Rockfish Blog

Where Can I Buy? Using Social Media to Help Consumers Find Local Retailers

Tue, 15 May 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Written by Randy Murphy, Promoboxx

Social media is all the rage, but is it paying off for local retailers? It can, especially when helped along by brand manufacturers.

In social media, there are actually two things going on at once:

1. Consumers are talking about the things that they buy and want to buy.

2. They’re doing this while they’re moving about in their lives.

They are using their devices to record and report where they are. This combination of mobile and social is dramatically changing the shopping experience. With help from brands, the local retailer can reap significant and measurable rewards.

Brands Can Help Retailers

Brands want their retailers to “be more social” while providing them little to no help with content. It’s easy to suggest to a retailer to put up a Facebook page and join Twitter, but then what? And how can brands help?

Brands are making significant advertising and promotional investments that go right to the consumer. Smart brands are also listening to consumers. They monitor consumer responses to advertising by tracking mentions of their products on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media venues. It’s happening right there in the open.

And since social consumers are also largely mobile, they’re not just telling you that they are interested in your product, they’re telling you where they are, right at that moment. You only have to make the next easy step and inform them where they can buy close to where they are right now. It’s instant gratification on a whole new scale.

This is a great opportunity for brands and retailers to work together. If brand management can collect the local retailers’ Twitter and Facebook information and encourage them to pay at least minimal attention to their own feeds, then real magic can happen.

Retailers aren’t just hungry for content for their Facebook timelines and Twitter streams—they’re starving for it. Savvy brands can get more bang from their national advertising expenditure by feeding retailers specialized content for multiple uses, especially targeted social media content.

Basic Steps To Supporting Retailers

How can brands support local retailers’ social media campaigns? Here are some basic steps:

1. Create a social media guide for retailers that includes copy and product images that they can use to create the base content on their web sites and Facebook pages. Consider including images of people using the featured product and images that they can draw upon for future use.

2. Collect retailer data like their web, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media identities and locations. Use this information to let consumers who come directly to you to find their local retailers and follow them in the social media avenue of their choice.

3. Send the retailers regular social media “feeds” filled with short, focused content that they can use as their own. Remember: Monthly is good, weekly is great; and always reward retailers that follow through.

4. Feature the social media successes of other retailers and pass on tips that work.

You can find the original post from Promoboxx on their blog.

Start-Up Spaces - Visiting Brand Ventures Investment Promoboxx

Tue, 08 May 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Last week a team member from our investment arm, Brand Ventures, was able to pay a visit to Promoboxx, a brand-to-retailer marketing platform that lists national brands like Chevy among their clients only a year after graduating from TechStars Boston. We think our offices are pretty stellar (hammock chairs anyone?) but the Promoboxx office (shared with another companies such as BzzAgent and Intelligent.ly) is definitely fit for a hot startup that we know we will be seeing big things from in the future.

Does your office have an artist-in-residence?

Learn more about Promoboxx and what they do here.

Sam's Club Brings Simply Delicious Meals To Your Smart Phone

Wed, 09 May 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Cookout season is fast approaching, and the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets is making it easy-as-pie for even the most amateur chefs to whip up meals of expert chef caliber. Sam’s Club, a Rockfish client, has taken their ‘Simply Delicious Meals’ to the mobile web with a native app experience, built with html5 to allow for easy updates to the entire site. For the cook (and smartphone user) in the family, this means access to fresh content and recipes without having to install an update on their device. One of the most useful – and fun – parts of the ‘Simply Delicious Meals’ mobile web experience is the ‘7 ways to use’ search function, which gives users the ability to choose from over 30 ingredients and learn 7 different ways to use them. Tasty samples are a staple of Sam’s Club, so be sure to check the ‘Monthly Spotlight’ tab for daily updates on which products will be featured.

Lettuce Wrap Lovers Rejoice! P.F. Chang's comes to the iPhone

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Over the weekend P.F. Changs launched their first iPhone app. It’s a little bit of what you would expect, with location information and a full menu, but also has a few surprises. For instance, do you ever find yourself wondering what dish goes best with your Chinese Zodiac? This app has you covered. And of course, the Warriors Reward program is fully integrated so earning and redeeming rewards is easier than ever.

Here’s what else you can expect to find in the P.F. Changs iPhone app:

• Order to go from the full P.F. Chang’s menu, or re-order your previous favorites

• Find your nearest P.F. Chang’s

• Make reservations

• Browse the full lunch and dinner menus

• Earn and redeem Warrior Rewards

• Join Warrior Rewards or link your existing Warrior Reward plastic card to the mobile app

• Sign-in to an existing account or Register a new account with P.F. Chang’s for ordering

• Discover your Dish of Destiny based on your Chinese Zodiac

• Get Words of Wisdom from the fortune cookie builder

• Learn about new events and promotions

• Share all of you favorites to Facebook or Twitter

Download the app for yourself here . And don’t forget to sign up for Warrior Rewards to score a free order of lettuce wraps!

5 Uses for QR Code's That You Can Leverage Right Now

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Written by Lindsay Bettcher, Digital Analyst

Nearly half of smartphone users have scanned a QR code at least once, indicating an increase awareness and adoption. However, even with the growing adoption rate, marketers have yet to prove the value of a QR code to their consumers, with the number one reason to scan simply as “curious to see what it would do”.

QR codes for more in-depth nurtritional value?

While linking to a page on a website appears to be the most common type of QR code for marketers, there are many different things that a QR code can do for a consumer. A QR code can make life a little bit easier for the smartphone user by connecting to Google Maps, checking in on foursquare or even automatically uploading an event to their Calendar. The opportunities are endless for what a QR code can do with enough development; however, these are some of the readily available types that can be used without further development.
Note: these have been tested for Android and iPhone.

Creates an event that can be synced with your Calendar tool. This links to a test event.

Checks you in to any given Foursquare location. In this QR Code, it links to the Foursquare location for the Rockfish Cincinnati office.

Syncs with Google Maps to a given location. This example links to the Rockfish office in Rogers.

Shows the last tweet of a given user, in this case it shows the last tweet of @rockfish.

Automatically tweets a given message. If scanned, this one will tweet on your account "Have a great day!".

One Million Prints Later, Happy First Birthday CouponFactory!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:30:00 GMT

It was one year ago that CouponFactory made it’s debut and everyone involved with the project can agree on one thing: this year has been a whirlwind. But what began as an idea within the walls of Rockfish has blossomed into a full-blown digital couponing business that has won awards from AdAge and received an endorsement from the likes of Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, did you know Mentos used CouponFactory to gain 10,000 likes on their Facebook fan page in under 48 hours?

In the past year, the digital coupon platform has topped 300 clients, with nearly 500 coupons created. These clients have seen over 35 million impressions, 1.7 million clicks and over a million of their coupons print. All and all, it was a good year.

Learn more about CouponFactory here.

Innovation Proves To Be A Driving Force In Pop-Up Concepts

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Short-term, highly decorated and usually designed to bring an experience to life for the consumer – what’s not to love about pop-up shops? More importantly (at least in the digital industry), the pop-up store concept is both driving innovation and being made more robust because of it. Case in point – QR codes made this pop-up famous. Additionally, NFC technology is making payment simple wherever consumers are – maybe a little too easy depending on how much restraint you have. This idea puts a different spin on the ‘localization’ trend and brands are using it in vastly different ways.

Brands that we’ve partnered with tend to push the envelope when it comes to digital, and EA Sports is no exception. However, as a brand that is typically experienced through a gaming console, they’re focusing more and more on bringing their brand to life in brick-and-mortar locations. Most recently, they launched a pop-up experience at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, merging the fast pace of Vegas with the laid back of experience of gaming with your friends.

The space includes ten 70” Sharp HDTV’s used inside and out, along with twenty 46” Sharp HDTV’s within the interior space

Running from April to August, guests can relax in a comfortable space (think your living room at home – only more luxurious and in Las Vegas) while competing with their friends on PS3 including games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Madden NFL 12 and FIFA 12. EA Sports is also extending some perks through social. Three fans of the EA Sports Facebook page will win an exclusive package complete with airfare and a VIP experience for two at The Cosmopolitan. And if you’re good enough to become mayor of the bar, you’ll be awarded a special EA Sports prize, so don’t forgot to check-in.

The interior of the EA Sports pop-up experience

The popularity of pop-up stores has taken off in the past few years, becoming a useful tool for brands that seek to create an experience for consumers, but lack the brick-and-mortar locations to reach them. By embracing the mentality of pop-up shops, brands can create an immersive and memorable environment that reaches consumers in a short period of time, without having to invest in an entirely new market. Some brands who’ve had success with pop-up stores include brands such as fashion brand Cynthia Rowley, detergent giant Tide and even Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola’s Recycled Collection pop-up store

The much-anticipated partnership between Missoni and Target reached a fever pitch with their pop-up store in Bryant Park, a well-know fashion mecca in NYC – an example of success created by a perfect combination of brand, location and fandom.

Missoni X Target pop-up store

If you're sold on the pop-up concept and need a little direction how to make it work for your business, check out this article from Inc. to get started.

The Tornado Welcoming Committee

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Guest Post by Claire Tiffey, Copy Writer - Frisco, TX

On Tuesday March 27th, I started my brand new job at Rockfish in their Frisco office, beyond thrilled to be back in Texas. And exactly one week later, on Tuesday April 3rd, Texas welcomed me home with some of the most impressive tornados you ever saw. I will not be sending a thank you note.

Our Rockfish crew quickly took action to ensure our safety as tornado sirens blared outside. We waited out the tornados for about 3 hours in the largest window-less areas of the office: the kitchen, and a conference room. Our internet connections went down, the lights went out, the whole nine.

Rockfish Tornado Command Center (RTCC)

Fortunately, Mother Nature loves playing internet poker and spared Frisco. But in the meantime, we managed to make the best of a scary situation. And in recognition of such positive resolve, our own CSO Dawn Maire gave out the following Rockfish Tornado Party awards:

FREAKING IDIOT AWARD

Wade Allen (VP Coupon Factory) and David Morley (CD)
For so smartly standing in the parking lot in to see if they could SEE the tornado.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Matt Slaughter (UX Architect)
For keeping the troops entertained with his hauntingly accurate impression of Stefon from Saturday Night Live.

SNL's Stefon

BILLABLE AT ALL COSTS AWARD
Tonny Verre (Sr. Manager Search Strategy)
For continuously working through the entire thing – the man never stopped typing.

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AWARD
Kristen Gallegos (Resource Manager)
For finding the safest and smallest place to hide: a supply closet next to the conference room.

PRIORITIES IN ORDER AWARD
Skyler Seamens and Hunter Pryor (Mobile Developers)
For getting rid of all that pesky beer clogging up the fridge as the rest of us awaited certain destruction.

Semi-trucks are flying in the air - sounds like a good time for a beer

FULFILLING HIGH SCHOOL DREAMS AWARD
David Naylor (Network Administrator)
For spending hours in a dark closet with 2 girls doing IT stuff

SAFETY NAZI AWARD
Danielle Walker (Sr. Recruiter)
For breaking out her Mom voice and yelling "you need to be in either the kitchen or the conference room NOW!!!"

HONORARY TEXAN AWARD
Our Guest Developers from Lowe's
For asking, as any normal North Carolinian would, "is this normal for you guys???"

Texas might have greeted my return with CNN-worthy tornadoes, but the real welcoming committee was my new batch of co-workers at Rockfish. The experience almost makes me hope that another tornado hits. Almost.

Question 5 with ECD Bob Robinson

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Today's video wraps up a 5 question series of questions to Executive Creative Director Bob Robinson by VCU's Brandcenter. Today he answers "How do you think a young, digital generation will move the industry forward?"

Bob Robinson :: Question 5 from VCU Brandcenter on Vimeo.

Facebook Timeline: The Three Things You Must Do Today

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Melyssa St. Michael, VP, Search and Emerging Media - @melyssatweeting

March 30th is here, already - and as you may well know, that means your Facebook Brand page mandatorily switches to the new Facebook Timeline format. If this change is catching you unaware, here are the three things you must do:

1. Find a compelling graphic to use as your Cover photo

You now have two branding elements - your logo and your cover photo. The cover photo is large (850 px wide by 315 px high) and is the "hero" image on your Timeline; make sure it shines by selecting an image that is truly representative of your brand essence. Also, be sure that your profile image (180 px wide by 150 px high) is the correct size - current formats are skyscraper style; when Timeline activates, your current profile image may skew depending on orientation.

If you are stuck, here are a few Timeline covers for inspiration:

2. Decide if you want fans to private message you directly

Brands now have the ability to receive private messages from fans, just like personal profiles. By default, this feature is enabled once your Timeline is live. We recommend leaving this feature on as it can help direct customer service questions and potential negative posts off your Timeline and into the privacy of your Facebook Inbox.

Here's what you need to know about Private Messaging:

Fans can take their problems/issues/concerns to you directly, rather than posting on your Timeline
For brands with large followings, you have the potential to be inundated with messages and requests
A brand cannot initiate the conversation with the fan, only the fan can contact the brand through Private Messaging
Once the fan starts the Private Messaging, the brand can only send two messages to the fan until the fan responds back

To disable Private Messaging, go to Admin Panel > Manage > Edit Pages > Manage Permissions > Uncheck "Show "Message" button"

3. Use Preview to audit your current information and clean up, arrange, and prioritize what your fans will see on your Timeline

Brands now have the increased ability to manage their information and present it in a more compelling way through Timeline. The new features allow you to prioritize your content, by enhanced posting features such as "Pinned" and "Starred" posts, a timeline feature that allows you to enter posts historically and strong Facebook App placements. When you log into your Page, Facebook will offer a "Preview" button to see your page content in the Timeline format prior to being published, which allows you to get a feel of what content needs to be prioritized and highlighted, and what content will need to be deleted.

Be sure to visit the Facebook How-To Guide here before walking through your Preview: https://www.facebook.com/about/pages/

What We Learned After Getting Our First 20,000 Users

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:00:00 GMT

With the popularity of the iPhone & Android, the development and release of apps has skyrocketed, creating a whole new new class of companies, better know as 'startups'. The success stories are often documented but there's a lot happening before their product launches. Behind many of the apps that we download everyday are teams who have gone through incubators, accelerators, worked with countless mentors, pivoted, and have likely had half as much sleep in the past year than most. James Dickerson, Co-founder of Leap, wrote a piece detailing lessons that he and his team learned as they launched their iPhone app to the masses in late February and gives some insight into the Leap team's launch experience.

Written by James Dickerson/@dickersonjames

We launched Leap on February 29th (Leap Day). It was a perfect fit considering this day comes around once every four years. A week before our launch, Apple emailed us and said that there was a good chance that they were going to feature our app in the New and Noteworthy Section - awesome! There really couldn’t be a better situation for three bootstrapped dudes working from a kitchen table in Cincinnati, OH.

After the first week we had thousands of active users. Ryan was frantically working in the background to make sure our servers could handle it all.

We’re fans of launching early on. We really wanted to validate what we were working on as quickly as possible and start getting feedback instead of making guesses on product decisions. In a way, the Apple feature was a blessing and a curse. It got us tons of eyeballs and users, but we released something that we knew was buggy and had issues. I guess it’s really up to your team how you want to handle this, but when Apple calls, I’m guessing you would have done the same thing we did - ship! Growing this fast in such a short amount of time has shortened our learning curve and forced us to digest tons of feedback and ideas in a very small window. Here are the highlights of what we’ve learned so far and how we are integrating some of this feedback into our next version:

1. Get Rid of Facebook Only Login

Our original assumption was that Facebook would provide a great way for users to experience our app. We believed that challenges were best experienced with people that you already know, and giving users a list of friends to invite right away would enhance their experience using Leap. We knew we would get flamed a bit for this, but it really pissed some people off. What we’ve now learned is that there are so many people that are wary of Facebook only login. We saw a pretty high bounce rate from download to actually creating an account on the app because of this. We’re working on creating an email based login system and hope that this will quell people’s Facebook fears.

2. Expectations for Apps Are High

We are no where near Path, Instagram, or Foursquare…yet. But users compare your app to the big dogs right away. The person who downloaded Leap has no idea or frankly doesn’t care that these startups have raised millions of dollars and we are living off personal savings. You will be compared to these kinds of apps whether you like it or not. How do you solve this? Release a more limited feature set that is closer to perfection rather than releasing a fuller feature set that is less than perfect. I will say that once we talked to users and told them our story they were much more accepting about the problems with our app :)

3. Paul Graham is Right

We had our TechCrunch of initiation pretty early on, which is okay. Your startup will follow this curve. The key to making it through the dreaded “Trough of Sorrow” is a bias for action and intense focus. As long as you keep making incremental improvements, listening to your users, and talking to great mentors who have done it before, you’ll eventually make it to the promised land (as long as you don’t run out of money and you are building something of real value to people).

4. Make 10,000 People Really Happy

Your product won’t be for all people right away. If you get thrown into the limelight a la Highlight, or to a much smaller degree us through our feature, understand that you won’t please everyone. If you notice that you are making a smaller group of people extremely happy, focus on finding more of them. Tim Ferriss had a great point in this video with Kevin Rose where he said that you’ll get to a million people if you make 10,000 of them really happy.

5. Money Won’t Show Up At Your Doorstep

Fundraising is a grind. Just because you had a good initial pop, don’t expect VCs to come knocking on your door. Just like creating a great product, fundraising is something that requires a bias for action and intense focus - especially when you are a long way from the coast. I’ll be heading out there for about 5 weeks from the end of the month through April, if you’re up for it, I’d love to tell you our story over coffee.

Overall, we’re doing great and none of us regret a thing. The app that we launched from our kitchen table is making thousands of people extremely happy and we’re making improvements every day. We’re going to keep moving forward, learning, and shipping. I’ll see you in the promise land.

You can follow @leap on twitter and download the app for yourself here.

Question 4 with ECD Bob Robinson

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:00:00 GMT

This week Executive Creative Director Bob Robinson answers VCU Brandcenter's question of "What do you tell clients who think just an iPhone app will solve their problems?"

Bob Robinson :: Question 4 from VCU Brandcenter on Vimeo.

Next week the last video of the series will ask "How do you think a young, digital generation will move the industry forward"?

Go green and win with White Cloud

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Today White Cloud launches their biggest – and greenest – campaign yet, Beyond The Green Sweepstakes, where they’ll be giving away a Nissan Leaf just in time for Green Earth month. To enter all you have to do is simply log on to Facebook, ‘like’ the White Cloud fan page and enter your information. A grand prize winner will be chosen on April 30th, and all entrants will receive a 75 cents off coupon for White Cloud GreenEarth just for entering. You can learn more about White Cloud’s GreenEarth line (made from 100% recycled fiber) of products here.

*White Cloud is a client of Rockfish

Klout's Agency Insanity is on!

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Klout is getting into the spirit with their own version of March Madness - Agency Insanity. To find out who the most influential agency is, they're pitting agency leaders against each other in a bracket where the winner is determined by their Klout score. Kenny Tomlin, CEO, and Dave Knox, CMO, are both in the game, and you can help them by giving them a K+ each round. To give Kenny and Dave K+ just follow these steps:

Click http://klout.com/s/agencyinsanity
Open Dave (ROC-DK) and Kenny's (ROC-KT) bracket
Click 'Give K+' and choose whether you want to share it out to your network via Twitter or Facebook

The winner will be announced March 28th so stayed tuned!

SXSW Wrap-Up

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Kenny Tomlin - CEO

Overall Impression: SXSW is the single best event of the year to connect with existing customers, potential customers, industry peers and partners, startups and the ecosystem that supports them including VC's, angels, incubators, etc.

Standout brand: I was most impressed with Amex. They were the most in demand party, almost everywhere I checked in on Foursquare there was a promotion for Amex card holders. I also saw integrated promotions for their new Twitter discount service. When leaving Austin, they were at the airport handing out free wi-fi cards. From check-in to checkout Amex, integrated their brand through offering value, not just presence.

Amex also sponsored one of the most talked (and tweeted) about events of the conference.

Best advice: Do whatever you can to book early and get a place downtown. Being in the middle of things makes the trip so much more enjoyable and accessible! You owe it to yourself to drive out to Salt Lick for one evening.

ShareThis Party

Dave Knox - CMO

The "big launch" is a big risk: If the weather showed us one thing on Friday & Saturday, it is the danger of a big launch that doesn't have a contingency plan.  Microsoft for instance turned one of the largest parking lots in Austin into a Bing Experience.  The center of this was meant to be a live show by John Mayer on Saturday night. but thanks to the downpour (and what happened at Indiana's State Fair last year), the show was cancelled.  Bing lost likely hundreds of thousands of dollars on Friday and Saturday with their big launch that didn't have a back up plan.  This is an example that can extend to the digital world as well.

Marketing on the fly: Be nimble enough to take advantage of opportunities. While some brands had their plans "rained out", others took advantage of this.  Branded Umbrella's popped up everywhere on Friday and Saturday as some brands were able to print things super fast, or were smart enough to see the rain in the forecast and printed them in advance. Kraft Foods was one of those that made it happen.

What NOT to do: BBH Labs has been getting lots of backlash for their "Homeless Wireless Hotspots". As evidence by this article.

The place to be: The power of SXSW is the entrepreneurial density.  What makes SXSW such a powerful event is that it is a time where all the major players in the digital ecosystem (startup founders, venture capitalists and brand marketers) converge in a single place.  It gives the ability to schedule things back to back and meet tons of interesting people. Taking full advantage of this density requires hard work to plan and coordinate.

No breakout star: Leading up to SXSW, everyone was asking who would be the next Twitter, FourSquare or even GroupMe. Lots of folks got on the Highlight bandwagon predicting they would be it. But in the end, I really don't see anyone breaking out from this year's show.

Michael Stich - CGO

Big ideas: Big advertisers, including CNN, Microsoft, Intel, Amex, GM, went big with tents, new cars, and more.

What’s next: This year’s emerging topics of greatest attendance and discussion included ambient computing, geo-fencing, social ROI, NFC, Next-gen User Interface, Future of digital education, and personalization.

Apps that made an impression: Some of the best apps of the week included Highlight, ambient discovery of people nearby with common connections and interests, and Intro, similar to LinkedIn, but with a killer design and interface.

Calvin Ly – Associate Creative Director

Talks: RGA’s @flytip and @bunch gave a great talk on the sports fans of 2015. They discussed how tablets such as the iPad will be used for multi-screen sports game view (not just broadcasted from television stations, but also from friend’s devices that’s watching the game at the venue) to see different POV of the game. They also discussed how NFC would make payment easier and provide custom tailored service for season ticket holders such as access to stadium and custom-tailored food service. Also, season ticket holders will also get to be involved in press conferences by allowing them to ask questions via mobile device.

Disruptive start-ups are taking a lot of lessons from Steve Jobs about the value of design. Lytro, Jawbone, and Nest are all creating the hardware and software combined with customer service to create a controlled and optimal user experience. Travis Bogard (VP at Jawbone) phrased it best by saying “the most important thing is not be the first one to get it out. It’s the first one to get it out right.”

Amber Case discusses the idea of an invisible interface or a space layer where there’s no buttons. Instead of interacting with your hand, sound would play a big role in driving the space layer. Her company, geoloqi, has created an app that tries to apply these concepts.

Apps & Gadgets: There were three apps that really got my attention during SXSWi. They are Highlight, Lanyrd, and FuelBand.

Highlight allows you to learn more about people near your vicinity. The more things you have in common (interest, people you know, etc.) the more likely it will give you a notification that that person is near you. You can either bookmark them or send them a message. I definitely see positives in this app, such as being able to find people with similar interests. The few negatives are the batteries and current penetration. When you don’t have Highlight on, it will still track your location and that will drain your battery life fast. Also, since only geeks and early adopters are currently using Highlight at the moment, you probably won’t be able to connect with much people outside of SXSW.

Lanyrd is an app that allows you to find and schedule conferences. You can find popular speakers and speakers in your social network. One of my favorite features is that it will also show schedules that are not official to the conference. For example, for SXSW, it has had non-official events and parties that you’re able to schedule. This app really saved my sanity as I was trying to sort through the thousands of panels and events.

Nike+ FuelBand is a device that you wear that tracks your steps, calories, time, and Fuel (Nike’s measure of activity). There is also an iPhone app that syncs with your FuelBand via Bluetooth. I’ve been using the FuelBand for almost a week now, and it’s amazingly addicting. Aside from the slick design and UI, you’re able to compare your stats with friends and join competitions from people around the world. Another perk is that it will give you priority access to all Nike parties during SXSW (via sxsw.nike.com). I will a more in-dept analysis of the FuelBand in another post.

Conclusion: My brain is overloading on steroids. SXSW is like a marathon for my mind and there were times where I just needed to pace myself. My favorite times were when I could get a few minutes away from it all. A few shots of espresso and pressed coffee at Café Medici usually did the trick. I met up with a lot of old friends and got introduced to few new. Places were extremely crowded but the people were generally nice and friendly. Austin is an extremely weird, unique, and fascinating place. There are only two other U.S. cities that I can say that about (NYC and New Orleans). I keep telling myself that this will be my last year coming to SXSW. But for some reason, something keeps drawing me back. Haven’t quite figured it out yet, but I always end up feeling better after than before.

Chris Ridenour – Developer/Startup Bus

StartupBus experience: I was really impressed with the broad range of ideas coming from the Bus. We had great ideas from an online marketplace for personal gardeners to finally providing good tech to the waste management industry. The expertise on these buses allowed the majority of teams to not only build out business models but fully functioning prototypes and beautiful designs - including the Cincinnati bus. It was definitely a proud moment for the region.

John Back – Developer/Startup Bus
First thought: Texas is supposed to be hot. We left Cincinnati in 70 degree weather and arrived in San Antonio, TX to 40 degrees and rain – something's not right about that.

Bubbles at RackSpace headquarters in San Antonio.

More on the StartUp Bus: If you're ever going to take a bus from Cincinnati to Texas, tryto start a functional company with 5 strangers in that time, I promise you it will be an interesting experience. 72 hours after we left, arriving in San Antonio at Rackspace, we were so delirious from lack of sleep that we all felt out of it. I was slurring my speech, mixing up people's names, and dozing off inappropriately mid-sentence - and I hadn't had a drop of alcohol.

Welcome to Austin: Austin itself is a beautiful city. Clean, shiny, and new, it was definitely not what I had in my minds eye when thinking of the big, hot, flat, dusty state of Texas. There's also something invigorating about being surrounded by fanatically driven, creative, innovative people... Who happen to be partying in the middle of 6th street on a Monday night.

Goodbye SxSW: Overall SXSW was an insane trip, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I bonded with my teammates, had a great experience building a working product in under 3 days, and made new friends and contacts. Also had some killer Mexican food.

Brand as API's

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Glenn Platt and Peg Fiamon, both of Miami University's Institute for Interactive Media Studies, presented on Brands as API's at SXSW over the weekend. According to Platt and Fiamon 'customers can build new, unique, and useful things with brand ‘primitives’ by assuming an API model in how they communicate with consumers. Their Slideshare is packed with new ideas and reasons why brands should adopt this model.

Brand As API - SXSW 2012 Presentation

View more presentations from Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies, Miami University

Next Monday we'll be posting SXSW through the eyes of Rockfish - including an inside look at the startup bus, which brands got it right (and which didn't) and why the rain couldn't keep SXSW from being the best interactive 'conference' of the year.

Believe in Retailers

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:00:00 GMT

*This post was written by Ben Carcio, CEO of Promoboxx, a Brand Ventures portfolio company. You can find the original here.

When we talk to manufacturing brands, they love what we do, but there’s always one major objection: “our retailers won’t use it.” Ok, these seasoned execs are holding on to some preconceived notions, and I get it, I’ve been in their shoes. They believe that the best local marketing doesn’t involve their local retailers. I don’t believe this anymore. It’s time we stop underestimating these retailers, and start believing in them. So, here’s a list of what we do believe about retailers, and yes, this list goes to 11.

11 Things We Believe About Retailers

Retailers are…

The engines of our economy.
A manufacturing brand’s single most important customer.
What defines “Main Street America.”
Best equipped to make things local.
Providing a level of service that can never be replaced.
Open to online marketing.
Willing to sell more of a brand’s product.
Smart, tenacious entrepreneurs who can adapt fast to changes in the market.
Interested in technology that’s easy to use.
Extremely busy, but open to things that save them time.
Not going anywhere. Ecommerce will never sell more products than local retailers.

It’s the mission of Promoboxx to prove this list is true, because if it is, we’ve built something pretty special.
Are we bold? Yes. Over confident? Maybe, but we need to focus on what we believe in, and that’s the retailer.
Do you?

- Ben // ben [at] promoboxx [dot] com

Question 3 with Bob Robinson

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Up next in the VCU Brandcenter's 5 questions with Executive Creative Director Bob Robinson is "What do you do to keep your creative energy from depleting?".

Bob Robinson :: Question 3 from VCU Brandcenter on Vimeo.

Next week's question: What do you tell client who think just an iPhone app will solve their problem?

Question 2 with Bob Robinson

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Next in the 5 question series from VCU Brandcenter, Executive Creative Director Bob Robinson, answers the question "How has your fine arts background made your vision of advertising distinctive?".

Bob Robinson :: Question 2 from VCU Brandcenter on Vimeo.

Next week's question: What do you do to keep your creative energy from depleting?

'The Layover Guide' hits the app store

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

We’re very excited to extend congratulations to our client, Travel Channel, on the release of the much-anticipated iPhone and iPad app for the Anthony Bourdain show ’The Layover’. The visuals and content from their team are sure to entertain Bourdain fans and travel junkies alike.

Here is some of what users can look forward to after downloading the app:

Discover Tony’s view of 10 great cities, with exclusive content, dos and don’ts, inspiration lists and music playlists you won’t find anywhere else.
Custom designs deliver rich iPad browsing and practical iPhone utility.
Experience Tony’s favorite destinations from the comfort of your couch or on the move.
Explore photos, videos, contact info and tips from Tony’s Layover destinations or search them all to find your favorites.
Add destinations and adjust the timeline to build your own high-octane layover
Built in Map views help you plan your route and adjust on the fly.
Earn and share badges and bragging rights when you check-in to The Layover destinations.
Add your own destination photos and notes to create a journal of your layover.
Discover and experience ten great cities: New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal, Singapore, Hong Kong, Rome, and Amsterdam. Watch for more cities in 2012.

You can download the app from the App Store here.