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NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2010 –Ripple6, a division of PointRoll and premier provider of social media solutions for marketers and publishers, today launched two social advertising offerings — Ripple6 Social Ad and Socialite. Social Ad and Socialite incorporate real-time comments from social networking conversations directly into online display ads and, as a result, enhance consumers’ interaction rates with the ads. These products are the first of this kind on the market.
Results from initial campaigns show a double-digit lift in the interaction rate of Social Ad and Socialite units as compared to standard CPG rich media benchmarks of 5.68 percent.
The Social Ad product is for brands using the Ripple6 Social Hub. It pulls approved comments from conversations taking place within a brand’s online social community and places them into a display ad unit. Social Ad gives brands the power to extend the reach of their brand community to any site where ads can be served. With one click, consumers can view a Social Ad and begin to participate in the brand’s Social Hub conversation. Through this integration with the Social Hub, the conversation within the ad can also be rippled throughout Facebook, Twitter, brand sites and more.
The Socialite offering is for brands that have yet to invest in a Social Hub but want to explore and benefit from the power of social integration in display advertising. It is ideal for single campaigns, event-based promotions or new product launches. Socialite enables brands to create a dialog in ads where users can view and interact without joining or registering with that community. When consumers interact with the conversation in Socialite, they can view and participate in the conversation, share it with their friends and even return to the conversation on a corresponding landing page at a later time.
“These products are about giving marketers more tools to seamlessly build their online communities of brand advocates,” said Sang Kim, CEO of Ripple6. “Social Ad and Socialite give brands further reach with the power to take their positive social messages to audiences beyond Facebook or Twitter to wherever consumers are on the web.”
Both Social Ad and Socialite include a robust analytics tool that measures social activity within the ad unit and gives quantitative ad performance metrics plus qualitative analysis of real-time conversations. The tool provides marketers valuable insights based on consumers’ activity within the ad.
Social Ad and Socialite provide brands with a flexible level of control because the ad manager has the power to decide which consumer comments appear within the ad at any given time. The manager can change the comments appearing within the ad hourly, daily or weekly, and the system is flexible enough to ensure that only brand-consistent information runs within the ad unit. With Socialite, brands can choose whether to audit the conversation or let posts appear as they occur. A profanity filter is always used for any posts, whether managed or otherwise.
About Ripple6
Ripple6, the social marketing division of PointRoll and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), provides a platform that enables brands to connect, listen and engage with social audiences through community management tools and social analytic solutions. Founded in 2006, Ripple6 gives brands an enterprise grade platform to manage their entire social strategy. Ripple6 is based in New York and its list of clients and partners includes P&G, Meredith Corporation, and Unilever. For more information, please visit www.ripple6.com.
Media Contact:
Jessica Fletcher, 646-202-9753,
Integration Simplifies Management of Brands’ Social Marketing Initiatives and Allows them to Connect,
Listen and Engage with Consumers across Multiple Channels
NEW YORK, NY — May 13, 2010 — PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and the leading provider of digital marketing solutions, today announced the integration of Ripple6, the premier provider of social media technology and expertise for marketers and publishers, into its full suite of offerings. Marketers now have the ability to unify their social marketing with rich media, video and mobile efforts.
The integration will combine sales and operational efforts and tie together product offerings into a comprehensive digital marketing suite. Sang Kim, Founder and CEO of Ripple6, will continue to oversee the division under PointRoll. Ripple6 headquarters will remain in New York City.
“The future of marketing will be driven by how social media can turn audiences into advocates,” said Jason Tafler, CEO of PointRoll. “Together with Ripple6, we can offer marketers a true full-service solution for not only reaching the right audience, but engaging them with compelling rich media creative across platforms. The combined offerings unite the advertising and social elements that can turn audiences into buyers and brand believers. Marketers must think about an entire cohesive effort across display, mobile, video, circulars and social. We’re able to deliver that with one point of entry.”
The two companies have collaborated to introduce the Social Hub and other offerings including Social Ads, which incorporate real-time conversations from online communities, and Social Insights, an advanced social media research product.
The Social Hub is a ‘build once, deploy everywhere’ social marketing platform that enables the world’s largest brands to connect, listen and engage with a critical mass of consumers. It is the only platform that synchronizes conversations across multiple online destinations and communities, providing marketers the ability to extend one conversation across every spoke of their social presence – significantly increasing the word-of-mouth impact of a brand’s most active and influential online advocates.
Click here to see a Social Hub demo video.
“Brands are commonly managing communities across multiple social destinations or networks, injecting a near unmanageable level of complexity into their overall digital marketing efforts,” said Sang Kim, CEO, Ripple6. “The Social Hub helps marketers harness, manage and unlock the power of not just Facebook, Twitter or any other individual brand community, but the entire ecosystem of conversations about their brand happening across the social web.”
Brands using PointRoll’s Ripple6 social offering will benefit from easy access to high-level and impactful social ads. Social ads incorporate conversations from online communities, in real-time, and create opportunities for new users to join and converse directly in the ad unit. The ads help marketers measurably extend conversations around their brands and provide new consumer engagement options.
Click here to see a Social Ad demo.
PointRoll and Ripple6 are both wholly-owned by Gannett Co., Inc. PointRoll was acquired by Gannett in 2005 and Gannett fully acquired ShopLocal, the retail division of PointRoll, in 2008. Ripple6 was acquired by Gannett in 2008.
About PointRoll
PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is the leading provider of digital marketing services and technology enabling advertisers, agencies and Web publishers to create, deliver and measure interactive and action-inspiring online video, rich media display, mobile, social, and search campaigns. Understanding both the art and science of the digital medium, PointRoll provides the creative tools, analytics, distributed content, and expertise marketers need to effectively engage consumers and make a memorable and measurable impression. Evolving beyond the banner, PointRoll allows marketers to find consumers wherever they are across any digital platform or social channel and deliver a relevant and engaging experience, dramatically improving marketing effectiveness. Serving more than 350 billion impressions for more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 brands, PointRoll delivers measurable campaign results. For more information, please visit www.pointroll.com.
About Ripple6
Ripple6, the social marketing division of PointRoll, provides a platform that enables brands to connect, listen and engage with social audiences through community management tools and social analytic solutions, designed to give brands an enterprise grade platform to manage their entire social strategy. Ripple6 is based in New York and its list of clients and partners includes P&G, Meredith Corporation, and Unilever. For more information, please visit www.ripple6.com.
Media Contact
Corie Pierce
Horn Group
646-202-9758 /
We’re very excited to announce the launch of the Parents Community, the social community for Parents.com.
We’ll be talking more about the community in the coming days and weeks (so stay tuned), but today want to share some of the cool community features, as well as let you know why we’re so excited about this community.
Why We’re Excited
Meredith chose the Ripple6 social networking platform when they began developing Mixingbowl.com over a year ago. They’ve shown through the development of MixingBowl, as well as the special-edition magazine of the same name, that Meredith is committed to utilizing communities (and our platform) strategically.
Parents (magazine and website) is the “go to” resource for millions of moms and dads. Now they’ve deployed our platform on Parents.com, giving that audience the ability to connect with each other, share ideas/tips, talk to editors, and have fun with contests! We think it’s an extension of their commitment not just to our platform, but to connect people and marketers across social networks. And we think that’s cool.
What’s Cool in Parents Community
Here’s a quick look at some cool features for users of the Parents Community.
- “Talk to The Editors” section: Allows users to submit and discuss story ideas for Parents and American Baby magazines, as well as Parents.com.
- Due Date Clubs: Users can join moms with similar due dates to share the joys and struggles of their pregnancy brings.
- “Meet Moms”: Using Ripple6 Smart Groups, users can find groups and other moms with similar interests based on their submitted profiles.
- Facebook Connect: Users can link their activity in the Parents Community with their FB news feed…sharing stories, posts and groups they belong to.
- Treats: Users can send their friends special messages and online treats as a way to have fun and build online relationships.
We’ll talk more about the community in the coming days and weeks, so check back for more!
By Sang Kim
December 11, 2009
Brand marketers seem to be jumping on the Facebook bandwagon left and right. They know engagement through social networking is important to understanding consumers, so they’re trying to do it. However, creating a branded community locked within Facebook or any other broad-reaching social network is probably not the best long-term strategy for communicating with consumers.
Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is not a bad marketing practice — 300 million users is a big pond to fish in. Done properly and coupled with other social marketing tactics, it can enhance any big picture social media strategy. But let’s be clear, Facebook is a tactic, not a strategy.
Here are a few reasons why:
User intent
On Facebook and similar sites, you never really know why someone is there, but for the most part, the intent of the user is to interact with friends around a variety of topics — not, typically, to talk to brands. Unless it’s being “introduced” by a friend, in order to engage with consumers, brands have to interject themselves and disrupt the conversation. That sounds like what a TV commercial does, and it’s something consumers may ultimately resent. Or ignore.
That’s not to say consumers don’t want to talk to brands online. They do. According to the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study, 89 percent of new media users believe companies should be interacting with consumers via social media. And a recently released Razorfish Study said 40 percent of U.S. internet users had actually friended a brand on Facebook or MySpace. But posting updates to a fan page every few days lacks any built-in value for consumers and certainly does not qualify as an effective social media program.
There’s also relevance
Most people would agree that it’s a critical factor when they decide to put out a welcome mat for marketer messages. Finding relevance in the ocean that is Facebook can be tough — in fact, lack of relevance is a choice on Facebook’s survey of reasons why users might not like an ad they see on Facebook.
Affinity-based social networks, on the other hand, are built around a common interest. They bring together like-minded individuals who want to connect on a particular topic. That oozes relevance. And that’s a perfect opportunity for brands.
For example, Meredith Corporation has begun creating affinity-based social networks as a way for brands to build strong relationships through social conversations. They took their expertise from Better Homes and Gardens magazine and BHG.com to create MixingBowl.com — a social network for cooks. It’s a place built entirely around recipes and people sharing them; sharing their ideas and passions for food. That’s certainly a relevant place for food brands to engage and add value to the conversation.
Additionally, Gannett has created a national network of 80 local communities, all specifically tailored for moms. Through MomsLikeMe.com, moms can connect, form groups, plan events, and share advice, while marketers have new opportunities to enter the conversation, create relationships, and gain valuable insights into what moms want and need.
As these examples illustrate, a successful social strategy needs to be tailored to your specific brand. So, before creating or implementing any strategy, you should ask yourself how these questions align with your social program.
Does the customer I’m targeting really want to talk to me through this channel?
Consumers are bombarded with advertising and marketing throughout their online experiences. Do you really want to be just another annoying brand? Make sure you are reaching your target audience through a channel where they are willing and interested in speaking with your brand.
What is at the center of this conversation? Is it my brand? Because it should be.
Don’t try to jump on the bandwagon of another conversation. The whole goal of social marketing is to engage with and better understand your audience. Popping in and out of random conversations isn’t going to help you gain intelligence into what your advocates are saying.
Can I replicate my effort in other places or am I locking into one specific network? Or can the strategy I’ve come up with scale across multiple platforms?
New media is ever changing. Don’t pigeonhole yourself by sticking to one thing. Explore different options, but make sure you always link back to one common hub.
Does the consumer have the option to opt-in/opt-out of the conversation?
Consumers want choices. Giving a consumer the opportunity to disengage and reengage in the conversation when they want will offer a sense of control that is sometimes difficult to find in a social world.
Am I able to gather insights and analytics from my conversations and connections?
The more you can learn about the people you’re talking to, the better. Insights into who your fans are, how they are connected and what they want to talk about will point you toward how to be most relevant. Those insights will drive not just your messaging with them, but can impact your entire marketing and product delivery.
How is this conversation being regulated? Who has control?
Ultimately, when centering a social marketing program on Facebook, you are putting your fate in someone else’s hands. Facebook is constantly changing and growing in a quickly evolving market. Consider if it will continue to align with your objectives. And if it doesn’t, who owns the data and insight that you’ve created by collecting fans?
Facebook has more than three hundred million users. Certainly it has a place in online brand marketing. But it should not be the center of your brand’s marketing.
To read the full article on iMediaconnection.com, click here
New Research: 83 percent of online shoppers express interest in sharing information about their purchases with people they know
NEW YORK – September 9, 2009 – As social networks proliferate and consumers report spending more of their time online, e-commerce is ripe to weave community into the customer experience. On average, two-thirds of consumers spend at least one hour per week social networking, with almost half spending three hours or more on the sites. In August 2009, the e-tailing group and Ripple6, a leading provider of social media services to e-tailers, brand marketers and publishers, launched the Social Commerce: Conversations Among Consumers survey to 1,000 frequent online shoppers.
For more information on this survey, visit www.ripple6.com/marketing/ecommerce.html
“The research objective was to explore consumer perceptions regarding social media relative to connecting customers to one another, to merchants, and the subsequent influence on purchasing,” explains Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group. “We are pleased to report that our findings bode well for the online merchant community.”
The survey results confirm that consumers are social with 83 percent of online shoppers very or somewhat interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know. In addition, 41 percent would be inclined to join and be active participants in online communities that share information about their favorite products.
Sharing/Community influences purchasing
This information sharing impacts commerce as pre-purchase opinions from others influence buying decisions for 74 percent of online shoppers. Additionally, 73 percent agreed that “people like me” are the most trusted sources when making a shopping purchase. In fact, product recommendations from friends are almost twice as valuable as product recommendations from merchants (46 percent versus 24 percent) for their ability to influence purchases.
“This research confirms that most of the things consumers find valuable are those delivered by community,” concludes Sang Kim , CEO of Ripple6. “Our social platform applied to commerce fosters strong connections with consumers to deliver more robust shopping experiences that generate incremental online sales and keep valued customers returning more frequently.”
Consumers want to connect via community
The next logical step in this social commerce evolution is to create online communities that focus on connecting shoppers directly with others who have purchased similar products. Survey results indicate that two out of three consumers would be likely to join such a community if invited via email. The primary reason for wanting to be part of such a retail community is sharing information to help make smarter buying decisions. Equally as important is the participant’s desire to reach out and help others by recommending products and sharing their expertise.
Merchants benefit from social commerce
These shopping-focused communities can noticeably increase Average Order Value (AOV) and aid customer retention. Sixty seven percent of users are more likely to purchase more based on recommendations from people in a community in which they participate and 62 percent are more likely to frequent a retailer they have shopped before if they can be part of a community within that site.
About the e-tailing group
The e-tailing group, inc. serves as the multi-channel merchant’s eye, bringing a merchant’s sensibility to evolving the multi-channel shopping experience. A Chicago-based consultancy, they provide practical strategic perspectives and actionable merchandising solutions to merchants selling online as well as to enabling technology firms. For more background about this research study or additional information on the e-tailing group, inc. please contact Lauren Freedman at LF@e-tailing.com or visit the e-tailing group website www.e-tailing.com.
About Ripple6, Inc.
Ripple6™ helps marketers, publishers and e-tailers implement their business strategy through social media. The company provides an enterprise white label social media platform to create consumer engagements and relationships, enhance social marketing, generate consumer insights, and facilitate commerce and collaboration. It is easily customized to incorporate a brand’s look and feel for integration into an existing web site or to create an entirely new site. Ripple6, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is based in New York and its list of clients and partners includes P&G, Meredith Corporation, and Unilever. For more information, go to www.Ripple6.com.
Media Contact:
Julie Nicholson
Weber Shandwick for Ripple6
212-445-8371
