Interview with Jared Feldman, Founder and CEO, Canvs

On Marketing Technology

MTS: Tell us about your role at Canvs and how you got here? (What inspired you to be a part of a technology innovation company?) 
I am CEO and founder of Canvs, an emotion analytics company, and I spend most of the time thinking about how we create empathy for the client and solve their problems. Canvs started out as Mashwork, which I co-founded with Dr. Sam Hui at NYU, where we provided insights to the television and entertainment industry. Later, we formed Canvs where we created technology which understands human emotional reactions to social media at scale. Our mission is to further the understanding of human behavior, and presently Canvs is the industry standard in emotion measurement and is used by TV Networks, Publishers, MCNs, and agencies.

I am driven by the why – why do people do what they do? Why do they click? Why do they react to content?

MTS: Given the changing dynamic of ad engagement with customers, how do you see the AdTech market evolving in the coming years?
Traditional engagement metrics are evolving, and it’s not enough to just spark a simple click or “like.” Emotions drive behavior and advertisers must aim to strike an emotional chord with audiences, and form an ongoing connection and narrative that consumers (and fans) can relate to and believe in. With the advent of ad-blocking technologies, advertisers will create more personalized experiences and serve more relevant ads.

In regards to digital advertising formats, expect traditional banner ads and interstitials to be traded in for more innovative, interactive formats.  Adtech vendors must start improving the piping to widely distribute mobile rich media at a massive scale, because new dynamic formats like interscroller, mosaic, chatbot, etc. have resulted in increased engagement and better user experience.

MTS: What do you see audience attention and conversion analytics influencing their omnichannel experience, especially over social platforms?
Content must be carefully curated for each individual social platform because what works on Twitter does not work on YouTube. This is in part due to conditioning, as well as the idiosyncrasies and differences of each platform. For example, we have seen here at Canvs in our Instagram product, users posts include emoji’s up to 50% of the time, much higher than we see on other networks. Audience attention and conversions can be optimized through emotional analysis while adjusting the actual creative for each individual platform.

MTS: What’s the biggest challenge that CMOs need to tackle to make their media decisions work?
Differentiation.
Year after year Cannes highlights the best, most creative marketing campaigns. And with the festival recently coming to a close, let’s make a conscious effort to incorporate the findings into our repertoire. Take chances with creative, and don’t do the predictable. Instead, create memorable assets that can be adapted across platforms, and make a meaningful impression on anyone that crosses paths.

MTS: What startups are you watching/keen on right now?  
Since we are in the emotion measurement space we pay close attention to see what leaders in the neuroscience area are doing.

MTS: What tools does your marketing stack consist of in 2017?
We are always looking ways to better connect with prospective customers and current customers.  Currently, we utilize Intercom, Qwilr, Whatfix, Hubspot, and MailChimp.

MTS: Could you tell us about a standout digital campaign? (Who was your target audience and how did you measure success)
Recently, Canvs partnered with NBCU to do creative testing for ads on Facebook leading up to the premiere of fan favorite This Is Us. As NBCU rolled out new series announcements, the network saw that passion levels for This Is Us were well above average and were able to pinpoint which characters, plot points and trailer versions resonated the best to capitalize on fan emotion.

MTS: How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a marketing leader?
As MarTech expands, and timing constraints become tighter, the need for AI and machine learning technology becomes increasingly important in order to add efficiencies to a marketing organization.

A common misconception is that this will eliminate jobs for humans, but the two can actually work in tandem to create a collaborative Augmented Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence solutions can dig through vast silos of data and provide actionable recommendations much quicker than humans can. But humans are essential in the workflow since they provide feedback on outputs and algorithms, and help blend some art with the science.

This Is How I Work

MTS: One word that best describes how you work.
Curious

MTS: What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? 
For business I use boomerang, fitness I use Myfitnesspal, and I check Coinbase way too often.

MTS: What’s your smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack? 
Boomerang plugin in Chrome.

MTS:  What are you currently reading? (What do you read, and how do you consume information?)
Presently I am reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Most of my information is consumed through podcasts. A couple on my playlist right now are Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale, and The Wall Street Journal Tech News Briefing.

MTS: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
To seek out uncomfortable situations

MTS: Something you do better than others – the secret of your success?
Obstacles are to be treated like teachers.  And I am curious, very curious.  Figure out what you can learn from obstacles quickly and adapt often.

MTS: Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read:  Dan Beltramo, SaaS or Data as a Service CEO, Nielsen—He is an advisor and a friend to the company.

MTS: Thank you Jared! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.