Mr. Social: Ashton Kutcher Plans to Be the Next New-Media Mogul

By: Ellen McGirtDecember 1, 2009

Ashton Kutcher, Katalyst HQ, Production, Web

DUDE, WHERES THE CASH? Here's what scares Kutcher: "When I have a conversation with someone and they say, 'I'm not worried about monetization yet.' " | Photographs by Jill Greenberg

How Ashton Kutcher is pioneering a new kind of media business, bridging Hollywood, technology, and Madison Avenue. Really.

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Photographs by Jill Greenberg

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Jason Goldberg, Sarah Ross, Hot Pockets, Nestle

ON THE JOB Everyone at Katalyst has a role in the Katalyst HQ mockumentary Web series, including cofounder Jason Goldberg, left, and new-media director Sarah Ross, above right. This year's sponsor is Nestlé's Hot Pockets, below right.

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The Flip cams have left the room. Kutcher is making the case for his business. And he can barely keep still. He begins by taking jabs at the companies that have fueled him in the social space, specifically Twitter and Facebook. And he's pretty funny about it, even if he's also sorta serious. "When I have a conversation with someone and they say, 'I'm not worried about monetization yet,' that scares the shit out of me," he says. He's poking fun at social Web companies that run up their user base without regard for how they're going to make money. "I'm part of an industry that is struggling daily. Daily. And I'm always worried about the numbers." He jumps up, turns his Cubs cap around, and tucks his legs underneath him before plopping back down. "You cannibalize this business" -- he waves at Hollywood -- "a profit-positive business that trades at a decent multiple, and you're just going to put people out of work. And these folks are counting on just figuring it out. And if they don't, we're fucked! That's not okay."

Then Kutcher does a spot-on impression of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: "I can sell a more-targeted individual based on the content that you want -- blah blah." He laughs at my reaction. "Fucking awesome, dude. Go do it. And make a ton of money off of that, and I'll make programming for that all day. But nobody is actually doing that."

Next rant: ad agencies. "For years, the ad business has been happy to have a completely ambiguous accounting system that they've been monetizing off," he says, referring to Nielsen ratings. "Now that the Web offers a slightly more granular dollars-and-cents audience-acquisition metric -- now they're going to get completely granular about how they're getting money?"

What the Katalyst team is planning, he says, is simple: Make entertaining stuff, give it to people where they already are, let them have some fun with it, and mix in brand messaging. And because of the viral nature of the Web, each new consumer is cheaper to win than the last one. "The algorithm is awesome," Kutcher says, sounding simultaneously sophisticated and adolescent. "Katalyst is a merger of three industries," he goes on, settling into an unexpectedly credible argument. "A piece of us is connected to ad agencies. Because we get the complex overlay of the social Web, we know how to engage an audience and how to make entertainment for the social Web. And we know how to gain and activate and retain an audience. So we create social networks for brands."

This is the way things are going, says Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. "Katalyst is way out on the leading edge in terms of thinking this stuff through," he says. Katalyst steps into the gap left by ad agencies that gave up on the Web after the dotcom bust. "Banner ads aren't going to cut it," he says. "And media companies have not been creative or aggressive about making products designed for engagement marketing. Now that's changing, giving brand advertisers a new way and reason to buy."

Garrit Schmidt, who leads the experience design and client-strategy practice for digital marketing firm Razorfish, agrees. "People are discovering that experience matters more than traditional advertising now," he notes. "Using celebrity as a personal sphere of influence is an interesting [distribution] model." Of course it's risky, Schmidt adds, because the more commercialized personalities become, the less influence they have. Kutcher acknowledges this: "I am consciously risking my career on the edge of what's too much information. Eventually, we'll open up this platform to others, just like Facebook and developers. For this to work, it has to be open."

Jason Goldberg's office is rapidly filling with toxic fumes. "Either this is a staff revolt or part of an episode of Katalyst HQ," he says, blinking and talking fast. His office floor has been covered with hundreds of Styrofoam cups, filled alternately with motor oil, red wine, vinegar, and what is rumored to be Kutcher's pee. Door closed, the stench is impressive. The evil twist: The cups are paper-clipped together, making them nearly impossible to remove efficiently and cleanly. Goldberg gingerly steps around them to take a call from his 1-year-old daughter and actress wife, Soleil Moon Frye. (I can follow her at @moonfrye, he tells me cheerfully.) "You should see what they've done to my office," he says to his wife. To me, he remarks, "You don't want to prank the prankster. I have their Social Security numbers." I smile conspiratorially, wishing I'd held on to my mask.