MEET THE CANDIDATE: Linstro Is Running For Marketing And Communications Working Group Steward

Helping brands grow and creating partnerships have been a significant part of ApeCoin DAO Contributor LinstroEth’s life. Over the last twenty years, LinstroEth co-founded a company that assisted brands with everything from PR to licensing. He even became the APAC Director of Partnerships for the Bruce Lee Family Companies’ charity foundation. Now, he wants to become one of ApeCoin DAO’s first-ever Marketing and Communications Working Group Stewards and help the DAO with the ‘art and science’ of marketing and comms!

The winter election season of 2023 is underway at the ApeCoin DAO, with six ApeCoin DAO contributors running to be the community’s first two Marketing and Communications working Group Stewards. Among the candidates vying for this position is Linstro.Eth.

“The challenges that ApeCoin DAO faces are unique and dynamic,” Linstro wrote on his candidate page. “Having built and grown a variety of brands + businesses, it gives me a wide range of diverse experiences and skills to apply to the Ape Coin DAO. Additionally, as an entrepreneur, I have faced the challenges of assisting a spectrum of different business needs. The most significant focus of the ApeCoin DAO is not extracting value, but creating value through education, outreach, and supporting each builder that is motivated to being a part of the ecosystem in a meaningful way.”

To find out more about Linstroand why he’s the right $Ape to be a Marketing and Communications Working Group Steward, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to him for an interview. Check it out below:

1. In a sentence or two why are you running for this position?

“I believe I can make a real difference and impact. I’ve been in the marketing + brand strategy space for over 20 years. One of the biggest things I’ve noticed is a lot of mentions about community engagement and more focus on the audience that is already in place, locked into the marketing funnel. What I’d like to focus on is beyond the audience we already have, and expand the eyeballs to a much broader extended user base. I believe mass market appeal and attention, hammering core messages consistently to drive brand awareness, is the key to the next logical stage: brand trial. We already have such a strong foundation of web3 and crypto natives, the story of Ape Coin needs to find a way to flourish beyond those walls.”

2. What does Marketing and Comms mean to you?

“Marketing and Communications is the art and science behind growing a brand and its inherent products. I say art, because creativity isn’t just designing and producing content, but also creative tactics & strategies, guerillas tactics when necessary, and finding innovative methods when applicable. Science, simply because the world is largely data driven. How we interpret that data, leverage and deploy it, makes the difference between a flat campaign, and a good one; a good campaign, and a great one. My time spent at agencies in Manhattan in the earlier part of my career, showed me the best creative agencies, find ways to break the mold and optimize their clients missions – sometimes this takes the courage to change the way we do things. When you combine art + science correctly, you’ll be surprised at the objectives you can accomplish as a team and leapfrog the competition.”

3. What ideas or initiatives would you like to implement at the DAO?

“Without getting too much ahead of myself, I believe it is important to listen and learn. Being on the sidelines or outside of the team ecosystem already in place, the first and most imperative mission is to soak up as much of what the current and past teams have done, how they’ve thought about their approach, and where they failed, where they succeeded. From there, I believe in 2023, a creative strategy without a content ecosystem, is a silent one. The greatest mission I currently want to endeavor is how to grow Ape Coin’s awareness beyond our current walls. I’m not saying we need to reach every single person on the planet, but there are rings of relevancy around the core brand, how do we start to expand beyond its origins and become more and more relevant to more and more people. Secondly, implementing a level of consistency to what we do. No good marketing and comms survives without it. Marketing 101: Ogilvy On Advertising, a book written in 1985, states that a single message must be delivered 14x’s in awareness, before a consumer reaches trial. This is still very relevant today, as the best streamers, vloggers, content creators, advertisers, and influencers, all deliver great content to their audiences with high frequency. You combine what I said above, and you are on the right path to success.”

4.Why are you the right person for the job? How has your past experiences prepared you for this?

“I’ll be honest, I do not think a successful marketing and communications strategy can be successful based on only a single person. In my experience, brand development takes a village. However, the right person optimizing that strategy, driving consistency across touchpoints, and producing + delivering with efficiency, has always proven to work time and time again. I’ve worked with some of the best and most exciting brands from a variety of different starting points and mission objectives. From content to brand strategy, to licensing and ad endorsements, I’ve taken on a significant amount of tasks and challenges, not only in North America, but also in Europe, and Asia. Some brands in my business portfolio are: Bruce Lee, Netflix, Turner Media, CNN Travel, NatGeo, Sumitomo Corp, K11, Clase Azul Tequila, and global tourism boards (LA, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Vietnam) to just name a few. More recently: LA Dodgers, LA Lakers, Rivian Motors, Motortrend, and even Super Bowl LVI through the LA Sports and Entertainment Commission. Specifically for Web3, we’ve worked closely with AOI (ArtOnInternet), to create a content ecosystem with the likes of Jake Fried, Tyler Hobbs, Jesse Woolston, PplPlsr, Rik Oostenbroek, Snowfro, and Jack Butcher. However, I urge everyone to understand that I do not take on these projects alone, every effort takes a unique team, and diverse talent, but the quality of work and results achieved have been consistent.”

5. What kind of budget do you plan to ask the community for and how do you plan to get it passed?

“I cannot answer this question without learning and listening more to the team in place, under official capacity, and absorbing as much information as I can before formulating what is actually necessary.”

6. What does success look like for this Working Group and where do you hope to see this group a year from now?

“A successful Working Group to me, is a well oiled machine with clear objectives, and consistent messaging both internal and out. A great brand must be derived from its core values, no more than a handful at best, simplicity is king. Those values are what should drive every decision of a great brand, not just marketing comms, but every touch point across the board. Additionally, marketing comms should not be a financial black hole, if done right, just as sales may go hand in hand with marketing, needs to drive value back to the brand or business, and create a sustainable loop. That is success to me.”

7. Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?

“My greatest fear is that the voting process becomes solely a popularity contest, and thus, a shouting contest. I simply do not want to participate in that type of campaign methodology. I want to and will share some of my work mentioned above in an X thread after the Gazette’s post (to honor your editorial schedule), and let the community decide for themselves. I spoke briefly with Capetain Trippy, and was delighted when he shared that he hopes the merit of an individual and their history of work should be the main driving force to impact the DAO. I hope this comes to fruition and the best candidate wins.”

ApeCoin DAO Contributors who would like to find out more about Linstro’s campaign can reach out to him via Twitter @ LinstroETH

The window to vote in the ApeCoin DAO's first round of Marketing and Communications Working Group voting is currently open and $Ape holders have until December 6th to cast their coins in support their preferred nominees.

After the first round of voting, the top five vote getting nominees will proceed to the second round of voting and officially become ApeCoin DAO Marketing and Communications Working Group candidates. The DAO will then conduct one more election from December 7th through December 13th. During this second vote, the community will officially elect first two Marketing and Communications Working Group Stewards!

Take a look at the full Election season timeline below:

The Bored Ape Gazette has reached out to every candidate running for $Ape office this winter and is working to bring you reports on all their candidacies. Stay tuned for updates!