Jordan Bauer
Photos provided by Jordan Bauer
5(ish) Questions for is a chance to discover and learn about St. Louis Creatives, Community Champions, and, well, just interesting people in and around our city. It's a deep dive into what they love and where their passion lies. It's an opportunity for all of us to see our region from a different perspective. This written interview is a peek into their lives and their outlook on St. Louis.
Meet Jordan Bauer, a seasoned creative professional with nearly a decade experience recently transitioned to the role of Creative Director for Game7, a Web3 Gaming ecosystem, pushing his creative boundaries further than ever before. Bauer describes theWeb3 space as the "Wild West," emphasizing its experimental nature, which fosters creativity and innovation. He talks AI, Saint Louis’ entrepreneurial spirit, the future of the creative industry and the uprise of comedy paving the way for a happier and more forgiving world.
Hi Jordan, tell us about yourself.
After working for close to a decade in traditional advertising with brands like Nike, XBOX, Redbull, Land Rover, the MLB and more. I’ve recently taken on the role of Creative Director for a Web3 Gaming ecosystem called Game7. Which has pushed me to be more creative than I ever have.
It’s truly the Wild West out here. Everything is experimental and pushes the industry’s norms, and the creative scene has absolutely flourished because of it.
The best part of being a creative vagabond for so many years is the amount of hats I’ve gotten to wear and roles I’ve had to fill. From Creative Director to Producer to Marketing Director to Small Business Owner, I’ve touched almost every aspect of the creative process a brand might go through.
What do you mean when you say Web3 is like the Wild West?
Web3 truly just means the next evolution of what we know of as the internet. Social platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter defined the web2 era, and because of that, advertising quickly became a game of paying for eyeballs and clicks through any means necessary.
Web3 understands in order to break through the noise creatively, you have to build something that brings value back to your customer base. So they leverage ideas like ‘ownership’ when it comes to art, finance and community. They value IP and story telling by weaving lore through everything they do. And they gamify pretty much anything they can.
And because the market is so tight knit still, we are allowed to be silly. The industry does such a good job at not taking themselves too seriously and letting creativity run rampant. Everyone I’ve worked with truly measures success in how much joy it brings back to us and the user. Not how many “sales” it generated.
I believe “Expected ROI” is changing across the board, and I’m here for it. I think businesses are waking up to the fact that if they can bring value and joy back to their customer base first and foremost, then those customers will be better mouthpieces for the brand than any click through rate will ever give them.
What role do you think technology will play in your field in the future?
The progression of tech is inevitable. So, let’s embrace it, whether that be AI, AR, VR, or any of the other two-letter acronyms out there.
In my view, the best thing we could possibly do is decentralize as much of it as possible. When you decentralize, you put the power back in the hands of the artist. Decentralization is usually discussed in the context of finance within the Web3 community, but it also works across the board for creative endeavors. By allowing artists to build in an open and free market, not controlled by a single LLM like OpenAI or an ad spend model like Google, and allowing for that art to be displayed and owned by anyone outside of a single distribution platform like Facebook or YouTube, you enable the most diverse set of voices and opinions to be shared.
What inspires you about St. Louis?
I love how in St. Louis, it’s easy for someone with little money to experiment and launch a business or brand. There’s something about these post industrial towns with their grit and determination that is making a come back creatively. Hollywood has their eyes on the midwest for a reason. The people in towns like St. Louis are inspiring, and don’t come with the fake personas a lot of the coastal cities have.
As someone who started a juice bar with his wife back in 2018, with a small business loan of 25K and zero experience, I know first hand how forgiving this city is when it comes to young entrepreneurs. When the bar of entry is low for new businesses, you sometimes find diamonds in the rough that would have never happened elsewhere.
I think more young people need to venture out as entrepreneurs and create something. It doesn’t even have to succeed or work, because the value and understanding it will give you as a human being is priceless.
What’s your current cultural obsession?
I love that comedy is in vogue right now. I think the world is a happier, more forgiving place when people feel the freedom to laugh and don’t take things too seriously. Culture thrives when we can tear apart cultural taboos through the lens of a joke. Me and my wife love the comedy scene right now, and we love how there is always a new up and coming comic that is coming up the ranks. St. Louis needs more comedy clubs!
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