It was one year ago that CouponFactory made it’s debut and everyone involved with the project can agree on one thing: this year has been a whirlwind. But what began as an idea within the walls of Rockfish has blossomed into a full-blown digital couponing business that has won awards from AdAge and received an endorsement from the likes of Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, did you know Mentos used CouponFactory to gain 10,000 likes on their Facebook fan page in under 48 hours?

In the past year, the digital coupon platform has topped 300 clients, with nearly 500 coupons created. These clients have seen over 35 million impressions, 1.7 million clicks and over a million of their coupons print. All and all, it was a good year. 

Learn more about CouponFactory here.  

 Short-term, highly decorated and usually designed to bring an experience to life for the consumer – what’s not to love about pop-up shops? More importantly (at least in the digital industry), the pop-up store concept is both driving innovation and being made more robust because of it. Case in point – QR codes made this pop-up famous. Additionally, NFC technology is making payment simple wherever consumers are – maybe a little too easy depending on how much restraint you have.  This idea puts a different spin on the ‘localization’ trend and brands are using it in vastly different ways.

Brands that we’ve partnered with tend to push the envelope when it comes to digital, and EA Sports is no exception. However, as a brand that is typically experienced through a gaming console, they’re focusing more and more on bringing their brand to life in brick-and-mortar locations. Most recently, they launched a pop-up experience at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, merging the fast pace of Vegas with the laid back of experience of gaming with your friends.

The space includes ten 70” Sharp HDTV’s used inside and out, along with twenty 46” Sharp HDTV’s within the interior space

Running from April to August, guests can relax in a comfortable space (think your living room at home – only more luxurious and in Las Vegas) while competing with their friends on PS3 including games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Madden NFL 12 and FIFA 12. EA Sports is also extending some perks through social. Three fans of the EA Sports Facebook page will win an exclusive package complete with airfare and a VIP experience for two at The Cosmopolitan. And if you’re good enough to become mayor of the bar, you’ll be awarded a special EA Sports prize, so don’t forgot to check-in. 

The interior of the EA Sports pop-up experience

The popularity of pop-up stores has taken off in the past few years, becoming a useful tool for brands that seek to create an experience for consumers, but lack the brick-and-mortar locations to reach them. By embracing the mentality of pop-up shops, brands can create an immersive and memorable environment that reaches consumers in a short period of time, without having to invest in an entirely new market. Some brands who’ve had success with pop-up stores include brands such as fashion brand Cynthia Rowley, detergent giant Tide and even Coca-Cola.


 Coca-Cola’s Recycled Collection pop-up store

The much-anticipated partnership between Missoni and Target reached a fever pitch with their pop-up store in Bryant Park, a well-know fashion mecca in NYC – an example of success created by a perfect combination of brand, location and fandom.

 

Missoni X Target pop-up store 

If you're sold on the pop-up concept and need a little direction how to make it work for your business, check out this article from Inc. to get started. 

Guest Post by Claire Tiffey, Copy Writer - Frisco, TX

On Tuesday March 27th, I started my brand new job at Rockfish in their Frisco office, beyond thrilled to be back in Texas. And exactly one week later, on Tuesday April 3rd, Texas welcomed me home with some of the most impressive tornados you ever saw. I will not be sending a thank you note. 

Our Rockfish crew quickly took action to ensure our safety as tornado sirens blared outside. We waited out the tornados for about 3 hours in the largest window-less areas of the office: the kitchen, and a conference room. Our internet connections went down, the lights went out, the whole nine.   
 

Rockfish Tornado Command Center (RTCC)

Fortunately, Mother Nature loves playing internet poker and spared Frisco. But in the meantime, we managed to make the best of a scary situation. And in recognition of such positive resolve, our own CSO Dawn Maire gave out the following Rockfish Tornado Party awards: 

FREAKING IDIOT AWARD

Wade Allen (VP Coupon Factory) and David Morley (CD)
For so smartly standing in the parking lot in to see if they could SEE the tornado.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Matt Slaughter (UX Architect)
For keeping the troops entertained with his hauntingly accurate impression of Stefon from Saturday Night Live.
 

 SNL's Stefon

BILLABLE AT ALL COSTS AWARD
Tonny Verre (Sr. Manager Search Strategy)
For continuously working through the entire thing – the man never stopped typing.

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AWARD
Kristen Gallegos (Resource Manager)
For finding the safest and smallest place to hide: a supply closet next to the conference room.

PRIORITIES IN ORDER AWARD
Skyler Seamens and Hunter Pryor (Mobile Developers)
For getting rid of all that pesky beer clogging up the fridge as the rest of us awaited certain destruction.
 

Semi-trucks are flying in the air - sounds like a good time for a beer
 

FULFILLING HIGH SCHOOL DREAMS AWARD
David Naylor (Network Administrator)
For spending hours in a dark closet with 2 girls doing IT stuff

SAFETY NAZI AWARD
Danielle Walker (Sr. Recruiter)
For breaking out her Mom voice and yelling "you need to be in either the kitchen or the conference room NOW!!!"

HONORARY TEXAN AWARD
Our Guest Developers from Lowe's 
For asking, as any normal North Carolinian would, "is this normal for you guys???"

Texas might have greeted my return with CNN-worthy tornadoes, but the real welcoming committee was my new batch of co-workers at Rockfish. The experience almost makes me hope that another tornado hits. Almost. 

Today's video wraps up a 5 question series of questions to Executive Creative Director Bob Robinson by VCU's Brandcenter. Today he answers "How do you think a young, digital generation will move the industry forward?"

Bob Robinson :: Question 5 from VCU Brandcenter on Vimeo.

Melyssa St. Michael, VP, Search and Emerging Media - @melyssatweeting

March 30th is here, already - and as you may well know, that means your Facebook Brand page mandatorily switches to the new Facebook Timeline format.  If this change is catching you unaware, here are the three things you must do:

1. Find a compelling graphic to use as your Cover photo

You now have two branding elements - your logo and your cover photo. The cover photo is large (850 px wide by 315 px high) and is the "hero" image on your Timeline; make sure it shines by selecting an image that is truly representative of your brand essence. Also, be sure that your profile image (180 px wide by 150 px high) is the correct size - current formats are skyscraper style; when Timeline activates, your current profile image may skew depending on orientation.

If you are stuck, here are a few Timeline covers for inspiration:

• https://www.facebook.com/LouisVuitton
• https://www.facebook.com/chevrolet
• https://www.facebook.com/Microsoft
• https://www.facebook.com/nytimes

2. Decide if you want fans to private message you directly

Brands now have the ability to receive private messages from fans, just like personal profiles. By default, this feature is enabled once your Timeline is live. We recommend leaving this feature on as it can help direct customer service questions and potential negative posts off your Timeline and into the privacy of your Facebook Inbox. 

Here's what you need to know about Private Messaging:

• Fans can take their problems/issues/concerns to you directly, rather than posting on your Timeline
• For brands with large followings, you have the potential to be inundated with messages and requests
• A brand cannot initiate the conversation with the fan, only the fan can contact the brand through Private Messaging
• Once the fan starts the Private Messaging, the brand can only send two messages to the fan until the fan responds back

To disable Private Messaging, go to Admin Panel > Manage > Edit Pages > Manage Permissions > Uncheck "Show "Message" button"

3. Use Preview to audit your current information and clean up, arrange, and prioritize what your fans will see on your Timeline

Brands now have the increased ability to manage their information and present it in a more compelling way through Timeline. The new features allow you to prioritize your content, by enhanced posting features such as "Pinned" and "Starred" posts, a timeline feature that allows you to enter posts historically and strong Facebook App placements. When you log into your Page, Facebook will offer a "Preview" button to see your page content in the Timeline format prior to being published, which allows you to get a feel of what content needs to be prioritized and highlighted, and what content will need to be deleted.

Be sure to visit the Facebook How-To Guide here before walking through your Preview: https://www.facebook.com/about/pages/