Leo00:02 — You you could have everyone in the room loving a concept, but then if you throw it to actual customers, they might not like it or they may be confused by what the concept is. So I really think that testing of all shapes and sizes is huge. You know, it could be asking a coworker for their opinion, but you know, I think having focus groups with real people, with real humans of getting that input, for me that actually should override and supersede even what a key stakeholder might have as their opinion.
Ben Ard00:54 — Welcome back to another episode of Content Amplified. Today I'm joined by Leo. Leo, welcome to the show.
Leo00:59 — Thanks, Ben.
Ben Ard01:00 — Leo, I'm excited to have you here. It's going to be a fun subject. Like there's even a term I haven't heard before that we're going to talk about. But before we dive in, let's get to know you, your background, all that kind of fun stuff.
Leo01:10 — Sounds great, thank you. So again, my name's Leo Kosar. I'm a Chicago-based creative leader with over 20 years of experience building brands, leading integrated campaigns. I've worked at boutique design firms, full service ad agencies, a pharmaceutical agency, and a few in-house creative teams for national retail, lifestyle, and web hosting brands. But we're expanding traditional advertising, digital, experiential, and content, pretty much wherever an idea needs to live. My focus has always been not just developing ideas, but seeing them all the way through across channels, formats, and audiences. And after 20 plus years, I still believe the best creative work happens when strategy and craft refuse to compromise on each other.
Ben Ard01:51 — I love that phrase. That's pretty awesome. That's like, that's hang on my wall worthy kind of an idea. I think that's cool. Love that. Leo, today's focus, you have this cool term, 360 content. You know what it really means from when we're emailing back and forth — your content is only as strong as the people you bring in to make it. Let's talk a little bit about this concept. So when you look at content and maybe where it's falling apart, what happens here? Is it because of the people or how is this working in the first place? Talk to us about this term, that kind of stuff, just to kick it off.
Leo02:23 — Sure, so I think for me the biggest place I see content fall apart is the gap between the idea and execution. So it really is all about execution. A lot of teams, in my opinion, operate in a very linear way and a concept gets approved, it gets handed off to a production team, a development team, or a social team. And by the time it actually comes to life, it's lost a lot of what made it interesting in the first place. Or it's not aligned with brand standards the way it should be. Another issue is that people who ultimately shape how the work feels, directors, photographers, editors, even developers, they aren't brought in early enough to help influence the idea. So in the end, something that's technically on strategy, you know, isn't really fitting creatively, you know, or it's flatter and consistent. And I feel that audiences pick up on that immediately.
Ben Ard03:12 — So getting people involved early and often, I love that concept. So as it goes through the execution and later stages, you can keep that integrity early on. I think that's super powerful. That's cool. So when we say your content is only as strong as the people you bring in, what does that look like in practice? Like, what does that actually look like, feel like day to day real life scenario here?
Leo03:35 — So I really think that treating every collaborator that you have as a creative partner, not just someone that's executing a task. So when you're choosing a photographer or a director, it's not just about style, it's about their perspective and the ideas that they bring to the table. Same happens with editors, stylists, and even music. Those choices all fundamentally shape the story that you're telling. On the digital side, involving UX, development teams, very early on in the process, that can completely change how the idea comes to life. And sometimes in ways that you wouldn't have thought of upfront. For me, the best projects that I've worked on felt much less like a handoff and much more like building something together from the very beginning.
Ben Ard04:17 — So in those early meetings, like in the very beginning, what does that look like? How do you make sure people catch the vision, the feeling, the objective, so that as you go throughout the whole process that stays intact, like what, does that actually fundamentally look like? Is it in the brainstorming session or is it beyond that? Like at what point in time and how do you make sure the vision is properly distributed?
Leo04:43 — I've definitely brought in teams and, you know, even partners in brainstorming, you know, from the very beginning, you know, let's bring everyone at the table. Have them listen to the creative brief, the objective, what's the strategy of the project? You know, oftentimes in TV and in movies, you know, you see people coming up with ideas when they're in the shower. I really feel like as a creative, just hearing about the assignment and then maybe having the weekend just to not think about it, but you do think about it. I think giving everyone that again is contributing to a project that opportunity, it gives them a chance just to think. They then can all come back with their own ideas and their different perspectives. You know, again, with, you know, all the different team members that I've already mentioned, they all have their own ideas. And I think when you pull all those together, that's really when you produce the best work because it's not just one idea. It's people kind of riffing off of each other and building on, you know, other ideas, you know, Hey Ben, this is a great idea, but what about this? You know, and it's, it's also very cliche saying, but I feel like no ideas are bad ideas. You know, you just share it anyway. It might not be what you end up doing, but it could trigger an idea that someone else hasn't thought of.
Ben Ard05:50 — So what roles or collaborators tend to be brought into this process really too late or like we undervalue them kind of in the process and don't take their thoughts and their role as seriously as we should.
Leo06:05 — So definitely I feel like for me the first is, and maybe not the most important, but the first that I think of is editors. I think editors are a big one. They're often brought in at the end of a project, but they can really completely redefine things like pacing, tone, and emotion of the content that you're creating. Stylists are another example. Wardrobe, prop stylist, set design stylist. They're all critical in shaping how authentic or even aspirational something feels, especially for brands. Music is another huge one. It's often treated as a finishing touch, but it can completely transform how something lands emotionally. If you just listen to any commercial without the sound, you'll see it completely strips away everything they're trying to achieve. And on the digital side, I would say developers, UX teams, they're still too often brought in after the idea is locked instead of helping shape what's possible from the beginning. And that's really where you miss opportunities to create something truly engaging or differentiated.
Ben Ard07:01 — Okay, so now here's a question. I'm going to throw you kind of a curve ball because I'm fascinated here. You know, you're talking about these big productions, really cool things with content. Obviously that can scale and be really large or there's less people depending on the scope of the content. How do you avoid this concept of having too many cooks in the kitchen? You know, if you're involving everyone really early on and the brainstorming people have these ideas and passions and you're like, yes, what if we did this? Yes, and and all that kind of stuff. How do you corral all of those creative juices to be able to, at the end of the day, say, here's a lock. This is what we're doing. Let's go execute now. How do you do that without some of the confusion and people feeling like their ideas aren't being heard?
Leo07:43 — Yeah, so I think it's important to definitely open up that collaboration in the beginning. Have everyone come through, you know, back when we were all in office, we used to have all the huge post-it sheets and, you know, whiteboards, chalkboards, whatever it was, where you just have, you know, pages and pages or lists and lists of ideas. I think calling down all those ideas to the top ideas, you know, you can't walk in with 20 concepts to a presentation. So, you you might limit that down to three and it is a process of, you know, again, meeting objectives, aligning strategy with what your ideas are. And then also hopefully having some diversity in what those ideas are, you know, you shouldn't have the three very similar ideas with different colors or different fonts. You know, this is the exact same layout that doesn't do anyone any good. So I think really just kind of calling down, distilling all of those ideas into the top ideas is what you really should be presenting in the end. And that does become a much larger effort when you do have things like directors and music and all the different layers. But I don't know if it's getting ahead a little bit, but I think bringing in key decision makers early on as well so that you're getting those approvals that you need to move forward versus working on any project for several weeks or several months. And then in the end, you know, getting the, you know, let's start over, you know, kind of, you know, direction that you get that nobody ever wants to hear. So it's, it's kind of critical.
Ben Ard09:09 — I love that. Yeah. Getting the decision makers in that process. And I love that because there is a lot of times we put all this time and effort into this style, ready to show a decision maker. And they're like, I wasn't a part of this process. I don't like this idea. And all of a sudden it's scrapped in your back to day one. When it comes to content, there's always an intended audience, right? There's always someone that's going to consume the content who it's being built for. How do you involve them? Whether it's a consumer, audience, external group, when and where and how do you involve them in the process? Again, another curve ball of a question, but at what point in time do you want to actually start getting the feedback of the individuals who you're hoping will consume and relate to the content you're creating?
Leo09:52 — So testing, I think is a big part of really being able to produce. And I think years ago, especially working in digital and with UX teams, I think we were all kind of in our vacuums. We were trying to make our clients happy. We were listening to stakeholders. I think a big aha moment was actually what are the consumers, what are they searching for? What are the keywords they're using? What resonates with them? You could have everyone in the room loving a concept, but then if you throw it to actual customers, they might not like it or they may be confused by what the concept is. So I really think that testing of all shapes and sizes is huge. You know, it could be asking a coworker for their opinion, but you know, I think having focus groups with real people, with real humans of getting that input, for me that actually should override and supersede even what a key stakeholder might have as their opinion. They might not like to hear that, but at the end of the day, what you produce is for the customer, it's not for the person that works at the company.
Ben Ard10:51 — Yeah, I love that. That's cool. So we're kind of running out of time. So we're going to have one final question and these episodes go by so quickly. This has been great. What are a few ways teams can start building a stronger creative ecosystem around their content? Any ideas there to kind of help teams kind of say, yeah, that's something we can do that. There's some ideas that we can implement today.
Leo10:59 — All right. Yeah, so I think there's a few things that work really well. I'd say first, you know, building that kind of trusted network of collaborators, people that can help elevate the work that, that really understand who your brand is and what your standards are. Second, involving key partners. I just mentioned this early on, maybe earlier than feels comfortable. You know, even a quick conversation can change the trajectory of an idea. And I really think that that's a big one. It's very important. Third, I would say align everyone around the brand upfront. Again, all the different teams that we've talked about so that every decision from casting to UX is reinforcing the same brand personality and story. And finally, creating a space for collaboration. The best ideas come from unexpected places. You only get that when people feel like they're contributing and not just executing. So when you do all that, the work becomes much more cohesive, more interesting, and ultimately more effective.
Ben Ard12:06 — I love that. I love those three pillars right there. I think that's key to everything. Leo, this has been amazing. Thank you for the time and insights today. If anyone listening wants to reach out and connect with you online, how and where can they find you?
Leo12:18 — You can check me out on LinkedIn and also my website is leo coaster.
Thank you so much, Ben.
