Birchbox

Tech Office Visits – Past, Present, and Future

google office new york
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Last week I had the privelige to tour the NYC Google offices. Coming up in September, Digital DUMBO is hosting an event with Google Local and saw this as a great opportunity to visit their offices and meet a fellow Community Manager. (Side note: We both went to UCF, I love small world coincidences like that.)

google office new york

I’ve always had an obsession with visiting tech and other great brand’s offices in New York. Then I thought being the OCD list maker I am, wouldn’t it be fun to write down all the offices I’ve visited as well as the ones on my office “bucket list”.

Here’s my list. What are some of your favorite offices in the city?

Tech & Awesome Brands I’ve Visited:

  • Google – They have about 4 cafeterias on one floor with great food + Legos.
  • Buzzfeed – Everything you’d image the Buzzfeed office would be.
  • Foursquare – Customized conference rooms named after badges, cafeteria with a calligrapher that comes in each week to write out the upcoming menu and craft beer for the following week.
  • Warby Parker – Dream company  + Showroom inside their offices!
  • Shutterstock – Photos on each elevator door.
  • AOL – Catered events.
  • AppNexus – Have their own auditorium space and cafeteria space for events and talks.
  • Flavorpill – Graffiti, high ceilings, lots of light, Friday lunches.
  • Tasting Table – Spacious, lots of light, test kitchens on site.
  • MKG – Each conference room is different and has a theme + word search board and photo booth.
  • Percolate – I haven’t seen the new offices, just the old one!
  • Tumblr – They have their own Grady’s Cold Brew fridge and Tumblr user artwork around the office.
  • Bitly – Pufferfish every where!
  • Tattly/ StudioMates – Always full of fun surprises.
  • Ogilvy – Huge and fancy.
  • Times Square Alliance – Over looks Times Square, of course.
  • Birchbox – So pink!
  • Artsy – Probably has the best view of the entire city. Like Top of the Rock good.
  • Vemeo – Huge and snacks galore! And they have their own popcorn machine.
  • General Assembly – Open space, good classroom environment.
  • Huge – The whole office has design in mind. They also name their conferences after celebs. Justin, Britney, Kim.
  • Sesame St. – Interactive Sesame Street coffee table, their creative department is more fun and colorful.
  • Squarespace  – Customer support has their own floor, and they have pretty great snackage.
  • Contently –  Epic bookshelf in color coordinated order.
  • MediaBistro – Went there for classes, it was a pretty ordinary office.

Company Bucket List

  • Adweek
  • Barkbox
  • NowThisNews
  • Jetblue
  • FAB
  • Big Spaceship
  • Gilt Group
  • Livestream
  • Chartbeat
  • Quirky
  • Uber
  • Seamless
  • Songza
  • Aereo
  • Fast Co.

4 Top Campaigns of the Week | 7/23/12 – 7/30/12

~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Campaigns killing it this week include social “geo-targeting” snack giveaways, a hide and seek social twist to an old school game, what store locations have to do with branding, and a retail partnership I never saw coming. Here is a look at the top campaigns that caught my eye this week:

Clif Bars “MojoGo” Campaign

I am going to kick things off with Clif Bars “MojoGo” Campaign. Clif claims that this is the first geo-location Twitter campaign , the even sweeter deal is that Clif will give away Mojo bars. All you have to do is go on an outdoor adventure and tweet your geo-location to @ClifMojoGo. In return you will receive a coupon to get a free Mojo bar. I really want to go hiking now, I love free snack bars. Here’s the video for more details.

Birchbox Hide & Seek Pinterest Campaign

Birchbox is at it again for the second week in a row. Who thinks of these ideas? I must know!

I feel Pinterest is becoming a shrinking platform, that caters to a very specific target group of women. And yet Birchbox just gets it, they know that’s their target audience and they just go for it. I also love the Hide & Seek approach, it’s a classic game with a new school social twist. This approach also forces fans to search all of their Pinterest content. This can only mean one thing… they will get distracted by other amazing Birchbox product and will want to buy. While at the same time getting a discount. Genius, Birchbox.

Chobani SoHo Store:

This is not so much a campaign unless I were to include all their new Olympic Ads. This is about Chobani’s store in SoHo. How many people have opened only greek yogurt stores? Only best idea ever.

What I would like to point out that really connected with me was one of the many reason most restaurant succeed or fail… location, location, location. I was blown away when I saw this in SoHo. Instantly what came to mind was the last branded stores I’ve been to, which was M&M World and PopTart World. Both in Times Square, or as I like to think of it as nightmare city, yet just a hair above Chinatown. Given, yes, tourists go to both Times Square and SoHo, but there’s something about SoHo. Maybe it’s the fancy high-priced shops and restaurants, but I instantly associated Chobani with this higher quality with higher standards brand. While I think of Pop Tarts and M&M’s as being cheap and kid friendly, which are also other ways to think about Times Square.

Chobani SoHo Store Front

Gap + Threadless

This partnership blew my mind as I walked into the Gap. I have gone so far back with Threadless, like high school back. I remember the only times they would ever do sales was during summer and right before Christmas (now there’s one every other week). They were exclusively online and only had one store in Chicago where they are based. The uniqueness and rarity of their shirts is what really made me fall for the brand in the first place. Sadly, I can now get Threadless shirts at the Gap for $25 now.

I am still one of those that wants a Threadless store in their town. But a store or even Threadless vending machines are way better approaches than partnering with a specific brand. Now you’re limiting yourself to that brands specific style, it doesn’t seem like a Threadless thing to do. No bueno.

Top 3 Campaigns and Promotions of the Week | 7/13/12- 7/20/12

Image ~ ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

I thought I would try out something new and find the most intriguing campaigns and promotions of the week. Hopefully, turning this into a more weekly occurrence.

To kick things off, this week’s picks include an e-commerce brand’s Facebook approach to achieving more “likes” and customer interactions, a foodie favorite of mine whose Summer Cookbook snagged a collaboration with Apple and Starbuck’s “Pick of the Week”, and a beverage brand hitting the pavement in your local borough.

1.) Birchbox – Facebook Promo Code Photo Hunt Campaign

While Facebook no longer allows you to “Like” before entering Facebook contests. I love Birchbox‘s approach in thinking outside the box to get more “likes” and customer engagement through their Facebook channel. Now I will have to wait until Monday to learn more about promo code. Oh the suspense!

2.) Tasting Table Cookbook – Summer 2012 – Starbucks and iBookstore Promotion

I am such a huge fan of Tasting Table, so when I saw this at Starbucks today I literally did a double take. I am so glad that they were able to do this summer cookbook campaign with Starbucks and Apple, more people need to know about this brand.

3.) Vitamin Water – Guerrilla Marketing, Hitting the Streets

Vitamin Water brings the product offline and into the hands of the community. I saw them passing out Vitamin Waters last week in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and now Astoria in Queens. I love how they have been using this summer’s heat to their advantage and getting face to face with consumers. More importantly, they’re not taking it to Times Square, they are hitting the local community, which I find to be a great strategy since now I remember and am writing about their brand which means it’s working.