Over the last few months, I have been privileged to work with a talented group of people on a new project for HBO Luck. Working together with the HBO Marketing team, Civic Entertainment Group and Live Stream, we created an application for Facebook that allowed people to become involved in the dark, seedy world of horseracing by practicing making bets on old races before accessing the real betting experience that would lead to a 6-race live Race Day event. An event that would not only be Facebook’s first live racing event, but only the second live sporting event aired over streaming video through their site.

Last night, Definition 6 hosted the PromaxBDA Emerging Media Workshop to talk about trends for 2012.  Presenters ConnectTV, Crimson Hexagon and Google+ talked about what the broadcast community needs to know as they plan for 2012, including how social TV will become more integral into programming, how data (especially social media data) will evolve and the importance for communication planning - right message, to the right audience, at the right time. 
What truly came out of the event (besides great networking and an excuse to eat pizza while drinking beer and wine) was that unified marketing is critical to the success of any brand.  Whether it's on-air content, social media or other owned media online properties, by leveraging the data we can now gather, unifiying your marketing message into the proper channels will exponentially amplify your message and increase awareness around your show, promotion, event or any other marketing objectives.

Google+ showed examples of this by using a simple story about a guy who had just visited Boston, and was asked "how was the trip?"  By Google's explanation, the answer is dependent on the person asking the question. If it was the guy's mother, his response would probably be drastically different than the answer he gives to his buddies, or even his co-workers.  This idea of the right message to the right audience and the right time, is exactly how we look at marketing and branding at Definition 6.  Our unified marketing approach is just that - leverages data to communicate brand messages appropriately to its core customers, in the proper environments and at the right time. 



Thanks again to PromaxBDA for hosting their event here at our offices!

Now that the year has begun, here are some 2012 predictions for advertising, media, and emerging trends:


 
Hi, Michael Kogon here, the CEO of Definition 6, and welcome to our 2012 video blog. I look forward to talking to you about unified marketing throughout the year, and I want to talk and start the year off with six predictions for 2012. 

1 - Year of Mobile – easy way to say it, but what I really mean by that is, how mobile influences the way we shop, the way we interface with retail, and the way we connect with one another.

2 - Second would be Social Networks.  Not just the mere fact that social networks are here to stay, and that Facebook consumes everybody’s time and life, if you are a meaningful brand you have a meaningful relationship with your consumers enabled by Facebook and others, but the notion that social connections are really informing the way brands and marketers have to work together.

3 – Third would be Video.  Just as we are producing video here, we’re seeing hundreds and millions of hours of videos produced, consumed and sent along all forms of devices and airwaves, as 3G turns into 4G, and we end up with very enabled users throughout the country and the planet, I think video is going to be the way we all choose to communicate and connect with our consumers.

4- The fourth way would be the movement of more money into Display Advertising.   I think Search is going to continue to be a big deal, obviously we’re going to see a lot of our digital dollars go there, but I think more and more of our money is going to be allocated towards display.  Again it’s a little bit of the video, it’s a lot of the social, but more importantly, it’s now brands have figured out how to use display to communicate a deeper, richer message that they can rarely do with direct response search. 

5- Fifth would be Turbulent Consumers.  I think consumers are going to shop on deal, I think deal sites are still a very good way to stimulate purchase trial.  But I think the other thing is that a lot of us are going to feel wealthy, a lot of us are going to feel less than wealthy, at any given moment within the year.  I think that kind of turbulence is going to really have an impact on what we have to do as marketers and time our message with behavior we observe our consumers exhibiting.

6- And the last is the Unknown.  The prediction of #6 is I’m not really sure what is going to happen in the sense that one thing is going to be an inflection point on the year.  Hopefully it’s a positive thing, but it could be a negative thing, like a natural disaster or market correction, but it could be a good thing like the Euro zone corrects itself, the Presidential election shapes up to where the country has optimism.  I’m looking forward to this year with you.  Please come back and see what our customers, our partners, and what the other people here at Definition 6 have to say.  Good luck in 2012. 

Definition 6’s Expert-in-Residence Frank Radice and Account Director Michael Sater attended the International Consumer Electronics show (CES) last week, and they are here to tell you about the insights and highlights from the event.

“So, this is Frank Radice down at CES 2012, where I worked on a panel with a bunch of great people from Bravo and Discovery and Yahoo! and Ovation, and we were talking about Social TV, and does Social TV have a legitimate place right now? Can it be intrusive? Is it a good thing?  I think the most important thing that came out of all of CES, for me, wasn’t a lesson that I hadn’t already learned, it was just something that I was reminded of, that you can’t make television for the other people that are in these rooms that are here at these conventions, you have to make it for the viewer, or the user, or the person that actually consumes the content.”

Frank: “So Michael, what have you seen here at CES that you liked?”

Michael: “Well, in CES 2012, Frank, what I found really interesting, was the immense number of mobile devices, tablets, phones, and I think it’s going to be very impactful for the social consumer.  Whether you are in front of a TV, or you want to grab content off of your television or off of the web, you can now have it traveling with you, which is very powerful.  So the consumer can feel more in command of that experience, so if they are watching something in their home, now all of a sudden they can draw up that content on their tablet.  In fact, TiVo is having a device where they can push the content from one TV to the next, and also to initial devices like their iPad. Companies such as Samsung are trying to bring that digital experience into everything, where now your washing machine will notify you when you are in another room in the house that your laundry is done.  For their primary customer, it’s extremely powerful, that they can now not be a slave to that machine, and they can feel informed at all points in time, with the information that’s relevant to them, when they want it, the way they want it, as they are walking around."

You can follow Definition 6 on Twitter @Definition6 or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/definition6.

My first trip to CES in Las Vegas feels more like the sandstorm that overtook Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: it came on suddenly and I left blinded, coated with bits and pieces of silicon.



I have only begun processing the whirlwind of flashing lights called CES and though fortunate to have an opportunity to immerse myself in the future of consumer technology, those 48 hours left me with just as many questions as answers.

It's pretty cool when you get to work on a project that you know is a hit, a project that you know the client will love, and a project you know will get their fans talking.  And sharing.  But then you look at your glass and think, "Wow, this Kool-Aid is really great!" and sometimes you forget about what the people out there really think about your work.

And then your project gets listed on AdAge's Top 10 Social Media Campaigns from 2011, and you remember - yea that really WAS awesome.  And if your project was anything like our Facebook application "Immortalize Yourself" created to launch season four of HBO's hit show True Blood, then your conversations had something to do with any or all of the following: "vampires, witches, werewolves, Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten, Kristin Bauer, Deborah Ann Woll, HBO, Social Media, Facebook, complex Flash layering, detailed motion design, great creative, great script, personalization in full motion video, high availability, cloud farms, CDN's, open source, high performance where every millisecond in processing counts, and integration with multiple SaaS providers and their API's" (quoted from our CTO Paul Hernacki).



Thanks to all those folks at HBO and Definition 6 who worked on this project. And a special thanks goes to the fans - who shared this and have Immortalized Themselves and friends in countless videos over the course of this campaign.  In the end, it's all about creating content that is shareable, likeable and "tweetable." We are glad this one did.

Since season four of True Blood is over, we have moved the application from HBO's page to the Definition 6 Facebook page.  If you have not already IMMORTALIZED YOURSELF, go there today and make your video.  Share with friends.  And live on into eternity. 

Check out this video that shows some of the Definition 6 team integrated into the "IMMORTALIZE YOURSELF" Facebook Application.

In fact, social media provides such immediacy that the water cooler conversations have gone away and are taking place at the virtual "lounge" (aka Twitter, Facebook, other preferred social media platform).

In a recent Jack Myers blog I elaborate on this further, but it definitely has spurred some controversy among my networks. 

When I posted the water cooler idea on my personal social media "stations" there were, of course, some contrarians.  One said "You're still thirsty after using social media." (funny) But another was even more specific, saying, "I think the whole social media thing is over blown. There was no social media during Tiananmen Square. The Soviet Union fell without Twitter and Facebook. When freedom rings, the masses answer."

True enough....but...

The world saw all that on TV not in the square or at the Wall.  And everyone talked about it the next day.  Not much changed in China, and the Wall didn't come down because of an outpouring of global social action through moral outrage and word of mouth...it came down because it was time, and Ronald Reagan said so!

Social media is now our most effective "word of mouth tool."

So let me ask you - do you agree with this water cooler analogy? 

As holiday decorations in stores change and the first snowfall passes, I can’t help but think about the busiest retail season of the year that is right around the corner.  As an email marketer, this means increased frequency, and a higher tolerance to frequency from your subscribers, as well as promotions kicking into high gear.  However, as an email recipient, the next few months represent the most clutter I get from brands all year long!

I’ve put together my top 6 tips to hold your holiday (and all campaigns in general) together as you finalize your messaging and creative and start sending messages.

1. Reinforce that you know me and get personal. – Use the profile information you gather and personalize your messages to me.  Include my name, information about store hours or shipping windows based on my location, reference prior purchases and cross-sell relevant items to complement what I already own.

2. Understand my buying patterns and deliver timely and relevant messages that match up to them. – If you analyze your data and apply some common sense and a little marketing savvy then it will be easy to segment your subscribers and understand where each group is in the bigger picture.  Let’s simplify this: I bought a warm winter coat within the last year (that should last longer than that.)  This tells you that I need warmth but probably won’t want the same kind of coat.  How do you then sell me winter wear when you have great deals? Market a coat in a different category to me (dress, sport, or something I don’t own), Market other winter items to me – gloves, pants, shoes, etc. if they’re part of your offering.  ** The big key here is don’t tell me that the item I bought last year is now cheaper or technology is significantly lagging because you’ll just frustrate me!

3. Give me something exclusive for being a subscriber: value, content, discounts, etc. – Be unique and tie the exclusive content in your email to the action you want me to take (see below.) Don’t have a 20% off coupon in print, social media, email, and on my website.  If I don’t get anything special why would I remain a subscriber when there are much more passive ways I can get the same deal.

4. Make me want to open your email and load images with interesting visual design that renders well on my client. – Understand if I’m more likely to read my email on my smart phone, tablet, or computer and design so it looks the absolute best there and be different. Imagine what kind of success you could have if your email was personal, focused, and not cluttered!

5. Share similar peoples comments and feedback that are like me (because I trust them more than you)  – Pull in feedback on related items from other channels (social, reviews) into your creative.  This is a great way to let your customers be your voice and also grow following and participation in other channels.  It also makes the copy more interesting if it’s from a “regular” person.

6. Inspire me to take action and reward me for it! – Use a clear call to action (never more than two though, especially this time of year), make it easy for me to convert, pre-fill my information, and reinforce the fact that you know how I got into your conversion funnel and reward me as I move through the steps (hopefully 3-4 max).

You may think that it’s too late to implement these steps into your holiday campaigns but as with everything there are varying levels of implementation so start somewhere and pull out a test segment. Let performance guide you to continual optimization and really solid insights move your campaigns into 2012 as you are planning that email marketing strategy and calendar.

Since the day I interviewed here at Definition 6, I've heard about the annual Halloween party.  It was legendary.  By the time January 2011 rolled around there were still decorations on the walls, in people's offices and it was all they were still talking about.  So you can imagine the build up leading into this year's event. 

With a Vampire theme in mind, our fearless creative team created the "House of Blood," and transformed our NYC Office into a Vampire museum of sorts, equipped with three bars, smoking cauldrons with specialty punch, amazing sponsors like Yahoo!, StumbleUpon, Avid and Bootlegger Vodka, and some pretty awesome costumes! 

All the photos are available on our Facebook page.  We have multiple albums to view the pictures, including the photo booth shots.  Here are some quick links to help you navigate through the albums:

Album one - mostly step and repeat photos
Album two - party shots and some great costumes
Album three - more party shots...things are starting to get messy
Album four - dancing, dancing, Oscar the Grouch, and more dancing
Album five - happy party people and lots of smiles
Album six - part one of the photo booth pics (there are many!)
Album seven - more photo booth pics
Album eight - even more photo booth pictures
Album nine - the last of the photo booth pictures!
Album ten - the Atlanta version!!

The graphics department became the Fang Club Lounge offering an escape from the dance floor in a relaxing room with the Feeding Bar serving Fangtasy Elixir punch. 



Yahoo!'s Blood Lab bar offered a Purple Plasma Punch, and Blackout Shooters, with purple light up ice cubes in Yahoo! barware.  My favorite giveways were the Yahoo! insta-yodles with five settings on which to play the iconic Yahoo! Yodle.  




StumbleUpon's Vampire Slayer bar offered more swag items like sunglasses and koozies, and the photobooth provided fun for all (especially those D6-ers who showed up to work on the day after the party and got to see the photostream on our lobby monitors!).



The weather was challenging to say the least, with terrible rain and wind, and even with a tent and a tarp we had to move the party indoors this year for safety reasons.  But that didn't stop our clients, friends and other guests from showing up and dancing the night away. 




And to those who have not yet attended, there is always next year!!

The most fascinating part of the past few weeks for me was the realization that with my 36th birthday came the notion that I could have been born and graduated from high school all over again since graduating from high school.

Last week Definition 6 threw a wildly successful soirée in the trendy Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta, GA. Located at The Warren City Club, one of the few members only clubs in the city, the location deemed to be a perfect setting matched with the amazing southern weather that comes along in the beginning of October. If your dying to see pictures head over to our Facebook page to view!

It was a great evening to celebrate another year of supreme work with our clients over drinks and some delicious food prepared by the amazing staff of The Warren. 

The buzz of the night was the brewing excitment over Dad's Garage Improv comedic performance. The party would not have been the same without the fine gentlemen from Dad's Garage. The Marketing team was fortunate enough to attend a show several weeks earlier while in preparation for the party and after all the laughs, they knew the right crew was found for the gig. Shout out to Lucky and the rest of the guys!

We also want to thank the great sports for going up on stage and interacting with the show: Jeff Katz & Paul McClay from our Definition 6 family and Amy Pedersen from Coca-Cola. You guys were great!




We are so thrilled that everybody was able to come out and have as much fun as we did. There is nothing better than getting together with our favorite clients and sharing a night of laughs among some of the best people in our business. We're on the edge of our chairs waiting for the next Definition 6 Party... and we can't wait to see you there!

There's been a lot of coverage regarding Facebook's recent changes, but what do these updates mean for marketers?  Overall, the key features that Facebook announced place a huge emphasis on engagement. The key takeaway is that it will be increasingly important for marketers to create and share compelling content and experiences on a consistent basis in order to stay relevant. 

Below is an overview of the main changes and their relevance for marketers.
   
Timeline: Timeline will replace users’ old profile pages, and allows users to aggregate and organize all actions taken on Facebook that matter most to them. Users can highlight important life milestones and group content and actions (videos/photos/posts) with that milestone. It also allows users to edit their timeline, even back to the time they were born. Facebook applications can also display actions taken with that app in the timeline (if user permission is granted). 

What it means for marketers: Actions that are most important to users will appear on the Timeline – think status updates and photos rather than day-to-day actions like ‘Liking’ a brand. These day-to-day actions will be shown in the Ticker (see description below). That means that brands will need to find ways to appear in the timeline, and one way to do that is by creating social applications that engage their audience. 



Timeline cover: (increased image space to customize)
Source:  Facebook.com/about/timeline

Social Apps: Social applications allow users to add storytelling into their timeline. Think verbs instead of nouns. Instead of ‘liking’ a band, users can express they are ‘Listening’ to that band; ‘reading’ a book, ‘running’ 3 miles, etc. Additionally, now brands can create custom social actions like ‘flying’ ‘cooking’ ‘drinking’ or any other verb. These apps all utilize Facebook’s Open Graph, and users can give permission for these apps to post their activity on the Ticker and Timeline. 

What it means for marketers: Brands have the opportunity to create social actions through branded applications. The action won’t only say “Ashley ran,” but “Ashley ran 3 miles with Nike+.” All of these actions will appear in the Ticker (see below), but brands can request that the actions appear in the Timeline (increasing exposure). The goal for brands will be to generate frequent actions within users’ timelines.

In addition to creating branded applications, advertisers will be able to deliver sponsored stories against social actions, and even segment for more accuracy. For example, it will be possible to promote to all "listens" from the band Coldplay. The new sponsored stories will only be generated from applications, but advertisers don't need to own the app where the action takes place to target against the behavior. 
 



Example of social apps within a user’s Timeline: 
Source: Facebook.com/about/timeline

News Feed update & Ticker: Facebook updated the news feed, changing how stories are presented to users. The Facebook homepage is now organized by Top Stories and Recent Stories, with Top Stories being displayed much more prominently than recent stories. The first updates that a user will see when logging in are the most relevant posts since their last visit – whether that was 3 days or 3 months ago.
   
Facebook’s algorithm will play a role in determining what are “Top Stories,” but users are able to edit their feeds, either by unmarking a Top Story, or marking a Recent Story as a Top Story. (Screenshot below). Facebook will then learn from this behavior and serve the most relevant content as Top Stories. 
 


Ticker – Facebook has also added the “Ticker” to the top right corner of the newsfeed. The Ticker streams live updates – think day-to-day activities like tagging a photo, liking a brand, commenting, and other Open Graph actions. The thought here is that less important updates are displayed in real time, and don’t distract users from the more relevant stories. Users can join the conversation by clicking on one of the stories in the Ticker.



What it means for marketers: Users now have more control over their news feed, so it becomes more important for brands to share compelling content (rich media, like photos and videos, help to naturally boost EdgeRank – Facebooks algorithm). Brands with irrelevant updates will have lower visibly (but will still appear in the Ticker). Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm will play a major role in determining whether brand updates are seen, but branded social applications and sponsored stories can increase the likelihood of a brand message reaching a mass audience. 




Here are some resources for more information:

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/09/22/Facebook-f8-Timeline-Announcement.aspx

http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/facebooks-changes-marketers/

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Facebook-Timeline-Social-Apps-Branding.aspx

http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-feedback-loop-2011-09

What do you think about Facebook's changes?  Let us know in the comments below, or reach out to us on Twitter at @ashleyhreed or @accarrino.

The days of an artist continuously, if ever, going platinum and multi-platinum are behind us, but that doesn’t mean the people aren’t listening. Existing and emerging platforms continue to help shape the music business every day.  Take for instance a young new hip hop artist out of Pittsburgh who at the tender age of 19 has over 135,000,000 YouTube Views on his channel… and he is not signed to a major label, but has stayed loyal to his independent label Rostrum Records.

If you aren't one of the 4,500-or-so friends of Sally Hogshead on Facebook, you missed this brilliant status update.  To a certain former Definition 6 intern… you know who you are… this one's for you.

A word of caution: Too much "Reply all" will damage your personal brand. Your recipients begin to associate you with annoying pings, rather than interesting or important content. If you're going to invite yourself into someone's inbox, say something worth reading.

So, you've been downsized or made redundant. But you're certainly not ready to throw in the towel.

You've been paid lots of money over the years by some big company where you learned and refined the exact skills they needed you to have in order to make their business work.

Now it's your turn to do it for yourself. But where do you start? You've always had the company to give you business cards, cell phones, laptops, desktops, probably an office or a cubicle, and maybe an assistant and an expense account.

Now it's all gone!

But it's really not if you know what to do.

The most important thing to remember is...Your Name is your Brand!

Your skills are still there and your experience has taught you how to hone them.

Here are 5 practical starting points to get your personal brand going.

1.  Register yourself as a company or a partnership (first name last name company) This is easy to do, but you may have to wait in line at City Hall for a while.

2. Get your own URL. (You can lock that down at any number of place like name.com. Own your name if you can with your first name & last name.com (joeschmoe.com). Make a basic web page (you can do that a places like use.com).  Make it simple and use your new URL as the title (JoeSchmoe.com)

3.Get your own e-Mail address appropriate to your URL. firstname@firstnamelastname.com (you can do this for your business at google Apps) (Joe@joeschmoe.com)

4.  Print business cards that are very simple. Your name, your URL, your e-mail address, and your mobile phone number

5.  Start a Facebook fan page and a Twitter Page for your company. Show links to them on your website. Make a Linkedin page and get someone to do a Wikipedia page for you.

After you have populated your sites and pages with your expertise, experiences and some examples of your work (make sure you use video), get out there and network.  

Hand out your cards, talk up what you can do for a potential client.  Get their card....and then...Follow-Up.

A great example of personal branding is the recent campaign by Matt Epstein called "Google Please Hire Me" where he created a website and a video all focused on landing a job at Google.  He even worked his personal brand into the URL playing up the double entendre of "ME" to reference his initials.



TalentZoo also released an article last week entitled, "10 Strategies to Reinvent Your Personal Brand" which outlines many of the topics I touched on above.  In fact, it even further discusses ways in which you can improve your personal brand by being a catalyst or being a source of great knowledge.  In this day and age, you need to market yourself even more to differentiate yourself from the ever-growing talent pool.

Of course you need a strategy and you must understand how to use all of these tactics...but you've got to start somewhere.

Now let's get this party started.

Jamie Christner, our Director of Analytics, took to the podium last Tuesday with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to speak about data. Being my first event as a Definition 6 employee, I was truly psyched to take it all in, including the Maggianos. 

So what exactly IS sexy about data once your strip it down? As marketers, we see a lot of data ranging from click through rates and conversions to engagements and social media ROI.  But what makes that data "sexy," Jamie says is when that that data in turn produces an appealing body of facts which call out applicable and actionable insights. 

And once you have collected the data as it relates to your business goals, the real gem is what you can forecast with that data.  But, NOT all data is sexy. Poorly tracked, lost, incorrect, un-trusted by users and knowingly repurposed data skews results and is of no use in trending actionable insignts. Keep the reigns tight on what exactly your analytics should be tracking, always referring back to your client's KPIs. Some key takeaways include:       

• Every business rates “applicable” or “actionable” in a different way. Sexy is in the eye of the beholder
• In this economy, announce your successes.  Let the numbers tell the story. Company budgets are being slashed left and right, so speak up on the positive effect you are bringing in
• Budget justification must be sexy enough to catch the interest of stakeholders
• Start pulling data out from analytic software applications if you haven't already 
• Web analytics can help close the gap between cross-channel marketing tactics
• Data reports should be short & sweet
• Don’t provide the client with unnecessary information but if you need more reduce your KPI’s   

Data isn’t going to be beneficial or attract the listener if it focuses on one single feature. Evaluate and measure performance across all brand interactions and your client will feel more like you slipped them a Maxim Magazine than a data report.

A few weeks ago, I shared some insights from a report I had written on Seven Conflicting Trends in Corporate Social Responsibility.

The second part of this two-part series was recently released on Vault.com.  Key topics the article touches on include rising expectations, shareholders pushing harder than ever, and supply chain engagement. Part two focuses on the increase in shared knowledge, winners arising from clear leadership, greater localization, and the trend of greater transparency/accountability and integrity.

These days, a plethora of new media opportunities—interactive, experiential, social, mobile, etc.—amplifies every action. As each company looks inward examining the corporate social responsibility strategy and tactics of the business, it must also have a greater understanding the archetypes of all screens—mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop—and develop integrated communications strategies to share their efforts and their story.

You can also read the report in full on Forbes.com.

On July 19th, Definition 6 in New York City hosted a great event for the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) group out on our patio where we gathered to hear Katia Beauchamp, CEO/Co-Founder of Birchbox and Gwen Flamberg, Beauty Director of Us Weekly talk about how the online beauty retail marketplace is changing rapidly and what "subscribing to beauty" means to this new brand.

Birchbox is a gift that just keeps on giving. I think that whether you’re a male or female, we can all agree that there is nothing better than getting a present every month that is chock full of surprises. And, believe me when I say that Birchbox is a fantastic gift.

So, just what exactly is Birchbox you ask? (No, we’re not talking about trees or shrubs here.) We’re talking about a gift that comes in a neat little package to your doorstep every month, and inside this box you’ll find an amazing selection of beauty-related products that are tied to the things that you desire. For a mere $10/month, consumers get 4-5 deluxe samples of high-end beauty products. But, before you get your first box, you will be asked to fill out a beauty profile where you can select the types of products you’re interested in. Birchbox wants to get to know their customers better so that they can help increase the amount of products that are purchased on their site.







All of the great brand partnerships and products they offer are tied to an online Birchbox Magazine, so that everything matches an editorial calendar with monthly themes to create further Birchbox community interaction online; things like hair issues during the summer, or how to’s for travel.  They’re in the “business of delight” as CEO Beauchamp indicated. They came up with the idea for this kind of online beauty business model because they felt that beauty can’t completely live online. There is a tangible aspect that needs to happen at some point because people want to get their full five senses involved when choosing beauty products.  At first, the founders had to knock on high-end brands’ doors to get them involved and try something new, but now brands are knocking on their door, with a growing client base and over 16,000 likes on their Facebook page. The Birchbox business model also uses social media channel activation, but has that “retro” feel since their product is sent through the mail (that thing called USPS we all forget exists).


Rich media and editorial content about every product and brand they work with is a gold mine of information that sits within Birchbox.com:

 

The products included in the monthly box range from skincare items, to makeup, hair / body products, and fragrances. They’re sometimes full-sized items or they’ll be sample-sized items, but the best part is that if you absolutely adore any of the items you receive, you simply go to Birchbox.com and buy them there. I need to mention as well that they have developed a great loyalty rewards program. As you buy and share Birchbox with your friends, you see $10 gift cards come your way.  

Personally, I’ve been a Birchbox subscriber since January 2011, and they had officially launched only in September of 2010, so I guess you could say that I am an early adopter! Their first year anniversary is coming up here in September, and what a year it has been for Birchbox execs.

Let’s face it. At the end of the day, brands want advocates. Having a strong base of people who love a brand keeps their ideas fresh, alive and moving forward to help drive further adoption. And who doesn’t love samples??



As mentioned, Birchbox was built through strong social media activations, and the Birchbox brand has been growing because customers get their friends involved, and then their friends get their friends involved. This type of crowdsourcing platform is creating a strong momentum for Birchbox that is keeping their acquisition of new customers going up and up. The buzz Birchbox has received all happened organically, and through this organic growth they can now offer the brands they partner with global access to consumers. This is obviously something they couldn’t be happier about, so Birchbox is truly changing the way consumers shop for beauty products online, and I think that we can expect great things from them. I personally trust the Birchbox brand, which is the key to building long-term, loyal customers.