Key Takeaways:

1. Advertising is now being taken in a new direction, where ads are being bought and sold through real time auctions.
2. Advertising will require measurable performance and ROI.
3. Key to success: buying media based on its expected value (customer valuation).
4. Tablet (iPad) inventory is the fastest growing shopping channel with 15-25% of website sales coming from the iPad; due to this ad inventory for tablets are becoming increasingly popular.

For more information on Tech Breakfast or if your company would like to present, please email sam@dotbox.com.

Key Takeaways:
1. Wildfire’s Social Marketing Suite is made up of: Page Manager, Promotion Builder, Messenger, Analytics, and Monitor. These tools and services are used in conjunction to ensure a successful social campaign.
2. Wildfire works with the Facebook development team as a “Facebook Preferred Developer” and has received investment from Facebook’s fbFund. As a Preferred Developer, they are consistently up to date with Facebook’s ever changing structure.
3. Campaigns and applications created through Wildfire have responsive technology that can recognize any interface (desktop, tablet, mobile, etc.).
4. Wildfire has powered over 250,000 successful promotions since 2008, including some dotbox promotions in the past.
5. Wildfire’s team is willing to work on any type of social campaign and can create a relationship with your social media team to ensure maximum results.

dotbox‘s Tech Breakfast happens on a weekly basis, if you’d like to listen in or present to our team, please email Sam Joachim at sam@dotbox.com for more information.

We all left feeling grateful to have spent two hours on a rainy Wednesday morning with other start-up entrepreneurs, the NYCEDC team and Manny Chirico. Apparently more NYCEDC CEO Roundtables are yet to come — a great benefit of running a business in NYC.

- Cecilia Pagkalinawan

The beautiful thing about inspiration is that it can come from just about anywhere — Architecture, landscapes, music. And in the case of our client, Theodora & Callum, the inspiration for their collection stems from the founders’ amazing travels. Born out of a love for collecting beautiful things from all over the world, Theodora & Callum is an accessories-based line featuring scarves, caftans, jewelry, shoes and bags. Only a year old, T&C has received an abundant celebrity following, being worn by such iconic figures as Oprah, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon, Heidi Klum and many more. It’s possible that when these celebs wear this bon vivant spirited brand, they feel as though they are jet setting to a far off locale.

While Theodora & Callum continues to showcase their worldwide inspirations through fashion, they are always eager to see what inspires their fans. And that is exactly what their newly launched Pinterest Contest strives to do. T&C is encouraging their fans to create a mood board that illustrates an array of creativity that will be channeled towards the brand’s future collection. Imagine your image of deep sea diving or a California sunset inspiring the next T&C item. But what makes this contest even better, is the fan with the best board is selected as the winner and receives a Scarf or Caftan of their choice! Talk about amazing! So what are you waiting for? Head over to T&C’s Pinterest page for contest details and enter now!

http://pinterest.com/theodoracallum/journey-with-t-c-contest/

Events Requiring Pass:

“How to Master Social Advertising” – 10:00 – 10:45 am May 14th, Buddy Media, Classroom 82 Mercer Street, NY, NY 10012 – Pass Required, RSVP to this event
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=21,14&event=186

“Creating and Sharing Content for Real Life: Content as a brand differentiator” – 11:00 – 11:45 am May 15th, Demand Media, Classroom 82 Mercer Street, NY, NY 10012 – Pass Required, RSVP to this event
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=15&event=88

“Online Content Distribution, Now + Beyond” – 2:00 – 2:45 pm May 16th, Vice, Internet Week HQ 82 Mercer Street, NY, NY 100012 – Pass Required
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=16&event=119

“Recreating Retail: Bringing the In-Store Experience Online” – 4:00 – 4:45 pm May 16th, HQ IWNY Stage, 82 Mercer Street, NY, NY 10012  - Pass Required
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=16&event=124

“The Science of Spread: What are people sharing, why are they sharing it, and where does it come from?” – 12:00 – 12:45 pm May 17th, HQ IWNY Stage, 82 Mercer Street, NY, NY 10012  - Pass Required
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=17&event=55

Events Open to Public:

“#WDESIGN: A W Times Square Exhibit with Instagram NYC” – May 14th – May 21st, W New York – Times Square 1567 Broadway, NY, NY 10036 – Open to public
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&acs=no&event=123

“The Personalized Data Revolution: Leveraging Data to Create Evocative and Meaningful User Experiences” – 4:00 – 5:00 pm Tuesday May 15th, R/GA 350 W 39th St, NY, NY 10018 – Open to public https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&acs=no&event=109

“Social Media for Managers: The Very Basics” – 12:00 – 1:30 pm May 16th, Tekserve Retail Store 119 W 23rd St, Ground Floor – Seminar Room, NY, NY, 10011 – Free, RSVP to this event
https://www.internetweekny.com/schedule/all#/?filters=on&day=16&event=127

Along with about 500 other media, publishing, tech entrepreneurs and business execs, we braved the rain and headed down to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City. I had heard a lot about the previous Wired events, but never attended one, so I was not sure exactly what to expect. However, with previous speakers like Bill Gates and Martha Stewart, and today’s line up including Marc Andreessen, James Dyson and Alan Mulally how could I go wrong.

My first surprise on entry was seeing a stand for a 200+ year old watch company – Jaquet Droz, not exactly what I was expecting at a high tech conference, but I applaud the brand for looking for innovative ways to connect to tastemakers. In fact, a lucky raffle winner did take home a $9k watch, so someone got to take a little something extra home.

In the first real session of the day, Marc Andreessen – @chr1sa (Venture Capitalist legend) was questioned about the “bubble like” tech economy and enormous valuations companies with little or no revenue are generating (sic. Instagram’s $1bn valuation). His view is this: it is not really the revenue the start-up is generating, it is the revenue that can be generated by the acquiring company. He also shared his belief that if companies like Kodak had been more aggressive in the day, then maybe they would not have ended up closing their doors. A lot of things look crazy in the moment, but only time will tell. With Marc’s amazing hit rate (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Zynga), clearly he has a number of reasons to be optimistic. In a departure from the norm, he discussed a new hardware camera company called Lytro that he has invested in, which is apparently re-inventing digital photography. Check out more at www.Lytro.com – seems very cool indeed.

In summary Marc was very bullish, and did not see the tech industry in any kind of bubble. He felt that the public markets are so soft that there is a huge pent-up demand from institutional money to get into private deals so they can make some decent returns. He may well have a point.

Next up was Stefan Olander, VP Digital Sport, a 15 year veteran at Nike. Who would have thought that a sneaker company would be leading the way in the crossroads of digital and sports. Stefan shared the vision for creating the Nike Fuel band, and a new measurement of “activity” – basically its a band you wear that measures movement, and tells you at the end of the day how active you were. Creating a number or stat to measure performance across sports categories is hard to do, but the Nike Fuel certainly seems to be a great leap forward. I was compelled to buy two devices on the spot (unfortunately Stefan did not share any discount coupons), so my wife and I can have some fun to see who is more active. Sharing this with friends should also be an added social element. The device resets at midnight, just like a pumpkin, so I guess any “lights out” activity will not get measured .

There is so much opportunity in the real time measurement of what we do in our daily tasks that this really got me thinking. I have often referred to the concept of a person’s “digital shadow.” A person’s digital shadow would basically be a real-time feed of all the data going on in your life. Twitter and Nike Fuel are just 2 examples, but this could extend to calories burnt, electricity used, emotional state, brain cells lost and so much more. As we all know it is hard to improve what you can’t measure. Now, we can look forward to a world where, “if it moves, it will have a chip and real time twitter feed to tap into.”

Dick Costolo – @dickc – CEO of Twitter seemed to harbor some tension with his interviewer Steven Levy of Wired. There has been a lot of talk of Twitter losing out to Facebook on the Instagram deal, and the pressure to make meaningful revenue from Twitter seemed to be the focus of the interview. Dick made it clear that no IPO was imminent, Twitter was growing very successfully, and that ad revenue for sponsored tweets would be $250m+ in FY2012. One area I found fascinating was his discussion of the two headed hydra between the creatives and the developers leading the product evolution. His view is that there has to be a strong partnership between the two, and that neither a design led product without engineers at the table, nor an engineering initiative, with design left to the end is a recipe for success. However, someone needs to make the final decision, so I guess Dick finds a way to sit with both sides and plays judge and jury. I look forward to seeing whether this new approach helps or hinders the evolution of the Twitter product. Given all the twitter activity around the conference, including my own 100+ tweets, it seems like their future is still very bright.

James Dyson – @dysonjames – was an understated rock star. From his interview, I got the sense that he walked around each day, getting frustrated that very little worked around him and so was challenged to make things better. It took 5,000 prototypes and 5 years to get his first invention to market – the Dyson Vacuum – with much sneering from the embedded competition. In today’s world of rapid start-ups and MVP, I am not sure his business would have got off the ground. His products are now market leaders in almost every category, and many of them have a very strong eco or safety angle which makes them stand out even more than just clever design. My favorite quote of the day came from James saying “there is no market yet in China for Dyson Vacuums as they have servants to clean the floor and spend their money on Bentleys to show off.”  An interesting perspective for sure. There was certainly no love lost between his company and the countless imitators that copy his innovations and try to launch them in other markets around the world.

Next up, Eric Reis, the writer behind “The Lean Start-up” was an excellent speaker. Surprisingly, he shared how most of his endeavours were failures and that is what really led him to write his book. Without those failures, he would have learned little. In fact, he even used his MVP model, by pre-selling his book and getting 10,000 orders, 12 months before he wrote it as a test to see if anyone cared about the subject. Not sure if this was truly his real intent, or just a way to show demand to a publisher (after all his string of failures), but either way, a great and compelling story. I actually give this book to many of our clients, especially those building large complex new digital experiences. I look forward to seeing if he has to pivot (inside joke) in a new career direction after this stint as an author. Only time will tell.

As a former employee at Ford Motor Company – straight out of university, I was excited to hear from Alan Mulally, the current Ford CEO. The title of the presentation, “The Car as the Ultimate Mobile App” was very clever and well-received. Surviving the recession without a government bailout aside, it was clear Alan has a very clear understanding that technology and being wired (or hopefully wireless) in our cars is going to be critical moving forward. As a mass auto manufacturer, it is hard for Ford to bring some of the amazing innovation that Tesla has been doing, but overtime, Alan made it clear they are committed to alternative fuels, high technology and the automobile being the nerve-center of our digital lives. He also made it clear Ford was not looking to make money from all this digital innovation, so I guess we should not expect to be paying $50 per month to get wifi in our cars anytime soon!

After the Londonesque rain and cold of the morning, the post event cocktails and networking on the roof deck overlooking the Hudson were a welcome surprise. Miles Nadal and the MDC team know how to throw a party, and the music, food and drinks capped a wonderful, motivational day. The future is bright, the future disruption is orange!

To look up more quotes and comments, check out the hashtag #wiredbizcon on Twitter.

Ashley John Heather, CEO dotbox

WWD, Rebecca Minkoff, Saks Fifth Avenue, Instagram, Percolate at DECODED

Dotbox along with notable designers, entrepreneurs and innovators attended the DECODED Fashion conference at Avery Fisher Hall on Monday, hosted by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Director of Fashion at Lincoln Center. The organizer Liz Bacelar wanted to create a forum where those who are in the business of fashion online and offline can meet, discuss, and have the opportunity to collaborate. Attendees who spoke on panels and mingled included designer Nicole Miller, Stephen Kolb – CEO of CFDA, David Karp – CEO of Tumblr, Jenny Hyman – CEO of Rent the Runway, and Andy Dunn – CEO of Bonobos.

dotbox CCO Cecilia Pagkalinawan and CEO Ashley Heather at DECODED

During the “Content-Driven Commerce” panel, Rebecca Minkoff discussed how much she valued the interaction and feedback she receives from facebook and twitter. Through social media, she has been able to gain insights into what her customers need and want and feel connected to them. When asked by an audience member how Rebecca Minkoff maintains a clear brand voice when others are tweeting on her behalf, the designer responded, “I tell them not to tweet as a single 23-year-old but as a 30-year-old mom who runs her own business and is always tired.”

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Carla Dunham stated that social media has made Saks more honest and authentic and drives brands to publish more worthwhile content. When asked by moderator Cate Corcoran of WWD on the purpose and usage of twitter, Dunham responded, “It’s not about clicking through to purchase via twitter but being part of a conversation and emotional connection with your customers.”  Saks also monitors social chatter to “hear what customers want and address what is not selling.”

More insights later this week on the “Crystal Ball Approach into Consumer Behavior” and “Consumer Powered Design.”

My full name is Onur Er.  Onur means honor in Turkish.

2. Where do you consider home?

I moved to NYC 2 years ago and I felt like I was born for NYC.

3. What is your role at dotbox?

I am a Software Engineer mostly focused on .Net platform.

4. Any secret talents?

It’s a secret . Well, I have been programming software since I was 10. I think it’s my only talent.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?

An astronaut.

6. If you could be the dot or the box, which would you be and why?

We all are small dots in the universal box.

Thomas C. Kwon if you need to google me. But you can call me Tom or Tommy.

2. Where do you consider home?

I consider New York City my home and have lived there most of my life, ranging from the ghettos to Tribeca as I got older. Today, I live in New Jersey in the suburbs right outside of NYC.

3. What is your role at dotbox?

COO

4. Any secret talents?

Hmmm… I play guitar and was in and out of bands throughout my life. I can also get an inserted cork out of a wine bottle using only a cloth napkin. I’ll only prove this if you place a bet on it, i.e., I don’t perform this trick like a street performer.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be happy and fulfilled with everything life has to offer…

6. What is your all-time favorite advertising commercial?

The Honeycomb cereal campaign in the 70′s and the 1984 Apple Macintosh campaign.

7. What is the most interesting comment/quote you have on your Facebook page right now?

I don’t pontificate on Facebook… But, sometimes I express random memes…

8. If you could be the dot or the box, which would you be and why?

I’m a lover of the dot but am a box. The circumference often feels like an area, go figure.

MDC is a global network of innovative and forward-thinking agencies that utilize technology, creative marketing, data analytics, insights and strategic solutions to drive bottom-line returns for multinational clients.

“This forms the foundation for a full-service ecommerce solution within our network that pairs creative and branding talent with technology and unique insight into the transformation of consumer behavior,” said Miles Nadal, Chairman and CEO of MDC Partners.

It has been clear for some time to us, at dotbox, that the opportunity to merge ecommerce and social media in the marketplace was getting bigger; in fact, too big for us. Therefore, we needed to find a partner that could help us grow. For our cross roads ideas to flourish, we needed to achieve scale in ideas and business footprint. It would have been close to impossible for us to accomplish this organically.

We started to look for a synergistic partner in the late summer of 2011. A mutual friend introduced us to MDC and we started an exchange of ideas. After a few informal meetings, we met with Miles and his leadership team. It was very clear at that meeting that this was a good fit for us — and for MDC.

“MDC is a perfect strategic and cultural fit for us,” says Zo, our CMO & Co-Founder. “They have a strategic and independent spirit that is perfectly aligned with our cross-roads vision. And we now have the momentum and appropriate firepower behind us to bring industrial strength to our capabilities and solutions.”

MDC is committed to innovation and are assembling an amazing group of talent and businesses that have a great deal of synergy. MDC’s leadership clearly understands the size of the opportunity that the social revolution has on how consumers interact with brands and purchase their products, both online and offline. And, like us, they have big ambitions in this space.

We see this partnership with MDC as a corner stone in helping us reach more blue chip clients and continue to evolve our services and 4CsX platform to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s socially connected, omni-channel and real-time consumers.

“We have a unique focus on building solutions at the crossroads of omni-channel commerce, content rich publishing, community interaction and contextual personalization,” said Ashley, our CEO & Co-Founder. “We believe that building a digital commerce ecosystem for the next decade has to involve these four disciplines in an integrated and seamless manner. That is what consumers expect, and that is what we and MDC Partners are committed to deliver.”

With the MDC partnership we will be able to dedicate more resources to grow the 4CsX platform, which combines traditional ecommerce features with innovative social tools, advanced content publishing and cross-channel engagement. This in turn will enable us to reach new customers for the advanced social commerce initiatives it services.

2012 is starting to look like a great year for us and social commerce.
Exciting!

Agency News site, Ad Age agrees. Check out their write up of our partnership here.