As someone who has worked incredibly closely with all sorts of digital agencies ranging from seo, social, and everything else OP listed (except "review management" which is
more often than not a euphemism for something very unethical that I wouldn't associate with), and is intimately familiar with how they operate, I just want to say that I can tell this is going to end very well for all parties involved and seems like a very smart plan.
I'm glad this is a real thing that is happening with an advertising agency that definitely exists. As with all of the other big claims that TNG has made, there will be skeptics.
People want to act like there isn't one single example of anything he's ever spoken about actually happening, of any of these JV's and ventures coming to fruition. People want to act like this guy is just blowing hot air year after year and never actually putting in the work.
People want to say that TNG is a huge fraud who can't back up any of the claims he's made, who hasn't followed through on a single thing he's talked about, who loves to drop names to feel important, who is the textbook example of a wantrepreneur who loves to come up with idea after idea but never takes action on anything. A LOT of people want to say that, but I'd urge those people to think again.
It's hard to see new ideas and innovation that's taking place outside of the box, when you're stuck inside of the box (or stuck inside the
Cube, as the case may be. Ahem.)
Think outside the box? What about
THINK OUTSIDE THE DOTCOM?
I recently called up my uncle, who founded one of the top digital agencies back in the '80s and played a major role in building the initial awareness for .com, despite all of the doubters early on. He couldn't GIVE AWAY names to people at first, that would sell for 500k today. They all thought he was crazy. Kinda reminds me of all the premium .online names that are still available to register for $1, don't you think? Even thought it's 2021 and everyone knows the value of a domain name today, you still can't give these things away. I call that an
opportunity.
I showed some of TNG's posts to my uncle and his friends & business associates including the CEO of a fortune 500 company that exists almost entirely offline, a gentleman who owns a commodities exchange overseas, the CFO of one of the top web hosting brands in the world, a man who opened one restaurant in 1960 and now has over 1000 locations, a woman who is probably going to be the next billionaire that you haven't heard of yet thanks to a new low-calorie sweetener she invented after spending 7 straight years in a lab figuring it out, a Grammy-winning songstress... a real diverse group of people, to say the least! They get along because they all "get it".
Anyways, I broughjt up some of ThatNameGuy's posts with the impression that we'd all get a laugh out of it, and it would endear my to them a bit more. I thought we'd connect by laughing at some of these posts, they'd think I was cool for showing it to them, and maybe I'd get a little closer to finally having my own seat at the table.
But I was completely blindsided when my uncle told me "You know, this guy reminds me of me, back when I was trying to explain to people how important a domain name was... It didn't matter if it was .com or .concussion, once people realize the value, I just hope you've got a large enough collection to capitalize on it!"
Everyone else in the call said that .online makes a lot more sense than .com. "You know I never thought of it, but .com really doesn't mean anything. I know what online means. Hmmm.... Let me make some calls..."
If you check recent registrations of .online and you look for some recognizable brand names in there, you'll be able to verify that this story is true and that this call happened.
I asked my uncle if he thought that it was hoarding to buy up all these .online names, he called me an idiot for not being able to tell the difference, laughed, said "How is it hoarding if they're available to hand-register? That means nobody else wants them," then he kicked me out of the call, while everyone laughed at me.
A few days later, he called me back and told me had been running technical analysis on .online and so many of the same patterns and signals are showing up as existed in the early days of .com. He asked if I could get him in touch with TNG, but I thought that would be a conflict of interest and frankly I didn't want TNG to get all the credit, so I figured I'd have a good opportunity to work as a middleman here and gatekeep a bit. Thankfully, TNG's dm's are restricted so I don't have to worry about my uncle being able to get in touch with him, and he'll never figure out who my uncle is, so I'll be getting rich off this

.
My uncle has tasked me with assembling a portfolio of the best .online names that are available to buy, price is no object. He told me to find the best examples of .com names, and to buy them in .online, period, no matter what the price is.
I asked him for clarification this this didn't make sense, since some of the .online names are already being hoarded and priced close to the .com's. I said, "What if the .online costs more than the .com? Do you
still want me to buy it?"
He just said, "Goddamnit, my boy, if the .online costs more than the .com that means it's happening sooner than I thought...!"
Now, I finally realize that this has NOTHING to do with .online being a cheaper alternative or trying to keep up with .com. That's the wrong paradigm to be operating in. This is about .online becoming the new gold standard. Comparing .online to .com has been a mistake since the start. Would you compare solid gold to rotten fish? For what purpose? Exactly.
We're currently working on an exchange where people will be able to trade-in their .com's for the .online version. Right now, it's a 1:1 to swap, but soon they'll have to pony up more and more cash as .online grows. Eventually, it'll basically be a recycling program, like when you buy a new mattress and they remove your old one as a courtesy. Buy a .online, and we'll take your trash .com off your hands as a courtesy.
Don't be surprised if "Mr. S" at Ogilvy is very hands-on in the campaign to promote this new exchange, by the way. That's the last hint!
And before you ask, TNG, no - you cannot be involved - I'm cutting you out. My uncle and his associates asked me to invite you to the next call, but I told them you weren't interested. I just can't risk it, because if they meet you, they'll have no use for me.