Things Are Clicking for Chiat as CEO at Screaming Media

Advertising guru Jay Chiat now spends his days in a funky but somewhat grungy loft building on the far west side of Manhattan, talking up the new revolution.

And he isn’t referring to advertising. The former chairman and chief executive of the Chiat/Day ad agency has switched gears to become part of the “e-generation,” serving as interim head of Screaming Media, a start-up that provides syndicated content to Web companies.

Those who know the charismatic and iconoclastic Chiat say it’s fitting that the 67-year-old would embrace the Internet, a fast-paced industry where mostly twenty- and thirtysomethings work around the clock, hoping to unearth the next great Web idea.

“He’s really one of the only visionaries I’ve met,” said Elena Salij, a strategist at Screaming Media who used to work with Chiat at Chiat/Day. “He sees things the way they ought to be. Jay will tell you he didn’t grow up with the Internet, but he has a clear idea of its potential.”

Initially, Chiat was only an investor in Screaming Media, which serves as a broker between publishing companies and Web sites that need editorial content. But last November, with Screaming Media stuck in slow-growth mode in a warp-speed industry, Chiat came on board as chief executive to assist Alan Ellman, who launched the firm in 1993.

Chiat quickly got to work, using his contacts from his years in advertising to help raise $39 million in venture capital. With money to expand, he hired additional staff, lured new clients and oversaw the design of the company’s new offices.

Screaming Media now has 70 employees but expects to add about 130 more by year’s end. While revenue this year will amount to a relatively modest $3 million, the company expects between $15 million and $50 million next year, as new clients and editorial partners come on board.

The company’s niche is its technology, which allows clients such as Sun Microsystems and America Online to receive syndicated content from 200 editorial sources including New York Times Syndicate, Associated Press and Business Wire.com. Screaming Media is capitalizing on the fact that Web sites need a stream of targeted content but often can’t afford to hire the staff to produce such information. Editorial partners receive royalties and marketing exposure for their own brands.

The company this week announced deals with Barnesandnoble.com, Moviefone.com and Bigstar.com, allowing it to enter e-commerce. Its Web site, https://www.screamingmedia.com, allows users to buy books, CDs and movie tickets without having to click away from articles or reviews.

“This is a rapidly evolving and viable niche,” said Aram Sinnereich, an Internet analyst at New York-based Jupiter Communications. “Screaming Media is just one of the companies who have identified this opportunity and are rushing to fill the gap.”

Screaming Media estimates the Internet content market to be a $4.4-billion industry, and that figure is expected to grow considerably in the next few years as new Web sites are established and demand for audio and video increases.

Chiat plans to serve as CEO until 2001, when he expects the company to become profitable. He doesn’t envision himself at the helm for the long term. In fact, when he took the job, he thought it would be a 90-day project.

“I wasn’t looking for this,” said Chiat, who sold Chiat/Day to Omnicom in 1995 after running the Los Angeles-based agency for more than 30 years. “I was happy not working, doing pro bono work and serving on various boards. But I guess this was a happy accident.”

Chiat says the frenetic, youthful environment at Screaming Media inspires him. In fact, it reminds him of his early days in advertising, before he turned Chiat/Day--now TBWA/Chiat/Day--into an industry force with campaigns for Apple Computer, Eveready and Nissan.

“It’s all about doing the job well and not paying attention to the clock,” Chiat said. “It’s about making decisions quickly and executing them. I seem to respond best to this type of chaotic environment.”

From his years in advertising, Chiat brings the management skills needed to guide the growth of a small, unstructured company while keeping its creative edge. And he is unafraid to take calculated, sometimes costly, risks in search of the big payoff. Chiat/Day turned the Super Bowl into an advertising showcase with its commercial for Apple Computer called “1984.” The $1-million ad--a record at the time--launched the Macintosh computer.

A task Chiat has assumed with great enthusiasm is turning Screaming Media’s 30,000-square-foot warehouse space in New York City into an office of the future, with white curved walls and modern furnishings that redefine the traditional corporate cubicle. Similarly, at Chiat/Day, he was hailed as an innovator for his “virtual office.” In part to alleviate a space crunch at the agency, he eliminated assigned desks and encouraged employees to use cellular phones and portable computers to work outside the office.

“I’m a frustrated architect,” he said. “I have a need to build environments because I believe an environment impacts the quality of work and the kind of people you can attract.”

Chiat, dressed in loafers and casual cotton clothes, says he feels at home among his staff, where the average age is 27. As at many Internet companies, the culture is relaxed but hip--an atmosphere Chiat fits right into.

“He’s always the coolest guy in the room,” Ellman said. “If Mick Jagger was in the room, he wouldn’t even come close to Jay.”