Author Archive

Ripple6 launches OnDemand – a full-featured, turnkey, cost-effective community solution

Posted by Katie Morse on August 19th, 2009

We recently launched a new product, Ripple6 OnDemand, designed to serve small to medium-sized publishers and marketers.  Ripple6 OnDemand has a few key benefits: scalability, turnkey implementation and new monetization opportunities.

You may have heard of it during the Robert Scoble interview, but if not (and even if so), we’re here to tell you more about this new offering.

Ripple6 OnDemand is a template version of our White Label offering, able to be implemented in as little as 24 hours.

Here’s what you’ll find if you dig around a bit:

  1. Ripple6 proprietary features are included:
    • Social Insights allows you to conduct research within your community and across others on our platform
    • Brand Communities delivers another way to monetize your site without cannibalizing existing display or PPC ad revenue
    • Ask/Answer helps to encourage new members to join your community while also connecting current members 1-to-1
  2. Facebook Connect comes with Ripple6 OnDemand.
    • We’re finding that our customers are viewing this tool as increasingly important, and wanted this product to support this application out of the box.

We took care to design this product with our customers’ top concerns in mind.  Publishers want and need to generate incremental revenue, especially with social tools.

We’ve noticed growing frustration about the current monetization ‘limits’ (subscription-based revenue and PPC advertising revenue) and am happy to offer this product as a true alternative.

Brands Using Gannett’s Ripple6 Social Media Platform To Reach Customers

Posted by Katie Morse on July 28th, 2009

Online Media Daily

By Gavin O’Malley in Media Post News, Online Media Daily
Ripple6, Gannett Co.’s social media platform provider, continues to sign advertisers hungry for more accountable social media campaigns. Post Grape-Nuts, Benjamin Moore, Proctor & Gamble and Unilever are among a growing number of top marketers leveraging the Ripple6 Brand Communities social marketing technology.

“We showing these brands how to effectively monetize social media,” said Sang Kim, chief executive officer at Ripple6.

Grape-Nuts and Unilever, in particular, are attempting to form deeper relationships between its brands and moms on the Gannett Digital Media Network. For instance, Unilever is using Ripple6 Brand Communities to run the “Living Beautifully for Less” groups across MomsLikeMe.com’s 80 local mom communities.

The groups focus on the Suave product line and how the current economy affects the way moms spend money. By posting tips, advice, questions, and mom makeover videos with Luke O’Connor, the Suave Celebrity Stylist, Unilever and Suave are attempting to form lasting relationships with moms…

Read The Full Article Here… (Membership Required)

Ripple6 Brand Communities(TM) Unlock The Value Of Social Marketing

Posted by Katie Morse on July 28th, 2009

– Ripple6 “Cracks the Code” on Social Marketing to Moms for Post Grape-Nuts Across MomsLikeMe.com’s 80 Localized Sites –

NEW YORK, July 28 /PRNewswire/ — Ripple6, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and a leading provider of white-label social media services to enterprise-class marketers, web publishers and e-tailers today announced that Post Grape-Nuts, Benjamin Moore, Procter & Gamble and Unilever are among a growing number of top marketers to “crack the code” on social media by leveraging the Ripple6 Brand Communities social marketing technology.

The Ripple6 solution enables brand marketers such as Grape-Nuts and Unilever to connect with consumers and develop conversations and relationships with them in social networks. These Brand Communities can provide a conversation around the brand and its values to provide an entire community experience that is synchronized across the web.

Both Grape-Nuts and Unilever are forming deeper relationships between its brands and moms on the Gannett Digital Media Network. For instance, Unilever is using Ripple6 Brand Communities to run the “Living Beautifully for Less” groups across MomsLikeMe.com’s 80 local mom communities. The groups focus on the Suave product line and how the current economy affects the way moms spend money. By posting tips, advice, questions, and mom makeover videos with Luke O’Connor, the Suave Celebrity Stylist, Unilever and Suave are forming lasting relationships with a robust audience of moms.

Using Ripple6 Social Insights(TM) for social consumer research, Grape-Nuts also tapped into the MomsLikeMe.com audience to gather a deeper understanding of how specific groups of moms approach their choices of cereal. Nearly 100 moms participated in a 4-week discussion that covered 70 topics initiated by a moderator and the participants themselves about the importance of breakfast in a family’s life.

“We wanted to reach out to moms on MomsLikeMe.com, and Ripple6′s technological platform allowed us to do that in a way that was convenient and comfortable for them,” said Gregory Lanides, brand manager for Grape-Nuts. “This created honest conversations and feedback about our brand which allowed for solid insights.”

The Ripple6-powered Brand Communities and Social Insights technologies enables brands and marketers to initiate two-way conversations across multiple social networks that lay a foundation for future marketing and product development decisions, and engage and measure successful social campaigns.

“Consumers have billions of conversations each day across social media channels, but the marketing solution is not as simple as throwing a bunch of technology into social media sites and hoping consumers will interact,” said Sang Kim, chief executive officer, Ripple6. “Brand Communities are revolutionary because we’ve created a way for marketers to relevantly connect with customers in an environment that the customer chooses, and to build this into a single conversation that scales across the web.”

“We have seen our moms on MomsLikeMe.com embrace these conversations with marketers. Moms want to be heard and want to share their opinions. We offer an intimate and comfortable environment that results in openness like never before,” said Josh Resnik, vice president and general manager, Gannett Digital Media Network. “Leading consumer brands, like Unilever and Post, are becoming more and more aware of how these organic conversations are vital to their marketing efforts. This is beyond advertising; this is dialogue.”

About Ripple6, Inc.

Ripple6(TM) helps marketers and publishers implement their business strategy through social media. The company provides an enterprise white label social media platform to create consumer engagements and relationships, enable 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 Procter & Gamble, Meredith Corporation, Unilever and Post Foods. For more information, visit www.ripple6.com.

About Gannett Digital Media Network

The Gannett Digital Media Network, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) www.gannett.com, ties together more than 100 digital communities with a combined reach of approximately 25 million people. The media properties include Gannett’s best-of-breed news and information web and mobile sites, led by USATODAY.com (www.usatoday.com), and the local sites for Gannett’s newspaper and broadcast properties, such as AZCentral.com, IndyStar.com and 9News.com. Additionally, a variety of growing media properties, such as MomsLikeMe.com (www.momslikeme.com), HighSchoolSports.net (www.highschoolsports.net), Metromix.com (www.metromix.com), and BNQT (www.bnqt.com).com are also part of the network.

For media inquiries, contact:
Julie Nicholson
Weber Shandwick
212-445-8371
jnicholson@webershandwick.com

Ripple6 Expands Business Operations

Posted by Katie Morse on June 12th, 2009

New York, NY June 12, 2009 –  Ripple6, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and a leading provider of white-label social media services to enterprise class marketers and web publishers, announces a significant expansion and reorganization of its operations to support increased demand for its products and services.

Publishers seeking to monetize their subscription bases and marketers looking to build relationships with their clients are choosing Ripple6 solutions in ever growing numbers.  “We’re finding growing demand across the board, marketers from Fortune 100 brands, and major publishers are all wanting to get involved with social media.” Said George Moser    , SVP of Worldwide Operations, “Ripple6 is staffing up to handle the needs of our growing base of clients across the country.”

Mr. Paul DePinto assumes the position of Vice President of Sales East. Prior to joining Ripple6 Paul was Vice President of Sales for Invoke Solutions. Before Invoke, Paul was instrumental in the success of marketing solutions and Internet start up organizations Red Brick Systems and enCommerce. He started his career at AT&T and moved into senior sales and national account management roles at Information Builders. Paul is based in New Jersey where he resides with his wife Katey and two children.

In addition to this expansion to Ripple6 there have been internal promotions to enhance our ability to serve our client’s needs including:

Mr. Mike Tracy was promoted to Vice President of Sales West. Mike has been with Ripple6 for 6 months in the position of Regional Sales Director West.  Mike is responsible for managing the Western Sales region for Ripple6.  Mike has over 17 years experience as an innovative sales professional with start-up and formative stage software companies including KD1 and Net Perceptions with an emphasis on web, CRM and analytics.   Prior to joining Ripple6  he managed the Central & West Region for SPSS, a $300M Predictive Analytics software company.  Additionally, Mike was a co-founder and principal partner in Seamus, Inc. a sales outsourcing company assisting start ups with sales strategy.  Mike is based in Chicago where he resides with his wife Patricia and three children.

Ripple6 has openings for exceptional individuals in numerous positions across the organization. To find out about specific openings please go to: http://www.ripple6.com/about/careers.aspx

About Ripple6, Inc.

Ripple6™ helps marketers and publishers 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 General Mills. For more information, go to www.Ripple6.com.

Media inquiries:

Rich Ullman    

Ripple6, Inc.
SVP, Marketing
646-254-6787

Meredith Continues to Expand Social Networking Footprint With MixingBowl.com

Posted by Katie Morse on May 6th, 2009

Invites America to Join Growing Digital Community of Cooks

NEW YORK, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP), is continuing to expand its online presence with Mixing Bowl(TM), a social network built entirely around food.

Mixing Bowl (www.MixingBowl.com), which launched in January, is the ultimate online community for cooks of any level. With an emphasis on user-generated content, the site invites everyday chefs to come together and exchange recipes, plan gatherings or celebrations, share photos, participate in contests, post messages, and more. Mixing Bowl’s powerful social networking engine gives users unprecedented power to filter and control their experience.

The site is the latest addition to The Meredith Women’s Network, a growing portfolio of digital properties that engages 15 million unique visitors monthly, according to Omniture.

“Mixing Bowl is built around people,” says Jeff Myers, VP/GM, Meredith Corporation. “More and more cooks are going online to find recipes, plan meals, and to connect with others who share their passion for food. The site takes the online food experience to another level by creating communities that empower users to choose how they connect and engage with each other.”

The Mixing Bowl platform offers advertisers and marketers unique opportunities to target consumers by creating groups to test new branded recipes and products, sponsoring contests, and offering coupons.

“With Mixing Bowl, we’re breaking new ground with sponsors,” says Lauren Wiener, SVP, Meredith Interactive. “Marketers can become part of the site’s social fabric, which means immediate feedback and valuable insights into their customers. Plus, the powerful analytics tools allow marketers to measure the effectiveness of their site activities and the community as a whole.”

Meredith engaged Ripple6, a leading provider of white label social media services, to build, enable and maintain Mixing Bowl on its platform. “In addition to their tools for measurement and monetization, the Ripple6 group functionality provides us with a powerful platform for marketers and sponsors to come into Mixing Bowl, participate, and add value to the community,” said Myers.

The site is being promoted online, in-book, and via e-newsletter, through Meredith’s portfolio of media brands. Additional customized features will continue to roll out in 2009. As an extension of the website, a Mixing Bowl special interest publication will be introduced this summer.

“Mixing Bowl significantly enriches our strategic goal of deepening our conversation with women on all platforms, but particularly within the digital space,” says Jack Griffin, President, Meredith Publishing Group. “We believe it strongly positions Meredith for growth in this key strategic sector of our media business.”

Contact: Amanda Cortese / / 212.551.7087

Becky Wisdom / / 212.551.7189