Home � � Mashable: Latest 17 News Updates - including “Rypple Improves Real-Time Approach to Employee Performance Reviews”

Mashable: Latest 17 News Updates - including “Rypple Improves Real-Time Approach to Employee Performance Reviews”

Posted by Ashim Adhikari on 5:37 AM // 0 comments

Mashable: Latest 17 News Updates - including “Rypple Improves Real-Time Approach to Employee Performance Reviews”

Rypple Improves Real-Time Approach to Employee Performance Reviews

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 05:00 AM PST


How do organizations and managers keep their employees happy? Certainly not through the age-old practice of annual performance reviews. A startup called Rypple aims to change that, releasing version 3.0 of its progressive online feedback tool to help employees get recognized for their work on an ongoing basis.

Rypple takes a real-time approach to employee recognition with a feedback platform that encourages regular and public recognition associated with tasks, manager-employee coaching and employee requests for feedback. The startup is rolling out a bevy of new features, gaming elements and a new look on Monday.

Rypple users can reward each other for jobs well done with badges that get posted to a Facebook-like wall; managers are notified in the process. Users can now create their own personalized badges to recognize achievement. Rypple is also now organized around people instead of concepts, a UI change that puts an emphasis on work relationships.

Another improvement is the addition of social goals. The tool enables users to create goals across multiple teams and link them back to action items. Progress made towards completing these goals will appear to all team members in the activity feed. This makes tasks more social and is designed to engineer even more participation.

Many of the updates were made in response to feature and design requests from customers, an appropriate move for a feedback platform.

Rypple is a freemium product; its creators believe it to be more a platform than an also-ran Twitter or Facebook for the enterprise. To that end, the startup plugs in to third-party APIs and serves as a layer on top of existing social products. Its current client base numbers in the thousands, and customers include Mozilla, Cisco and WebEx. In September, the startup raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Bridgescale Partners.

More About: enterprise, rypple, social media

For more Startups coverage:

Site for Swapping Hand-Me-Downs Now Aims to Swap Ideas

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 05:00 AM PST


Since launching in April, ThredUP has shipped about 25,000 boxes of hand-me-down clothing and toys between its community of mothers. Now it also wants to be a place for them to exchange ideas.

The startup announced on Monday that it has acquired Momologie, a free site and newsletter run by two former editors of Martha Stewart Living. ThredUP’s website will now host a daily discussion around a single magazine-style article in addition to managing hand-me-down exchanges.

At its core, the business model will remain the same. Parents who register for the site receive shipping boxes in the mail, fill them with outgrown clothing and toys, and list their contents on the site. Other parents can then choose to have those boxes shipped to them. For every box a family ships, it can sign up to receive one box from another family, paying just shipping costs and a small transaction fee.

ThredUP CEO and founder James Reinhart is hoping that parents will now also stick around on the site to chat about “The Daily Thred.”

“We think about high-quality content in the same way that we think about customer acquisition in other channels, and it’s just another way for us to deepen engagement among our community of moms,” Reinhart says. “We’re trying to build a better community with deeper engagement that we think, over time, will make the business stickier and more powerful.”

Usually social sites that target mothers take an opposite path: they build a strong community and then monotize it — often by selling advertising, offering daily deals, or distributing coupons — instead of starting with a transaction platform and then integrating a community within it.

The differences between ThredUP’s new approach and other parent communities don’t end there. Although Momologie founders Michele Adams and Gia Russo will abandon the newsletter to work on The Daily Thread full time, they’ll still post one carefully crafted article each day per category. The articles will be displayed alongside a Facebook wall plugin that pulls out like a drawer, hovering over other content to call attention to its real-time discussion. They expect this conversation to be richest if concentrated around one thought-provoking article (there’s also a future opportunity to create relationships with brands referenced in those articles).

It will be interesting to see if the new approach pays off. The frequent activity on ThredUP’s Facebook page indicates its customer base is up for some conversation, but whether or not adding that component to the site — and narrowing it to one topic — eventually affects the startup’s bottom line is another question.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kativ

More About: Children, hand-me-down swap, mom blog, Moms, parents, Thredup

For more Startups coverage:

Mashable Weekend Recap: 22 Stories You May Have Missed

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 04:11 AM PST


Super Bowl ads delighted us this weekend, with those brilliant mini-movies extending their reach via social media. But that wasn’t all.

An exotic car and a smooth smartphone were vying for coolness honors, we found lots of places to find free music, and the Old Spice Guy showed up again, in a brand new and hilarious ad. We even did a live blog of the Super Bowl commercials during the entire game, and you can replay it in its entirety.

Let’s start the week right with a full recap of the weekend’s festivities, so you can rest assured that you didn’t miss a thing. Sit back and let us catch you up, telling you a variety of stories that rocked our world over the past couple of days.

News and Opinion Essentials

Super Bowl Advertising Play-By-Play [LIVE BLOG]

Half of Verizon Smartphone Owners Say They'll Switch to iPhone

It's Not 1984 Anymore: Motorola Xoom Commercial [VIDEO]

“Sesame Street” E-Book Hits iPad and Chrome Web Store Simultaneously

Hearsay Combines Corporate & Local Social Media Management [VIDEO]

This Is Why You Always Pay Your Web Designer

No Dribbble Invite? No Problem, Try Favwork

Top 10 Super Bowl Brands With the Most Twitter Pre-Buzz [Infographic]

Helpful Resources

Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs?

31 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Why Fashion's Top Brands Are Flocking to Tumblr

Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]

Weekend Leisure

10 Online Resources for Free, Legal Music

"Rio" Super Bowl Ad Features "Angry Birds" Hidden Level Clues

Top 10 Most Shared Super Bowl Ads Of All Time [VIDEO]

Old Spice Guy Takes an Elaborate "Scent Vacation" [VIRAL VIDEO]

Angry Birds Get a Free Western-Themed Update [PICS]

HANDS ON: HTC Inspire 4G Is a First For AT&T [PICS]

30+ Super Bowl Ads You Can Watch Before the Big Game [VIDEOS]

Exotic Supercar Has Aerodynamic Flaps Like a Jet [PICS]

Fun With Twitter: 5 iPhone Games Made of Tweets

Vote For Your Super Bowl Ad Faves On Facebook

More About: Weekend recap

For more Social Media coverage:

Motorola Xoom Might Come to Best Buy February 24 for $800 [REPORT]

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 02:04 AM PST


A leaked Best Buy flier reveals a possible price (confirming an earlier leak) and launch date for Motorola’s upcoming Android tablet, the Xoom, and it won’t make potential buyers too happy.

Yes, the February 24 launch date isn’t very far in the future, but the price of $799.99 will make any would-be customer pause, as it’s a full $300 more than the cheapest iPad variant and $100 more than the most powerful version of Apple’s tablet.

Of course, the Xoom sports an impressive set of features, many of which dwarf the iPad, such as two cameras, 1080p screen resolution and a HDMI output. But Apple is expected to launch the next, more powerful version of the iPad this year, and (judging by iPhone’s pricing) it’s quite safe to assume that it will probably cost the same as the original one, with the original’s price dropping down a hundred bucks or more.

Best Buy’s flier also mentions tablet monthly 3G data plans, starting with $20 a month for 1 GB of data; if those are mandatory, it pushes the price of the Xoom even higher.

We’ll see if anything changes before February 24; in the meantime, you can check out Motorola’s official portal for the Xoom and pretend that you don’t need that $800 anyway.

[via Engadget]

More About: android, apple, best buy, ipad, motorola xoom, Tablet

For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:

AOL’s $315 Million Bet: “The Huffington Post” Will Make It Relevant Again [OP-ED]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 10:42 PM PST


The company that brought dial-up Internet to millions of people is dead. In its place is a massive media empire that refuses to be ignored.

With its blockbuster acquisition of Huffington Post, AOL has catapulted itself back into relevancy. It has sent a clear signal to the rest of the world that it is a media company and that it is in this game to win.

AOL has been on a content acquisition spree recently, not only acquiring the technology blog network TechCrunch, but also snagging up Thing Labs, Brizzly and most recently About.me in the last few months.

AOL has been moving in this direction for years, but it was easy to write it off as the final gasps of a dying company that had lost its relevancy.

I’ve always disagreed with that assertion, though. Even in 2009, I argued that AOL’s decision to become a content company was the right one if it wanted to become relevant again.

Here’s what I said back then:

“[AOL and MySpace] have the right idea with their shift in strategy and focus. Instead of trying to attract new audiences with better technology (a losing proposition), bring them in by churning out content. Online content creation is in demand (more so with the rise of article sharing on social media channels), and each company has preexisting audiences that are not only consuming it, but helping share it to others.

MySpace and AOL are no longer technology companies; they are content companies. When they realized that they couldn't win in technology, they switched. In my estimation, they are making the right moves to ensure that both companies don't simply disappear or become the next BusinessWeek.”

Regaining Relevancy

Until today, AOL has been a disorganized collection of media entities that weren’t strong enough on their own to truly transform AOL into a media powerhouse. People weren’t quite sure whether AOL was a technology company, a media company, or a little bit of both.

The Huffington Post changes all that. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong made his company’s goals clear in the company’s announcement. "The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers," he stated in the press release.

While AOL has made plenty of stupid moves (merging with Time Warner and acquiring Bebo for $850 million top the list), acquiring Huffington Post for $315 million isn’t one of them. The Huffington Post is a growing entity with huge influence and reach, and combined with the AOL homepage, it will only become larger.

Still, Huffington will be tasked with making the whole operation profitable and sustainable, something she only recently achieved with The Huffington Post. She will have to successfully integrate dozens of independent media entities into one profitable organization, a daunting task by any standard.

The Huffington Post and Arianna Huffington will become the anchors of the AOL’s new media strategy. With Arianna Huffington running the show, AOL will gain the content focus and media legitimacy it desperately needs to restart growth and become relevant again.

More About: aol, TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, Tim Armstrong

For more Media coverage:

BREAKING: AOL Acquires Huffington Post for $315 Million

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 09:16 PM PST

AOL has acquired Huffington Post for $315 million in its biggest move since it became an independent company in 2009.

The acquisition will create a new online media conglomerate that already owns news websites TechCrunch and Engadget. According to The New York Times, the deal is worth $300 million in cash with $15 million in stock.

As part of the deal, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will be appointed president editor-in-chief of all of AOL’s content. She will not only run The Huffington Post, but will lead AOL’s news, tech, women, local, multicultural, entertainment video and community content businesses in an AOL entity that will be known as the Huffington Post Media Group.

The Huffington Post Media Group will also be in charge of MapQuest, AOL Music, AutoBlog, Patch, Engadget and TechCrunch. Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau and Chief Revenue Officer Greg Coleman will be leaving Huffington Post, according to AllThingsD.

“By combining HuffPost with AOL’s network of sites, thriving video initiative, local focus, and international reach, we know we’ll be creating a company that can have an enormous impact, reaching a global audience on every imaginable platform,” Arianna Huffington said moments ago in a blog post announcing the acquisition.

AOL now claims that the combined entity reaches 117 million unique visitors per month in the U.S. and 270 million worldwide. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong says the new organization will be “a next-generation American media company” focused on content, community and social experiences.

Additional coverage: AOL's $315 Million Bet: "The Huffington Post" Will Make It Relevant Again [OP-ED]

More About: acquisition, aol, Huffington Post, trending

For more Business & Marketing coverage:

“Sesame Street” E-Book Hits iPad and Chrome Web Store Simultaneously [VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 08:04 PM PST


Earlier in the week, ScrollMotion released a new Sesame Street e-book simultaneously for the iTunes App Store and for the Google Chrome Web Store.

Over the last year, nearly a dozen Sesame Street e-books have been released for the iPhone and iPad, but this is the first title Sesame Street has released for Google Chrome.

With Chrome 9, the Chrome Web Store is now available to all users in North America. That means users can install free or paid web applications for use across machines and even on the CR-48 netbook.

Built using HTML5, this is ScrollMotion’s first Chrome Web Store release. When we talked to ScrollMotion last fall, co-founder Josh Koppel told us that because the company can build apps using an HTML5 base, porting those apps to other platforms — in this case the Chrome Web Store — is much less complicated.

Bert and Ernie: What’s Cooking [iTunes link] is $2.99 for iOS (it works on both the iPhone and iPad) and $1.99 for Google Chrome.

The story book is cute — read by Gordon from Sesame Street — and the iOS version includes the option for the reader to record his or her own voice for playback. Both versions of the app include options for reading along and for coloring digital images of Sesame Street characters.

We bought the Chrome app to give it a spin and while the quality of the book and voice recording is good, we still think the desktop reading experience leads a bit to be desired. To us, it underscores why the iPad, iPhone and future Android tablets will have so much of an advantage over the CD-ROM children’s book of the 1990s: touch matters. Touch controls makes interacting with content more natural and makes the overall experience more engaging.

The promise of HTML5 is that the apps will be usable on other devices. Just imagine how cool it would be if Chrome web apps could work on Honeycomb. That might not be in the cards for the immediate future, but we expect to see some sort of fusion between the two platforms at some stage.

In the meantime, this is just one more example we can chalk up to the iPadification of the web).

More About: children's books, chrome web store, e-books, HTML5, ipad apps, scrollmotion, sesame street

For more Media coverage:

“Rio” Super Bowl Ad Features “Angry Birds” Hidden Level Clues

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 07:21 PM PST


As announced earlier last week, the Angry Birds got a cameo in a Super Bowl ad Sunday night.

In the 20th Century Fox spot for the upcoming computer-animated film, Rio, Angry Birds fans were directed to a special hidden egg on level 13-12 of the best-selling mobile phone game.

This level is part of the new Angry Birds update that hit iPhone and Android devices earlier this weekend. Fans that unlock the hidden egg will be treated to a Super Bowl-themed secret level.

The clue comes at the 26 second mark in the ad for Rio, which you can watch below.

If you want to uncover the special golden egg — go to that level and shoot a white bird backwards and then drop an egg. This will unlock a new football-shaped golden egg in the Golden Egg menu in the game.

Complete that game level and players will have the opportunity to enter a contest to attend the Rio movie premiere.

In addition to offering up a special Super Bowl-themed level and the contest for the movie premiere, Rovio will also be offering a special Rio version of Angry Birds in conjunction with the film’s March 22, 2011 release date.

More About: Android apps, angry birds, iphone apps, rio, rovio, Super Bowl ads, Super Bowl XLV

For more Media coverage:

It’s Not 1984 Anymore: Motorola Xoom Commercial [VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 04:51 PM PST

Here’s one of the best spots of the Super Bowl this year, created for the Motorola Xoom tablet.

Notice the not-so-subtle reference to that historic 1984 spot by Apple, except this time, Motorola is the one throwing the hammer. Except for that lucky Motorola Xoom owner, everyone else is dressed in white, moping around like expressionless sheep.

With a quick look at the multitouch capability of the Motorola Xoom, we get a quick hint of its graphics power. But the message here is that the Motorola Xoom is a transcendent product, powerful enough to make people take out their white Apple earbuds and learn to live again.

True? Maybe. Skillful piece of propaganda? Definitely.

Your opinion? Please discuss in the comments.

More About: commercials, motorola xoom, Super Bowl, trending

For more Media coverage:

Super Bowl Advertising Play-By-Play [LIVE]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 03:17 PM PST

You can go elsewhere to get a play-by-play account of tomorrow’s Super Bowl, but for a real-time look at the commercials, join Mashable’s panelists at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday. Mashable Business and Marketing Editor Todd Wasserman will host a real-time chat including Mashable Senior Editor Charlie White, Landor Associates Chief Marketing Officer Hayes Roth, Euro RSCG Chief Creative Officer Jason Peterson, former Adweek critic Barbara Lippert and David Berkowitz, senior director, emerging media and innovation for digital marketing agency 360i.

Join the panel to pose questions, take part in polls and more.

More About: advertising, business, live, MARKETING, Super Bowl, television, trending

For more Business & Marketing coverage:

10 Online Resources for Free, Legal Music

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 03:10 PM PST


Free stuff. Those two words are enough to make one kick up one’s proverbial heels and dance out of pure, plasma-searing joy. And when that free stuff comes in the form of tunes, well, then the dancing becomes quite literal.

While we know no one in our illustrious readership would ever steal music (nay! death before thieving the whiskey and cereal from the gaping maws of those starving musicians!), we understand that sometimes one just doesn’t have the capital to load up on songs on a daily basis.

That’s why we’ve gathered 10 resources for scoring tunes online for merely a song.

1). MySpoonful

San Francisco-based startup MySpoonful just launched recently, touting itself as "Daily Candy for Indie Music." Three times a week, the startup chooses a new artist, writes up a bio for the band in question and sends users a free MP3 for download.

It’s like having that dude at the record store who always knows about the newest freak folk band in your mailbox — without all the “I can’t believe you’ve never heard of these guys!” finger-wagging.

2). RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL aims to be the modern version of MTV’s 120 Minutes, a show that specialized in new, alternative music.

It’s a curated site that launched as a joint venture between Downtown Music LLC (Gnarls Barkley, Cold War Kids, Santigold), and Peter Rojas (Engadget, Gizmodo, Weblogs, Inc.), featuring music that the editors think is catching on/will be catching on soon.

The editorial team curates between five to seven MP3s daily, and users can get jams sent to their inboxes via a daily newsletter as well. Unlike sites such as Pitchfork, which condemn or commend new tunes, RCRD LBL only shares music that the staff likes. We can’t guarantee all these tunes will be to your tastes, but considering the site was an early adopter of the likes of Kid Cudi and Passion Pit, we think signing to this label seems prudent.

3). Insound

Do you enjoy the smooth, plasticine feeling of vinyl in your mits? Well, online record (yes, real records) store InSound has you covered when it comes to that — and the less tangible MP3 as well.

Every month, InSound sends out a downloadable, digital mixtape packed with artists both known and up-and-coming — each one has between 10 and 20 songs. The store has also just started sending out a vinyl newsletter mixtape, which features tracks from new vinyl releases (this comes out every other Thursday). The site also has a dedicated free MP3 section.

Think of Insound’s fare as your own, personal listening booth — that you can take with you.

4). The Downplayer

The Internet is crawling with free MP3s — however, unless you’re a musician in between tours without anything to do all day — it can be hard to track them down. Well, let The Downplayer be that idle band member for you.

The Downplayer is a website that is updated daily (sans weekends and holidays) with 10 new MP3s per day. Add it to your bookmarks and reap the benefits of new jams every dreary day of the work week.

5). Free Music Archive

You know that friend who always knows what’s going down in the reggae scene — and only the reggae scene? It’s cool that he’s so into reggae — if not a tad hilarious, considering he’s from Mount Carroll, Illinois — and he always has good recommendations when it comes to that space, but he’s not good for much else.

Well, imagine having a ton of musically inclined friends with a wide array of eclectic tastes, all down to make you a mixtape. That’s kind of what’s it’s like visiting the Free Music Archive. The Archive is populated by an array of Curators — indie radio stations, venues, art organizations, record labels etc — who all contribute content like original recordings (some of which they have produced), jams from Creative Commons and more.

So if you’re really itching to hear song tunes from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or a live performance by Suuns — or even some reggae — the FMA is for you.

6). mFlow

mFlow, by its own description, is "Twitter meets iTunes," in that it allows users to both share and buy music. In essence, it's a music discovery service/social network.

Create a free account on mFlow, connect it to your social networks, and start searching for music. When you find something you like, you can “Flow” it (share it to your social networks) — and the first 10 songs you Flow you can download for free. You can also buy tracks.

The coolest part of this service, however, is the rewards you can reap for flowing/recommending jams. If a friend buys a song you share, you get credit for future purchases. In short: Sometimes it pays to be an overbearing music snob.

Sadly, the site is not fully available in the U.S. yet — you can still listen to Flows and download your 10 free tracks, but you can't buy music. mFlow, however, has plans to become fully available in the U.S. toward the end of 2011.

7). Disrupt.fm

Disrupt.fm is based on the premise that pirating music is a common occurrence — one that yields no benefit for musicians when it comes to publicity. To solve that quandary, Disupt.fm has come up with an alternative method of free music sharing.

Basically, artists can upload their music to Disrupt.fm, which users can then download for free. However, that song doesn't just end up in the black void of a user's iTunes library — since one is prompted to connect to Disrupt.fm via Facebook, the song is also automatically shared to the user's Facebook wall, where it can be listened to as a stream by friends.

8). SoundCloud

A frontrunner (in my opinion) in the race to replace MySpace, SoundCloud is a site where bands can share music and interact with fans. Although not all music on the site is free — some is merely streaming — bands often offer singles for download.

You can also follow your favorite bands and keep up with their doings via your Dashboard, and join groups dedicated to various kinds of jams. This is a much more active experience than some of the previous services, but diehard fans and those looking to discover new bands should definitely considering deferring to SoundCloud when MySpace goes up on the block.

9). OverClocked Remix

Do you dig the stylings of such bands as Anamanaguchi (they scored Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game)? Well, then, you’ll love OverClocked Remix, a site dedicated to pumping out free remixes of video game music themes.

From The Goonies to Donkey Kong, artists pay tribute to game music, submit their jams, and the site releases those songs to the general public, free of charge.

Finally, something to listen to whilst playing Grand Theft Auto — besides the radio.

10). Ex.fm

Love the free MP3s available on music blogs, but too lazy to actually read said music blogs (or maybe you can’t read, either/or)? Well, there’s always Ex.fm, a chrome plugin that allows you to scrape MP3s from music blogs and create playlists from that sweet, sweet residue. Just surf from blog to blog to capture the embedded tunes.

It’s important to note that the service does not actually download the MP3s it gathers — you can only stream them online. Still, it does provide a handy playlist of available songs on any given blog (not all are downloadable, however — some are just for streaming purposes) that you can then go in and nab.

Bonus

Sometimes, bands choose to bestow upon us — Saint Nick-like — free downloads of their various and sundry jams. Girl Talk released his most recent disc, All Day, for free, and Trent Reznor released a preview of his The Social Network soundtrack sans fees as well.

Rock band Everest recently decided to give away music in a rather interesting way — as series of 20 or so downloadable MP3s of concerts called “The Bootleg Series.”

Jason Soda, guitarist and keyboardist for Everest, says, “For so many years people were always trying to find our music for free — illegally. [But we realized] the music industry is in such a weird state that you’re lucky that you can get people to listen to your music.”

Fans apparently appreciate the band’s willingness to share their music online — especially shows that the fans themselves have attended. “People go crazy, they want to be a part of something,” Soda says. “It’s like a makeout session with a thousand people.”

Image courtesy of Flickr/Sean Rogers/Charlie White

More Social Music Resources from Mashable:

- How To Make Your Music Video Go Viral: 10 Tips From Cee-Lo, OK Go & More
- 4 Ways Bands Can Cash in Online Without a Label
- Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands
- 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood
- 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head

More About: disrupt-fm, ex.fm, FMA, insound, mflow, myspoonful, overclocked-remix, RCRD_LBL, soundcloud

For more Media coverage:

Why Fashion’s Top Brands Are Flocking to Tumblr

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 01:58 PM PST


First, fashion bloggers came to Tumblr, and now brands are headed there too.

The latest major brand to land on the platform is Kate Spade, which went live at katespadeny.tumblr.com Thursday morning. The brand is already active on Facebook (for fielding, primarily, customer inquiries), Twitter (for talking to fans, and sharing images and content related to the brand’s #livecolorfully and #thingswelove campaigns), YouTube (for distributing branded short films), Instagram and Foursquare.

Tumblr, Digital Marketing Manager Cecilia Liu says, is an opportunity for Kate Spate to engage with fans on a more visual level. “People are using and sharing beautiful visuals on Tumblr, posting things they think are inspirational,” she observes. “In that vein, it seems like a really great platform for us to get our voice out there, not just as tweets and text, but through images and color, which is the DNA of the brand,” she says.

Like the company’s Twitter account, the Tumblr blog is already proving to be highly interactive by frequently responding to and reblogging other users’ questions and content. The brand plans to ask users to submit posts that align with Kate Spade’s #livecolorfully and #thingswelove campaigns in the future, which Liu says they will then share with the brand’s Twitter and Tumblr followers.

Tumblr’s Appeal

Fashion brands are creating increasing amounts of visually rich, branded content to share via their websites, blogs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Tumblr provides, among other things, another outlet for distributing that material. And, best of all, the native fashion community on Tumblr is highly receptive to it.

According to Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, approximately 180 of the top 1,000 Tumblr blogs are fashion-related. And fashion-related Tumblr posts are reblogged on a much greater scale than general Tumblr posts, Tumblr Fashion Director Rich Tong says, suggesting that “there’s a huge capacity for fashion content to go viral on Tumblr.”

Tong joined the startup in September 2010 to help advance the Tumblr experience for the fashion community, and to bring fashion brands, publications and personalities onto Tumblr. As part of that effort, and to increase awareness of Tumblr among the fashion industry in general, the startup is sending around 20 bloggers to New York Fashion Week next week, and hosting a party for attendees.

Luxury Brands

Other fashion brands are taking a slightly different approach from Kate Spade.

Erika Bearman, director of communications for luxury brand Oscar de la Renta, launched a Tumblr under the same handle she uses for Twitter, @oscarprgirl, in December 2010. Like Kate Spade’s marketing team, Bearman uses Tumblr as an extension of Twitter, but with a greater emphasis on images — mainly vintage photographs of Oscar de la Renta and women wearing his designs — with the occasional short caption or quotation. For Bearman, the platform is primarily a way to distribute branded content; she does not use Tumblr to interact with fans, reblog others’ posts, or, notably, push merchandise.

After all, most Tumblr users can’t afford a $5,000 cocktail dress, Tong pointed out, noting that most users in the fashion community are in the 13 to 24 age demographic. The goal of Oscar PR Girl’s Tumblr, he said, is to give the community something to aspire to, to make Oscar de la Renta “present and persistent in their minds” so that if and when they can afford a dress or a prized accessory, it’s one of Mr. de la Renta’s.

Another luxury brand that’s established a presence on Tumblr is Alexander McQueen, which is using the platform to get the word out about the relaunch of its younger, more affordable McQ line through a series of photographs and videos.

Mid-Range Retailers

ModCloth, a retro indie e-tailer whose target consumer is the Tumblr fashion set, and Ann Taylor, a brand whose products are marketed to a slightly older clientele, have approached Tumblr in still different ways, but in ways that still resonate with the Tumblr community.

Their Tumblr blogs are more product-focused. ModCloth’s Tumblr is simply a collection of other Tumblr bloggers wearing ModCloth clothes, which the e-tailer has reblogged from their respective Tumblrs. Ann Taylor’s Tumblr is comprised mainly of styling collages featuring Ann Taylor wares, and contains frequent links to the company’s e-commerce site.

Ann Taylor also has two side blogs on Tumblr that are far less commercial, and more experimental: one, On Tumblr, produced in collaboration with BlackBook, curates posts from across the Tumblr’s creative communities for its followers. The other, called "The Smartest Thing She's Ever Said,” ran for 12 weeks beginning in mid-August, and featured sponsored content created by artists and writers under that theme. At the end of the campaign, Ann Taylor gave away the theme it created to all of its followers.

Both blogs allow Ann Taylor to reach users who wouldn’t necessarily go out of their way to subscribe to Ann Taylor’s blog, but are still involved in many of the things Ann Taylor celebrates as a brand.

“We wanted to be blogging because we knew it was relevant; that’s what smart, stylish woman do these days: they blog or read blogs,” Julie Frederickson, Ann Taylor’s social media manager, says of the latter project. “We wanted to get our voice out there in a way that wasn’t contrived, that was as natural and beautiful as we are as a brand. Tumblr has been good for telling the holistic story of who Ann Taylor is,” she says.

Looking Ahead

Several major brands and retailers I’ve spoken to in recent weeks are planning to launch Tumblr blogs in the near future. It will be a space to watch as fashion brands look for new outlets and communities to share their branded content beyond more established platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

More About: ann taylor, fashion, kate spade, MARKETING, media, modcloth, oscar de la renta, social media, tumblr

For more Business & Marketing coverage:

Hearsay Combines Corporate & Local Social Media Management [VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 01:18 PM PST


Say you’re the head of social media for a franchise operation like Starbucks or State Farm Insurance, and you’re trying to coordinate all of your company’s social media campaigns, not only at the international level, but locally as well. Not only do you want corporate HQ engaging customers, but you want local owners to do the same as well.

Of course, that comes with its own set of issues. How do you make sure people at all levels have the tools they need to manage multiple social presences? How do you monitor the progress of thousands of local agents and franchises? And how do you stop a crisis if somebody at the local level tweets or says something that will hurt the overall brand?

This complex problem is something Hearsay, a recently launched startup, is trying to solve. Its product is Hearsay Social, a social media management platform, that gives companies with a national presence and local agents or franchises the ability to manage all of their social media in one place. Hearsay calls organizations that fit this mold “corporate/local.”

So what does Hearsay Social actually do? It’s a piece of web-based software that a corporation and its local branches can use to coordinate their social media efforts. The dashboard gives local agents or franchises the ability to manage their own local Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. A State Farm agent could use the platform to tweet, customize his or her Facebook Page and/or monitor LinkedIn engagement.

Hearsay Social also gives corporations the ability to monitor local engagement. Not only can they access detailed analytics for all of their agents, they can also catch when they step out of line. This is not only useful for when an agent goes rogue and starts swearing on social channels, but it also helps companies stay in compliance with industry or corporate regulations. It utilizes keyword flagging, workflow and an approval dashboard to make sure someone doesn’t tweet about something like sensitive financial information.

The result is a platform that centralizes social media efforts in organizations that rely heavily on their local branches. State Farm, 24 Hour Fitness and Farmers Insurance Group are some of the first companies to deploy Hearsay Social in their organizations, and they seem quite happy so far, if the case studies are any indication.

Hearsay was founded by Clara Shih and Steve Garrity. Shih helped build one of the first Facebook business applications when she was with Salesforce.com, but she’s better known as the author of The Facebook Era. Garrity is a former Microsoft engineer and was classmates with Shih at Stanford.

The company recently announced a $3 million Series A financing round led by Sequoia Capital and joined by an all-star cast of angels: Michael Abbott of Twitter, Steve Chen of YouTube, Dave Morin of Path and Aaron Sittig of Facebook.

More About: Clara Shih, facebook, Hearsay, Hearsay Social, Sequoia, sequoia capital, startup, The Facebook Era

For more Startups coverage:

Top 10 Most Shared Super Bowl Ads Of All Time [VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 12:22 PM PST

Excitement for Super Bowl XLV is upon us — football, the halftime show, and of course, the commercials.

Researchers at Viral Video Chart have compiled a list of the Super Bowl’s greatest commercials, based on the amount of shares they’ve racked up on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Viral Video Chart pulls in data from Twitter and Facebook APIs, Unruly Media’s proprietary blog scanning engine, tracking links and embeds of video uploads from multiple video sharing sites to determine the ranking of these videos. The data stretches back to 2006 and updates every five seconds. Unlike traditional video rankings that are based solely on views, this methodology results in a real-time look at the most popular videos across the social web.

Which are your favorite Super Bowl ads, and which are you most excited to see on Sunday?


1. Volkswagen: The Force


Already at the the most shared Super Bowl spot of all time even before it aired on this year's broadcast, this one's going to be hard to top. The spot propelled the Volkswagen brand to dominate pre-buzz of the Super Bowl as well.Shares: 465,824 (so far)


2. 9/11 Budweiser - AIRED ONLY ONCE


As a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks on the United States, Budweiser released this commercial, which only aired once and featured its famous Clydesdales bowing in respect towards the World Trade Center site.This is the most shared Super Bowl commercial of all time, grossing 426,691 shares at the time of writing.


3. Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like


Old Spice rocked the social media scene last year with its commercials featuring Isaiah Mustafa, former football player. Creating custom videos for fans, the "Old Spice Guy" became everyone's favorite topless dude -- the campaign even doubled Old Spice's sales and earned ad agency Weiden + Kennedy an Emmy. This year, he's back for more action, but this time, the next ad has been distributed through one superfan who will be tasked to promote it. Interesting turn.Shares: 413,138


4. Doritos - Crash the Super Bowl 2010 Finalist - House Rules


Running its fourth annual "Crash the Super Bowl" competition in 2010, Doritos drew in more than 4,000 entries. Among them was this spot entitled "House Rules" by Joelle de Jesus.Shares: 279,149


5. NEW E*TRADE Baby - Girlfriend


E-Trade's 2010 Super Bowl ad that featured the E-Trade baby talking to his girlfriend about the importance of having a diversified portfolio was a hit with fans, but not with everyone.Actress Lindsay Lohan sued E-Trade on grounds that the commercial was a parody of her life, as it featured a "milkaholic" baby named "Lindsay."The $100 million lawsuit was settled, but Lohan's reputation hasn't improved much.Shares: 49,323


6. Budweiser Wassup


Budweiser's "Wassup" ad campaign had meatheads everywhere acting mentally incompetent. It spurred a slew of parodies, including a 2008 politically-inspired remake by the original campaign's director, Charles Stone III.Shares: 31,870


7. Snickers Super Bowl Commercial 2010 with Betty White (LotsOfSecrets.com)


There's nothing more exciting than seeing Betty White get tackled... wait a minute. It's the surprise factor that makes this ad so good.Shares: 19,989


8. 1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial


Aired on January 22, 1984 during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, Apple's "1984" ad introduced the Macintosh personal computer to the world.As the oldest commercial on this list by a long shot, it has risen in fame as Apple has taken on tech giant Microsoft over the years.Bold in its message, the ad continues to be referenced as an example of quality work in marketing courses across the world.Keep an eye out for Motorola's Super Bowl ad for its Xoom tablet that evokes this iconic commercial.Shares: 18,787


9. Doritos - Crash the Super Bowl 2010 Finalist - Snack Attack Samurai


"Snack Attack Samurai" by Ben Krueger of Minneapolis, MN made the cut as one of Doritos' 2010 "Crash the Super Bowl" finalists.At the time of airing, it became the most-watched ad of all time.Shares: 17,180


10. Audi 2010 Green Car Super Bowl Commercial


Audi ran this commercial during the 2010 Super Bowl in promotion of the Audi A3 TDI Clean Diesel. It featured a customized version of Cheap Trick's "The Dream Police" playing in the background as "The Green Police," while officers arrested environmentally-unfriendly people.Shares: 17,008

More About: ads, advertising, commercials, sports, Super Bowl, super bowl ad, Super Bowl ads, super bowl commercials, trending

For more Business & Marketing coverage:

Old Spice Guy Takes an Elaborate “Scent Vacation” [VIRAL VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 11:12 AM PST

The Old Spice Guy is back with a brand new commercial, and after his re-introduction last month, he’s ready for even more action.

Here’s the latest adventure featuring former football player Isaiah Mustafa, entitled “Scent Vacation,” where Old Spice Guy undergoes an elaborate metamorphosis, only to suggest that perhaps staying in would be the best choice.

The spot just appeared on the web a few hours ago, on the site of 16-year-old “superfan” Chris Gatewood, a self-taught designer who earned the right to debut the latest ad by winning an Old Spice parody contest with this clever video:

The new Old Spice Guy spot won’t be in the Super Bowl, but who needs to spend the big bucks when each of his spots explodes with viral vigor, passed with reckless abandon, all over the world?

Look for this latest effects and sex feast to hit the airwaves soon, and meanwhile, watch Mustafa’s subtle acting and the spectacular branding continue.

More About: branding, Comeback, Isaiah Mustafa, old spice guy, trending, viral video

For more Video coverage:

Angry Birds Get a Free Western-Themed Update [PICS]

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 09:39 AM PST


The enormously popular Angry Birds game for iOS and Android just got 30 new levels with a chance to find one more, and the update is free.

The title of the new western-themed episode is “Ham ‘Em High,” and it includes subtle additions and improvements. (Update: The Android version is new, the iOS version has been available for a few weeks but receives 15 new levels.)

There are cowboy hats and sombreros that have their own unique physics. And, the game’s developer Rovio seems to pay homage to its handheld game competitor Cut the Rope — a new element in Angry Birds has rocks and sawblades hanging by ropes you can cut with the catapulted birds, turning the rocks and blades into rolling projectiles that can wreak havoc on those nasty porkers.

Rovio has hidden a secret level that you can find if you find a clue in today’s Super Bowl game, where an unlock code will pop up during a commercial for the movie Rio. Rovio recently announced a Rio/Angry Birds tie-in.

Check the gallery below for a screenshot of what Android Community says is that secret level — warning: possible spoiler alert.

Android users will be happy to know that according to TheTechJournal, there’s a bug fix included, adding QVGA support, optimizations that make the game more stable, and support for more Android devices.


Clever Name




The 1968 movie Hang 'Em High had a rope theme, too.


Looks Like the Roadrunner Set




Notice the hanging sawblade, which is pretty useless in this level.


Hanging Rock




There's that rock hanging on a rope -- watch what happens in the next graphic...


Rock Severed




Cut the rope and the rock rolls downhill.


Spoiler Alert




This is allegedly the level you'll unlock with a secret code that'll be shown in a Super Bowl commercial for the movie Rio.


Western Theme




Here's the first screen you'll see, with those obnoxious oinkers wearing cowboy hats and sombreros.

More About: android, angry birds, Free Download, games, Ham 'Em High, iOS, iphone, trending

For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:

Vote For Your Super Bowl Ad Faves On Facebook

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 08:26 AM PST


For the first time, this year you’ll have a chance to vote on your favorite Super Bowl ads on Facebook. By the way, the Super Bowl is on Fox this year; kickoff is at 3:25 pm PST / 6:25 pm EST.

Go to the Sports on Facebook page, and there you’ll see Facebook Replay, eventually including all the Super Bowl commercials. Although the page was supposed to open at 2 p.m. Eastern today, according to All Facebook, it’s already populated with lots of spots waiting for your vote.

Click “like” on your favorites, and the winner will be announced on Thursday. Don’t worry if you’ve missed the voting on Super Bowl Sunday – you’ll be able to pick your favorites until Wednesday.

Couple of comments: Isn’t this an ad man’s dream, where people scramble to watch corporate advertisements? Consumers are transformed into instant fans of these mini masterpieces, recommending them to their friends in an explosion of viral marketing. Maybe this year’s $3 million price tag for each 30 seconds of ad time is getting closer to being a good investment, thanks to branding via social networking.

One other point: Have you noticed the numerous references everywhere to “The Big Game?” Advertisers and corporate entities are bending over backwards not to mention those hallowed registered trademarked words owned by the NFL: Super Bowl®, because, of course, that’ll cost them. But not us — we can write it all we want, like so: Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl.

I’ll write one more thing. Packers by 7.

More About: ads, facebook, Facebook Replay, Sports on Facebook, Super Bowl, Super Bowl Starts At, trending

For more Media coverage:

Fun With Twitter: 5 iPhone Games Made of Tweets

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 07:14 AM PST


Chances are Twitter is where you turn for a dose of news, gossip and even some entertainment. But have you ever considered the gaming potential the micro-blogging platform offers?

We’ve found five iPhone developers who have, and thus created apps that turn Twitter into various types of games, including tower defense, a word game, and even a retro side-scrolling platformer.

If you’re looking for some Twitter-themed light relief, take a look through the gallery below for five fun games. Or should that be twames?


1. Poptweets




If you've got your finger on the pulse of who is likely to say what on Twitter, Poptweets is a really fun way to put that knowledge to use.

You can choose from a wide range of categories and are then presented with a tweet, and three well-known Twitter users who might have issued the 140-character missive.

Your job is to match the tweet to the personality. It makes for addictive gameplay with results that can sometimes surprise you.

Cost: $1.99


2. Super Twario




Possibly the most fun Twitter client out there, Super Twario turns your Twitter stream into a colorful, retro video game.

Using the iPhone's accelerometer, you (represented by a cute little white rabbit) scroll through the platform as tweets come across the screen. You can jump on them or perform other actions to retweet, reply, etc.

With a Game Center-happy, score-based reward system in place, you might find yourself loading up Super Twario more often than your "serious" Twitter client.

Cost: Free


3. ChumpDump




This app encourages you to sort the wheat from the chaff from the list of folks you follow on Twitter.

ChumpDump analyzes your follows and looks at who follows you back, their follow ratio, and any interaction between the two of you and then suggests a suitable candidate for you to "dump."

Once you've decided whether to save them or cut them loose, you can tweet about it, explaining your reasoning.

This isn't a game that you're going to be glued to for hours, but loading it up every now and again will certainly offer some interesting Twitter insight and kill five minutes here and there.

Cost: Free


4. Tweet Defense




Tweet Defense is actually a standalone zombie-themed tower defense game, but it adds in Twitter for some fun functionality.

The game uses your Twitter activities as part of your game stats, so the more you tweet and the more followers you have, the more it boosts your tower's capabilities, helping you fight the marauding undead.

Cost: $2.99


5. TwitCross




This might be the most fun word nerds can have with Twitter on their iPhone. TwitCross is genius -- a crossword game where you have to guess the words in the context of the tweet they appeared in.

Most clues are manageable after a bit of brain wracking, but you do occasionally get thrown a curve ball that will have you deliciously stumped.

Cost: Free

More Twitter Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Useful Tools to Track Twitter Unfollowers
- 5 Terrific Twitter Mapping Tools
- 5 Fab Twitter Follower Visualization Tools
- 5 Free Ways to Never Miss a Twitter @Reply
- 8 Fun Twitter Tools for Language Lovers

More About: app store, gallery, games, iphone, iphone apps, iPhone games, List, Lists, trending, twitter, twitter apps, twitter games

For more Mobile coverage:

Tags:

0 comments to "Mashable: Latest 17 News Updates - including “Rypple Improves Real-Time Approach to Employee Performance Reviews”"

Post a Comment
Newer Post
Older Post