Steven Van Blarcom

I’m happy to share that I’ve accepted the position as Chief Instructor for The Drivers Club at New Jersey Motorsports Park. 🏁

Today, Tinuiti is first to market in turning Meta’s newest Creative Fatigue and Creative Diversification signals into actionable financial guidance inside our Bliss Point Marketing Operating System. As platforms continue to lean heavily into media buying automation, creative is becoming one of the last remaining performance levers marketers fully control. Yet creative fatigue has always been a challenge brands could feel, but struggled to quantify—often discovering it only after efficiency drops and revenue takes a hit. Instead of just flagging declining creative, Tinuiti’s Meta Creative Health Dashboard within Bliss Point: 🔢 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸: Calculates the exact media spend exposed to fatigue. 📐 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Tracks the ROAS gap against healthy baselines to give CMOs and CFOs a clear business case for asset refreshes. 📈 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: Identifies spend concentration across formats and placements to keep performance scaling. Automation makes media faster, but it doesn't guarantee value. Bliss Point turns platform signals into immediate, data-backed decisions and protects performance before the problem becomes expensive. Learn more about how we're translating Meta's signals into real-world media value: https://lnkd.in/gqBcMAH4

He won because he refused to make farmers pay more. On Shark Tank, Johnny was pushed to raise his product price to $12. From the outside, it sounded like the smart move. Higher price. Better margins. More upside. But Johnny kept saying no. Not because he didn’t understand business. Because he understood his customer. He built for farmers. And he knew many of them couldn’t comfortably afford $12. So instead of optimizing for the investor pitch, he protected the people the business was meant to serve. That’s when one investor said: “You are selling to farmers.” But that wasn’t a weakness in the model. That was the mission. And that’s the part most people miss. A lot of businesses grow by asking: “How much more can we charge?” Very few grow by asking: “How do we stay fair to the people who trust us?” One investor walked away. Another stepped in. They found common ground around $6 to $7. The deal happened. And the line that mattered most was simple: “I like everything you stand on.” That says more than any valuation ever could. Because in the end, people don’t only invest in products. They invest in conviction. They invest in character. They invest in founders who know exactly who they are building for. Now the company is worth over $100 million. Not because Johnny chased the highest price. Because he never lost sight of the customer. That’s what real leadership looks like. Knowing when to grow without betraying the people who got you there. #CustomerFirst #Leadership #FounderMindset #BuildInPublic #PricingStrategy #AgriBusiness #Entrepreneurship

Something new is coming to the Jersey Shore. This week, we’re bringing together a small, curated group of senior leaders from across brands, media, agencies, sports, entertainment and the creator world for the first JERSEY. The idea is simple: fewer people, better conversations, no hard sales pitches, and an environment where real relationships can actually happen. We’ve taken the things we’ve loved about the best industry events over the years, left behind the things we haven’t, and built something that feels a little more personal, a little more fun and very Jersey. Local summer. Great people. Great conversations. Great music. The first JERSEY starts this week. We have a feeling this is just the beginning. Interested in joining us next year? Click here to inquire about JERSEY 2027: https://lnkd.in/gSqTCcwe #JERSEY #Marketing #Media #AsburyPark Jason Acker Frank Trofa Paul Josephsen

Excited to be attending #Unleashed26 in Orlando this September! Looking forward to connecting with fellow operators, industry partners, and peers from across the out-of-home industry while discussing the challenges and opportunities shaping our business. See you there! Unleashed26.com

The Amazon DSP announcement of a ChatGPT ads integration is just as significant for who they didn’t choose to partner with. There are only three enterprise level DSPs at this point. Where is TTD on this? This continues to remind me of FBX by the way. Outsource the demand to build the product until you can take it over yourself. Not saying they will shut off integrations in a year’s time. But something to watch. https://lnkd.in/g9br2Zmf

You know me for leading Global Media and Licensing Partnerships at TikTok. Or maybe you know me for the products like Out Of Phone or TikTok Radio. But here is the story of how I got here. My personal timeline: Early days, Lower-middle class in Canada. Bad student with a learning disability getting Ds and Cs. Shoveled pony poo, sold newspaper subscriptions, worked in call centers selling accidental death insurance, and dropped out of university. Spent a year in Israel studying Talmud. 2001, built a ringtone startup coding widgets for Eminem fan sites. Tried to raise $1M, ran out of money. Took a retail job at an Apple reseller having to clean toilets in a uniform while my girlfriend (now wife) secretly slipped $20 bills into my pocket to keep me going. 2003, Recruited to Rogers Communications because of my ringtone background. Wore a suit when everyone was casual ("dress for the job you want"). Ignored my boss telling me to do a MySpace deal and negotiated the first mobile monetization deal directly with Dustin Moskovitz at "The Facebook." 2008, Flew to Vegas to negotiate Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view with Dana White and the Fertitta brothers in an empty casino boardroom; helped lobby for UFC legalization in Canada. 2011, Recruited to TELUS to build the content team. Spent 10 years flying to LA for May Screenings, closed $250M sports rights deals, and became the first in the world to bundle Netflix (and later Amazon Prime) into a traditional cable package when everyone else treated streaming as a competitor. 2016, Discovered musical(dot)ly, posted a video, got told "get off my platform, Dad" by commenters, and realized short-form video was the future. Joined TikTok to get content onto the 2 billion screens outside mobile. 2023-Present, Created "Out of Phone", (with a kick ass team) scaling TikTok onto Times Square billboards (starting with Netflix's Ashton Kutcher & Reese Witherspoon campaign) and global DOOH screens into a $xxxM+ ad business, followed by TikTok Radio with iHeart. None of this felt like a master plan while I was living it. When you are scrubbing retail bathrooms in a uniform, carrying a learning disability, and having someone secretly slip money into your pocket so you can keep going, you do not feel like you are building a career. You are just trying to make it through the week. Every move that actually mattered looked unglamorous, confusing, or completely unproven to everyone around me at the time. None of it made sense while it was happening. It was just waking up, staying curious, and doing the unsexy work when no one was watching. Why share this now? The rest in the comment section...

We’re happy to share some exciting news: Marla Kaplowitz has been named Chair of Butler/Till’s Board of Directors! As former President & CEO of the 4As, Marla brings more than 35 years of leadership across marketing, advertising and media to the role. We’re excited to have her perspective helping guide what’s next for Butler/Till. Thank you to MediaPost for sharing the news! Read more with the link in the comments.