A few weeks after Digiday, our paths crossed again, as we began to hear rumblings from our Digitas client that they were to lose social media strategy to Big Fuel. What’s more, we were informed that Big Fuel was chosen to lead an audit and subsequently an RFP on social media listening platforms.
This was catastrophic news for us and completely out of left field. Converseon worked closely with the Digitas team, and had executed excruciatingly hard to provide data in a deliverable that was uniquely consumable by their analysts – no easy task. We lacked presence with Digitas’ clients as it was preferable that we stayed silent in the relationship. That’s not to say we didn’t take meetings on Jefferson Ave. We met with GM IT on quite a few occasions and found fans internally who were quietly pushing to retain Converseon as a listening partner.
Still reeling from the news, my team huddled to determine what the best course of action was for us. Ultimately we were instructed to save the business at any cost and decided that Big Fuel was valuable more as a friend than foe. With olive branch extended to Avi, we asked for him to join my former CEO and I for lunch in Manhattan to talk about the spirit of partnership between our respective companies.
Kindred Spirits
Avi was late. That’s the first thing I remember about our lunch. Rob, my CEO, was growing excited about the meeting. I was antsy. How would Avi react to us? What would he disclose? Was their hope to retain our piece of the business? All of these questions floated through my head. The restaurant Avi chose was small, almost claustrophobic. I wondered aloud if we would even be able to hold a conversation given the lack of privacy that surrounded us. All was forgotten when Avi arrived. Shaking Rob’s hand, it was at that moment I wished I could have exited the bistro and let the two of them speak privately. There was an immediate level of respect between the two of them as entrepreneurs who drove their dream to reality. “We don’t want to do what you guys do Rob,” Avi said as we opened our discussions. He explained his background, how he found a niche in producing “infosnacks” – light, quick, content that was easily consumable. Long form content sounded as though it was almost banned. It was about grabbing the attention of their client’s customers, and leaving them wanting more.
As Rob gave Avi the overview of what we did and who we were, I felt there was a real shot of us keeping the business. At one point the conversation became extremely casual with Avi asking Rob what his exit strategy was. Rob gave a very calculated response, explaining that we haven’t begun to scratch the potential of building the company he envisioned. Conversely, Avi wanted to exit quickly. At least that was the impression I perceived. He spent what seemed like an exorbitant amount of time building up the Big Fuel brand and it was within his rights to look for a way out. He gave us the story as to how they won the business – something I’ll keep to myself but just know it was utterly amazing. Ultimately, General Motors was the springboard necessary to deliver Big Fuel to the holding company’s doorsteps. We left with the three of us walking down 33rd street, Avi pointing out the buildings that housed Big Fuel employees. As we shook hands and bid farewell, Avi asked we schedule time to speak with his VP of Strategy and COO. We agreed and parted ways satisfied with our discussion.
