Category Archives: Website

Happy Prime Day

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When Amazon launched 20 years ago, online retail shopping was revolutionized. Ten years later, Amazon introduced the Prime program, offering members free two-day shipping in exchange for a yearly fee. Today, as arguably the biggest player in the retail industry, Amazon celebrated it’s 20 year Anniversary by offering all-day deals for Prime members and dubbing the day ‘Prime Day’.

In preparation for Prime Day, Amazon announced some of the top deals it’d be offering, but allowed users to anticipate the rest. And starting at 12:00 AM PT (or, 3 AM on the East Coast), the deals opened up, with new ones popping up almost every 15 minutes.

Customer reaction all day has been mixed, with some calling today a failure. Twitter users– using #PrimeDay– have voiced their frustration at being locked out of deals, the lack of transparency around the flash sales, and even the completely weird things Amazon chose to put on sale in the first place (check out Mashable’s list here).

Despite all of the jokes at their expense, Amazon is aware of the long-term benefits of Prime Day. Before the deals began, Amazon promoted their 30-day trial accounts for new Prime users on their front page. Since deals were only open to Prime members, trial users were also able to take advantage of the deals. By giving trial users the opportunity to experience Prime during Prime Day (and thus offering them double the savings), Amazon has surely proven the value of the program to many new users who will convert to paying members after their trial ends.

What Sparks Our Fire: Celebrating a retail giant for it’s long-term thinking

Envisioning A Whole New Reddit

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With over 169 million unique monthly visitors and the infrastructure to self-segment, some might wonder why Reddit isn’t already a go-to destination for brands looking to advertise online. From the outside, Reddit’s platform provides an ideal way to uniquely interact with consumers through sub-reddits that populate the site and segment users based on interests, location, etc. However, Reddit’s nasty reputation has prevented it’s advertising business from growing at the same rate as sites like Facebook, Twitter, or even the more risqué Tumblr. Even though 6% of the US population visits Reddit, the site has always been known more for it’s embrace of the idea that anything goes in the name of free speech, including online harassment.

As of today, Reddit executives are looking to change that reputation by implementing a new anti-harassment policy. Users will be able to email Reddit employees about harassment, which will result in the harasser’s ban on the website. While some are skeptical about about the impact of a team of Reddit employees monitoring this activity, most users see this policy change as a step in the right direction. If Reddit is able to clean up it’s harassment issue, the impact on the community will be an improved user experience, and will entice brands in the process.

What Sparks Our Fire: A policy shift that may open opportunities for your brand

#Mobileggedon Is Here

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All day, the internet has been abuzz with talk about #mobileggedon.  Don’t worry, it’s not as apocalyptic it sounds, the hashtag simply refers to Google‘s changes in mobile ranking policy. We want to make sure our friends and clients are aware of what these changes are and how they will impact businesses everywhere.

In response to the shift away from desktop to mobile devices, Google announced in late February that it would be making changes to it’s mobile ranking algorithm in order to become more mobile-friendly. Starting today, websites that are optimized for mobile will be given priority in search results, when the user searches from their phone. This means that websites must either have a responsive design or have a second mobile version of their website, in order to maintain their mobile rank.

We make a point to always recommend responsive and mobile-friendly design to our clients, because we understand how this can add value to their brand in the long run. And with Google’s incredible reach, we believe #mobileggedon will usher in the widespread adoption of mobile-friendly best practices.

You can check if your website is optimized for this change here: Mobile-Friendly Test

What Sparks Our Fire: The shift of policies to match consumer behavior

Eat Like The Pro’s

find.eat.drinkWhether you’re a local looking for the next best thing or a tourist exploring a new city, the founders of Find. Eat. Drink. have created an app and website guide for true food lovers on the hunt for their next culinary adventure. The app aggregates recommendations from some of the world’s best chefs, sommeliers, bartenders all over the globe.

All you have to do is type your location into the app, and it provides a list of different types of restaurants. Once you click on a specific restaurant it tells which pro has recommended that location and a brief write up about the restaurant from the pro is provided.

This app will help you find hidden gems, dives you didn’t know existed, and they are all recommendations from credible sources. It also provides recipes and specific articles.

What Sparks our Fire:  A new spin on the typical food-finder app.

What are your thoughts on Find. Eat. Drink?

Say Thanks With Facebook

8b1de2b5-343b-4734-b3a0-66048db520a0-bestSizeAvailableWhat is the most important part of your Facebook experience? Your friends, of course. For that matter, Facebook has launched a new ‘Say Thanks’ feature to express your gratitude to friends, family, co-workers and loved ones. Say gracias by creating and sharing an animated slideshow of your shared Facebook history set to the tune of inspirational music. The slideshow gives you the chance to relive past moments with the person you select. You can edit photos and posts those that best represent your friendship. There’s no limit to how many personalized videos you can create and share. So, get moving, it might take you a while to thank all 1000+ of friends. And please don’t forget those bothersome ones who keep inviting you to play FarmVille. The new feature is similar to the year-in review videos Facebook offered at the end of 2013 that we all loved. How apropros, ‘Say Thanks’ came just in time for the Thanksgiving season.

What Sparks Our Fire:  The perfect Facebook feature to celebrate friendships on social media.

Will you be using Say Thanks? Create your personalized video card here.