Yahoo MCAP

Last week our awesome events team put on YEF on the Green. YEF is the Yahoo Employee Foundation that helps Yahoos give back to the community and their favorite non-profit organizations. And gives out Cream ice cream sandos at work. 

So, what is it like to ride the Yahoo shuttles to work everyday?

Great question!

When you get your offer from Yahoo, the first thing you think is, “HOLY MOLY, YAHOOOOO.” Then, the next thing you think is, “ok, where am I going to live?” Since San Francisco is where all the young people live, but you’ll be working down in the South Bay, you’re conflicted about where you should set up camp.

Luckily, Yahoo makes that decision easier by providing a shuttle service from key parts of SF to work everyday. They have wifi, air conditioning, comfy seats, and all of the drivers are so cool! Seriously, get to know the drivers. They’re all chiller than any of us. And, if they like you, they’ll probably wait for you when you’re late. Probably.

Anyway, the shuttles make it possible to live in the city and commute to work easily. I know, I know, you could take the CalTrain, but these buses are a real life saver. And they save on traffic. What could be better?

In the AM, the bus is a mix of people feverishly typing and people trying to get a little nap in before they start feverishly typing at work. In the evenings, it’s also a mix of people feverishly typing and people trying to get a little nap in. However, there’s a little more chatter AND you become friends with people on the bus. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about other parts of Yahoo while taking the shuttle.

Greetings from LA

Dear loyal readers,

It’s me again, your ol’ MCAP Jerry, down in the far away land of LA. Since my last tumblr post, a lot has changed. The weather has changed drastically. Oh how the weather has changed. Back in January it was a balmy 80 degrees. Now we’re here in May and it’s 65 – hide your kids, hide your wife.

If I had known I was going to have to wear a long sleeve shirt at night, I would have never moved here.

All kidding aside, I’ve been loving life in the south side of California. Yahoo has been doing big things lately, and the company is definitely vibing. Since NewFronts there has been a ton of buzz around some of our new content. A friend of mine who works at a Talent Agency even texted me and said, Yahoo’s line of content looks fantastic. I would have to agree with him. I’m particularly pumped for The Pursuit, an upcoming TV show that chronicles life for a late twenty something in Manhattan. Stay tuned for an awesome slate of new content.

Anyways, it was great checking in with you all again. Sorry I can’t say more, but I have to run. I’ll leave you with a haiku

Roses are all red

And the violets are blue. 

A Western poem.

We arrived on the scene in the back stage bunker of Avery Fischer hall in Lincoln Center and were immediately put to work. It takes about a million pairs of hands to put on a giant tier one event like NewFronts, and ours were valuable. Exhibit A: Toby packing Steve Aoki’s care package with green juices, power bars, smart water, and extra Calvin Kleins, all collected from various spots around Manhattan. 

Exhibit B: Jerry and Dan working hard to update invite lists so that our clients would be met at the doors when they arrived by the appropriate Sales contacts. I captured a daylight picture even though they worked long into the night to finish. Look alive, Dan!

Exhibit C: Nate snacking. 

Tuesday we had the opportunity to take a trip to the Tumblr office. (How meta to be writing on Tumblr about Tumblr #amiright?) 

We were greeted by our new friend Ryan, who works at Tumblr part time in addition to getting his marketing degree from FIT. He was able to snag a coveted position at Tumblr because he is so good at it. 

Summary: the Tumblr office is THA BOMB DOT COM. The exposed brick walls are decorated with artwork and books from members of the Tumblr community and they even have a screen-printing station for employees to creat their own original schwag. 

One of the cool things about working for a global company like Yahoo is that there are offices pretty much everywhere. Okay maybe not everywhere, but everywhere that you would want to go. 

I recently traveled to New York to see my family (East Coast girl needs a good bagel!) and had the opportunity to work with my teammates in the New York office. 

I started off the day with a much needed Dunkachino. Much needed because a) I took the red-eye, and b) California is a Dunkin’ Donuts deficient state - there is only one and it’s in L.A.

When I got to the office, I was lucky enough to sit next to Jerry! He was there working a trade show called SMX that focuses on search marketing. It took us a 5-hour flight and 3,000 miles but it’s always nice to have some good MCAP bonding.

I spend the next couple of hours looking like a martian while I went with my teammates to explore the virtual reality experiences some of our partners have created. Check it out here. 

To end the day, I went with my team to a talk the Research Team was giving at the agency IPG. The cookies were really good. 

Hi Folks!

Just your friendly neighborhood MCAP (Jerry) here. I know, I know...you’ve all been just dying to hear what I’ve been up to these past few months. Well you’re in luck! I’m going to let you in on the fantastic world of B2B marketing. Specifically, Yahoo Gemini.

For those of you who don’t know, Yahoo Gemini is a “One-Stop Ad Shop” for Mobile Search and Native Ads. It was launched about a year ago, and has been taking off ever since! I could go on about the features and capabilities of Gemini but I suggest you take a look at the Yahoo Gemini Tumblr to learn more.

Now, what is it that I do? 

My job as a B2B marketer on Yahoo Gemini is to acquire and retain self-serve advertisers, or as we call them, OLS (online sign-up). OLS advertisers are largely made up of small-medium businesses (SMBs). 

On the acquisition front, my job is to craft and deliver messaging through various media channels in order to drive sign-ups to Yahoo Gemini. If we’ve succeeded and acquired the advertiser, our focus then shifts to retention tactics. From here, we’re concerned with maximizing results for advertisers’ accounts, and updating them with news and product features. In a nutshell, we’re trying to keep them as advertisers.

The interesting thing about marketing to SMBs, is that they act more like consumers versus traditional businesses. Since they think like a consumer, they’re more likely to respond positively to marketing messages that feel more consumer-centric. This means that my role is a cross between consumer and B2B marketing, which I find to be really unique. The best thing about B2B marketing, is being able to attribute real revenue back to a campaign. It’s satisfying to see your work translate into growth for the business. That’s what it’s all about!

I hope this was a helpful inside look into B2B marketing! 

Cheers,

Howdy,

I’m Nate. Some people on the street confuse me for Brad Pitt, but I’m not Brad Pitt. Sorry. Just Nate.

Anyway, I grew up in a super small town in Indiana. Everyone there is nice, so it turns out that I’m also really nice. I smile a lot.  But there are too many mosquitos in Indiana AND I thought I wanted to be the president, so I went to school in DC. There are mosquitos in DC as well, so I didn’t escape those.

Turns out, everybody else at GW wanted to be president, so I quit that mess after working at a couple government agencies and taking a semester off to work as a field organizer in Iowa during the 2012 campaign election cycle. There are mosquitos in Iowa too.  Fun fact – I got to chill with Mr. Joe Biden himself during the election. He’s super chill, FYI.

Although I learned politics wasn’t my thing, I still wanted to have a big impact, so I joined a small startup called Tesla Motors. It got really big, but it taught me about how brands can inspire action. After bouncing around the #startuplife, I landed at Yahoo, where I’m having a blast working with super smart people marketing fantastic products!

And…guess what…no mosquitos in Northern California!