July 29th, 2010

Ripple6 Social Ad Offerings Are First to Incorporate Real-Time Social Conversations Into Online Display Ads

NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2010 –Ripple6, a division of PointRoll and premier provider of social media solutions for marketers and publishers, today launched two social advertising offerings — Ripple6 Social Ad and Socialite. Social Ad and Socialite incorporate real-time comments from social networking conversations directly into online display ads and, as a result, enhance consumers’ interaction rates with the ads. These products are the first of this kind on the market.

Results from initial campaigns show a double-digit lift in the interaction rate of Social Ad and Socialite units as compared to standard CPG rich media benchmarks of 5.68 percent.

The Social Ad product is for brands using the Ripple6 Social Hub. It pulls approved comments from conversations taking place within a brand’s online social community and places them into a display ad unit.  Social Ad gives brands the power to extend the reach of their brand community to any site where ads can be served. With one click, consumers can view a Social Ad and begin to participate in the brand’s Social Hub conversation. Through this integration with the Social Hub, the conversation within the ad can also be rippled throughout Facebook, Twitter, brand sites and more.

The Socialite offering is for brands that have yet to invest in a Social Hub but want to explore and benefit from the power of social integration in display advertising. It is ideal for single campaigns, event-based promotions or new product launches. Socialite enables brands to create a dialog in ads where users can view and interact without joining or registering with that community. When consumers interact with the conversation in Socialite, they can view and participate in the conversation, share it with their friends and even return to the conversation on a corresponding landing page at a later time.

“These products are about giving marketers more tools to seamlessly build their online communities of brand advocates,” said Sang Kim, CEO of Ripple6. “Social Ad and Socialite give brands further reach with the power to take their positive social messages to audiences beyond Facebook or Twitter to wherever consumers are on the web.”

Both Social Ad and Socialite include a robust analytics tool that measures social activity within the ad unit and gives quantitative ad performance metrics plus qualitative analysis of real-time conversations. The tool provides marketers valuable insights based on consumers’ activity within the ad.

Social Ad and Socialite provide brands with a flexible level of control because the ad manager has the power to decide which consumer comments appear within the ad at any given time. The manager can change the comments appearing within the ad hourly, daily or weekly, and the system is flexible enough to ensure that only brand-consistent information runs within the ad unit. With Socialite, brands can choose whether to audit the conversation or let posts appear as they occur. A profanity filter is always used for any posts, whether managed or otherwise.

About Ripple6
Ripple6, the social marketing division of PointRoll and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), provides a platform that enables brands to connect, listen and engage with social audiences through community management tools and social analytic solutions. Founded in 2006, Ripple6 gives brands an enterprise grade platform to manage their entire social strategy. Ripple6 is based in New York and its list of clients and partners includes P&G, Meredith Corporation, and Unilever. For more information, please visit www.ripple6.com.

Media Contact:

Jessica Fletcher, 646-202-9753,