Cancer is an unlikely business connector. But it’s a part of the way Michael Lamb and Jim Schumacker, former VP of Global Creative Development at Anhueser Busch, would ultimately forge a partnership.
Michael Lamb, Co-founder and President of Chicago-based nativeMsg, concedes it wasn’t the most light-hearted way to make the connection that would lead to a business partnership. But a mutual acquaintance who was battling cancer was the impetus for crossing paths.
That, and a growing recognition of an in-demand and fundamental creative component
nativeMsg began as the next generation messaging platform for long-time business partners, co-founder Brian Stafford, CEO, and Michael Lamb. The nature of their partnership has been one that catalyzes growth to the next, natural step. They launched Opt It, a text message marketing applications company, early in the mobile marketing era. In the last 15 years, thousands of clients, including large-brand businesses, adopted Opt It applications for mobile marketing.
nativeMsg grew out of a natural evolution in the messaging space, as well as the duos technical and business experience. “We saw plainly where the space was heading. And if your business is not going there, you’re going to be left behind,” agreed both Stafford and Lamb.
Filling the Market Gap
nativeMsg launched in 2017. After beginning work with high-profile clients, like UNICEF and Farm Journal, creative services became a glaring need.
It’s a piece of the customer experience that an overwhelming number of chatbot and intelligent messaging companies don’t offer in their services: creative and strategic direction for conversational copy and deployment.
For businesses in the last few years, the scenario looks something like this:
You have a great team working on your chatbot and they have the technical prowess to design and deploy it across multiple channels. You also have this new technology in machine learning and all the features with it, from analytics to accessible developer kits and documentation. But you’re left to fill in the creative gap for a format that most internal creative and marketing teams have never worked on. Who is going to write the actual copy or flesh out the creative strategy?
Brands and businesses have had to navigate this creative gap while they take the leap into the technology, with large spend and resource dedication.
Launching a Creative Division for a Conversational AI Platform
Enter Jim Schumacker, or “Schu,” to industry folks. This is a new space and an interesting frontier to develop for Schumacker, a known industry veteran who has launched hundreds of successful campaigns for big brands over the years.
nativeMsg is the first intelligent messaging platform start-up to provide a full-service agency experience.
nativeMsg is the first intelligent messaging platform start-up to provide a full-service agency experience.
Lamb and Schu are affable in nature and earnest in execution. Along with Stafford, they’re the kind of people you hope run the show, at least when that show involves the sensitive combination of AI and marketing. The executive team’s rounded out with Stafford’s sound technical guidance and a company culture that focuses on genuine serviceability.
The touchstones of intelligent conversation are omnichannel deployment, responsiveness and automation, but the content that goes into the experience is crucial to its success. Because it’s such a new format, a number of specialties and professionals have tackled the process. Linguists, creative copywriters and data sciences, have all tackled the uncanny valley of conversational AI.
“No one’s offering this. Clients need it and want it,” Lamb acknowledged. When Creative veteran Schumacker approached him to partner on a creative division, it was the perfect alignment of creative need and technical demand. The nativeMsg creative team gives businesses the option to hand-off the creative component for a realistic, data-driven and persuasively serviceable experience.
Working with nativeMsg Creative
We adapted our business to stay competitive with the market and endeavored to create a full-stack platform that encompasses every feature businesses need to use conversational AI, successfully.
Right now, the nativeMsg platform allows users to design, deploy and manage intelligent messaging across multiple channels. In early spring, nativeMsg partnered with Google through the Early Access Program for RCS Business Messaging to extend these features with RCS Messaging, the next generation profile to supplant SMS. nativeMsg is also working with Mavenir in their RCS partner program, to expand on that vertical with under-the-hood benefits like expert tech support.
nativeMsg’s Creative is a new concept in the sphere, where start-ups jockey for niched success in conversational AI. With an industry veteran overseeing the team, the two seasoned start-up partners, Lamb and Stafford feel they’ve landed on what’s imperative for any business to move forward successfully with intelligent messaging. No matter the niche, businesses can receive a demo that’s fully fleshed from technical to creative. To work with nativeMsg, you can schedule a demo here.
