Suzanne Pinckney's List: Collective2.0

• “The agency landscape has always looked for ways to evolve smartly like any good company should,” said Vance. “It used to be a big thing for agencies to try to go into brand consulting and things like that. Over the last five years, you’re seeing a lot of agencies get more into the IP game.”

   
• This new model requires that agencies do a complete about-face on certain closely held beliefs. They have to spend their own money and be prepared to lose it. That’s a tough pill to swallow for agencies, which live and die by utilizing (and billing) the people who work for them. It’s hard for agencies to forgo client revenue in favor of a skunkworks project that may or may not pan out. And the emphasis in these types of projects is inevitably on the latter.

• Brands engage the platform for six months or a year for fees that range from $5,000 per month to $50,000 per month. Crowdtap hooks up consumers and those brands using several methodologies. They can poll online focus groups of 300 people; they can share online content like video or coupons. They can provide influencers with the ability to sample products. They then share their impressions with their friends and report their activity back to the brand. And they can create hosted events during which influencers host branded events in their homes or in stores and report back those activities.
• For example, Old Navy has created the Old Navy Style Council, an online group of about 60,000 fans of the brand. They not only provide feedback to the retail chain but can also spread the word about what’s going on with Old Navy. Evans says that Old Navy keeps the group engagement high via Crowdtap in a number of ways. The retailer often shows the group new commercials before it begins airing and allows them to share the spots with their friends. He said it also does monthly samplings – every month it features a different item in stores and it will give members of the council, along with a few friends, the ability to get that item for free. Members blog, post on Facebook and Tweet about the styles, how they fit and what they like about the clothing. They can even post videos of themselves trying on different outfits.
• Not all brands use the platform to market directly to consumers. According to Leah Gerstner, vp of public affairs for American Express, the financial services giant is using the platform as an education and outreach tool. “We’re engaging with millennials on this platform to gain insights from them about what they are going through right now,” she said. “It’s certainly a tough economic time for young adults.”

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• growth-stage private equity to unique, innovative businesses in the natural foods and consumer products categories.
• led by the former co-founder and CEO of Bear Naked
• oulder, CO

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• Reid Hoff
• Reid Hoffman (via the Greylock DIscovery Fund), Felicis Ventures, Founder Collective, SV Angel, Morado Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, Keith Rabois, Jack Abraham, Lorenzo Thione, Benjamin Ling, Noah Goodhart, Craig Shapiro, and Doug Chertok.
• DIscovery Fund)
• Felicis Ventures
• Founder Collective
• Lorenzo Thione

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• January 20th, 2011
• collaborative consumption
• values as a competitive weapon
• sister funds
• 4 to 6 seed investments a year

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