Red States and Blue States – Get the Most from the Contrasting Views of Business and Development by Kevin Dwinnell

We just went through a period of disagreement here at Brand Thunder – the classic and clashing viewpoints of the suits and the geeks. I think it ended well, but if this is my last post due to a malicious crashing of my computer, I’ll reconsider.

When your business is evolving this rapidly and timeframes are perpetually short, it’s already an intense environment. Mix in a bunch of strong personalities on a hot topic and you’re bound to have differences of opinion. Ideally, it’s during these times that a fledgling idea can be sculpted into something meaningful. Or, the process can disintegrate and lead to a lot of hurt feelings.

How do you get one result instead of the other? And how do you foster the type of discussion that is challenging, but creates the better end result? We asked the Brand Thunder corporate counselor and received the following advice:

Revisit Covey’s Seven Habits – #5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

This concept has been well known to business people for years, but now, much research has validated its power. It’s the crucial technique that will enhance your team’s functioning. (And by the way, it’s not just for the business setting—it’s a great tool in any relationship.)

If the concept is a little too vague, here are some specific recommendations to follow when you find yourself in a group with differences of opinion:

1. Give each side uninterrupted time to define their position.
2. Before the other side speaks, reiterate what the first party said to confirm it’s understood – and ask if it’s correct “What I hear you saying is…”
3. It may help to whiteboard it. Bulleting the key ideas and positions on a topic. provides a visual reminder of the discussion and viewpoints.
4. Then move on to collaboration or decision-making.

Keep in mind, understanding does not equal agreement. Nor does understanding mean there will be a change in course or decision. What it does mean is that each side will know they had a chance to have their opinion expressed and understood. Everyone wants to feel that their opinion matters to others.

In the end, you’ll not only have a functional team. You’ll have a better one.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: brand thunder, Branded Browser, business, custom browser, Marketing and Advertising, Relationships, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People | No Comments »

Brand Thunder Receives Investment from Ohio TechAngels by Kevin Dwinnell

COLUMBUS OH (January 27, 2009) — Brand Thunder LLC, the branded browser specialists, announced today its investment from the Ohio TechAngels and other ‘sidecar’ angel investors to further its work in bringing immersive experiences to the Internet browser.

Brand Thunder reworks the visual style of the browser to match the colors and logos of leading brands, entertainers and sports teams while also adding content and functionality to the browser. The branded browser provides marketers with a persistent means to keep their brand presence with their customer and fans whenever they are connected to the Internet.

The growing list of company’s extending their brand to the browser includes the NASCAR Nationwide Series, internet news blog site The Huffington Post, several National Hockey League teams, NCAA schools, entertainment news site Starpulse, HowStuffWorks.com and more. The full list of active custom browser themes can be found at http://www.brandthunder.com/gallery.

“For a startup company trying to achieve critical mass, it’s a race to reach that state before funds run out,” explained Patrick Murphy, CEO and founder of Brand Thunder. “The investment gives us the necessary financial and intellectual support to become a thriving company.”

About Brand Thunder

Formed in April 2007, Brand Thunder creates a more persistent presence between corporate brands and their Internet consumer through its branded-browser customization, which leads to increased website visits and revenue. Through a software installation, end users change the look and feel of their Internet browser into an immersive experience from their favorite sports team, entertainment franchise or internet site. The customized browsers feature official logos, colors, content and functionality, but can also extend capabilities including video, music players or other Internet widgets. Current business partners and clients include the Huffington Post, NASCAR, NCAA, NHL, Starpulse.com, Universal Music and Yahoo!. Samples found at http://brandthunder.com/gallery/.

Contact

Patrick Murphy, CEO
Brand Thunder, LLC
614-408-8202

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Posted in Press Releases | Tags: brand thunder, Branded Browser, custom browser, Huffington Post, NASCAR, National Hockey League, Nationwide Series, Patrick Murphy | No Comments »

The Point – Keep Your Business Multi-Faceted by Kevin Dwinnell

Brand Thunder has entered a new market with the release of a BOOM for St. Louis’s 105.7 The Point (see it here). It’s our first radio station and we’re excited to tap into a new category. In so many things, if you’re one dimensional, you’re vulnerable and this is a consideration for our business.

As a start up, we’re trying to make sure we’re not too dependent on one technology, one client or one industry. We have a primary product in our BOOMS (our branded browsers), so we’re staying diversified in areas where we have control like our sales channel, operating systems or distribution channels.

A radio station also has singular dependency on its broadcast signal, but the Internet can change that. With the Internet, a station can maintain a longer connection with its core audience plus reach a new audience from the Web at large.

To reach that wider audience, Brand Thunder helps its clients with promotion on their site, but then works to deliver distribution on relevant sites like download sites, online communities or fan sites. The intent is to provide greater adoption by not limiting promotion to a single site, and this will benefit us both.

The product itself should have mass appeal. It’s an aggressively styled browser with live streams of the KPNT broadcast, industry news and more. This BOOM will rock the Alternative music fan. And the St. Louis fan will enjoy concert listings and other local news. KPNT was prepared to serve more than a single audience when they designed this.

It’s a struggle to plan and re-plan your business tactics. So if you’ve thought through how to keep your business multi-faceted, then take a minute to download this BOOM, click the Listen Live button, turn it up, sit back and experience Everything Alternative.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Alternative, boom, Branded Browser, custom browser, KPNT, Radio, Radio broadcasting | No Comments »

Brand Thunder’s Branded Browser Recognized by Business Community – Finalists Announced for TechColumbus Innovation Awards by Patrick Murphy

COLUMBUS OH (January 15, 2009) — Brand Thunder LLC, the branded browser specialists, is proud to announce it is among the finalists for the TechColumbus Innovation Awards and is in the running for Outstanding Startup Business and Outstanding Product (company with less than 50 employees).

On Thursday, February 5, 2009 the 2008 TechColumbus Innovation Awards will recognize outstanding achievements in technology leadership and innovation at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. From a record number of entries from individuals and companies in all disciplines and industries, 13 winners will be honored and the region’s progress as an emerging tech center will be celebrated.

“We’re humbled to be considered for a TechColumbus Innovation Award and included among such high-quality companies,” said Patrick Murphy, CEO and founder of Brand Thunder. “We’re thankful for the assistance TechColumbus continues to extend to our company. It is a gem among the many valuable assets the entrepreneur community of Columbus provides.”

About the TechColumbus Innovation Awards

The TechColumbus Innovations Awards celebrate and honor individuals and teams in a variety of disciplines. Each category is an important component of the technology and innovation community. Receiving the top honor showcases an individual or team which is dramatically impacting Central Ohio and beyond. For more information about TechColumbus and the Innovation Awards, visit http://www.techcolumbusinnovationawards.org.

About Brand Thunder

Formed in April 2007, Brand Thunder creates a more persistent presence between corporate brands and their Internet consumer through its branded-browser customization, which leads to increased website visits and revenue. Through a software installation, end users change the look and feel of their Internet browser into an immersive experience from their favorite sports team, entertainment franchise or internet site. The customized browsers feature official logos, colors, content and functionality, but can also extend capabilities including video, music players or other Internet widgets. Current business partners and clients include the Huffington Post, NASCAR, NCAA, NHL, Starpulse.com, Universal Music and Yahoo!. Samples found at http://brandthunder.com/gallery/.

Contact

Patrick Murphy, CEO
Brand Thunder, LLC
614-408-8202

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Posted in Press Releases | No Comments »

Forecast Calls for Success and a Chance of Gain by Ryan D Miller

Most of you probably spent a good deal of time during the last few months of 2008 submitting your budgets, projected numbers, and even goals for the fiscal year 2009.  All of the figures are documented and a single forecast put together for all of the stakeholders surrounding the company.  For most companies forecasting is a very important process to keep the stakeholders informed of progress, create accountability, and to aid in budgeting.  Those key purposes make forecasting a necessity for any company of size, but what about a start-up?  Of course a business plan covers most of these areas but how important is a yearly forecasting routine in the early stages?

I find myself using analogies over and over, so why make today any different?  Forecasting numbers for a start-up company plays a very large role in business development and one of the largest benefits of forecasting is identifying a realistic vision of where you see the company at the end of the year.  Here comes the analogy.  Ever heard of GPS, Garmin, TomTom, or VZ Navigator?  I thought you might have.  The idea of navigation systems is becoming commonplace, whether it comes equipped in your vehicle, given to you as a holiday gift, or downloaded to your fancy touch screen phone.  There is a reason they have become so popular and they all have one thing in common; they help us get where we are going but they won’t get us there unless we identify a destination.

Forecasting is the best way to identify the next destination for a start-up company.  Just like your favorite navigation toy, you can’t get where you going until you have identified your destination.  Getting in a car and driving without a determined end point can be a waste of time and miles.  So how can you take your start-up anywhere, unless you know where you’re going?  Forecasting does a lot more than relay progress to stakeholders, create accountability, and aid in budgeting.  It is the necessary destination when creating the roadmap to your success.

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First Trade Show Preparations – Brand Thunder Heads to National Sports Forum by Kevin Dwinnell

It would be easy to think heading to Phoenix at the end of January is a simple case of escaping the mid-west winter. That’s only partially true. Brand Thunder is attending its first trade show, the National Sports Forum, January 26 – 28, to show off our branded browsers.

So, how does a startup that’s trying to preserve cash decide to attend a trade show? It wasn’t an easy decision. We’re frugal in many respects and the cost of attending a tradeshow is no small matter. In the interest of sharing, here are the decision points and discoveries we made in this process.

1. Know your target audience.

We’re a growing company trying to reach critical mass. Our data suggests sports teams understand the value of our branded browsers, move from prospect to client at a reasonable rate and have audiences that adopt our product at a rate that satisfy our clients and our business model.

2. Know the show’s audience.

The show’s sales staff told us that major teams and their decision makers attend. We researched this claim. And while past results are not an indicator of future performance – the odds looked good. Based on the attendee list we just received, this has borne out.

3. Cost effective booth design.

Elegant doesn’t need to be expensive. Through Guru.com we found Pixl Designs who gave a very reasonable estimate, and outstanding results, despite the design challenge of communicating the visual power of our browser themes in a vertical format. We wanted banners to hang from the curtained framing provided by the show creating a booth feel without a booth expense.

4. Cost effective banner production.

We chose to use 2’x6’ banners due to the low, online prices we found. Prices were so low, we ordered early anticipating the potential need to reorder. The truth was Just4Banners.com delivered excellent results, at an amazing price. The order was placed late on a Monday and in hand by Wednesday – despite choosing 3-day shipping.

5. Getting attendees to stop.

We have a range of tactics to generate booth traffic including video loops demonstrating the transformation from standard Firefox to immersive branded browser (also produced by Pixl). Monitors showing the video will be positioned to attract passersby and “sell” on their own or act as real-time examples for our sales staff to discuss. We’ll also have useful information from our other sports team partners as “leave behinds” and a contingency plan for a daily giveaway – just in case. This show has such a focused audience for us, we can’t risk missing this lead generation opportunity.

6. Have a full schedule prior to the show.

We’re now in process of using our network to help arrange as many meetings as possible prior to the show. The goal is to have the off-show hours filled with appointments – at least as much as possible.

We’re optimistic about this event, and in a few weeks will discuss our learning from it. And if you have any suggestions for us to act on before we travel, please share them!

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Branded Browser, custom browser, firefox, Lead generation, Mozilla Firefox, sports marketing, startup, Target audience, trade show | 3 Comments »

Lowering Barriers to Entry: 4 Questions to Raise User Adoption by Kevin Dwinnell

Each hurdle you place in front of your consumer has a material impact on your business. Do you know what yours are?

We’ve wrestled with this considerably. Our current business model is based on a browser with 20% market share. Sure, we can exceed that for our partners (request our Case Study here), but that’s still a question mark for some prospects. Here are a series of questions we ask ourselves in an effort to improve the ease with which people get our product.

1. Have you identified any immediate barriers?
For us, our users need to have the Firefox browser. If they don’t have it, we give them a link to get it for free – but there’s a cost to sending that user away before they can get what they want.

2. Do you understand the waterfall of user adoption?
If you’re in the software business, you know it’s not unusual to see a 30% drop off at each step of a software download (yes, that’s a 30% drop each time you present a screen where a user must click “next”). That’s why companies work so hard at keeping the installation process simple and streamlined, and why it’s important to know the number of people who start one step and the number who start the next.

3. Have you identified how to minimize the entire number of steps for a user to get your product?
When we launched our Huffington Post branded browser, we offered both the Firefox customizations as well as a “full build” of the browser plus customizations – removing the obstacle of sending a user to get Firefox first. (The hidden cost here was we couldn’t call the browser Firefox, even though it was the same code base. Officially, it’s the Mozilla browser. So, no free lunch here.)

4. Have you listened to your clients, prospects and end users?
If you’re listening to sales objections, noting casual observations and reading user comments – you’ll get invaluable information. As a result, we’ve included a Lite version of each branded browser shipped, changed our Privacy Policy to more accurately reflect the data captured (we were over reaching with what rights we were reserving, but not using – and turning away users), launched our BOOMS to allow users to move seamlessly between our customizations and we’re continuing with some significant development efforts (more to come on this point).

Now, what are we still missing?

Posted in Commentary | Tags: branded browsers, Browsers, custom browsers, firefox, Huffington Post, Mozilla Firefox, software installation | No Comments »

Why Start-ups Should Show Product Flexibility – Obama Inauguration Honored by Kevin Dwinnell

Or, maybe the title of this post should be: Is it an opportunity or a diversion?

If an opportunity for your start-up is:

1. An extension of your current work
2. Improves product or process
3. Boosts your cash flow

Go for it.

For us, the launch of a browser theme focused on Barack Obama’s inauguration (see it here) was a yes to all of those points.

Here’s the back-story.

Our product focus has always been to deliver custom browser themes for leading brands. NASCAR, Huffington Post, you name it. After all, we create a persistent presence with online consumers, which is a great value proposition. What we didn’t focus on was event-driven versions — until recently.

We figured the long-term relationship a fan has with their favorite sports team or music artist, and our ability to reinforce that, was the real business opportunity. It’s good, but it’s not the only opportunity. There’s also a big demand for event-driven browser themes as well.

We started the non-branded work with sports (baseball, football, basketball and so on), but when we launched Christmas, we saw a real nice spike in users. That was quickly followed by an “Oh, shoot!” moment (word choice edited to maintain our PG rating). The Christmas user base would evaporate after the holiday.

So, we scrambled to get a special “Make Merry or Make History” offering in place, which presented a product for New Year’s and one for the inauguration.

The entire effort was beneficial on several fronts. The non-branded and event-based browsers allow us to maintain our build cycles in between client builds (point #1 above). The need to keep these more transient users inspired our BOOM product platform (see related post here) allowing users to seamlessly move between our themes rather than work to get from one to another (point #2). These products have the same business model as our branded versions, so we continue to build a user base that generates revenue (point #3).

By looking beyond our original product focus, we’ve given our business a lift and hopefully more runway – a plus for any startup. And by delivering an Inauguration theme, we’ve given ourselves until the end of January to build our next event-based BOOM.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Barack Obama, Branded Browser, brower theme, custom browser, Huffington Post, New Year, start-up | No Comments »