Office Hours: I’m an advisor and mentor in brand innovation strategies. I’m Avery Akkineni, the President of Vayner3. AMA!Featured

averyakkineni·Apr 16, 2023

Posted in:Office Hours Management and Leadership Women in Web3

Hi everyone!

I am Avery Akkineni and I am the president of Vayner3, leading a team of consultants and experts on the mission to guide the world's largest enterprises in navigating the next iteration of connected consumer behavior and the internet.

In 2021, we launched the VaynerX consultancy, Vayner3, alongside serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Before Vayner3, I spearheaded VaynerMedia's expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, building a team of 150 people and opening VaynerMedia offices in Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, and Sydney, while securing 2021 Independent Agency of the Year (Gold) within two years.

During my down time, I enjoy hiking, traveling with my husband, reading (or listening to podcasts), and my Shiba Inu!

Ask me anything about all things innovation, marketing, web3, leadership, managing global teams, strategy, or anything else!

ElphaStaff·Apr 16, 2023

Thanks so much for joining us @averyakkineni!Elphas – please ask @averyakkineni your questions before Friday, April 21st. @averyakkineni may not have time to answer every questions, so emoji upvote your favorites 🔥👍🏾➕

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Happy to be here with you fabulous Elphas :)

naimisha·Apr 18, 2023

Hi Avery, I'm at an early stage user acquisition for the mental health app I'm building, Stressbuoy, https://app.stressbuoy.com/welcome. I'm searching for users individually... because I have little marketing budget. Do you have any marketing tactics/ techniques to help at this stage?

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Hi Naimisha, great question. I think one of the best strategies for capturing attention and engagement with a limited marketing budget is creating a high volume of organic social content. Gary Vee calls this strategy "SOC" ... Check this video out for inspiration -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df0WIg-0bT4 :)

Loree147·Apr 20, 2023

When it comes to innovation in consumer behavior, and given that you've opened offices in so many countries, has any culture surprised you? Are there some cultures more receptive to change in this sector than others?

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

So many! I have to say Singapore has been one of my favorite countries to visit (and live in). That country LOVES to embrace innovation -- from marketing innovation to financial innovation

akilahkamaria·Apr 17, 2023

This is a wonderful offer! Thanks for sharing your expertise @averyakkineni

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Thanks for having me!

Shenna20·Apr 20, 2023

Thanks, Avery! It's great to see you here. Could you speak to your experience in managing global teams? What are the biggest challenges and opportunities, and how have you addressed them? Thanks again!

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Great to see you here, Shenna! One of the most exciting and interesting jobs I've had was being the founding MD for VaynerMedia APAC, and starting our offices across the region. This also meant a lot of late night/early morning calls with our NA and EMEA teams -- and a lot of global team building! One of the biggest opportunities was the ability for us to bring true global scale to our clients; connecting markets and regions under a set of unifying principles. It was also a challenge -- battling language barriers, time zones, and a variety of platform nuances across the globe. We addressed these by building a system of trust and collaboration; where the team felt empowered to share their perspective, what worked, and what didn't. For us at the time, that was done mostly online (COVID era) -- via Zoom and WhatsApp; but the global team now has the opportunity to convene in person :)

katerinabc·Apr 18, 2023

Thanks @averyakkineni for this generous offer. I’m wondering about the onboarding of traditional brands into web3. In one side there is the problem of UX in relation to wallets etc. however I feel that’s an easier problem to solve. The other challenge I perceive is how to change the mindset of consumer as an audience (web2) to consumer as a co-owner/community (web3). Could you talk about what is needed for web2 brands to make the (paradigm) shift into web3? Thanks, Katerina (co-lead TogetherCrew)

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Amazing question, Katerina! At Vayner3, our goal is to help enterprises (web2 and "pre-web" brands alike) navigate the next era of the internet, web3, so this is something I live and breathe. I believe that the next era of the internet will fundamentally be driven by consumer needs - and consumers are demanding an internet that is more immersive, ownable, and personalized. And brands will need to meet that demand; adapting their marketing and communications programming to suit modern consumer preferences. This requires a brand marketing mindshift - from "audience" to "community," and we're seeing it right in front of our eyes in 2023. That said, we're still quite early in the consumer adoption curve for web3; and as that adoption accelerates, brands will need to meet consumers in this new reality. We speak about this a bit in our whitepaper "Deciphering Web3" -- check it out :)https://vayner3.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Deciphering-Web3-V3-Definition.pdf

katerinabc·Jun 19

Oh this is gold! I'm not often here, but every time I log into elpha, I come across something that helps me. This time it's for the pitch. Thank you!

Tona219·Apr 20, 2023

Hi Avery! Thanks for your time! How do you balance the need for innovation and risk-taking with the need for stability and consistency in a company's overall strategy? What are some best practices for managing this tension?

averyjakkineni·Apr 21, 2023

Hi Tona, thanks for writing in! I like to think of the "80/20" rule when balancing innovation, with 80% tried and true performers, and 20% new experiments, that have the potential for transformation. This enables innovation and experimentation, while also being responsible with business expectations.