The Family Man, Filmmaker, Author and Agency Founder gets Transparent

Hopelessly addicted to learning, Jeff Rosenblum has quite a few things on his bucket list -- telemark skiing, fly fishing, kite surfing, screenwriting and playing better-than-mediocre guitar to name a few. While we aren’t sure yet how these will pan out, what we do know is that Jeff has already found success as an advertising agency founder, documentary filmmaker and family man. Jeff’s book, "Friction", explains how to create a passion brand in the age of disruption. His documentary, “The Naked Brand”, showed how the advertising revolution can lead brands to improve the world, his agency, Questus, focuses on building brands through empowerment, not just interruptions. What attracted us to Jeff is his focus of this “advertising revolution”, which encourages, if not forces, brand transparency.

Slick advertisements have often been used to mask the truth about Brands and their less-than-ideal practices. The birth and unprecedented growth of social media are what exposed these Brands and, essentially, killed traditional advertising. FlipperSplash, like any Influencer Marketing company, puts a tremendous amount of focus on transparency. Transparency is, after all, what makes Influencer Marketing unique. It’s what makes us trust bloggers, social media stars and even our friends and family. The transparency of Brands and their environmental involvement become advertising all on their own.

Jeff was kind enough to spend a little time with team FlipperSplash and answer some questions that we all have for the Social Movers & Shakers of 2018. His Influence goes well beyond his inner circle and agency reach, especially on Twitter where you can follow him here.

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FlipperSplash:   Do you attribute your success with Social Media to any one thing?

Jeff Rosenblum: I contribute our success to the quality of the team we built. Our agency is so effective because we leverage strategic collaboration to create content that empowers and enriches our clients' audiences..

FS: Has your business grown because of Social Media?

JR: Social Media has made our jobs more interesting and more fun. As a team, we are able to create meaningful content that speaks directly to our clients' audiences, adding value without all the distracting noise.

FS: What app do you use the most, professionally?

JR:  Current events, global headlines and live news are so important to stay relevant that I find myself using the New York Times app consistently throughout the day.

FS: Did you ever have a fear of public speaking and if so - how did you overcome it?

JR: I've never had fear of public speaking. I am bad at a lot of things but public speaking has been very natural for me. What most people don't realize is that the audience is there rooting for the speaker, they don't want to attend a boring speech. There's no reason to be nervous -- keep it fun and give yourself permission to make mistakes while on stage.

FS: How often do you engage with your community of followers?

JR: I don't schedule my posts on a calendar. It's more about the quality rather than quantity.

FS: If you could give one piece of advice to someone interested in starting a business of their own, what would it be?

JR: Start young! You are more willing to take chances in your late 20's and 30's rather than your 40's when it's not so easy to walk away from an established career. Youth also brings more energy which is a huge asset when you are starting your own business.

FS: Do you have a mentor or person that you look up to and try to emulate, professionally?

JR: That would definitely be my father. I respect everything about his value system and the qualities that he ingrained in me.

FS: What's your favorite city to travel to and why?

JR: Any city as long as I'm with my family!  I would rather be in Cleveland with my family than Paris alone.

FS: What's one item on your bucket list for 2018?

JR: I want to suck less at guitar!

FS: Do you have a favorite restaurant and where is it located?

JR: Piccolo Angolo in NYC! I love the family atmosphere, especially the warm hugs when we arrive.

FS: Do you have a hobby that may surprise people?

JR: I am hopelessly addicted to learning, even though I am a terrible student.

Want to hear something super cool about Jeff and Questus? (I know, we’ve already shared so many cool things, but this one you’ll love!) Transparency and dedication to the environment aren't just talking points for Questus – they practice what they preach. Questus holds the companies they work with to certain environmental standards and has been known to actually turn down companies, oil and tobacco companies to name a few, for not fitting in with their pledge to the environment. Finding a business that values being green over making green is a rarity and we are thrilled to have had the opportunity to chat with one of the leaders in corporate environmental change.

For more information, questions or comments on Jeff Rosenblum, Questus or any of the various projects that Jeff is working on, please email us @ hello@flippersplash.com.