Shana Glenzer, VP of Social Marketing at SocialRadar, talks about how real time location-based marketing is disrupting the retail sector.
The DC tech startup community has a chip on its shoulder. That’s not a bad thing; it motivates entrepreneurs and area leaders committed to advancing the interests of the DC tech community to fight for respect. This respect can assume many forms, including funding, an available pool of highly educated, skilled workers, or just positive publicity and attention relative to Silicon Valley, New York, Boston and other tech hubs that seem to glisten more in the eyes of venture capitalists and industry pontificators.
As I networked and dined at MAVA’s annual holiday luncheon last week and reflected on the week that was in the local tech space, a scene from Jerry Maguire popped into my head. It was when Tom Cruise and Kelly Preston feed each other breakfast in the buff. Ok, that’s not the scene, but figured I’d throw it in there to make sure everyone is paying attention. It was Jerry Maguire racing home after the football game, bearing his soul to his wife, and exclaiming, “Tonight…our little company had a very big night. A very, very big night.” The flurry of venture capital raise announcements by local companies last week in fact represents a very, very big week for the DC tech community.
The three venture capital raises undermined a prevailing but increasingly antiquated notion that technology innovation emerging from the nation’s capital is government-skewed, exclusively b2b or, for lack of a better word, boring. Optoro, a startup that caught my eye approximately five years ago as a presenting company at a MAVA event, announced a $50 million funding raise on December 10th. The company stood out to me that day because the business model was simple (heck, even I could understand it which is no easy task) and it was clear to everyone in the room what the industry pain point was (retailers were not efficiently and cost-effectively able to sell excess and returned inventory), and that Optoro has developed a very clever way to address it (a cloud-based, multi-channel selling technology enabling retailers to optimally manage their reverse logistics).
The day before Optoro announced its massive funding raise, marketing software firm TrackMaven snagged a $14M Series B round from NEA, Bowery Capital, Silicon Valley Bank and others. TrackMaven is striking a chord with overwhelmed digital marketers seeking products to help better track and act on relevant data related to earned media, SEO, ads, content marketing and social media efforts.
The final venture capital raise last week is a company I’ve been privileged enough to call a client for the past several years – Canvas. The Reston-based company, which raised $9 million, has quickly emerged as the global leader in mobile apps for collecting and sharing business information. Canvas is truly disrupting how work gets done by enabling businesses to replace expensive and inefficient paper forms and processes with customizable mobile apps for smartphones and tablets, with no programming or IT required. There are also now more than 15,000 apps in the Canvas mobile business application store – apps that can easily be downloaded, customized and shared by Canvas’ growing community of partners and subscribers.
Not only do these funding raises reflect the diversity of startups and challenger brands that now call the DC area home, but also strengthens the region’s global position. Canvas’ Jason Ganz reaffirmed as much in his recent blog post that analyzed every startup funding round the last ten years. Among several compelling pieces of data, Ganz calculated that the DC region has 138 funding rounds listed so far in 2014 – making it the 7th highest region for startup funding globally. For the sake of comparison, there were 52 area funding rounds in 2009 and 157 funding rounds last year.
It was a very, very big week for the Greater Washington technology community, one that holds the promise for even greater activity and growth next year.
2014 has been a year of amazing changes in the world of marketing, where micro-targeting via social platforms is now mainstream, banner ads are becoming passe, personalized content is in, native and sponsored ads are growing in popularity, video is getting shorter, and a wide range of other evolutionary marketing trends are exploding on the scene–all designed to help companies and organizations identify and reach their customers. And guess what? The sky hasn’t fallen, at least not yet. But looking at 2014 is almost, well, old news. As fast as digital transformation has hit us this year, it will move that much faster next year. So we at Bluetext thought this would be a good time to start looking ahead to 2015. We asked a wide range of senior marketing executives–including technology leaders, information services providers, financial industry start-ups, and even top trade associations–to gaze into their crystal balls and share with us their Big Bet for 2015. We’ve compiled those below, and think you’ll find their insight provocative and challenging.
BET #1. PREDICTIVE MODELING
by NICK PANAYI of CSC Director, Global Brand & Digital Marketing
As we look forward to next year and beyond, I can tell you honestly that the “next big thing” in marketing has never been clearer to me. What I believe will separate good marketers from exceptional ones is the exploding field of predictive intelligence.
We all have abundant data now. And we all have real-time marketing dashboards that act as a high-definition rear-view mirror of our customers’ digital footprints. That’s table stakes. What gets real interesting moving forward is the ability to leverage increasingly powerful predictive modeling tools to peer into the future and optimize your marketing efforts before they even start! Predictive modeling allows you to extract maximum value from the investments you already made in your digital ecosystem and the knowledge you’ve gathered about your customers’ digital body language…..
Read more about Predictive Modeling, and what top executives from organizations such as Georgetown University, NetApp, and others think is in store for 2015 by registering below.
A pair of startups – Coin and Tile – are garnering significant attention for their recent product launches. In his most recent guest article for PR Week ‘the Hub,’ Bluetext Partner Brian Lustig discusses what technology companies and startups can take away from the success Coin and Tile are experiencing when it comes to how they have developed and executed their product launches.
Brian Lustig possesses 17 years of experience running award-winning public and media relations campaigns and is a partner at Bluetext. He has established himself as one of the most trusted technology media relations practitioners, PR strategists, and tech writers for business-to-business (b2b), business-to-government (b2g) and business-to-consumer (b2c) technology firms at all stages of development – ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 organizations.
Lustig specializes in public relations and content creation strategy and execution that raises the enterprise value of clients. Lustig has significant experience across a broad range of technologies, including mobile, big data and data analytics, cloud services, physical and information security, home automation, military/government technologies, and unified communications. Vertical market expertise extends from public sector and healthcare to financial services and education. He develops comprehensive lead generation PR and content marketing programs, which includes writing and placing thought leadership articles, white papers, case studies and other high value content behalf of clients. Lustig is a frequently published writer in communications and vertical industry publications, and currently serves as a regular contributor for PR Week Hub Comms and The Agency Post.
Lustig provides the following services to clients:
- Media and industry analyst relations
- Content creation and placement
- Strategic messaging development
- Social media strategy
- Speaking and award management
- Media training
Jason Siegel is a founding partner of Bluetext and his achievements in the digital and design arena have made him a highly sought after speaker and provided great exposure for him, his clients, and the Bluetext organization. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in web design, creative communications and interactive strategies. His award-winning campaigns for major companies, non-profits and trade associations have earned him virtually every award in the creative design arena.
In 1998 Siegel founded Internet Gravity out of his college dorm room which led to Yahoo’s College Web Designer of the Year award. Siegel has launched breakthrough marketing technologies and digital media strategies including the first large-scale mobile app for the 2008 presidential inauguration– named App of the Week by The New York Times– and augmented reality campaigns for major technology brands.
He learned that the web was a level playing field for anyone with a computer and a creative mind. Five years later he sold Internet Gravity to a top 10 global PR agency.
Jason’s tenure was highlighted by incredible growth and amazing projects, including a mobile experience for the 2009 Obama Inauguration that was NYT App of the Week and received a National WEBBY Award.
His entrepreneurial spirit led him to found UFollowUp, a marketing automation software company, in 2002. He successfully sold UFollowUp to Lasso CRM in 2012. These two tracks enabled him to found Bluetext in 2011, one of the fastest growing agencies in the region. In September 2013 Jason was honored with the ”40 Under 40” award by the Direct Marketing Association.
Jason was inspired early on by great artists like MC Escher, Chuck Close, KRS-One, and then in college specifically by the manager of his University’s Design and Publications department who encouraged him to hang out his own shingle – controlling his own destiny. Today, the wild imaginations of his three children, his talented co-workers, and the rapid pace of the evolution of devices and the human interfaces for them–things like Wearable Computing that takes interface design to the next level—keep him inspired. In fact, Jason believes Responsive Design and Wearable Computing trends will drive an interface revolution in the government. He predicts that true responsive design will be implemented government-wide, leading to massive financial efficiencies for all.
Siegel cites his Obama Inauguration App as a key career and industry achievement. This app won Webby Mobile App of the Year, AdAge Top 10 App, NY Times App of the Week, and put Jason on the national media front when he was interviewed on ABC News w/Charles Gibson during Inauguration weekend.
Siegel has an exceptional record for client service with expertise in User Experience, Digital Integration, Branding, Web Strategy, Email marketing and Interactive Advertising. Blue chip companies are working with Jason and his teams, including Google, Intel, Georgia Pacific, and many more.
In addition, Jason advises some of today’s hottest start-up companies as well, being on the Advisory board for PointAbout, DLC Solutions, and PublicRelay, and as a strategic Angel investor for startup Guide.
Streaming vs Cable: Who Wins? BoomBust w/Jason Siegel Chief Digital Offer of Bluetext from Bluetext on Vimeo.
A founding partner of Bluetext, Don Goldberg has helped many of the largest global corporations achieve their communications goals through public relations, media outreach, digital strategies and integrated marketing campaigns. In his 25-years in Washington, he has led companies and organizations through communications challenges and reputational threats, and helped position clients for success in the commercial, government and policy arenas. Don began his career as an award-winning journalist before serving for more than a decade as a senior staff member on Capitol Hill. During the Clinton Administration, he was appointed Special Assistant to the President, where he served on the communications team managing investigations and damage control for the White House.
Since leaving politics, Don has become one of the leading crisis communications experts in the nation, and is a frequent guest commentator on CNN, Fox News and other national news networks. His expertise includes helping major brands better position themselves before key audiences, whether government executives, policy makers, business leaders, regulators or consumers.