Meet: Doron Tal, 18 Havas Tel Aviv
Israel, with a raging ecosystem of startups, is the heart of the startup nation
“I am a content freak. Content is the most important building block of every marketing activity.”
Where do you come from and how did you end up working at 18?
I come from the heart of the startup nation — Israel. Although most of my career (almost 15 years) was in digital advertising, during last few years I am deeply involved in the raging ecosystem of startups in Israel, as an advisor, investor, and entrepreneur.
A few years ago, I lived and worked in Paris for a short period. During that time I got to meet people from Havas and when I went back to Israel I was approached by Fred, who asked me to join the distinguished 18 team.
What’s the most exciting innovation on the market now? What is defining the next 18 months to you?
I am a content freak. I believe content is the most important building block of every marketing activity. I like to explore the future of content and content formats, how AR and VR will influence on the way we create content, what are the future business models for publishers, will clients (advertisers) eventually become publishers, and what role will artificial intelligence have in content creation.
What’s a great example of innovative marketing in your opinion?
Nike Fuel.
Haha, not.
I think what Facebook did with video and particularly with Live is amazing.
Facebook is in power to set the rules now and once they enabled autoplay video on timelines and launched the live video feature, they literally turned video into the most important media format. They also totally destroyed YouTube’s domination at once. Upload the same video clip to Youtube and Facebook and after 2 hours you will completely understand who is the real king of video today.
What’s your favorite TV series, movie, video game, or music?
The Princess Bride is the best film ever made. Westley’s story about how he became Dread Pirate Roberts is simply the best lecture you would ever hear about branding and franchising.
