 We are broadcasting live from the ThinkTech studios in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu, and if you want to tune in live, we are at www.thinktechhawaii.com, and if you want to subscribe to our programs or get onto the mailing list, please go to thinktechhawaii.com and sign up. The theme of business in Hawaii is to bring new stories of businesses and people and their successes and how they overcame their challenges. Our guests share with us the journey that they've been on. It's my pleasure today to welcome John Lambert into the ThinkTech studios today. John is the general manager of Vivio Media, so welcome to the show John and thanks for joining us. Let's start with congratulations. Congratulations on winning Hawaii's best places to work this year in your category. So tell me what makes Vivio Media one of the best places to work? Well, thank you for that. Yeah, it was a real honor to be recognized this year at that level, so we're very happy about it. And really, I think the reason that our employees voted in that way, it's really more about them than it is about anything else. The spirit to core, if you will, of the team is what we really rally around. I mean, as far as the company goes, the products are great, the benefits are very good, and what we do for clients is really sacred. But I think the true underpinning of what makes our environment a great place to be is really the camaraderie and the internal support that we all have for each other as a small internal community here in Hawaii. In my line of business and the HR business, it's always exciting to hear about what makes employees so jazzed about the organizations they work for, so that's awesome. Congratulations again. Thank you. Why don't you start by telling me about Vivio Media and who you are? Sure, so we are a full service marketing company, really at this point, a marketing technology company. And if you look back at our lineage, we actually have been around for over 100 years in total. Most of that time, our company was primarily engaged in the yellow page advertising business, so really print media. Recently in the past, a decade and a half or so, we've really expanded our solution set, and we have been very proactive and aggressive in the online world. And now we are actually doing more business in the digital space than we are in the print world. But we still do both here locally in the state. So tell me about, in general, the online marketing boom in Hawaii. I mean, what is that like and what is it experiencing? Yeah, sure. And I think, you know, there's really still a lot of, not only opportunity, but also confusion and hesitation in our local market as it relates to how to sort of take the leap into the next generation of marketing, how to represent your business online. Many companies have really come to the point now where they recognize the sort of the base case importance of doing that, but don't know where to begin, where to start, because it can be very confusing. And it can have so many different facets to it to be able to understand it on your own. It's a very daunting task. So we're in like a really pivotal time, I feel, in the evolution of the business space here in Hawaii, where a lot of our clients and a lot of the small businesses in the state still have one foot in the old world, but are trying to plant that foot in the new world as well and figure out how to best, you know, attract leads, reach out to their buying public, attract new businesses and keep their current customers. There are more options now to do that than really ever before in the history of what we do. So that brings with it some great opportunity, but also some great challenge, because the question becomes, well, how do I navigate that space? To navigate it on your own would take so much time in terms of learning and research. And by the time you learned it all, it would probably be outdated anyway. So the call to have a good partner that really is invested in keeping at the front head of that stuff is very important. So that's what we do. And that's really what we pride ourselves on. So you mentioned that Vivial has been around for some time. I do know that the organization, and you've been with them for a very long time as well, and they've gone through a journey. And I don't think that a lot of people know that you connect up with, from Verizon, Yellow Pages, to even some of the regulated type businesses in Hawaii. So can you tell me about that? Yeah, sure. So because our lineage is in the pretty yellow page of business, we've been around obviously a long time here. Also, we've been through a lot of change in terms of ownership, operating philosophy, and also in terms of product mix and what we bring to market. So in the time that I've been here, and I've been at the company about 14 years now, hard to believe, but who's counting, right? We've been through a number of different acquisitions, all private equity based. And what that has done for us, it's really allowed us to be more agile and more aggressive in terms of how we go to market and how we're servicing our clients and do that more effectively over time. So I'm really thankful for that. Being from the sort of telco partner environment to now being really a digital company primarily has really come with it a lot of change in terms of how flexible how agile and fast moving we can be as it relates to delivery and distribution of delivery of products to the base that we serve. And also it has implications into what we're going to be doing next as well. So when I was learning about Vivial and what you folks do, I was learning that there's a portion of your business that comes off of the regulated communications industry. Tell me about the connection with the PUC and where is that relationship? How does that work? The way that works is on the print side of our business, the production and distribution of the phone company's directory is PUC regulated. So there are certain guidelines that must be followed. So we still are very mindful of that. And for the print side of our business, we have to abide by the PUC regulations for distribution. Oh, wow. Okay. So with so many different choices in the world of online marketing solutions, tell me how Vivial is different. What sets you apart? Yeah, that's a great question. And I think that really, you've kind of hit the core of the problem for many of our clients. If you're a small and medium sized business or if you're starting a new business, a lot of our clients tell us that they're really trying to navigate this landscape of confusion. They don't know necessarily where to begin. And even if they do, the next sets of questions that come after that is, okay, well, what of all the things that I can do online to promote my business? What are the few things that I must do? Because you can't do it all. You can't be everywhere. And of the things that you must do, well, how do you get those done? And how do they work together? So that's what really sets us apart as a company is we invest a lot of resources in really analyzing and investigating the preponderance of what's out there and trying to figure out, okay, based on really what works, based on consumer usage behavior and how people are consuming information and trying to find products and services, what are the things that are most impactful, most relevant and are going to produce the best return on investment for the local client based on what they need? After that, we sort of survey the landscape of opportunity of who's out there doing it really well and then partner with good vendors, which we've done very successfully for a couple of years. And at the next stage that planned evolution and more recently what we've been involved in is starting to acquire our own strategic digital assets so that we actually own the solutions that we're putting in front of our clients and bringing to market. That gives us the additional flexibility and control to really deliver at a more customizable level and also a more efficient delivery system to really drive a better return on investment at the client level, which is really what ultimately we're trying to do. So speaking of those clients, what kind of clients in Hawaii come to you? Yeah, really anybody, it's anything from a one person operation to a large bank. If you think of it this way, any company that could benefit from having a strong online presence, getting leads, acquiring and keeping customers and communicating with their client base or customer base online and building loyalty and engagement, that's the client that we are looking for and can do a good job for. And I think most companies would put themselves in that category. What kind of challenges do you find your your clients are bringing to you? I mean, what are their challenges do they face in trying to enter into this online market? One of them is confusion. There's really too many options I would say out there. So how do you cut through the clutter and who do you trust in order to do that for you and advise you appropriately based on what you need? What a client is really concerned most about is you know, if they're going to take the leap to hire a vendor to do something important for them, does that vendor really get them? Do they understand not just what the vendor does, but do they understand the direction of that client and the intentions and the goals and the wills of that person? And that's really what it's all about. And that's the magic, I think, of what we do because, you know, we have a great team of consultants here in Hawaii and they are very passionate about going out there and engaging with those clients and really just climbing into their minds and figuring out, okay, what is it that keeps you up at night? You know, what is it that can really solve for you and then building the solution that actually gets that done, at least in part or in whole? So that's the magic of it, I would say. So it sounds like you build some very personal relationships with your clients so that you can understand what their needs really are and how to really express who they are to their audience. Yeah, absolutely. Because ultimately, you know, we're all about this community. Our branch here in Hawaii is about 40 people. All we worry about is Hawaii. Our clients are on Oahu and on Maui, Hawaii, Big Island, and that's really all. And that's a great luxury because we can really get intimately involved with figuring out the current state of those clients and figuring out where they want to go and then really playing a hand and allowing them to get to their personal promise land, whatever that is. Because sometimes that's more revenue, sometimes that's more volume, sometimes that's taking their business in a whole new direction, whatever it is. The point is, and the magic happens, and there's really a sanctity there where you are able to engage your client at that level and figure out, okay, you know, if I can do A, B, and C for this client, then we've really won here. That's what we're really about. What about some of your success stories? Do you want to share some of that? Oh gosh, there's not to boast, but there's so many. There are many clients that I could reference that have increased followership, engagement, Google rankings, profitability, market share. There are a lot of examples. I wouldn't want to slight any one particular client by mentioning another, but yeah, there's a few that come to mind if you want me to get kind of specific. I would love that. One that comes to mind actually is a place that maybe you've eaten at, Eggs and Things. They have a number of locations. Have you been to the Waikiki one? And they've sort of rebranded, right? Yes, so we played a hand in that, so they engage with us on a number of different levels. We manage their social media for them. We do a lot of content and engagement marketing for them. And we also have done a lot of search engine optimization for their business. And I think I do have some of the numbers if you actually want to hear those details. I'm sure everyone's very interested. Okay. Yeah, we're very pleased with what they've been able to do. So we've reached half a million customers since the start of the program. It's a lot of people. 107 posts and growing. 263 Google rankings, including 232 organic, 31 maps, number one for best omelettes in 96815, which is that zip code would be Waikiki, right? Or is that? Definitely Eastside. I'm not sure. Yeah, I don't live there, so I don't know. Number two for Waikiki pancakes and Waikiki breakfast. Oh, wow. Yeah. And over 600 online directories optimized, which is very important. And then a lot of review management as well. Right now it's a date. They have 4,000 reviews and counting just pretty big. Fantastic. We are going to take a short break. This is Business in Hawaii. We'll be right back. So I'm Yukari Kunisue. I'm your host of New Japanese Language Show on Think Tech Hawaii called Konnichiwa Hawaii, broadcasting live every other Monday at 2 p.m. Please join us where we discuss important and useful information for the Japanese language community in Hawaii. The show will be all in Japanese. Hope you can join us every other Monday at 2 p.m. Aloha. This is Business in Hawaii. And today we are talking with John Lambert, the general business director at Vivio Media. And we are going to talk about how Vivio Media and what you do provides tools to local businesses. Yeah, sure. So, I mean, as an example, if somebody were to come to us really from the ground floor and say, hey, I don't know where to begin. And I've not really done anything yet. So that's sort of a blank canvas of opportunity for us. So the first thing that I think a business really needs is a website that's the foundation. Surprisingly, there are many businesses out there here in Hawaii that are still operating without one. So there's a lot of opportunity even there still. I mean, many businesses already have one, but many do not. The next step to that is optimizing that business's website and their online presence in order for them to be found on Google and other search engines. Google really is the holy grail of commerce. And if you're not found there, you are missing out on just huge amounts of potential in your market because everything happens on Google. I mean, you yourself, I'm sure, use Google all the time to find things. And maybe you get places and it is certainly the £800 gorilla in terms of information delivery. So that is a huge part of what we do is to make sure that if somebody is googling that business's product or service in that location that they get found, virtually nobody goes to the second page of Google. So either you're on the first page or you're almost not even there. So getting to the first page is a giant priority for our clients and for us. So there's a number of ways in which we do that. If you're familiar with the layout of the search results page, for example, a lot of the listings that are on that first page are what's called organic. So you cannot pay to be there. You can invest in solutions that help you get there, but you can't directly pay search engines to appear. Then there are also ads that appear on that page in a variety of locations. And those are sort of the pay to play portions of the search engine. And we cover really both of those arenas. And the goal is to occupy as much front page real estate as you possibly can for the keywords that are relevant to your profit centers and the lines of revenue that you value most and in the locations that you want to be doing business. So there's a lot of science to that art. And I could bore you with some of it. If you'd like, like, let's say, for example, you are a dentist here in town, you would like to probably show up if somebody types in dentist Honolulu. So we can do that for you. And if I were to ask you, though, where do you want to show up? Would you want to be number one or number two for that type of search? Most people would probably say number one. Number one. Everyone wants to be number one. And that's fine. But what if I would also tell you that that number one position, a click will cost you, say, $50. And the number two position click will cost you $7. Which position would you prefer to have then? Maybe number two. So that's part of what we do is we optimize the investments that our clients make in order to provide the best return on investment. So for example, that example right there, we have a counterpricing algorithm that helps us do that. And there are a thousand things technically that are happening on the back end of what we do in order to do it well. So when businesses come to us and say, oh, I can, you know, I think I can do this on my own, the answer is probably, yeah, you sort of can, but should you? And can you do it well enough to justify the fact that you're spending almost time on it? The answer to that is almost always no, you cannot. Because the way that we've built the infrastructure that we now operate on and the way that we help clients in this way, it's a combination of a lot of technology, a lot of software that is venture funded, it costs millions of dollars, and then a team of really great people to make it run well. And in tandem, those two things combine to really create the best possible situation. You get economies of scale, you get divisions of labor, and then you get really good effective programs that are not super expensive. So that has been really great for us because our band, if you will, in the state is really the small and medium sized local business space. So we're not selling packages to the client that wants to spend a half million dollars a month on their online marketing budget. But if you wanted to commit $5,000 a month, it's amazing what we could do for a client like that. And the scale is really important too. We have clients that are investing as little as $100 a month and clients that can do well with a $20, $25, $30,000 monthly package. There's really something for everyone because there's so many options and we have the technology and the expertise to be able to customize them depending on the client's needs and the scale of their operation and the competitiveness of their industry. So that you end up with really something that's going to work for everybody based on their situation. Do you guide your clients through when it's time to scale up or scale down? We do, yes. In fact, one of the other great luxuries that we have as a branch operation here in Hawaii is we have a fantastic team of account coordinators who actually do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of implementation and client education and then optimization over time. So a consultant will go out, build a program, gain a commitment, but then that is taken by that team of account coordinators. And what they do is they hold the client's hands and they make sure that everything that has to happen for the program to launch well happens. And then on an ongoing basis, they will continue to reach out to that client to review performance, talk about new ideas, maybe discuss different levels of participation that they're not particularly engaging in yet to see where we want to go in the long haul as well. So what if a client tells you, okay, I think I'm just at that space where I'm happy, what do you do for them then? We celebrate their happiness, of course, and we just keep in touch with them and in order to keep our finger on the pulse of their needs to see if that ever changes. Is there ever a time where they say, okay, so now I want to take this over on my own? Is that advisable? That does happen on occasion and then sometimes those people will either hire somebody to do it for them or try to actually do it themselves, but invariably if somebody tries to do it themselves, it ends up kind of stressing their bandwidth to where after a while they probably better serve by finding a vendor, whether it's us or somebody else. So where do you see the online marketing solution going in the future? I would say increasingly mobile, so much of our search behavior happens on our phones and tablets. Increasingly social, the percentage of consumer mind share that is happening on Facebook is just astronomical and in fact right now Facebook advertising is one of the most impactful value ads that you can engage in. The specificity with which you can reach the target markets and in terms of location and buying behaviors, it's almost scary. I know there's a lot of controversy right now about data privacy and how much does Facebook actually know about us and the answer is a lot and that's why when you look at your Facebook feed, there are ads that are almost eerily irrelevant to you and we actually play in that space too and our philosophy is this, if I'm going to see an ad in my Facebook feed, I'd rather it be relevant to me than not relevant, right? True but I mean it is a little concerning that you're able to determine what is relevant to me. Yeah and it's really going to be very interesting to see what happens in the future as that continues to evolve and that'll probably change but right now the luxury that it affords us is we're able to take a client and with a relatively nominal budget reach an incredibly specific group of people that are perfect for their product or service which is a really great service for a client but I see increasing engagement on the social front of things as being more and more important at a local level that is still sort of in its infancy here in Hawaii. The amount of clients that are really taking advantage of what's happening in social media is still relatively small. Isn't it right? I would say yeah. So what about the older folks, right? So we know that the young folks get the social media, they're on it, they live it. So what about us older folks that are not really in touch? What do you do for them? They're business owners and they need to take the leap into the next generation but what do you tell them to get comfortable with that? Yeah that's a great question. The best thing that we can do for somebody who is not native to the technology that is so important now is to really explain it in the simplest of terms that don't overall or confuse that client and our goal in that situation is really just to build the trust and win that trust from that client and allow us to sort of take the burden of that off of their shoulders and then do it for them without having them to really get too involved because many of them just simply don't have the interest to get involved too heavily with it and that's fine because a lot of what we do is very turnkey and we have the people to do it for you and that's kind of the point, right? So there's really something for everyone and depending on somebody's level of understanding or interest there's also something for everyone there in terms of how you relay the information so we do have actually many clients who have no interest in learning the digital landscape and we just simply do it all for them and all they have to do is run their business and grow their business which is really what they want to do anyway. I can imagine that's where you really do come in as that value for those who really just want to focus on their core business and their core functions and leave it to the professionals to to run with it but how do they are they able to observe it and appreciate it? Absolutely so we are we are really we value transparency of information and metrics. One of the true luxuries of online marketing is that you can track absolutely everything and that's both a blessing and a curse so over time we've developed infrastructure and built SaaS platforms that allow us to track very specifically all of the indices of measure that really matter to that client and put it all into one dashboard that they can go to and view anytime they want to really fully engage with the performance of that program to see how it's working for them. Great one last question for you. Where can our audience find Vivial Media in the community? Where are you guys? Where are we? You can find us on the web at Vivial.net. You could also visit us at 7-Eleven Copilante Boulevard suite 500. We love visitors. You can also call us at our local office at 808-593-8300. Awesome thanks so much for joining us it was a lot of fun probably a space that I don't know a lot about but I appreciate your time and thanks for sharing with us. You can join us here every week on Thursdays at two o'clock. It's been great having John and his expertise. I wanted to thank the great production staff here in the studio and we look forward to seeing you again next week. Thank you Dylan for having me on the show.