Short, shoppable video building into customer passions in environments where purchase intent is highest, enables frictionless content consumption and purchase capacity that wasn’t previously accessible to shoppers. Bytedance with Douyin applied these innovations and thrived in China, but couldn’t achieve the same conversion with TikTok in the US, UK, and western markets.Technology and commerce media adoption within countries that were previously less developed but have grown rapidly in GDP due to exponentially increasing populations, have seemingly advanced implementation faster than some western markets, where economic growth, market maturity, and the subsequent fragmentation have been the inhibitors to rapid adoption. Whether one believes this to be true or not, the fact is that markets like China and India evolved infrastructure with intense speed. Most of what we are used to in a market like the UK or US never existed there, so the future of video and commerce combined, for example, began in its infancy with content adoption in these emerging markets that is now perhaps ahead of everyone: Alibaba with Taobao Live & Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Kuaishou, and Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese sister, owned by ByteDance) which reported an annual GMV growth rate in 2023 of 277%, control nearly all content consumption AND shopping in China, mainly through livestream where blended e-commerce is also the primary source of entertainment and inspiration, creating what could easily be described as the birthplace of traditional e-commerce merging with livestream, social, and video commerce. Notably, last November’s Singles’ Day shopping festival (the largest shopping day in the world; bigger than Black Friday and Amazon’s Prime Day combined, according to Forbes) saw traditional e-commerce platforms like Tmall, JD.com and Pinduoduo contract by 1.1% on the year (to $128.6 billion), but live commerce platforms Taobao Live, Kuaishou, and Douyin had GMV spikes of 18.5% (to $29.7 billion), both staggering sales numbers for one day and representative of the exponentially growing revenue generating power video commerce platforms can yield. Firework has an advantage in that its Founders were raised in China as well, witnessing these content and shopper mediums evolve first-hand. Combining that exposure with world-class product development, engineering, and fundraising capacity, as well as a business thesis acknowledging the need to seamlessly merge bifurcated points of media consumption and e-commerce transaction in the US, Firework’s early-stage interactive video products accelerated beyond zero-to-one, establishing a foundation for the video commerce market we know here today. Driven by a desire to work at the forefront of video innovation serving as the catalyst to merge SaaS technology, marketer, e-commerce, media, customer, and now, AI, I joined the company early on in 2020, making my own investments into its cap table along the way. One core remit existing as a common denominator across the early-stage teams that I’ve been fortunate to hire, build, grow, and lead unlocks the key precursor to the primary question above, pertaining to “video and technology helping to build a relationship between the brand and the consumer.” When a rapidly emerging technology with the power to effectuate exponentially positive results as measured by the current baseline of performance metric(s) becomes commercially viable, education begins with building a foundationally strong partnership between the developer (Firework) and the initial adopter (Retailers and Brands).
Understanding the pain points of our prospective clients and how they were trying to solve them, while also doing the research and making decisions of our own relative to the pain points, wants, and needs of consumers themselves, was critical in establishing trust and creating a dialogue which exists on the same plane.We also had to look at the markets where video commerce had moved substantially beyond zero-to-one and began to dominate communication between brands and shoppers, which meant understanding the nuances between economies, cultures, tech evolution, adoption propensity, and the pool of financially viable resources capable of building systems which didn’t have an archetype in our market and would need to be integrated, then deployed differently. This was where the addition of our CTO, Rick Zhuang, was key. Prior to joining Firework, Rick was the Head of Engineering at Alibaba, where he led the development of and essentially created their Tmall Retail and Taobao Live Content Platforms. At this stage, Firework had assembled the must-have trifecta in operating an ultra-high growth capacity technology company capable of fueling creativity, revolutionizing sectors, and influencing our everyday experiences: Being extremely well capitalized, having access to product and engineering resources with an exceptionally high output means, and successfully integrating them with nonlinear commercialization and strategy operators capable of bringing our video commerce suite to life with prospective clients. Within that core, we built the connective tissue of strategic partners, customer success experts, data and analytics systems, product marketers, and business unit infrastructures required to accelerate customer adoption (SaaS ARR) and retention (NRR) across enterprise and SMB markets; all required to yield sustained, exponential revenue growth across our video commerce product and service portfolio. Key differentiators for Firework have been in developing technologies representative of the best in shopper inspiration, engagement, and conversion through video, while making them efficiently deployable for clients by way of creating measurable ROI, ensuring ease of implementation, building a proprietary CMS with its own content creation and editing suite, then committing thorough training, reporting, testing ground, and customer support. Critical from a go-to-market strategy and ideal customer profile (ICP) identification perspective, was recognizing that consumers in western markets shop differently than in China and other hyper-emerging markets that are mobile-born.
In the US, UK, and most western markets, 90%+ of all retail and brand product or service transactions online still take place within that marketer’s owned digital assets.Firework technology is deployable across their website destinations (homepage, category pages, PDPs) and is enabled for both desktop and mobile platforms, while mobile iOS and Android SDKs integrate with their app (where the majority of traffic and GMV are generated for large strategic and enterprise clients). This way, the retailer or brand becomes the centre of its own ecosystem prior to the content distribution out and across its omnichannel network, including social channels. This reverses a trend originally consistent with a brand’s video living in social channels first, but there is a challenge in that these are outlets they don’t own and can have difficulty controlling, creating risk if an algorithm is adjusted, for example, in favor of their competitor paying a higher premium to target your customers. Referring to a retailer’s website or app consisting of different sections, Firework designed products to enhance and personalize the digital video shopping experience throughout that funnel: 1:1 Video Clienteling, Digital Showrooms (where always-on or cadenced, scheduled livestreams exist or can be pre-recorded, then leverage an AI layer so they remain live in perpetuity), Interactive video tools for short, shoppable videos (again, on the actual company website or in their app, where purchase intent is strongest). Directly from the video within a retailer’s app, a consumer can toggle sizes, colors, add to the cart, or make a purchase. The keys are in making this experience fun, inspirational, and the purchase frictionless. The relationship between brand and consumer will also become infinite: Always on, fully customized, and 100% knowledgeable. Enter GenAI and LLMs. Firework launched its v1 AI product in January 2024, called AVA. AVA is a customizable AI-rendered digital human shopping assistant, built to look, sound, and engage any customer exactly as if the shopper was browsing a store with their best friend. But, unlike most best friends, AVA is programmed with every piece of information that exists within the company’s back end: Product details, comparisons, pricing, consumer market knowledge, loyalty cohort and segmentation data, etc. In an app with sign-in functionality, AVA can digest everything about your purchase behavior in a hashed, anonymized state, knowing what you buy from the store that she’s helping you shop within, and what styles to recommend next. Video technology itself is the foundation which underpins the entire connected future shopping experience. Bifurcated walls driving separation are gone, harmonizing agency direct or programmatic media buying capacity, connecting consumers with merged access to entertainment and commerce across the retailers and brands who create products or services and the web publishers or social content platforms where consumers are also spending vast amounts of time.
Integrating the power of video as the core marketing medium among emerging unified commerce technologies, enabling instantaneous cloud-based customer data and information networks in an all-encompassing resource, with personalized communication made possible by leveraging a 360 view of your customer across every touchpoint, will be core to any business seeking to gain share of wallet, enrich the definition of loyalty, and create with their shoppers by of way inspired affinity that isn’t easily degraded.These are the reasons why the global video commerce market has been experiencing significant growth. In 2022, the market was valued at approximately USD 526.72 billion. It is projected to expand considerably, reaching an estimated value of USD 2.79 trillion by 2028. This rapid growth is indicative of the increasing popularity of video commerce as a retail strategy and its potential to reshape the shopping experience in the coming years. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 32% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2028 and by 2030 video commerce is predicted to be the leading omnichannel conversion medium. Tell us what your leadership style can be described as, with your wealth of experience in these roles, what have you learned works best and how has this guided you in your role at Firework? My leadership style is guided by several principles which have always been present across my life and are continually evolving; authenticity, active listening, curiosity, empathy, and dynamic exposure to overcoming challenges or hardships (lifehacking, if you will). I would never aspire to be the smartest person in the room, as I believe it’s an isolationist concept alienating valuable contribution. Quiet confidence as a leader, with vocal, visible, shared recognition for the contributions of individuals and teams working with me at any level across all departments, business units, and regions are qualities I’m humbly proud to embrace. I believe in thoughtful communication, honesty, active listening, research, defined expectations, especially amid rapidly iterating environments, and a willingness to lead flexibly based on the dynamic needs of the customer, company, and those who support it. Having a strong grasp on my own leadership strengths and weaknesses has been valuable at Firework, as meaningful institutional investment into a business capable of developing innovation that alters paradigms within an industry identified by analysts as potentially among the most explosive over decades to come can attract some of the world’s top contributors, a diverse cross-section of leadership styles, and starkly varying cultural philosophies. As a means to embracing these assets at Firework, I’ve worked aggressively to promote systems of accurate contribution assessment across all global teams, 360 review and calibration assessments encompassing a diverse cross-section of leader and peers, as well as my commitment to the company as an Executive Sponsor to its Culture Committee. In an environment defined by fluidity, I often ask questions of my team members, especially in situations where a solution isn’t finite, such as: “I’m not sure how we’re going to solve this problem, but you have expertise in this area, what would you do?” Dialogue rooted in recognition for every individual’s capacity to leverage their own experience and expertise is valuable in unlocking each team member’s full potential and willingness to contribute, which makes periods defined by unfixed variables and vast change feel as if there are always constants capable of meaningful engagement among us. A leader with teams who are willing to proactively lean forward with contribution in scenarios not requiring a comment or response has succeeded in ensuring his or her teams feel empowered. This is particularly valuable at Firework because we’re often working in a field that’s defining itself as we create it. So, the contribution from any and all, across examples such PLG and SLG implementation best practice, demand gen, feedback on pricing structures, product questions or concerns shared by clients that can serve as invaluable in adjusting our processes, etc. It’s communication that’s critical. I tap into having a strong EQ and a desire to share my personal experiences, both positive and negative, with the people I want to inspire. I have no issue admitting a mistake I’ve made, as I believe the humility derived from shared imperfection enables trust. Whether it’s a client, colleague, or investor, I seek to understand the goals, objectives, and values of others, acknowledging that while we may not agree, there’s merit in constantly broadening perspective.
I am willing to have difficult discussions with my peers, which at times include heartfelt topics relating to or impacting an individual’s sense of self-worth, character, decision making, or earning capacity. These are instances where empathy is key, while the best leaders are also capable of reminding themselves that the greater good of the company must come first in all respects. Having aspirations as aggressive as Firework’s, these become important assets a leader can tap into when required.Pragmatic experiences in media, technology, commerce, and data, combined with having had amazing Founders as mentors prior to joining Firework, has also been an advantage worth leveraging. My leadership style blends an understanding of commercial growth (obtaining new customers, yielding ARR or media revenue, while growing with existing clients supporting healthy NRR) with operational mechanics core to running a profitable business (efficient net cash burn, aggressively managed Op/CapEx, properly negotiated vendor partnerships with shared upside, etc), and a love of building into those around me. If I were ever to be considered an “A Player” as an Executive, I would quickly cite having only been able to get there by way of surrounding myself with “A+ Players.” I find that immersing myself with talented, spirited peers is far more impactful and rewarding than taking the credit for any given achievement myself, and I have no fear of being overshadowed because I prefer it. I’ve been fortunate to witness some of the best applied leadership principles, as well as what I would consider to be extremely poor leadership demonstrations as well. I believe that maintaining a keen awareness of the examples set by those around us is core to shaping who we become as a leader. To me, the most positive leadership attributes often align with the mission and principles of the company. For this to remain true, a business must maintain core values worthy of replication: Transformative in nature, penchants for elevating and building into people, products, or concepts which support the identified needs of customers, and a demeanor anchored in respect for everyone, regardless of how you may feel they’ve treated you. I also consider myself fortunate to have witnessed examples of poor leadership practices. I believe leadership shortfalls resulting in deeply negative employee sentiment overall as a function of broken culture will impact businesses more holistically in the future, ranking in equal reputation as defined by customers. Poorly aligned core values of founders and leaders, previously most akin to degrading the culture of a company from within, resulting in a high regrettable turnover, will begin to impact its earnings by way of external customer churn. Many enterprise companies, often publicly traded with brand equity to protect and share of wallet to grow, are adding “value-based” criteria to their supply chain partnership assessments. These cultural and employee sentiment scoring systems applied across their partner portfolio will increasingly influence decision making, as in B2B the reputation of one company becomes more transparently impacted by the “company” they keep, and the connected B2C sector is proving meaningfully with data that shoppers are gravitating more toward products or services produced by companies where ethical or moral values are shared with them across the board. All these principles bring valuable exposure as they promote adaptation. They also apply regardless of company size or whether the business is growing or contracting. In my role prior to Firework, I had the opportunity to spend 4 years as the Chief Operating Officer of a global media conglomerate, where I was privileged to lead financial and operational restructuring via turnaround, which contracted headcount by more than 50% but returned the company to profitability. We did this by understanding how to get more from what we already had or discarding that which didn’t drive measurable ROI. We also re-established and innovated across digital and social content platforms, much of which included more efficiently produced video, positioned as a collection of top media buying and affiliate commerce destinations for agencies on behalf of their clients and brands. At Firework in my role as CBO, the opposite of a turnaround has been true, such that the business accelerates products from zero-to-one into key ARR driving SaaS product lines utilizing non-linear, sustainable, exponential growth strategies. This requires a deep appreciation for product road mapping and prioritisation, well-managed net cash burn, and a keen understanding of each contributor on every team’s expertise. That unlocks the capacity to define expected quarterly yield and contribution capacity via OKRs, which is pivotal in leading resource planning, defining departmental budgets, revenue forecasting, etc with P&Ls spanning diverse Country Operations. The key for me as a leader has been applying these business fundamentals with accuracy and flexibility (amid constant product and strategy iteration required of a high-growth company) while ensuring the company doesn’t lose touch with the cultural nuances equally contributing to its success. These key qualitative attributes each employee brings as a uniquely special person are so valuable to not only recognize, but leverage and reward, to bring the communication of learnings, service shortfalls, and customer best practices across borders for the greater benefit of the company and its global, enterprise clients. The near future will yield increasingly lucrative opportunities for businesses to win market share from those who remain reliant on dated operational techniques or oversight known to be slow, bureaucratic, indecisive, and who struggle with applying speed in decision making.
Lacking the integration of these transformational pillars will increasingly put those companies at risk of diminished market position, have impact on innovation investments, and contribute to cultural indifference that lowers the engagement of everyone. My appetite for calculated risk, desire to share, and drive accelerated operational, financial, and reputational transformation among the most opportunistic businesses are governed by these leadership experiences.As a leader at such an exciting time in technological advancement, I want to continue unlocking competitive edge through growth hacking in areas where companies have distinct market advantages. The leadership and philosophical business attributes overall that I’ve acquired at Firework are invaluable, especially as they pertain to extreme speed, constant iteration, and decisive decision making. I feel so fortunate to have been able to lead and excel here. The distinction of being recognised by way of this award, as a leader owing so much credit back to the amazing people on my teams, is such an honor. I’ll carry that forward with humility as I endeavor around future leadership roles that I’m fortunate enough to influence with ultra-high growth capacity firms; privileged to have participated and excelled among one of the most progressive and heavily invested markets of the foreseeable future in video commerce and AI, within one of silicon valley’s most reputably and deeply institutionally funded, ultra-high growth capacity, technology companies. Why do you think more people are desiring a personalized shopping experience and how does Firework assist with this? Personalization and information access work conjunctively. Exposure breeds curiosity and curiosity drives a desire to engage in terms which are self-defined. These customer remits and expectations can’t be met within a traditional loyal customer cohort and require a more advanced understanding of all the facets of an individual’s motivation or interest in something. True unified commerce systems seek to bring all multifaceted views of any given customer into focus. The power of AI, large language models, and machine learning capable of processing data at speeds and in quantities so much more advanced than ever previously available is the only way true personalization becomes economically viable for businesses. This is where Firework’s AVA product, along with ChatGPT and more nuanced innovations from technology titans like Google/YouTube, Bytedance/TikTok, Microsoft, and others will drive huge investments from institutional investors and competitive advantage as well. Smaller, more nimble startups (albeit growing rapidly) will also change the connected commerce landscape, as firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral AI and their exponentially enlarging competitor list will also thrive, but only one or two will ultimately dominate their markets. Just last week, Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, xAI, announced a $6 billion round valuing the company at $24 billion post money, which included several of Silicon Valley’s most prominent Venture Capital and Private Equity firms. Deployed prudently among fiscally responsible leadership who understand their fiduciary duty back to those investors, the combination of the right blend of entrepreneurs, creators, operators, and strategic partnership leaders within these businesses could put them on a trajectory to becoming the next trillion-dollar club market cap member. That’s how influential AI will be across a combined B2C and B2B TAM that’s infinite. The future of video commerce in modern retail is shaping up to be a transformative force as well, integrating advancing technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), but it’s been this market’s investments in AI to enhance and personalize the shopping experience that will accelerate it most. Below are a few key insights into what I think we can expect: E-Commerce Integration: Retailers will continue to integrate video commerce as a core element of their strategy, focusing on creating a seamless customer experience both online and in physical stores, understanding that AI’s contribution to video commerce can drive efficiency across content creation, data-led consumer market knowledge, personalized targeting, and segmentation. Unified commerce software, logistics, supply chain, last mile delivery, media buying, and L&D will also be enriched by these advancements, as well as every other partnership channel they rely on as part of influencing their JBPs. That’s why selecting strategic partners with access to significant capital, top engineering talent, and iterative product portfolios will become even more crucial for enterprise retailers and brands. Omnichannel Shopping & Retail Media: The concept of ‘Phygital’ shopping, which blends physical and digital experiences, is expected to become the norm. This means a connected retail environment where the boundaries between online and offline shopping are blurred. GenAI merging personalized content with RFID for geo-location purposes will play a pivotal role in bringing all touchpoints of a customer’s path to purchase to life more efficiently. As retailers leverage these communication means, the channels through which brands can target them across the retailer’s consumer touchpoints with personalized media expands as well. This will drive the growth and investment in retail media exponentially.
Personalization at Scale: Stores of the future will likely offer highly personalized experiences, with AI-created 1:1 digital sales associates embedded within the retailer’s app knowing customer preferences as well as a close friend or personal stylist might. This will include personalized product recommendations and shopping experiences tailored to individual needs at a scale never previously obtainable.Live Commerce: The rise of live commerce, combining e-commerce, live video streaming and AI, will become a must-have within the MMM and KPI measurement to meet the consumer’s desire for an immersive shopping experience and drive loyalty. It allows retailers to showcase their products and interact with customers in real-time. A catalyst will be historically slower adopting markets, potentially similar to the UK and US, shifting budget allocation previously earmarked for high-cost, inefficient, PGC often endorsed by a celebrity for more authentic means of UGC, unlocking content created at scale by leveraging that which can be created and rewarded to loyal customers, in-store sales associates, those with the highest brand affinity, and product or service expertise. Investment in Technology: Significant investments and acquisitions will shift from opening new brick-and-mortar stores to enhancing technology that supports video commerce and other digital shopping experiences, many of which will contain a blended AI functionality. These investments will span markets, including those made by global infrastructure and experience cloud providers like Adobe, global information, media, technology, video content, and commerce leaders like YouTube, and retailers themselves as those historically known for owning the R&D like Walmart and now Shein will be challenged by those who best leverage strategic partners such as Target. Has there been a recent project you and your team have worked on that was an exciting advancement for the brand and the technology used? AI’s role in democratizing content creation, while preserving the human element of creating experiences based on real people, but without their need to participate beyond a rendering of their physical visual and audible likeness, has been fascinating. These are cutting-edge innovations that will shape the future of commerce. Participating in these investments, the development, and commercialization of assets that have not only never been taken to market, but until recently had also never been conceived at all, are experiences that have enriched my capacity to visualize growth in a different way. Translating that to my teams, digesting their interpretation, and talking about the concepts with analysts, investors, board members, and other entrepreneurs has been a hallmark experience for me as a leader and student of business, which I believe has the capacity to shape industries with the same magnitude. It’s also certainly accelerated my desire to ensure the investments being made into bringing new technologies to life are protected, deployed respectfully, with oversight, and governance, while not risking the potential chilling effects on investment or growth often associated with government regulation. AI will be among the largest and most complex technologies to digest across political, social, cultural, environmental, and economic influences to have existed in the modern age. Finally, What advice would you give to a company that is considering making their website and shopping experience more personalized online but doesn’t know where to start? Keep it simple at the start. The concept of video commerce is really about taking something like a static image or text and making it more authentic, relatable, and real for the customer. It doesn’t need to be more complex than that. If you’re a small business owner, there are tools which will easily allow you to turn the camera on yourself and talk to your consumer base about your business. Why did you start it? Labor of Love? What drives your passion for it? Why do you feel you’re an expert? What makes your product or service unique? Shared thought leadership about the industry your company sits among overall is also important. From a technological perspective, Firework has a product and service suite capable of servicing any size business. The omnichannel marketing thesis around video commerce is that the content should live everywhere: On the digital assets you own, like your website (both desktop and mobile enabled), as well as your app. The app is key, as this is where almost all consumers are making the purchase and high-quality traffic, or monetizable video commerce inventory, is often highest. These assets then have the linked capacity to embed in loyalty programs like email campaigns, across all social ecosystems, into the digital assets of your retail partners, etc. Topically, here are a few additional considerations, which I’d be happy to discuss with anyone so that we find the best means toward engaging, inspiring, and converting your customers for you with the best partner: Reach, Video Production Quality, Content Management Systems (CMS), Social Media Integration, Influencer Partnerships, Interactive Video Features & Retail Media Capacity, In-App & Mobile Optimization, Analytics and Data Tracking, SEO for Video, Personalization Technology Live Streaming Capabilities. All these concepts are important to consider in building a well-informed strategy. Firework Published by: www.ceotodaymagazine.com - June 7th, 2024
