Charles Day and Chris Tardio–the husband-and-wife team who formed editorial house The Lookinglass Company, Chicago, in 1995 and then created a groundbreaking international editorial company via a merger in ’01 with The Whitehouse, London, branching out with offices on both coasts–have returned to the industry, launching The Lookinglass Consultancy.
Day and Tardio stepped down from their CEO and COO roles, respectively, at The Whitehouse in ’05, and went on to pursue several personal and professional goals. Day, for example, finished his first novel and the duo became heavily involved in the development of PAWS/Chicago, a not-for-profit animal rescue organization.
But the industry beckoned to them, first as they casually helped friends with business plans, providing counsel in such areas as prospective expansion and how to best adapt to a changing marketplace with the emergence of new platforms and opportunities.
“Doing that on an informal basis made us realize how much we had learned over the years and the depth and breadth of knowledge we could bring to bear,” related Day.
This led, said Tardio, to their decision to make the consultancy a formal enterprise with an announced rollout back in February. During a relatively brief stretch since then, Lookinglass has already served clients ranging from production houses to visual effects studios, to graphic design and digital media companies. Central to Lookinglass’ company policy is a commitment to preserve confidentiality for their clients and thus Day and Tardio declined to publicly identify those firms to which they’ve thus far provided consultancy services.
In broad strokes, said Day, the nature of their consulting work to date has entailed long-range planning for company owners who are often focused on day-to-day business demands, offering counsel to established businesses regarding the formation of new divisions and/or ventures, and building upon and complementing existing company operations to best capitalize on an evolving industry landscape.
On the latter score, opportunities to diversify beyond conventional work-for-hire propositions to holding equity stakes in new content and product have been explored.
“We cannot predict what the shakeout will be and exactly how business models will develop as the marketplace changes, but we can help companies be flexible enough to adjust their operations and ways of doing business so that they can properly adjust to new opportunities as they present themselves,” affirmed Day.
Lookinglass has also been frequently called upon to help companies expand to additional locations, very much akin to the growth in geographic reach Day and Tardio helped orchestrate for The Whitehouse.
Day’s and Tardio’s business plan from the outset for The Whitehouse also called for building value in the company so that they could realize the fruits of their labor through the selling of their share in the global editorial house.
“Too often people think only in terms of getting into business and staying in business,” said Tardio. “We had an exit strategy from day one. And it was a strategy whereby after we left, we were confident that the company would still continue to flourish, which The Whitehouse clearly has.”
Day takes it as a compliment that thus far in its infancy the consultancy has had no film editing company client, meaning that people in the industry see the value and relevance of Day’s and Tardio’s experience across different sectors.
Indeed both have track records that extend beyond The Whitehouse. Tardio was a producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show and then the VP of publicity and promotion for Winfrey’s Harpo Productions. Tardio then became manager of broadcast production at DDB Chicago.
Day began his career in film production with the venerable James Garrett studio in London, before joining Ogilvy & Mather, New York.
From there he moved to Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, where, after a brief stint writing copy for noted creative director Curvin O’Reilly, Day joined the agency’s broadcast production department. He the came aboard DDB Chicago to run the line production side of the McDonald’s business.
It was at DDB Chicago that Day met Tardio. A year later they left the ad agency and founded editorial house The Lookinglass Company.
Day and Tardio are now both based in New York.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More