The Corbett Drummey Interview
Corbett Drummey, the VP of Model Collaborations at Lightricks, brings a wealth of expertise and innovation to the world of promoting and influencer advertising and marketing. Corbett’s entrepreneurial journey started in 2013 when he co-founded Common Pays, a platform that helped the promoting panorama by connecting manufacturers with creators.
Underneath his management, Common Pays achieved milestones, together with participation in Y Combinator, elevating Collection A and B funding, and facilitating creator-brand partnerships price hundreds of thousands. In 2022, Common Pays was acquired by Lightricks, marking a brand new chapter in Corbett’s profession.
At Lightricks, Corbett has been instrumental in integrating generative AI into the corporate’s suite of visible content material creation apps, enhancing the capabilities of creators and types alike. His present function leverages his in depth background in influencer advertising and marketing, specializing in the event and deployment of progressive instruments like LTX Studio. This AI-driven internet app is designed to streamline promoting manufacturing, providing unprecedented velocity and management in content material creation.
On this interview, Corbett shares his insights on the journey of Common Pays, the transition to Lightricks, and the transformative impression of generative AI on promoting and influencer advertising and marketing. He additionally discusses the moral concerns surrounding AI in content material creation, the way forward for influencer advertising and marketing, and affords beneficial recommendation for aspiring entrepreneurs within the tech and promoting house. By means of his imaginative and prescient and management, Corbett Drummey continues to form the way forward for digital promoting, driving innovation and creativity within the trade. Right here is our interview.
1. Background and Journey
– Corbett, you based Common Pays in 2013 and noticed it develop into a major participant within the promoting trade. Are you able to share some key milestones from Common Pays’ journey earlier than it was acquired by Lightricks?
Beginning Common Pays was an exciting and life-changing journey. We had some big ups and downs between 2013 once we first launched and 2022 once we had been acquired. I’m immensely grateful for the expertise, however need to admit it was additionally an extremely demanding and tough enterprise.
Most individuals solely discuss concerning the starting and the tip of a startup, however usually pass over the center, when there actually isn’t a boring second. It was fixed problem-solving. There was the primary Common Pays workplace for me and my co-founders (our home in Chicago), entering into Y Combinator in 2015 and shifting briefly to San Francisco. In 2017 we raised our Collection A funding after which Collection B in late 2018. It culminated in our acquisition by Lightricks in 2022 – our most definitive second for the reason that begin.
As Common Pays, we’ve paid out tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to creators, which looks as if an unattainable quantity, and did seven-figure offers with big manufacturers. However in reflection, I additionally bear in mind with equal readability our first tiny campaigns that had been just a few hundred {dollars} as we had been proving out the platform – which had been equally as thrilling.
2. Transition to Lightricks
– What motivated you to maneuver to your present function at Lightricks after the acquisition of Common Pays? How has your expertise been transitioning from founder to VP of Model Collaborations?
The acquisition was strategic, with Common Pays being energetic with model/creator campaigns, and Lightricks figuring out influencer and creator advertising and marketing as an enormous and rising trade. Changing into a part of Lightricks allowed our workforce to realize extra visibility and a spotlight within the B2B sector. These synergies are much more vital with the daybreak of generative AI instruments – that are equally as highly effective for creators and customers as manufacturers and entrepreneurs.
Even in the course of the acquisition, we noticed AI on the horizon, however we couldn’t have predicted the magnitude of its impression. In simply the final yr, my function expanded to assist with a stronger B2B rollout of our generative AI platform, referred to as LTX Studio. It’s been wonderful to get publicity to a brand new product space after a decade in influencer advertising and marketing, and I’ve discovered it energizing engaged on this cutting-edge know-how.
Transitioning away from my obligations with Common Pays in some methods could be powerful, however it’s additionally tremendous rewarding to see progress even once I’m moved off of these groups, and it offers me large confidence sooner or later.
3. Generative AI in Promoting
– Lightricks has built-in generative AI into a number of of its visible content material creation apps. How do you see generative AI reworking the panorama of promoting and influencer advertising and marketing?
Comparatively early on, the management at Lightricks noticed the facility of generative AI and centered on leveraging it into every of our apps, from Facetune to Common Pays. It gave us the momentum and expertise to ultimately construct new instruments with AI from the bottom up, like LTX Studio. However it may well’t be understated that even simply leveraging AI for present workflows on platforms like Common Pays could be full game-changers.
We first launched AI into the Common Pays platform to assist entrepreneurs write briefs extra simply, taking what was a prolonged course of and turning it right into a three-minute one, leaning on AI and our previous database of hundreds of briefs to assist flip a fast blurb into an almost-finalized draft temporary.
That stage of exponential progress with each workflow and content material prototyping is really transformative for branded content material creation. Lengthy-term, I absolutely consider that AI instruments would be the major technique that creators use to create content material for his or her viewers or for manufacturers, and we’d see additional developments like AI influencers, hyper-targeted AI content material, and extra. However even immediately, AI’s potential to make entrepreneurs 10x extra environment friendly with issues like creator sourcing and vetting shouldn’t be discounted.
4. LTX Studio
– Are you able to inform us extra about LTX Studio, the AI internet app for promoting manufacturing firms and filmmakers? What particular wants does it deal with, and what units it aside from different instruments available in the market?
We predict LTX Studio is the very best platform obtainable immediately for speedy content material prototyping. You possibly can go from a brief inventive blurb to a full mission with video, narration, and sound in just a few minutes. It additionally offers you unprecedented management in the course of the enhancing course of. You possibly can modify digital camera angles, add/take away objects, create constant characters, and tweak issues with nice element.
We designed LTX Studio to streamline the inventive course of for promoting, manufacturing firms, and filmmakers to make storyboarding, scripting, and visible idea growth quick and simple.
Because the launch, LTX Studio has generated quite a lot of curiosity, with a lot of folks becoming a member of the waitlist to get early entry. Lately, we launched the primary main replace, referred to as “Visions,” which included new workflows like “Script to Storyboard” (however sure, you’ll be able to nonetheless begin from scratch in case you favor), a strong choice to export pitch decks or working video recordsdata, and a mind-blowing “Style Reference” characteristic that may mimic visible types all through tasks with only a single visible reference picture.
These capabilities enable creators to visualise and iterate on their concepts extremely quick, lowering the time and price related to pre-production. We additionally launched a brand new tiered pricing mannequin to make sure
accessibility, with choices starting from free entry to enterprise-level plans. Extra updates are coming very quickly.
5. Content material Creation and Distribution
– With over 100,000 items of sponsored content material and 40,000 creator-brand partnerships facilitated by Common Pays, what traits have you ever noticed in content material creation and distribution? How is generative AI influencing these traits?
One pattern we’ve noticed over time is an growing shift to video, which continues to immediately, with quick type video like Reels and TikToks turning into the best participating codecs throughout networks.
With every new community comes a shift in content material. For instance, Instagram was initially clear, fairly and aesthetic, however as Snap and TikTok rose to prominence with Tales after which short-form video, the content material panorama moved in the direction of an unpolished UGC really feel – audiences proceed to favor content material that feels real and private.
Curiously, it’s extraordinarily probably that the brand new era of AI instruments will trigger one other massive shift in content material. Additionally, AI-driven analytics can present deeper insights into viewers conduct, permitting for extra focused and efficient content material distribution.
6. Affect on Visible Content material Creators
– How has the combination of generative AI capabilities in Lightricks’ apps like Videoleap, Facetune, and Photoleap impacted visible content material creators? Are you able to share some success tales or suggestions from creators utilizing these instruments?
The mixing of generative AI in our apps has considerably elevated the inventive capabilities of our customers. As an illustration, Videoleap permits customers to create professional-quality movies with ease, utilizing AI-driven enhancing instruments that counsel enhancements and automate complicated duties. Facetune’s AI options allow customers to attain flawless pictures with minimal effort.
One success story that stands out is a creator who used Photoleap to supply a visually gorgeous advertising and marketing marketing campaign for an area enterprise, leading to a major improve in engagement and gross sales. The suggestions from our group has been overwhelmingly constructive, with customers praising the convenience of use, velocity, and high quality of the AI-generated content material.
7. Consumer Engagement and Progress
– Lightricks’ suite of apps has seen over 730 million downloads and at the moment exports 60 million visible belongings month-to-month. What methods have been best in reaching this stage of consumer engagement and development?
Our deal with consumer expertise and steady innovation has been key to our development. We prioritize listening to our customers and integrating their suggestions into our product growth. Common updates with new options and enhancements hold our apps recent and related.
Moreover, our freemium mannequin permits customers to discover and use our instruments for free of charge, with the choice to improve for extra superior options. Efficient advertising and marketing campaigns and partnerships have additionally performed an important function in reaching a wider viewers and driving downloads.
Lastly, our dedication to staying forward of technological traits ensures that we provide cutting-edge instruments that meet the evolving wants of content material creators.
8. Way forward for Influencer Advertising and marketing
– In your opinion, how will generative AI proceed to form the way forward for influencer advertising and marketing? What new alternatives and challenges do you foresee?
Generative AI will revolutionize influencer advertising and marketing by making content material creation extra accessible and environment friendly.
It can allow influencers to supply high-quality, personalised content material at scale, which is essential for sustaining engagement with their audiences.
New alternatives embrace the flexibility to create extremely tailor-made advertising and marketing campaigns that resonate deeply with particular viewers segments. Nonetheless, challenges resembling sustaining authenticity and transparency will should be addressed. Moreover, whereas AI output is spectacular and bettering, it’s vital to acknowledge that it nonetheless has some approach to go earlier than absolutely matching the standard of human-created content material for closing or broadcast-quality tasks.
9. Model Collaborations
– Because the VP of Model Collaborations, what are a few of the most enjoyable model collaborations you’ve overseen at Lightricks? How has generative AI enhanced these partnerships?
One of the crucial thrilling collaborations was with Amazon and PepsiCo Meals US. Common Pays facilitated a marketing campaign to carry social media content material to Hearth TV by means of FLVR, a brand new meals leisure channel. The aim was to drive model consciousness amongst house cooks and youthful demographics by that includes recipes with Frito-Lay merchandise.
We engaged well-liked content material creators to supply branded movies, ensuing within the creation and launch of 15 new Hearth TV movies in lower than a month. The marketing campaign achieved outstanding outcomes, together with 9.6 million complete impressions, a 64% video completion charge amongst all audiences, and a 50x benchmark for return on advert spend (ROAS). This collaboration showcased the potential of mixing inventive content material with strategic placement to succeed in new audiences and drive full-funnel impression.
Generative AI is simply growing the potential for model entrepreneurs to assume extra out of the field concerning the content material they’ll create, the campaigns they’ll develop, and the effectivity of constructing model applications.
10. Moral Issues
– With the rise of generative AI, there are additionally moral concerns relating to authenticity and transparency in promoting. How does Lightricks deal with these issues?
It actually is a problem, however at Lightricks, we take moral concerns very significantly. We consider in transparency and try to make sure that our AI instruments are used responsibly. Our apps embrace options that enable creators to reveal using AI of their content material, selling honesty and belief with their audiences.
Moreover, we’re dedicated to enabling open creativity whereas sustaining a robust deal with empowering and defending creators. By offering complete tips and greatest practices for utilizing AI in content material creation, we encourage customers to take care of authenticity and integrity of their work.
We additionally prioritize knowledge privateness and safety, guaranteeing that consumer knowledge is protected and used ethically. I discuss with quite a lot of manufacturers and creators who care deeply about that. Our method is to stability innovation with duty, guaranteeing that our instruments improve creativity with out compromising the belief and authenticity that creators and types have with us, or that they’ve with their audiences and clients.
11. Recommendation for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
– Given your expertise founding Common Pays and now main model collaborations at Lightricks, what recommendation would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs within the tech and promoting house?
That is an attention-grabbing one. From my perspective, there’s by no means been extra change within the promoting and content material house – and AI has impacted content material greater than some other discipline.
I will surely suggest that folks “skate to where the puck is going,” and even construct merchandise with the information that AI will solely get exponentially higher. If one thing with AI type of works immediately, it’s going to have the potential to work amazingly effectively in a yr.
Keep curious and adaptable, however actually deal with what drawback you’re fixing and choose one thing actual. It’s good to work backwards from an issue, not attempt to take an answer and discover an issue. You all the time need to care deeply about your founding workforce as effectively, as selecting the correct cofounders can be about half the explanation you’ll succeed or fail.
Lastly, assume huge. Most issues are much less dangerous than they appear. Plus, laborious issues are motivating and appeal to expertise. It doesn’t matter what you begin, it’ll be laborious, so goal excessive!
12. Future Imaginative and prescient
– Wanting forward, what are your objectives for Lightricks and its suite of generative AI instruments? How do you envision the corporate evolving within the subsequent 5 years?
Our aim is to proceed pushing the boundaries of what’s potential with generative AI in content material creation. We goal to make our instruments much more intuitive and accessible, empowering a broader vary of creators to carry their visions to life.
Within the subsequent 5 years, I envision Lightricks main the trade in AI-driven creativity, setting new requirements for innovation and consumer expertise. We plan to broaden our suite of instruments, discover new markets, and forge extra strategic partnerships to boost our choices.
It’s vital to notice that whereas AI is advancing quickly and producing spectacular outcomes, there may be nonetheless a journey forward earlier than it may well absolutely match the standard of human-created content material for closing or broadcast-quality tasks. We stay dedicated to bridging this hole and repeatedly bettering our know-how to fulfill the best requirements. In the end, we wish to allow creators and types to inform their tales in essentially the most compelling and impactful methods potential.