A whirlwind week of panels, classroom discussions, and events is the only way to describe Internet Week NY. Bringing together masterminds behind the digital space, Internet Week NY covered how companies from startups to non-profits to corporations like MLB are harnessing the power of online personalities to market their brand and really integrate customers into their brand experience. Much like the internet itself (and was discussed by several panels), there was much “noise” or information to sift through. While valuable, it can be overwhelming. Thus, I wanted to provide a general guide with the most helpful info. While I’m tempted to talk about famous celebrities, Joan Rivers and Erica Oyama, I’ll save those and my favorite classes for later discussions. For now, I’ll attempt to boil down the overarching themes that wove the conference together and overlapped all of the different industries (from fashion to food to sports) taking over the digital arena. For all of the entrepreneurs, advertisers, and marketers out there, these are the key takeaways of which to make note.

Key Takeaways from Internet Week NY:

• Humanize your brand – Social media and the internet in general allow for a more personalized customer experience. Not only that, they allow for customers to have an active involvement with your brand. People buy from people.
• Encourage customer involvement with your brand – In other words, create experiences that involve people with your brand, such as holding contests, recognizing fans, and providing people the ability to vote on different elements of your brand. (Fun fact: People like their name and their voice. A representative from USA Mini Cooper and a panel speaker for a crowdfunding class both touched on this. USA Mini Cooper found out people liked to name their cars, so they had a contest where people could name the next Mini Cooper. Continue reading Internet Week New York 2013 in Review →