Difference Between Toolbars and Browser Themes by Brand Thunder

Understanding the difference between a toolbar and a browser theme can be difficult for the average user. Here is one way to think about it: a browser theme can have a toolbar as part of its interface, as a toolbar can be integrated within a theme. The reverse is not possible. It is important to understand the functionality of a toolbar versus a browser theme.

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Posted in BT:Engage | Tags: browser themes, Browsers, seobook toolbar, toolbars | No Comments »

The Digital Marketing Mix – The Why’s the Limit by Kevin Dwinnell

Last week, Kendall Allen discussed remaining innovative with marketing in tough economic times. See her post “Relationships And The Progressive Digital Mix” on MediaPost’s Online Spin. Andrew Chen, who supplies supporting analysis with most of his posts, covered part one of his thoughts on “How desktop apps beat websites at building large active userbases” in his post yesterday. I think they’ve both made some important points and their posts are worth the read.

While I love to see others endorse the marketplace where Brand Thunder plays, however, it’s not been the value proposition that’s been the most consistent objection. It’s the perceived limitations of how much a company can do and can offer their customers at one time. The most consistent objection we hear is “I’m already doing this. Why would we need that as well?” Because when you can meet your consumer where they want with little expense and time, you should do it. Doing only one thing this year is leaving too much opportunity on the table.

I’m wagering that most companies and customers can handle more than one digital media initiative a year. I understand the issue of resource constraints (believe me! I understand) but there are a lot of low cost options for you to release a bonanza of new media programs without a significant drain on your time or resources. In most cases, if you have your logo digitized and have initiated a handful of common practices, like RSS feeds for your news, you can launch a number of these programs within weeks — and that’s whether you use one of the self-serve wizards available for a number of digital media tools, or a low-cost, low-touch option like Brand Thunder brings. You can bring several tools to your audience in a reasonable amount of time.

If you’re launching one, you may as well launch more. The promotional and hosting commitment is going to be the same. This is where I see potential upside for companies. With the influx of advertising networks, it’s easier to be in a “sold out” position for promotional real estate and house promotions are the general casualty. Leveraging promotions to drive users to a single download destination on your site will make better use of the limited inventory and you can offer them a robust range of applications.

So, as you look at your digital marketing road map, I encourage you to reshape the questions being asked. Instead of why your customer would want it. Ask why you wouldn’t give them what they want. The difference can mean a lot in terms of how often you’re connecting with your audience.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: advertising, brand thunder, custom browsers, Customer value proposition, desktop widgets, Digital media, marketing, MediaPost, toolbars, web apps, widgets | No Comments »

Expanding the Executive Team by Patrick Murphy

Thoughts on Building the Start-up Team

Brand Thunder announced today the formation of its executive team (you can read the full release here). We set out to create a team capable of building (1) a custom-browser infrastructure where we’ll (2) work with some of the best known brands to (3) create branded browsers for their consumers. That creates a long list of needs to be able to address each category effectively with a very small team.

Here are three considerations that went into the process:

Network for Referrals – We went to people where we had direct working relationship. In one case, that person came on board. In the other, we got the person recommended by our contact. This helped create a team with an immediate degree of trust and confidence between members – necessary elements as we work collectively and independently on the vast number of tasks before us.

Breadth of Experience as Much as Depth – The quantity of tasks is equaled only by the range of work we need to complete, and there’s only a few of us doing the work. We need a core team with multiple talents and who can operate under different roles concurrently. We looked for complementary skill sets that would reduce the knowledge gaps on the team. We now have a team that will have, if not direct experience, at least a reduced learning curve for almost any task before us.

Skill Sets that are Both Art and Science – Our product must be visually compelling to attract the customer, but with the highest quality since it’s representing top-tier brands. We sought equal parts hacker and artist, creative thinker and process disciplinarian, strong egos and aggressive listeners. We’ve built a team with the analytical skills necessary to manage to deadlines, metrics and quality while maintaining the aesthetic and emotional connection with the end user.

We think this approach has given us a strong foundation team from which we can build out the company and serve our customers and clients. Welcome Brij and Kevin. Now on to the proving ground.

Posted in News | Tags: browser, extension, firefox, theme, toolbars | No Comments »