Help Your Customer, Help Yourself by Kevin Dwinnell

Brand Thunder received some nice coverage over at Folio Magazine yesterday. The story focused on our latest release for the Columbus Dispatch and some technical benefits we added behind the scenes to make the product more useful to Dispatch readers and ultimately The Dispatch itself. I encourage you to read the Folio story and get their take on the work we’ve done.

What we did was enhance search queries made from the browser so that Dispatch content related to the query is presented in a news block at the top of the search results page. It’s not intrusive, it’s presented respectfully and it’s a true value add. Dispatch readers will more easily find Dispatch content, and getting more readers into its online content is what helps The Dispatch.

I like it because it’s a concrete example of marketing using new media. I get lost in all the discussions around social media and how brands need to become part of the discussion. What does that mean? (I know there are a lot of great blogs that discuss this, but the information falls out of my head the moment I leave the site.) I feel we’ve delivered a good example of helping our client’s community, satisfying a need of that community and seeing our client benefit from it. I also think it’s closer to what the social media experts want when they say “engage your community” and less on the side of the conversion marketers who are driving clicks and sales.

Another real world example is Woot. They do a great job on their shirt.woot.com site. The community designs t-shirts based on a topic provided by Woot. The user generated designs are voted on by the community and the top ones are made into t-shirts ($10 + free s&h). It provides a creative outlet and recognition for designers. It’s fun, even for the casual observer like me. And for Woot, it’s a fantastic model for keeping the community active and coming back. You know they’re going to sell some shirts along the way. Woot creates entertainment for its visitors, helps designers with exposure and generates revenue directly from it.

If you know a little about the history of Woot, you know they have killer writing and very active discussion boards. When Woot first launched, each night there was a race to make the first page of comments. You can see how that became the springboard for looking at other ways to engage their community and still stay true to their commerce mission.

We do have the benefit of leveraging the brand affinity between our client and their customer. That provides a lens through which we can view our products and benefits. “Our customers have expressed a connection to this brand by downloading our Boom!. Is there an opportunity to super serve them by knowing about that relationship?” The ideas and opportunities flow from there. So what unique feature can you leverage to help better serve the needs of your audience? And what do you possess that will help your customer with their needs? From that point, you just might see your next opportunity.

Posted in Commentary, News | Tags: brand thunder, browser boom, Columbus Dispatch, custom browser, folio magazine, Internet forum, marketing, Woot | No Comments »

Avoiding Ad Blind Spots by Kevin Dwinnell

Marketers are perpetually trying to break through the clutter and gain the attention of their audience. Consumers, on the other hand, are getting more adept at tuning out the noise. If you’re in online marketing, you know they’re blind to it as well.

It’s creating that blindness we want to avoid. Visitors to your site learn where they can find the information they want. For site owners, it can be tempting to use some of the more valuable content locations for advertising to increase revenue. Any content real estate, however, reassigned an advertising role will quickly see the click through in that location drop. It also takes longer for that space to regain its value once that space returns to offering content. The consumer is quick to learn and slow to forget.

Consumers realize that the ads are a primary reason the content is available, so they’re accepting if its presented respectfully where value is being provided. Viacom is touting they’ve solved the riddle for online video ads. That’s also why the leaderboard banner at the top of many web pages has had such a long tenure. It’s accepted as “the ad I must see before I get to what I want” and the eye passes over this space on its way to the content.

Fortunately, it’s not a blind eye. These placements are guaranteed a certain level of awareness and therefore interaction because the payoff is moments away. Simply by knowing where the eye is going, and where the user is interacting with the page puts odds in your favor. It’s easy to see the fascination with heat maps as they detail specifically where your user’s eyes travel on the page.

Focus on the value your content creates, then integrate the ads in its vicinity. That’s the mix that will keep both your content and advertisements visible to your audience and best serve your business needs over the long term.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: advertising, Click-through rate, internet marketing, marketing, Online advertising | No Comments »

Web X.0 – What to Do When Your Product Doesn’t Fit the Hype by Kevin Dwinnell

With the term “Web 2.0” declared dead, and “Web 3.0” yet to be defined, where does that leave the marketers still trying to become “part of the conversation”? The same place it has always left us – making sure our value proposition connects with our target audience, and making sure our message reaches that audience.

Hype is a wave. If you’re there and you catch it, awesome. Not every one is in position to do that. But the Internet continues to be a birthplace of cool and spawns a river of things that generate hype. Eventually, our time will come.

In pitching our branded browsers (Booms) as a great affinity product for CPG, we hear “that wouldn’t work for toilet paper.” Correct, but it would work for diapers. Both products serve the same purpose, but one has a more robust avenue for connecting with the consumer than the other. Pampers and Huggies both produce a lot of web content tailored specifically toward Moms and create affinity to the brand – that’s an ideal place for one our Booms. Have you looked at your product and that cool new web site and determined if there’s a fit? Are you sure?

Not seeing a fit for marketing or integration into that hyped application doesn’t relieve you of your responsibility to understand it. I’ve been fortunate to work in the Internet space for a long time. That, however, has built some complacency and I’ve missed my share of opportunities because I didn’t “get it.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m still trying to “get” Twitter and continue to work at my understanding. I see the positive affect it can have for a company on several levels. I’ve extracted value, hopefully shared some, and when I meet a social media expert, I try to learn more. I believe it’s paying off for our start up as it does for many other companies. But I would have missed this if I’d left it alone without trying to first understand it.

Your product may not be right for every hyped Internet site, but with more of your customers online, some of these sites will work for you. To stay competitive, whether a start up or not, it’s in your interest to know which ones.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Branded Browser, business, custom browser, Customer value proposition, marketing, Social network, Target audience, Twitter, web 2.0, Website | No Comments »

The Internet Echo – Social Media as Marketing by Kevin Dwinnell

Maybe in space no one can hear you scream, but if you’re well connected – everyone on the Internet can. Just ask Jason Calacanis. (Sorry Jason, that made me laugh.)

We’re not as well connected as Jason, but we remain impressed by the incidental reach social media provides some of the standard marketing initiatives for our branded browsers (Booms). That’s critical for a startup that’s doesn’t have an extensive marketing budget. If you’re willing to put in the energy, effort, and play by the rules of social media – it can be rewarding.

So, if you’re not using social media for your business, we encourage you to try it and see what the ripple effect is for your business.

The following is a snapshot of just the Twittering that resulted from the announcement of Brand Thunder’s funding by Ohio TechAngels:

• The press release dropped Tues, Jan 27.
• I tweeted about it later that day
• By morning, Jan 28, CNET picked up the story
• By afternoon of Jan 28 many more tweets occurred
• International coverage occurred within a day or two
• Corresponding tweets followed.

Twitter Timeline:

Note: Twitter aggregation pulled from TweetBeep’s free email Alerts.

kdwinnell: Funding announcement for Brand Thunder. Woohoo! http://tinyurl.com/d63s4e
Wednesday, January 28th at 00:54:37 · Reply · View Tweet

bblanquera: RT @kdwinnell: Funding announcement for Brand Thunder. Woohoo! http://tinyurl.com/d63s4e
Wednesday, January 28th at 00:56:33 · Reply · View Tweet

bigkumadog: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Ohio TechAngels has invested in Brand Thunder, which reskins Firefox and.. http://tinyurl.com/bh3yw4
Wednesday, January 28th at 16:46:56 · Reply · View Tweet

NewsOnTwitter: CNET NEWS – Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Ohio TechAngels has invested in Brand Thunder, wh.. http://tinyurl.com/bh3yw4
Wednesday, January 28th at 16:49:17 · Reply · View Tweet

logical_caro: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding – Ohio TechAngels has invested in Brand Thunder, which reskins Firefox and s… http://bit.ly/PqCc
Wednesday, January 28th at 16:50:15 · Reply · View Tweet

Duma: [Web2.0] Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that customizes Firefox with.. http://tinyurl.com/dkbhhm
Wednesday, January 28th at 16:56:28 · Reply · View Tweet

TechRSS: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Ohio TechAngels has invested in Brand Thunder, which reskins Firefox and.. http://tinyurl.com/bh3yw4
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:03:28 · Reply · View Tweet

puleen: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that customizes Firefox with customers’ brand.. http://tinyurl.com/dkbhhm
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:09:34 · Reply · View Tweet

TwitLinksRSS: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding | Digital Media – CNET News: Brand Thunder , a company that customizes Fi.. http://tinyurl.com/bh3yw4
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:09:43 · Reply · View Tweet

junlabao: CNET: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Ohio TechAngels has invested in Brand Thunder, which reskins .. http://tinyurl.com/bh3yw4
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:12:04 · Reply · View Tweet

Webware: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that customizes Firefox with customers’ brand.. http://tinyurl.com/dkbhhm
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:12:26 · Reply · View Tweet

macatron: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that customizes Firefox with customers’ brands.. http://tinyurl.com/cgd2ur
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:24:20 · Reply · View Tweet

logical_caro: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding – Angel investors are putting money into Brand Thunder, which re-skins Firef… http://bit.ly/PqCc
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:30:20 · Reply · View Tweet

TIAS: Brand Thunder, a company that lets people customize Firefox with brands, inked deal with MLS: http://tinyurl.com/cranhb
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:35:55 · Reply · View Tweet

writerhunt: Web 2.0 Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that lets people customize Fir.. http://tinyurl.com/dkbhhm
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:42:18 · Reply · View Tweet

haripakorss: Firefox-branding start-up gets funding: Brand Thunder, a company that lets people customize Firefox with brands.. http://tinyurl.com/dkbhhm
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:50:12 · Reply · View Tweet

brandthunder: Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:52:22 · Reply · View Tweet

MichaelBowers: Retweeting @brandthunder: Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:53:03 · Reply · View Tweet

PhyllisNichols: RT @MichaelBowers Retweeting @brandthunder: Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 17:58:37 · Reply · View Tweet

tomhaney: RT: brandthunder Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 18:09:01 · Reply · View Tweet

chiefgadd: @brandthunder great job getting some more good press! Brand Thunder is one of our Rock Star Central Ohio IT Startups!!! Way to go!!!
Wednesday, January 28th at 18:18:05 · Reply · View Tweet

RickCoplin: RT @chiefgadd: @brandthunder great job getting more good press! Brand Thunder is one of our Rock Star Central Ohio IT Startups! Way to go!
Wednesday, January 28th at 18:24:00 · Reply · View Tweet

RickCoplin: RT @brandthunder: Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 18:25:32 · Reply · View Tweet

bblanquera: RT @RickCoplin: RT @brandthunder: Brand Thunder on CNET! http://snurl.com/avzxu
Wednesday, January 28th at 18:34:08 · Reply · View Tweet

anteek: #News : Firefox-branding start-up gets funding Brand Thunder, a company that lets people customize Firefox with.. http://TwitPWR.com/37X/
Thursday, January 29th at 16:48:50 · Reply · View Tweet

giacomodotta: Brand Thunder: Firefox per valorizzare il brand http://ff.im/-P7uK
Friday, January 30th at 13:29:56 · Reply · View Tweet

masey: Quite a decent Canucks Firefox theme (http://twitpic.com/19b67), amongst others to be found at Brand Thunder now – http://is.gd/hRia
Friday, January 30th at 22:58:36 · Reply · View Tweet

dudtn: “Brand Thunder – FireFox 커스터마이징을 통한 수익모델” http://tinyurl.com/atwybh firefox 테마 참 이쁘네요^^ 돈받고 &
Saturday, January 31st at 13:17:10 · Reply · View Tweet

RickCoplin: Brand Thunder rocks the other side of the planet! http://poprl.com/GQ Who can read/speak Italian?
Monday, February 2nd at 13:22:06 · Reply · View Tweet

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Branded Browser, CNET Networks, custom browser, firefox, Jason Calacanis, marketing, Mozilla Firefox, startup, tweetbeep, Twitter, web 2.0 | 2 Comments »

Brand Thunder attending MozCamp in Vancouver by Patrick Murphy

Brand Thunder, among some other big names in the Mozilla Development Community, will be attending MozCamp Vancouver on April 13.

Brand Thunder focuses on helping spread the word of Mozilla as a platform for various partners to showcase their brand. Unlike other development platforms, Mozilla allows brands to fully visualize their image to the end user across all major platforms.

Please see the official Release from Shane Caraveo below for info on MozCamp:

Shane Caraveo: MozCamp at OpenWeb Vancouver

Posted in News | Tags: branding, browser, custom, firefox, marketing, moz, mozcamp, skins, themes | No Comments »

Geffen Records artist NLT and Brand Thunder Unveil Themed Browser by Patrick Murphy

Brand Thunder Inc (http://www.brandthunder.com) announces the first use of its innovative browser tool within the music industry via their client Geffen Records and artist NLT.

NLT is the first musical group with their own customized web browser (http://www.nltmusic.com). “Brand Thunder’s customized theme helps fans show their love for NLT while keeping them informed about the latest NLT news,” says Aaron Foreman, head of New Media for Geffen. “We are extremely pleased for NLT to be the first musical artist to have their own customized browser.”

Internet marketers are scrambling to find ways of keeping visitors riveted to their web sites. By customizing the web browser with an entertainment theme, marketers can keep the attention of fans, even as they navigate away from the brand’s main page. “In a web marketplace where users expect personalization, our unique themes facilitate that and something far more valuable: a persistent channel of communication from businesses to consumers,” explains Patrick Murphy, CEO of Brand Thunder. “We integrate the brand into the browser, so businesses extend their reach regardless of where their customers or fans wander on the internet.”

Nearly every aspect of the browser was customized to reflect NLTs’ music, brand and web presence. After fans install NLTs’ custom theme on the popular Firefox browser, the otherwise generic browser is transformed into a branded arena that puts the fans right in the show. The boys from NLT flood the screen and browser navigation features are transformed with fun new transparent elements. Directly beneath are permanent links to NLT photos and iTunes so fans can download the latest tracks. In addition to driving traffic to NLTs’ website, the browser theme also includes a real-time news ticker so fans can stay on top of the latest NLT news. Such a display seamlessly integrates the traditional use of a web browser with revenue generating links and tools.

The advantages of a themed browser are manifold. “It extends the brand using a fresh, innovative and effective channel,” says CEO Patrick Murphy. “Themes offer passionate users another avenue to display their affinity while facilitating more frequent and focused communication to consumers.”

Brand Thunder is the brainchild of interactive marketing expert Patrick Murphy. His marketing channel development experience spans several well-recognized brands including Netscape, Verizon, Swiss Re, Conseco and JP Morgan Chase / Bank One.

Posted in News | Tags: branding, browser, custom, firefox, geffen, marketing, music, nlt, pop, skins, themes, universal music | No Comments »