It is not enough to just have a library of media to choose from when trying to target your market; you also need to know what the optimal piece of content is for whatever end you are trying to achieve. While it’s unlikely that you can do this on your own, Olapic can. Olapic the visual marketing platform allows you access to media content as well as feedback on how well you are targeting. The company has been making it their job to help you reach your customers effectively and thus far they have done just that.
We spoke with Olapic CEO and Founder Pau Sabria about the company which is already used by brands such as Anthropologie, Coach and North Face, about their previous fundings as well as where they are going next.
Tell us about the product or service: Olapic is the world’s first visual marketing platform for collecting, curating and showcasing consumer photos and videos. When my co-founders and I first came together in business school, Instagram hadn’t even launched yet, but we realized something big was happening as more and more people were sharing photos online. Today, Olapic works with more than 300 leading global brands in fashion, beauty, home decor, automotive, travel and consumer electronics, including Anthropologie, Calvin Klein, L’Oreal, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Pottery Barn and West Elm to source and curate content for online and print marketing campaigns, as well as web galleries on e-commerce platforms. With more than 2 billion user-generated photos posted and viewed on social media daily, we help brands strengthen their marketing arsenals and increase engagement, loyalty and drive higher conversion rates.
How is it different? Olapic is also the only visual marketing platform capable of handling the marketing needs of large, enterprise-level companies. Olapic is the first-ever syndication solution to help brands to distribute user-generated, rights-approved, shoppable content across multiple retail partner or regional sites. Our customers benefit from and contribute to our proprietary PhotorankTM, the only technology proven to accurately predict the marketing value of an individual piece of content with over 90% certainty. Finally, we have a truly global presence with offices in NYC, SF, LA, London, and Cordoba, Argentina, resulting in team that serves customers across North America, EMEA and Latam.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
Content is the fundamental unit of marketing, and as such it influences all marketing activities. Olapic is the content platform that helps brands generate and gather the content they need, deploy it, and measure its impact. At a very fundamental level, Olapic is a necessary component in the marketing value chain, and without it marketers cannot materialize the full potential of their marketing technology stacks. As a result, the potential market for Olapic includes all brands that do marketing in one form or another, and that’s a very big market.
What is the business model? Olapic operates under a SaaS model.
What inspired the business? We saw the rise of the visual web when the iPhone (and then the smartphone industry as a whole) put a camera in everyone’s pocket. As human beings, we realized how important visual communication is, and we set out on a mission to help brands and consumers do a better job at interacting visually.
The company raised its Series B last year and has entered a more mature state. How has the strategic objective of the company changed as it has scaled?
The vision and mission of Olapic has not changed. It has always been to help marketers do a better job at visually communicating their messages to their consumers through more authentic and relevant marketing experiences. We’ve always believed in the power of technology to improve how consumers interact with products – from discovery to sharing their experiences back with the brand. Raising a Series B has not changed that, but now we can continue to more aggressively execute on our vision.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
Over the next six months we will continue to grow and strengthen our team (check out our careers page for open positions) in order to bring our product roadmap to reality.
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
Startups are very hard, harder than I ever imagined. I’d say try to learn as quickly as possible if you’re up to it. And there is no recipe for your startup to succeed. If there were, failure rates would not be as high. Definitely surround yourself with great people, work on solving a hard problem, and learn to stand back up again each time you make a mistake. Build and run the company the way it fits you, not the way you’re supposed to.
Why did you launch in New York? My co-founders and I all met while attending Columbia Business School. Originally from Spain, we loved the startup community here and felt this city was the true halfway mark between the West Coast and the main European capitals. New York connects LATAM, US, and Europe –– all of which are crucial markets for our business. Furthemore, New York is an advertising and marketing hub, so everyone we need to and should be talking with is here.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Hardest question is the last one! Atera was an incredible gastronomic experience, but for an everyday dinner/lunch I recommend Momofuku, 1or8, and Aurora.
