The Age of the Connected Consumer

Something we marketers need to continuously remind ourselves of: We are living in the ‘Age of the Consumer’. Consumers are constantly connected through smartphones and tablets noting their every move and every purchase. And what happens before and after every purchase? The customer review. Online testimonials can make or break a brand’s reputation overnight. This means that companies need to engage customers and build long term relationships so that their brands become a part of the consumers’ daily lives. It's not just about technology and information anymore, consumers’ opinion of a brand’s performance is what drives growth in revenue now.

One way for marketers to do that is by becoming an integral part of your customers' narratives, and building a solid presence on the channels where their fans are active. We recently heard of a great example of a brand who got it right. This fall, iHeartRadio, a free digital radio service, launched a nationwide marketing campaign to engage with college coeds at 10 university campuses by swapping Instagram photos for free merchandise. As for the outcome of the campaign, iHeartRadio gathered 5.7 million impressions of likes, shares, and views on Instagram within the first week. By leveraging a social media app that their target audience was already actively engaged with, iHeartRadio was able to effortlessly become a part of their potential consumers’ daily lives.

If your brand audience comprises Gen Y, then Instagram is one channel where your brand needs to shine. Did you know that Pixe Encore and Pixe Snap enable you to do just that – and with almost no effort needed from your marketing team. Users can post branded photos directly to Instagram with your brand hashtag and logo using both Pixe Encore and Pixe Snap.

Pixe Social partners New York Comic Con and BizBash are two popular brands that have seen considerable outreach with fans’ Pixe photos and their custom hashtags on Instagram recently. The #NYCC hashtag was tagged in over 240,000 posts and BizBash attendees shared the custom event hashtags over 7,700 times. Attendees at recent NYCC and BizBash events were eager to share their photos on Instagram to become a part of the shows themselves.

Make sure to check out the Pixe Social Instagram page to see photos from many of our clients’ recent social campaigns.

The Impact of Social Media on Small Businesses

Photo courtesy of Symphony Blush

Last week, Pixe Social's Director of Sales, Michael Krantz, recounted his adventures in cosplay at New York Comic Con (NYCC). Michael had the opportunity to partner with a talented special effects makeup artist, Lindsey Ann, of Symphony Blush. The experiences had by both Michael and Lindsey's experiences are a reflection on  how beneficial social media promotion and engagement can be for small businesses.

These days, social media isn’t just for social interactions at a personal level. While posting pictures of your family and friends and rekindling friendships from high school may have been the original plan for networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, businesses big and small, have finally figured out how to connect with previously unattainable audiences and potential customers online.

Sharing her thoughts on social media, Lindsey-shared explained how it allows her to make people aware of what is happening in her world of photo shoots, films, and special events. Leveraging Facebook, Twitter, and especially Instagram, Lindsey welcomes fans to contribute to as well as share her entertaining experiences. “Once Instagram was created, it was easy. Just one click of a button and I can share a picture that other people were able to see, making it much easier to view my work. Social media allowed me to make people aware of any events that I was attending, like New York Comic Con, so they can be a part of it,”, says Lindsey.

Symphony Blush Instagram

While at NYCC, Michael used Pixe Social’s free consumer app, Pixe Snap, to expand the reach for both Symphony Blush and Pixe Social. By using the hashtags #NYCCPixeSnap, #SymphonyBlush and #NYCC on all of his posts to Twitter and Instagram, Michael started to contribute to one of the top trending topics of the weekend. “Recognition is the only way an artist can make a living. An artist's work has to speak for itself. If ‘Symphony Blush’ could trend [on social media], then others can see my brand,” notes Lindsey. Now, when Instagram users search the #NYCC hashtag, the #Symphony Blush” hashtag will be included in some of the posts instantaneously reaching a wider audience.

To learn more about how Pixe Social can provide your small business a scalable social media marketing solution, read our #SBW2014 blog post.

Snapping Cosplay with Zombie Captain America

Guest blog post by Michael Krantz, Director of Sales

While at NYCC, I planned on fully immersing myself in the spirit of the Show by getting transformed through cosplay, compliments of the very talented Lindsey Ann, owner of Symphony Blush. Lindsey specializes in the craft of special effects makeup, which she studied at MUD in New York City. I volunteered to be one of Lindsey’s cosplay canvases to roam the show floor and pose for pictures with admiring attendees.

For my cosplay, Lindsey chose to transform me into a Zombie Captain America. I decided to capture my makeover using Pixe Social’s consumer photo sharing app, Pixe Snap. Pixe Snap allowed me to document the transformation from start to finish, and share it through social media. Using the hashtags #NYCCPixeSnap, #SymphonyBlush and #NYCC I was able to share my experience with social fans.

I arrived at the Symphony Blush booth ready to begin my first experience in cosplay. Three hours later, after multiple cosmetic applications, an interesting attempt at putting in a colored contact while fully masked, and thousands of curious looks from the passing crowd, my transformation was complete! Zombie Captain America was alive…err, dead and ready to walk the show floor.

After a full day of snapping photos with NYCC attendees it was time to get out of costume, which I can say was very relieving. Eight hours in prosthetics, makeup, and silicon was awesome and a great experience…but I was ready to shower. Thanks so much to New York Comic Con, all of the Pixe Social team and especially Lindsey of Symphony Blush for giving me an unforgettable, drop-dead
fun time!

View all of the photos here.

Pixe Social Offers Exciting New Prizes for Official NYCC Photo Booth Users

Photo by Frank Shernoff

This past weekend, thousands of New York Comic Con (NYCC) attendees took their photos at the Official NYCC Photo Booth, sponsored by Pixe Social.

Attendees posed in front of the NYCC branded backdrop dressed as their favorite superheroes, television characters, and film stars. Many photo booth users opted to use props such as masks, superhero aprons, and our new neon signs. The signs, custom designed by SpellBrite, spelled out “NYCC” and “Comic Con” were a huge hit with everyone at the show.

The Pixe Social team snapped almost 8,000 photos of colorful cosplay over the course of the four-day show held in New York City at the Javits Center. Photo booth users were encouraged to enter their email address to receive a digital copy of their photos and to enter an exciting photo sharing contest.

The Official NYCC Photo Booth photo that receives the most likes on Facebook by 11:59 EST on October 26, 2014 will have their choice of one of three prizes:

• Playstation 4
• Xbox One
• iPad Mini

Start liking, tagging, and sharing your Official NYCC Photo Booth pictures for your chance at winning one of these awesome prizes! View full contest details, here.


Related Links:

• Pixe Social: Official Photo App of New York Comic 2014
  
  

New York Comic Con Attendees to Participate in #NYCCPixeSnap Contest to Win Cash Prize

This Thursday, October 9, 2014, New York Comic Con (NYCC) attendees will have the chance to participate in the latest Pixe Snap photo sharing contest.

Applying the geographical location features of the app, Pixe Snap users can select the NYCC location to access the contest. Attendees will snap a picture with friends in colorful cosplay while at the show, type in a fun photomonial in our custom NYCC word bubbles, and instantly share the photo on Instagram with the hashtag #NYCCPixeSnap.

We will randomly select a winner from the pictures shared on Instagram with #NYCCPixeSnap hashtag between the dates Oct 9 – 12, 2014, to be awarded a $250 gift card!

Are you attending New York Comic Con 2014? Make sure to download Pixe Snap app on the App Store or Google Play and enter to win an exciting prize.

Full contest details here.

Pixe Social: Official Photo App of New York Comic 2014

For the second year in a row, Pixe Social is set to provide thousands of comic book and entertainment enthusiasts with an interactive photo booth experience at New York Comic Con (NYCC) during October 9-12, 2014.

The Official Photo App of NYCC will be available in two stationary locations at the Javits Center along with roaming representatives in Artist Alley and North Pavilion. The tablet-based social photo booth software, Pixe Encore, will snap thousands of photos of cosplayers, amateurs and professionals alike, and instantly share the photos to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags #PixeSocial and #NYCC. Photos can be seen daily on the New York Comic Con Photo Booth Facebook Page.

Photo booth participants will enter their email addresses to receive a digital copy of their photos as well as links to share the photos with friends and family on their own social media pages. In an exciting contest, the photo booth user who collects the most likes on Facebook on their NYCC Pixe Social photo will win a either a PS4 or Xbox One!

We’re excited to see the creative cosplay, enthusiastic fans, and famous celebrities this coming week and we encourage those planning to attend NYCC to take a look at last year’s Pixe Social photos for some last minute costume inspiration.

Show Off Your Best Cosplay to Win Big with #NYCCPixeSnap

We’re excited to announce Pixe Social’s kick off contest for New York Comic Con (NYCC) fans across the country, the #NYCCPixeSnap Contest.

For weeks now, cosplayers have been brainstorming costume ideas for the upcoming NYCC Show to be held October 9-12, 2014. Hours of research, sketching, and sewing will lead up to a spectacular showcase of every attendee’s hard work.

In order to show off attendees’ efforts, we’re inviting cosplayers to enter an exciting Pixe Snap contest to win a $200 gift card from Pixe Social. This simple and free to enter contest will give people the chance to share photos of their cosplay outfits online with friends and family.

Enter by October 4, 2014:

•    Download the Pixe Snap app for free
•    Select NYCC location (to access contest)
•    Snap a photo & share on Facebook

 

The photo with the most likes on Facebook will win our exciting prize of a $200 gift card. Start snapping photos and sharing with friends!

MCM and Pixe Social: The Social Sharing Dream Team

In the fall of 2013, MCM Comic Con partnered with Pixe Social for the first time to engage and entertain their attendees at their popular events in the UK.

The MCM Comic Con team, organizers of the largest and most popular Comic Con pop culture events across seven cities in the UK, identified Pixe as a potential social marketing partner at New York Comic Con 2013, where the Pixe-powered Photo Booth captured more than 3,800 photos and reached more than 300K people on Facebook.

Impressed by the extensive viral reach delivered by Pixe, MCM decided to make the most of Pixe’s free trial offer promoted to attendees at the NYCC show, and invited the Pixe team to partner as the official London Comic Con 2013 Photo Booth. At this event, attendees shared over 900 photos on the MCM London Facebook Page, live from the show floor. These posts from the Pixe-powered photo booth resulted in tremendous online activity, with 16,919 stories created on Facebook engaging 182,975 people, who viewed the photos a total of 4,430,325 times!

Recognizing that Pixe Social is much more than a photo booth solution, MCM decided to leverage the Pixe Social at all their events in 2013 and 2014. The MCM Comic Con attendees use Pixe Social to keep share their special time and some pretty awesome cosplay with friends and family online, as well as with a huge pool of Comic Con fans on leading social media pages. Attendees love to record a range of emotional and personal experiences in the carefree environment at the MCM Pixe photo booths. In a special moment for both MCM and Pixe, a marriage proposal was captured and shared at the MCM London Comic con. We are honored to be selected as a channel for our users to share the biggest and the most exciting moments of their lives.

Since that first event in London, Pixe has provided a forum for MCM Comic Con fans to share their thoughts and feedback at many subsequent events, spread across different cities in the UK, including Midlands, Birmingham, and Dublin. While the post-show contest for the most recent event, MCM Ireland, is just concluding, the solution has reached over 51,000 people with continued post-show social activity on Facebook.

The Pixe team looks forward to continued engagement and fun at the upcoming 2014 MCM Comic Con shows.

Related Links:

• Press Release: The New York Comic Con Pixe Photo Booth Reaches Out To 300K People On Facebook 
• Press Release: MCM London Comic Con 2013 Partners With Pixe LLC to Engage Attendees With Free Social-Media Enabled Photo Booths
•  Pixe Social Gallery
• Pixe Social Features