The Power of the Connected Community – Ctrl+Alt+Del by Kevin Dwinnell

The browser theme for Ctrl+Alt+Del went into soft launch this week, but turned into big launch because of the CAD community. As a marketer, I love to see this in action. The connected community illustrates how all the new marketing methods and old methods work together in a cohesive way.

Soft launch typically means Brand Thunder rolls the interactive theme into distribution points where downloads can start to occur in a production environment. This will then be followed by the push on our partner sites and their promotional support.

During the soft launch, we’ll see a steady ramp up of downloads and users. The push on the partner site provides an added lift and we see momentum build as the audience grows. In this case, the avid fan base found the unannounced browser theme. News hit Tim Buckley who made a single tweet and the rush was on. A nice success for a great web comic.

That’s the rapid sharing that can occur in a tight community. It’s important for the key figure, in this case the web comic’s creator, to take the lead in getting the word out. His early and excited comment on Twitter fed the fire to the news that was already starting to buzz.

The continuation of the story is the banner ads that are now running on the site and pointing to the browser theme on cad-comic.com. Community anticipation and awareness is resulting in click-thrus and conversions that will make most marketers envious. Banner ads, which have seen their value plummet over time, still produce especially in an environment where they are used in conjunction with products and services that are part of the community dialogue.

So, the tweets are part of the new marketing methods; the banners I’d consider old marketing methods. They work well because of a well formed community which results from a steady dose of relationship building. Why would web comics be strong in this arena? Because they take the necessary steps to build that community. They share regularly with their community. CAD does this with their regular strip and their more frequent sillies. The authors are known to the community and active in their community. They are real relationships because the comic creators are on the road making time for personal connection. The solid relationships and active community make the mass market promotions more effective because the entire community cares. And caring is the critical component in a powerful community.

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Brand Thunder Launches Baseball Browser Themes for Firefox and Internet Explorer by Brand Thunder

COLUMBUS (April 26, 2010) — Brand Thunder LLC (http://www.brandthunder.com), the browser customization specialists, announced today its browser themes for major league baseball. With the beginning of the baseball season underway, fans of the sport can enhance both Firefox and Internet Explorer with the feel of the ballpark. The free downloads are available from Brand Thunder at http://pages.brandthunder.com/baseball/download or the Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer Add-ons Gallery at http://www.ieaddons.com/us/Details.aspx?Id=8125.

These are interactive browser themes so baseball fans will get more than just a visual upgrade to Firefox or Internet Explorer. They will enjoy the latest league headlines and scores in the news ticker, quick links to the Major League Baseball site, tickets, and more. The theme features a multimedia sidebar that includes videos and a video news player. Plus, the theme has a customizable button, which fans can set to their favorite team’s homepage.

The theme is delivered through an easy-to-install browser add-on allowing baseball fans to transform their drab web-browser into an immersive experience that delivers the ballpark to the browser.

“We have a great portfolio of interactive themes on Firefox,” says founder Patrick Murphy. “As we extend this new theme capability to Internet Explorer, the Baseball theme offers a balance of design and functionality, and with spring here seemed a natural to release.”

Brand Thunder’s interactive themes provide an extreme makeover of the Internet browser. They are free, lightweight active customizations that can include themes, toolbars, sidebars and other content or functionality. Users can switch real-time between any installed Brand Thunder themes.

About Brand Thunder:
Formed in April 2007, Brand Thunder creates extreme makeovers for the Internet browser. Brands enjoy a persistent connection to their Internet consumer driving more website visits and increased revenue. Through a software installation, end users change the drab Internet browser into an immersive experience from their favorite sports team, entertainment franchise or Internet site. The interactive browser themes feature official logos, colors, content and functionality, and can also extend capabilities including video, music players or other Internet widgets. Current business partners and clients include Bing, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, NFL, NHL and Universal Music.

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

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Posted in News, Press Releases | Tags: Bing, brand thunder, browser theme, firefox, Internet Explorer, major league baseball, Microsoft, Mozilla Firefox, Web browser | No Comments »

Is Acquiring New Customers A Waste of Time? by Kevin Dwinnell

Last week I was directed to a blog post about the power of having fans of your brand. Teddy Anderson, the author, and I had just met and he mentioned the post and that he’d referenced Brand Thunder in it. How could I not read it?

Some valid points are made about the difference between fans and customers, and why the power is in getting more fans. He even lists resources to help with this. In the brief post, the emphasis is on illustrating why customers are not the goal, but fans are. The point that is alluded to, but not detailed, is that the two are not mutually exclusive.

You should approach your customer development like a baseball farm system. You’ve got your prospecting and recruiting to get new players into the minor leagues, then you move them from single A up to triple A until you can land them in the majors. Not everyone is going to make the jump to the next level, but doesn’t mean they don’t serve a purpose at the level they attain. Think of your customer acquisition in the same light. Once you’ve made a sale or acquired a new customer, are you done? Not likely. You’re just at the next stage of a growing relationship. It started when the first connection was made with a prospect, it’s grown into a customer relationship and they may yet evolve into fans. They won’t all become fans, but at least the growth potential is there at every stage.

The tools available to companies to encourage that ongoing relationship are plentiful, and that’s the strength of the Internet. As I’ve said in this space before, communication is a key element to building that relationship. And it’s not just open communication, it’s early. You need these customers to feel they’ve got the inside track if they’re ever to move from feeling like a client to feeling like they’re valued.

Yes, Brand Thunder’s browser themes do this, and part of why we’re including the “interactive” moniker with them. This communication potential is also the compelling nature behind Facebook and Twitter, and the fans and followers of brands. Information is powerful, and to give it freely, openly and early (as in making your fans the first to know when news is happening) stands to create a powerful connection.

So, I agree that if you’re only focused on getting customers, you’re missing the boat. You need to look at the entire customer relation process to make sure the methods are in place to make sure the relationship can grow.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: brand thunder, browser theme, Customer Management, Facebook, marketing, Social network, Twitter | No Comments »

Brand Thunder and The Hockey News to Launch Browser Theme for Hockey Fans by Brand Thunder

COLUMBUS (April 14, 2010) — Brand Thunder LLC (http://www.brandthunder.com), the browser customization specialists, announced today its relationship with The Hockey News to extend comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey to the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. The Hockey News browser themes will keep hockey fans connected to sporting news regardless of where they are on the Internet. The browser theme is a free download at http://www.thehockeynews.com/browserdownload/.

Users will find breaking news delivered to the browser via a toolbar newsreader, plus a multimedia sidebar offers videos and more to give fans the breadth of information they want. The theme is delivered through an easy-to-install browser add-on allowing hockey fans to transform their drab web-browser into an immersive experience that delivers the best of The Hockey News directly to the browser.

“Hockey fans are an engaged and energized group,” says Edward Fraser, Managing Editor of The Hockey News. “Anything less expressive and informative than Brand Thunder’s interactive themes would not have met their needs as thoroughly.”

“The Hockey News is essential reading for the true hockey fan,” says founder Patrick Murphy. “The intersection of relevant content with highly interested user is where Brand Thunder’s interactive browser themes excel by messaging directly to the user whenever they are online. It’s a natural extension to the communication channel The Hockey News has nurtured over the past 60+ years with its readers.”

Brand Thunder’s interactive themes provide an extreme makeover of the Internet browser. They are free, lightweight active customizations that can include themes, toolbars, sidebars and other content or functionality. Users can switch real-time between any installed Brand Thunder themes.

About Brand Thunder:
Formed in April 2007, Brand Thunder creates extreme makeovers for the Internet browser. Brands enjoy a persistent connection to their Internet consumer driving more website visits and increased revenue. Through a software installation, end users change the drab Internet browser into an immersive experience from their favorite sports team, entertainment franchise or Internet site. The interactive browser themes feature official logos, colors, content and functionality, and can also extend capabilities including video, music players or other Internet widgets. Current business partners and clients include Bing, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, NFL, NHL and Universal Music. Samples found at http://brandthunder.com/gallery/.

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

###

Posted in News, Press Releases | Tags: brand thunder, browser theme, firefox, Internet Explorer, The Hockey News, THN | No Comments »

The “Interactive” in Interactive Browser Themes by Kevin Dwinnell

Image via Wikipedia

Between Firefox Personas and Google Chrome’s Themes, browser themes are getting a lot of attention this year. Brand Thunder is pleased to be at the front with such distinguished company. While each of us helps you move beyond the dull gray of the standard Internet browser and personalize your browser with enticing visuals, Brand Thunder is the only one to move the theme into the realm of experience. We make things happen in the browser to increase engagement, connection and interaction.

And to go a step farther, we are the only ones to bring this level of customization to the Internet Explorer browser. It’s an impressive feat and is in the early stages of rolling out.

Here are some of our themes that showcase the interactive capabilities of our browser themes.

Weather

The Weather Theme is a full integration using WeatherBug’s API and Brand Thunder design elements to create a browser theme that pulls in weather forecasts, local conditions, alerts, weather maps and more. The theme itself changes based on your local weather conditions. It also pulls in up to three days of forecasts into the theme (the user can set the number). Location can be set by the user, or the can choose Firefox’s built-in location services. The multimedia sidebar is a full weather station window with current conditions, radar maps, local weather cameras and more. It’s a truly amazing infusion of weather information in a stunning visual context.

The Daily Beast

The Daily Beast is a leading news site and their theme pulls an image from the latest feature story directly into the browser theme. The user can hover over it to get the story headline or click through to read the full story. The sidebar keeps users connected to the latest news via special views of the Cheat Sheet, Buzz Board, Blogs & Stories and Video sections of The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Theme demonstrates several methods to keep their users connected to the breaking news of the day, and how to get users back to your site more frequently.

Movie Premier

Brand Thunder’s Movie Premier Theme is a fun and functional theme for us movie fans. Like the Daily Beast theme, Movie Premier has a feature block that updates regularly with the movie posters of opening movies. Clicking on the poster takes you to an overview page of the movie with reviews, synopsis and more. The theme is also tightly integrated with Fandango for instant access to reviews, showtimes, tickets and even trailers and other videos in the sidebar. It’s a great example of how content and commerce fuse together in an interactive browser theme.

Baseball for IE

The Baseball Theme for Internet Explorer demonstrates a new frontier for building community and connection within the IE browser. The visual capabilities created through this add-on have not been seen in the Internet Explorer world. It makes the visual takeover as seamless of the end user as it’s been in Firefox. It’s a significant advance and will help us better meet the needs of our clients.

I think these are killer examples of what a browser theme can be – a better and more engaging browser experience. What do you think?

Posted in Commentary, News | Tags: brand thunder, brower theme, Browsers, firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Web browser | No Comments »