Syndication of ReThink: your questions answered

You are probably reading this page because you have asked – or have been approached – about sharing ReThink programming out to your community. This page has been designed to answer all of your key questions.

What is ReThink?

ReThink is an online series, launched just as the economic impacts of Covid-19 were beginning to be felt by businesses.

Over the last decade we’ve interviewed over 150 leading personalities and produced 110 episodes of high quality content. Now with a new focus, the ReThink series brings you shows highlighting the best ideas from other industries, academics and big thinkers, which you can immediately apply to your business, organisation or community. This is particularly useful at a time when people are having to rethink many aspects of their work or lives.

The philosophy behind our programming for ReThink is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Nowadays it is more about adapting multiple innovations from the wider scientific, business and academic worlds as they emerge – along with lessons from people such as elite sportspeople, military strategists, disruptive innovators, entrepreneurs and more. You can be like a chef, taking various ingredients to concoct a new recipe.  ReThink brings ideas, innovations and new perspectives direct from academics, market leaders and industry challengers for you to apply to your own business or deploy within your industry or community.

Who is featured on this channel?

ReThink features experts from a wide range of industries and disciplines, talking about their areas of expertise.  In particular, we feature people who are leaping ahead of their peers, forging new pathways for the industry they are in, or even for all industries. Academics, systems thinkers, commentators and scientists. The idea is to offer this thinking to you which inspires you, gives you perspective or even encourages you to deploy in a different way within your industry. 

We’ve included interviews from seven years of filmmaking in the UK, along with more material we are developing in New Zealand and further afield (thanks to video calls!). Interviewees include:

  • Lord Seb Coe, olympian and the man who pulled together the 2012 London Olympics.
  • Prof. Sir Peter Gluckman, NZ’s former chief scientist to the Prime Minister.
  • Rt. Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
  • Sir Richard Branson, celebrity entrepreneur.
  • Prof. Molly Scott Cato, former member of the European Parliament.
  • Prof. Elaine Fox, Oxford University professor specialising in happiness and the mind.
  • Bruce Dickinson, frontman of Iron Maiden
  • George Monbiot, writer and renowned journalist.
  • Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Exinction Rebellion.
  • Robert Scoble, Silicon Valley tech evangelist and blogger.
  • Mandy Hickson, ex RAF fighter pilot
  • Laurence Dellaglio, former Rugby World Cup winner for England.

What formats do the shows take, and where will they be broadcast?

The shows are largely video (either live interview, or via videoconference), with some interviews completed and published as podcast-like audio shows. All shows will be streamed online on our various yBC websites, channel sites and YouTube channels.  We use high-impact channel embeds for videos, like the Netflix player we’re all familiar with. Over time, editorial and/or distribution partners may well also share these out via their platforms. These might include membership associations, news platforms or live events.

Can I see some?

Absolutely. Here are a few examples:

In fact, you can browse through 48 existing briefings over three of our ReThink sub-series: Revive (a fresh look at wellbeing, stress and resilience), Recover (on ways to help your organisation bounce back from Covid-19), and Perform (new insights on leadership performance)

But what about our changing world?

We have that covered too. We are currently at work on a major series called Rethink : Regenerate, which will cover a range of topics which reimagine a world where a drive towards “unchecked consumption” is replaced by the principle of “regeneration” underpinning every aspect of our lives.

The Regenerate series will be both a catalyst and a resource for people who looking for ways to ensure our communities can thrive without continuing to cause significant often irreparable damage to the planet we inhabit.

How do we share your ReThink content with our contacts?

We help organisations sharing this with their contacts to do all of this, and it’s fairly hands free. If you’re interested, we’ll cover this in detail with you, but here’s a high level overview of how we work together with “syndication partners” on this:

  • You confirm that you want to share this content, and we put together a simple (free) licence agreement (to protect your IP and ours, and clarify roles).
  • We get to work. First, we work out a publication/sharing schedule which is good for you and us.
  • We then set up the elements that you’ll need online (this varies depending on your platforms etc).
  • Once we’ve agreed how and how often you will share with your community, we help you as little or as much as you need (including fully managed if you need that).
  • We update you on viewership, core topics of interest and anything else we can see happening.
  • We agree to have an update meeting with you to overview progress once a quarter.

The aim is to make this painless to you and your colleagues, whilst making it massively beneficial to your network or community.

What’s the catch?  Do I need to pay for this?

There’s no catch. We understand the value to you – great content for your community, which YOU are bringing to them. The value to us it that more people benefit from the content we’ve created.

  • We do not sell anything to viewers.
  • There is no sudden “subscription” request.
  • There is no subliminal messaging or advertising.

Remember, this is editorial and you will not be asked to contribute financially if you are invited to be interviewed, or if you want to watch the content. This is about spreading great ideas in the spirit of collaboration and innovation. See also the more detailed answer at the foot of this page.

Can we or members of our network or community be interviewed?

Quite possibly. We are always looking for great content, completely at our discretion, and there would be no cost to you for this.

We can talk to you about how people are selected, and how this works. Interviewees (and use of interviews) are 100% at our editorial discretion, and at our cost.

How is ReThink funded?

ReThink is funded by yBC and we cover all our own costs.  Over time, we may seek sponsors or financial contributors, start up offshoot channels or something else, but at present it is self funded. We have no plans to advertise alongside this content.  Interviewees give their time and expertise. Syndication partners share with their networks and communities.

Who owns ReThink?

yBC.  See www.ybc.tv.  We are a New Zealand based, privately owned business.

How experienced are you at doing this?

We’ve launched and operated many similar channels in the past.  These include Brilliant Minds TV which you can read more about here, and other channels in industries such as Energy, Mining, Hospitality, Consultancy and Finance.  Our content is produced to a very high standard by our edit team which spans New Zealand and Europe. There are examples of Brilliant Minds TV content over at our main website yBC.tv.

Since 2005, we’ve conducted hundreds of interviews and produced thousands of clips.  Our content comes from shoots and sound recordings across the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia.  Interviewees have included business leaders, highly specialised experts, academics, commentators, and politicians.  We’ve interviewed people representing well known brands (like Skype, Google, PwC, HSBC, Hilton, Deloitte, Microsoft, AirBNB, Schroders and TripAdvisor), and even business celebrities (like Sir Richard Branson, Martha Lane Fox, Lord Seb Coe, Martin Tindall and Lord Alan Sugar).  Our interview clips (across all channels) number in the thousands. We’ve had over 2.3 million views on YouTube alone.

But surely there’s a catch?

We’ve had a handful of people recently tell us that this sounds “too good to be true”. Here’s the most recent response we sent back …

We want this content to reach as many people as possible – for free. This is an altruistic part of what we do, and we’re happy to do this editorially as the commercial side of our business is strong.

About 10 years ago we realised that we have access to incredible people and their stories, and we wanted to do something to give back to the (broad) business community, so we started recording interviews. With ReThink, we genuinely believe that this content acts as a catalyst for change, improvement and positive movement for businesses, organisations and communities, and there’s no reason for us not to share.

With the reach we’ve built in the UK and Europe, we’ve had plenty of confirmation that there have been positive impacts (ideas sparked, connections made, new perspectives, business partnerships, new products and services etc) for viewers, and that’s very gratifying for our team. So we’ve just committed as a business to getting more and more of this out, including in NZ.

We’re not seeking payment from anyone who shares this – just a commitment to doing it frequently and consistently for the agreed period of time.