Through working with innovative technology and providing big data solutions to their clients, Skylar Media Group is determined to elevate and improve every single business in North America. Originally a family-owned printing and publishing company, entrepreneur Kyle Kotack was ready to move on from that particular industry.
So, he began to analyze his business and searched for opportunities to offer his clients more specialized services. This inspired the pivot into marketing, making Skylar Media Group one of the most recognizable agencies in Ontario.
Over the last decade, Idea Notion and Skylar Media Group have worked closely with one another to provide precise insight and technology services to their clients. After improving communication within businesses and delivering stellar results, Kyle recognized the potential to enhance client experience and simplify digital transformations based on the synergy between the two companies. In January 2022, Skylar Media Group announced a formal partnership with Idea Notion.
OnSide Media spoke with Kyle to get a closer look into his entrepreneurial insight. We also discussed the journey of Skylar Media Group, their history with Idea Notion, and their excitingly bright future together.
OnSide Media: How did Skylar Media evolve from printing and publishing to a recognizable marketing agency? What inspired that pivot?
Kyle Kotack: Given the circumstances of the last couple of years, pivot is that term people are using a lot. We recognized what was necessary for us to be a successful business. It’s not like it was a dying industry, but it wasn’t the type of environment we saw ourselves thriving in. So, we looked at our clients and asked what can we do to transition in the realm of possibility to make this better? “We can cut your grass, but we don’t do that”. The reality is, anybody can do anything. But, we wanted to create something that had that longevity, something that gave us purpose in our every day.
Moving into the agency world, we could provide digital solutions, creative solutions, strategic solutions. We felt that there was more of a long-term benefit to making that pivot.
How did you know it was right to create this formal partnership with Idea Notion?
KK: It was a little bit of a no-brainer because we’ve worked together in the past on numerous successful projects with some big brands. Food Banks Canada would be the most significant one. We have a long history of not only working with each other, but of empowering one another to provide solutions that are above and beyond what the typical agency would provide. It just allowed us to provide a much more holistic solution, which is what people are looking for these days. More of a one-stop shop instead of numerous vendors.
The part of it that was a no brainer was the fact that the teams work magically well together. That’s obviously the biggest obstacle to any partnership.
Why is now the right time to join forces with Idea Notion?
KK: There is an expanded demand for digital innovation, which includes everything from consumer-facing communications (social media, digital marketing, advertising), to the non-consumer facing technology such as CRMs and ERPs, some of the technology infrastructures that companies rely on to communicate with their audience.
As we continue down the road of helping companies innovate, [particularly through COVID], what this partnership allows is for these various platforms to communicate with each other, rather than independently. The long-term return on the investments are measurably greater because of the efficiencies. Learning from each other using AI and big data, companies are able to make informed decisions rather than that “gut” decision they would’ve had to rely on about five years ago.
What differences have clients noticed in their business since implementing your data-driven strategies?
KK: Efficiency would be the first thing, a stronger return on investments from a marketing perspective. The ability to plan short-term and long-term based on real-time data, and the ability to use that data to predict. Certainly, having the systems in place to communicate with each other allows those predictions to be more objective than they would have been otherwise.
Where do you see this partnership going in the next few years? What is the main goal as of right now?
KK: The main goal as of right now is to continue to help transform every single business in North America, where they are utilizing what technology can be doing for them. There is a statistic I read the other day that stated 80% of businesses consider themselves to be inefficient in at least one area in their technology infrastructure and communication. Our goal is to solve that.
As far as where I see us going, I could answer that question one way today and entirely differently next week, depending on advancement in technology that are happening at such a rapid pace. Given our current ability to use AI, big data, our own expertise in marrying that with strategy, I see an expansion of that. The great thing about innovation is that it is never over. We create that opportunity for our clients, but that is just the beginning.
We will continue to expand and empower them to get better, stronger, and more efficient. I’m really excited for what the future holds, because the possibilities are endless. There is probably some technology that is going to come out that we’re not even aware of yet, and that is going to change the game for us yet again. But rather than being nervous about that, I look forward to the opportunity to work with it.
For more information on Skylar Media Group, visit https://www.skylarmedia.ca/
For more information on Idea Notion, visit https://ideanotion.net/
Author: Vanessa Butera, Content Writer, The Onside Media, Toronto, Canada. If you have stories to share kindly email: – vanessa.butera@theonside.com
