Thismoment Content Marketing Blog » Andrew Sielen

Topshop: Changing the Face of Fashion Week

Andrew Sielen — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 18:43:00 +0000

London Fashion Week has traditionally been an exclusive event for the fashion elite. The hottest designers hold shows displaying their newest styles for an audience of three to four hundred people—that is until last spring.

In a partnership with Google+, Topshop created Topshop Unique, a comprehensive website that brought the latest in fashion from London Fashion Week to over two million people around the globe. A leader in fashion and media in the UK, Topshop has made innovation a core value throughout their company and have made it their mission to make cutting edge affordable fashion available to everyone.

Topshop Unique connected fans to the show in unprecedented ways. The page featured a live stream of the show with cameras focused on the runway in the Tate Modern and cameras hidden in the models handbags. Not only could fans live out their dream of being there but for the first time, they could experience it as a model showing their favorite styles on the runway.

While fashionistas everywhere watched the models strut down the catwalk, Topshop Unique allowed them to take snapshots and share their favorite styles with their friends on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. In addition, Topshop seamlessly integrated the ability to customize each outfit being shown and purchase them immediately from the website.

Throughout the show, models and show attendees connected with fans online through Google Hangouts. The models answered questions and provided behind the scenes insight that further engaged the fans at home. The unique combination of the live show with social media and online sales was unprecedented in the world of fashion. Topshop and Google raised the bar for fashion shows to come.

Award Winning Campaign

Last month at the Cannes Lions Festival, Topshop was awarded a Bronze Lion for this digital media campaign. While there, we sat down with the Chief Marketing Officer of Topshop, Justin Cooke and asked him about the future of digital marketing. He noted, “staying relevant is the biggest challenge to every brand in the world.” Marketing is no longer about pushing a message out about your product but rather about building communities. Learn more in our video interview with Justin Cooke the visionary behind the campaign.

For more information on Topshop’s Cannes Lion Festival Submission, check out their official entry video.

The post Topshop: Changing the Face of Fashion Week appeared first on Thismoment Content Marketing Blog.

Your Favorite Dongle and Why Size Matters: Chromecast, Nexus 7 and Responsive Design

Andrew Sielen — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 18:42:00 +0000

It’s been a pretty nice week for Google.

Chromecast, their new $35 browser-to-TV streaming dongle, is selling faster than you can say “best stocking stuffer ever.” They’ve out-Appled Apple, with their new retina display Nexus 7 tablet sporting better resolution specs than the iPad Mini. For years, web design has been on a collision course with the biggest and smallest screens you own. Between these new gadgets and Google Glass, the big G just hit the accelerator.

So what happens when your brand’s web content suddenly needs to fit into your 50” home theater, your double-resolution 7” tablet, your flexible width OneChannel YouTube page, and that 1” Glass prism sitting on your head? Unless you want to build 30 versions of the same site, you’ll need to start thinking of everything through the lens of responsive design. Also known as adaptive design, this concept embraces the adage “build once, deploy everywhere.” By using modern web techniques like media queries and feature detection, responsive design produces sites that are usable and beautiful across every conceivable form factor.

Engineers at Thismoment shamelessly worship at the altar of responsive design. We build it into every campaign. We talk about it at lunch. We break up with our girlfriends over it. We constantly tweet and retweet Mashable’s article declaring 2013 “the year of responsive web design.” You could say we’re a touch obsessed.

Our customers are seeing the results of this obsession. Every day, we use responsive tools to create YouTube channels, brand sites, and Facebook Apps that automatically optimize for every imaginable form factor. Stay tuned for news about how we intend to help brands and agencies embrace responsive design coming soon.

So the next time you show off your new 2nd-gen Nexus 7 to your friends, use your Chromecast to project some video hub into your living room, watch a brand’s social stream on a Times Square billboard, or maybe even search for cat photos on your spanking new Apple iWatch, remember one thing: our friend responsive design is what makes those things look amazing in so many places.

The post Your Favorite Dongle and Why Size Matters: Chromecast, Nexus 7 and Responsive Design appeared first on Thismoment Content Marketing Blog.

Global Brands Herald the Era of Responsive Design With New YouTube One Channels

Andrew Sielen — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 21:05:00 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwired – Jun 27, 2013) – Thismoment, the global leader in brand solutions for YouTube, today announced broad adoption of YouTube’s responsive One Channel format by major brands — including Activision, Acura, iRobot, Land Rover, Levi’s, Microsoft Office, Mobily, and TaylorMade. All of these brands, and their agencies, used Thismoment’s system to design and build their new channels, and to manage their content and subscribers on an ongoing basis.

One Channel better serves today’s mobile, multi-screen audience by optimizing the viewer experience for every device through its responsive design — which fluidly scales based on the size of the browser window — and promoting channel subscription visibility and access.

The move to the new, responsive One Channel design is a significant evolution of YouTube, and Thismoment ensured its customers were prepared for the transition. Alicia Jones, Manager of Social Marketing for Honda and Acura, explains, “Initially we were concerned by the One Channel announcement, not knowing exactly how it would impact our current channel. Thismoment, however, has made the transition painless, as they have been very attentive to our needs and concerns. It’s been nice having the peace of mind that — whatever changes may come to the platform — we can rely on Thismoment to keep us ahead of the curve.”

Liz Phillips, Social Media Manager at Taylormade, echoes this sentiment: “Thismoment went to great lengths to communicate the migration to One Channel was coming and proactively prepared TaylorMade for the transition. Thismoment has been a true partner. They armed us with the knowledge we needed to be prepared for the One Channel migration, and we worked together to identify the best strategies going forward.”

Vince Broady, Founder and CEO for Thismoment, notes, “A key advantage of our system is that it future proofs brands against the constantly changing digital landscape. When new developments like One Channel emerge, Thismoment users gain competitive advantage by being first to market in the new format, and by being able to take full advantage of the new capabilities from day one. In addition, they gain this advantage with minimal effort, no chaos, and at zero incremental cost.”

Stephen Bury, Senior Marketing Communications Manager for Microsoft, relates, “When we received word regarding Google’s planned One Channel migration, we were faced with deadlines that would have been difficult to manage on our own. Learning, however, that Thismoment was going to provide their resources and expertise in making the transition, we soon realized it was going to be an extremely straightforward and manageable process. As is typical with our experience of working with Thismoment, this migration has run efficiently and smoothly, turning something that was initially a source of concern into a project that has been seamless and bulletproof.”

Thismoment’s success with One Channel reinforces its position as the defacto standard for brand engagement on YouTube. Over the past three years, Thismoment’s system has powered more than 300 YouTube brand channels, an order of magnitude more than any other provider. Driven by the demands of its customers for differentiation and creative freedom within the YouTube environment, Thismoment has continually delivered first-to-market capabilities including:

The ability to extend YouTube brand channels — including user-generated video contests — to other online environments, including Facebook, mobile and the Web
The use of mixed media (photos, text, flash) within YouTube, both for brand and user-generated content
The deployment of global channels that combine universal brand elements with localized content, all on a single YouTube URL
The ability to curate and display an interactive, consolidated social conversation stream — incorporating YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ within a YouTube brand channel
The launch of the first responsive custom brand channel — Head & Shoulders’ Deep Like Troy.

A thought leader and the founding member of Google’s Engagement Solutions Developer Program (GESDP), Thismoment shares its knowledge about YouTube and One Channel with its customers and to the marketing community at large. Recent examples include publishing the most complete One Channel FAQ for brands and agencies, and making its Playbook for YouTube Brand Solutions freely available for download.

For a concise overview of Thismoment’s One Channel capabilities, please view our One Channel Solution video featuring commentary from our team and from Levi’s.

About Thismoment

Thismoment is the leading system for creating and delivering content-rich, social brand experiences. The world’s most recognizable brands use Thismoment to achieve superior audience engagement across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, brand sites and other online destinations. Thismoment’s system optimizes the user experience for mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, and supports global distribution in 60 languages. To learn more, please visit www.thismoment.com.

Customer Insights

“There has been a bit of uncertainty about this transition, and it’s been reassuring to know that we have a partner who’s looking ahead for us and helping us navigate the change in a way that makes sense for our brand. Thismoment’s proactive approach to new technology has enabled us to engage with our YouTube consumers across the globe.”
-Blake Corbin, Manager of Digital Marketing for Activision

“We’re always working on a full plate of projects, so it was extremely beneficial that Thismoment offered to create the templates for OneChannel and — on top of that — would help us through the migration at no additional cost.”
-Liz Philips, Social Media Manager for TaylorMade

“It was very reassuring to have Thismoment streamline the process for us and communicate predecessors on such a timely basis.”
-Anis Zantout, Director of Digital for KSA at Initiative, Mobily

“Thismoment did a great job of communicating the intended One Channel migration — as well as providing us with a preview of how it would look and feel, which was all incredibly helpful. Thismoment made the transition quick and easy for us.”
-Kim Kyaw, Digital Marketing and Social Media Manager for Land Rover

“Thismoment’s technology allows us to deliver content in a more engaging and strategic way, while also allowing us to determine the best content to deliver. The CMS and software platform give us a much more robust way to present and market to our audience — and thereby have us think differently about our content strategy. The capabilities Thismoment provides today empower us to determine what our best strategy is for tomorrow.”
-Stephen Bury, Senior Marketing Communications Manager for Microsoft

The post Global Brands Herald the Era of Responsive Design With New YouTube One Channels appeared first on Thismoment Content Marketing Blog.

Coca-Cola and Thismoment Continue to Break New Social Ground

Andrew Sielen — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:24:00 +0000

CANNES, FRANCE–(Marketwired – Jun 18, 2013) - Cannes Lions – Coca-Cola continues to be on the forefront of defining the future of marketing and laying the foundation for how successful brands will effectively engage with their audiences in ways that were previously unimaginable. Coca-Cola’s collaboration with social software company Thismoment has led to record levels of engagement. Through modern programs reminiscent of a digital media company, Coca-Cola has made a significant connection with youth audiences and achieved remarkable results.

With leading-edge projects such as Coca-Cola.TV, Coca-Cola.FM and live-streaming music events, Coca-Cola has shown the world how thinking outside the box can lead to revolutionary engagement with a brand’s customers. In partnership with social software industry leader Thismoment, Coca-Cola has executed large-scale digital marketing initiatives that combine real-world entertainment with the unique ability to distribute and magnify these offerings in a robust and engaging social and mobile experience. The business results and metrics show significant direct engagement with the brand — in some cases more than 30 minutes per user session.

In its continual commitment to forge new ground and create memorable experiences for its customers, Coca-Cola again turned to Thismoment to deliver a new and unparalleled solution. Recognizing that a key element to success is maintaining focus on content and messaging through the use of powerful technologies, Coca-Cola and Thismoment designed a concept called “Pantry.” Pantry provides Coca-Cola with the ability to consolidate valuable content and democratize access to it. Through a central registry, regional content rights, analytics, discoverability, collaboration, future-proofing and a simple, easy-to-use interface, Pantry provides Coca-Cola with the ability to execute the revolutionary strategy it envisioned.

Javier Sanchez Lamelas, former Vice President of Marketing for Latin America and current Vice President of Europe at The Coca-Cola Company, shares, “We knew we wanted to create an even better brand experience and empower our marketers at Coca-Cola with the ability to do so simply and effectively. Thismoment provided us with the ability to crystallize our vision and deliver a software solution that exceeded our expectations, something we are now used to with Thismoment.”

Early on, Coca-Cola understood the importance of differentiating itself and reaching customers where they wanted to be reached. Realizing it needed to leverage mobile, cloud and social technologies to reinvent how to effectively engage with the youth audience, Coca-Cola turned to Thismoment to create cohesive and comprehensive brand experiences across multiple platforms and deliver unique experiences to each of its customers.

The Coca-Cola.TV and Coca-Cola.FM projects were created to reach the large and increasingly social youth market across Latin America. Through these efforts, Coca-Cola has created meaningful connections by bringing the best in entertainment to young people wherever they are. A prime example of these successful projects was the live streaming — across multiple devices — of a Paul McCartney concert attended by 200,000 people. When Coca-Cola saw that this delivered an additional 500,000 virtual audience members — with an average engagement of 42 minutes per session — it knew it had taken the brand experience into a new era. “Coca-Cola stands as a global brand leader with unrivaled creativity and vision, and we simply provide the robust technology platform that empowers them to deliver the engaging experiences they have brilliantly created,” says Vince Broady, Founder and CEO of Thismoment.

Partnership with Thismoment

Coca-Cola leverages the capabilities of Thismoment to address its market in a social/mobile environment via a flexible, scalable and easy-to-use software platform. Together, Coca-Cola and Thismoment deliver a consistent, high-quality branded experience to users across multiple social sites and devices. With Thismoment, Coca-Cola is able to leverage the formidable combination of an innovative technology platform, a powerful infrastructure and a top-tier project and product management system.

Coca-Cola’s unique commitment to delivering engaging experiences and fostering deeper connections with its customers around the world is why Coca-Cola is one of the most successful brands of all time. Broady shares, “Coca-Cola’s innovation and imagination continues to push the envelope and demand solutions that produce revolutionary results. It’s what leaves customers enamored with their brand and what makes working with them such an honor.”

About The Coca-Cola CompanyThe Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, the world’s most valuable brand, our Company’s portfolio features 16 billion dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, Vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of more than 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environment footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world’s top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system employees. For more information, please visit www.coca-colacompany.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo.

About ThismomentThismoment is the leading solution for creating and delivering content-rich, social brand experiences. The world’s most recognizable brands use Thismoment’s cloud-based system to power superior audience engagement across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, brand sites, and other online channels. Thismoment’s system optimizes digital experiences for mobile devices including smartphones and tablets and supports global distribution in 60 languages. To learn more visitwww.thismoment.com.

Contact:
Lisa L. Riecken
Director of Marketing
415.465.4405

The post Coca-Cola and Thismoment Continue to Break New Social Ground appeared first on Thismoment Content Marketing Blog.