook, FB, Amazon, AMZN, Netflix, NFLX, Continuing Educatin, Lifelong Learning, Executive Education, Henry Ford, Adaptation

We Won a Clio!

One year after we pitched LIT to Beats by Dre, we won a Clio together.

MarketingThomas De NapoliFebruary 2, 2019Clio, Beats by Dre, Beats Headphones, Mette Towley, MTV, Viacom, Viacom Velocity, Advertising, Marketing, Awards, Social Media, Branded Content, Content Marketing, Dance, Travel, N.E.R.D., Lemon, Pharrell