Wildfire

Look Who's Making Money on Facebook
CNN Money, July 22, 2010
"...Wildfire rummages through its bag of tricks to build marketing campaigns that include contests, coupons, quizzes and virtual gifts. The Holy Grail, says co-founder Victoria Ransom, is to get a campaign going viral. That spreads brand recognition like, well, wildfire. Read more..."

App Lets Brands Add Groupon-Like Deals to Facebook Pages
Mashable, July 20, 2010
"Wildfire, makers of promotional tools for brands on Facebook, is releasing a new application that lets marketers and brands turn their Facebook Page or website in to a deal hub. The new application is called Group Deals, and it is designed to be like a do-it-yourself Groupon add-on to Facebook Pages and company websites via Facebook Connect. Read more..."

Wildfire Launches Group Buying For Facebook Pages
AllFacebook.com, July 20, 2010
"Wildfire, one of the leading social media marketing platforms, announced a new product today which enables Facebook Page administrators with “Group Deals” which “enables businesses, brands and agencies to easily create and run their own Groupon-like deals on their Facebook Fan Pages and websites”. Given all the buzz surrounding Groupon, LivingSocial, and other large group buying services, this product sounds like a great fit. Read more..."

Wildfire Launches Group Deals on Facebook
InsideFacebook.com, July 20, 2010
"Wildfire is launching a Groupon or LivingSocial Deals-style application on Facebook this week, called Group Deals. It’s designed to allow brand Page administrators to set up group promotions on a Facebook Page within a matter of minutes, then get their discount offers shared among friends. Read more..."

Build an Engaged Facebook Fan Page Base Using Multiple Channels
Small Business Trends Radio, June 15, 2010
"Victoria Ransom is Founder and CEO of Wildfire Interactive, a platform that enables small businesses to easily and cost-effectively manage their social media marketing needs. Victoria started Wildfire to serve her own need – she needed an affordable way to building an engaged fan base on the Facebook page of her own small business. Read more..."

Wildfire’s Founder On How To Land Big Clients Even If You’re A Bootstrapped Startup-- with Victoria Ransom
Mixergy, May 27, 2010
"The first thing I noticed when I checked out her web site is her clients' logos: Pepsi, Universal Studios, Facebook, Victoria Secret, and many other big names. How did Victoria Ransom's young company get such well-known clients. That's one of the big questions that I asked her in this interview. I also asked about how she bootstrapped her company, how she builds fans for her clients, how she built a profitable company before Wildfire, and more. Read more..."

HOW TO: Start a Small Business Social Good Campaign
Mashable, May 27, 2010
"Wildfire co-founder and CEO Victoria Ransom has seen first hand how small businesses successfully use their service. 'One of the most successful cause campaigns we’ve seen was for an animal rescue organization,' she said. 'The campaign was based around people uploading stories about their pets and why they love animals. This campaign received over 10,000 entries. Most big brands would be thrilled to get this and would spend a lot of money.' Read more..."

Social Media Marketing Tweaks That Make a Difference
GigaOm, May 12, 2010
"'Make promotions fun,' said Wildfire Interactive CEO Victoria Ransom. For the private retailer Hautelook, Wildfire turned coupons awarded to fans on Facebook into a game. Users didn’t know the value of a coupon they received — anywhere between 10 and 90 percent off — until they redeemed it. Hautelook received five times as much revenue as what they spent on the campaign, with customers including 20 percent first-time buyers and many more people who hadn’t purchased in a while that the company assumed weren’t coming back anymore. Read more..."

From Bulls to Silicon Valley like Wildfire
Stuff New Zealand, May 10, 2010
"Kiwi Victoria Ransom has joined Silicon Valley's elite after securing US$4 million (NZ$5.6m) from "tier one" venture capital group Summit Partners and angel investors for a minority stake in social media marketing company Wildfire Interactive. Ms Ransom, 34, who grew up near Bulls and now lives in San Francisco, says software developed by Wildfire has been used to manage more than 30,000 campaigns on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. She founded the company less than three years ago with her partner, Alain Chuard. Read more..."

Facebook: Personalization vs. Privacy
CBC News, April 30, 2010
"At the conference I sought advice from people who stand to benefit the most from these changes: the Facebook developers. How would they suggest I explain the changes to my mom? 'I guess I would say that online there is a way of recognizing who you are,' Victoria Ransom, CEO of social promotion and engagement firm Wildfire Interactive, said. 'Facebook is now tapping into that … so that when you come to this web page, they're going to give you a much better experience.' Read more..."

Facebook Marketing Start-Up Capitalizes on Social-Media Buzz
The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2010
"As more brands move their marketing onto sites like Facebook and Twitter, a start-up called Wildfire Interactive — which helps create social-media promotions like quizzes and coupons — has found itself in the right place at the right time. The company became profitable soon after it moved its software out of testing in August 2009 and plans to announce an investment Monday of about $4 million, according to co-founder and CEO Victoria Ransom. The backers include some big names in the start-up world: private-equity firm Summit Partners as well as technology investors Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut and Gary Vaynerchuk. Read more..."

Wildfire Raises $4 Million For Social Media Marketing Platform
San Francisco Business Times, April 26, 2010
"Wildfire Interactive, Inc., a Facebook-backed Palo Alto startup that runs automated interactive promotions on social web sites like Facebook and Twitter, has received a $4 million found of investment led by Summit Partners. Also participating in the round were prominent individual venture capitalists Jeff Clavier and Aydin Senkut and Wine Library TV host Gary Vaynerchuk. Read more..."

Wildfire Raises $4 Million For Social Media Marketing Platform
TechCrunch, April 26, 2010
"Wildfire’s platform makes it relatively easy for marketers to create attractive, branded social media marketing campaigns (e.g. sweepstakes, contests, coupons, giveaways, quizzes, virtual gift campaigns and more) and to simultaneously publish them on Facebook fan pages, on company websites (integrated with Facebook Connect) and on Twitter. Read more..."

Wildfire Interactive Raises $4 Million For Social Marketing Services
InsideFacebook.com, April 26, 2010
"Wildfire Interactive, a social marketing services company that has been active on Facebook since 2008, has just raised a $4.04 million first round of funding led by private equity firm Summit Partners, with participation from well-known angel investors Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut and Gary Vaynerchuk participating. Read more..."

Big Money in Facebook Marketing
Web Pro News, April 26, 2010
"Wildfire Interactive has received $4.04MM in Series A funding lead by Summit Partners. Additional investors include Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut and Gary Vaynerchuk. CEO Victoria Ransom tells WebProNews, "To our knowledge, we are the first fbFund company to raise a multi-million dollar round." fbFund is a $10M seed fund and joint venture partially run by Facebook. Read more..."

Wildfire Interactive Raises $4 Million for Social Media Marketing
Digital Media Wire, April 26, 2010
"Wildfire Interactive, a developer of social media marketing software, announced on Monday that it has raised $4.04 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Summit Partners. Angel investors including Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut and Gary Vaynerchuk also participated in the round, proceeds from which will go towards development of the company's platform. Read more..."

Will Facebook Dominate the Future Web?
CNN SciTechBlog, April 22, 2010
"It's hard to make sense of Facebook's announcement from Wednesday's f8 conference without an analogy. Here's one of my favorites: 'I think it's going to become the plumbing of the web,' Alain Chuard, co-founder of Wildfire, a promotions app and website that piggybacks on Facebook's infrastructure, told me at the conference. Read more..."

Facebook and its Satellites Rise on Social Media Tide
San Francisco Business Journal, April 16, 2010
"Social networking has been good for the Peninsula economy, with industry leader Facebook Inc. breaking at the seams and numerous companies in and out of the Facebook ecosystem taking root and expanding by leaps and bounds. 'Certainly the economy has been going through a really rough time, but in our particular space it feels like there’s been boundless opportunity and very rapid growth,' said Victoria Ransom, co-founder and CEO of Wildfire Interactive Inc. Read more..."

5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page
OpenForum.com, March 19, 2010
"Contests and giveaways are a great way to engage people with your brand, especially on the social web. A chance at some free stuff is one of the top reasons people follow and friend brands in the first place. The Promotions app makes it easy to build and publish a contest on Facebook in a way that is inherently social and shareable. Read more..."

10 Essential Social Media Tips for B2B Marketers
Mashable.com, March 18, 2010
"Sometimes, the hardest part of social media is sticking out from the sea of other users. Giveaways and promotions are a great way to help differentiate yourself and your business. Using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, you can target your desired customer base and then let them know (if appropriate) about different promotions or giveaways related to your product. If you offer a service, consider giving a free year to a loyal customer. If you manufacture products, give some away. Read more..."

PCH Unveils Sweepstakes Social Media Service For All
MediaPost.com, March 16, 2010
"'Wildfire is the first in a handful of companies PCH will partner with,' according to Craig Aron, manager of digital and emerging media at PCH. 'We are in active discussions with three or four partners,' he says. 'Wildfire is our premium partner in the social media space, but we can also go outside this market to find and partner with other brands.' Read more..."

New Wildfire Service Instantly Launches Facebook-Safe Sweepstakes
AllFacebook.com, March 16, 2010
"If you run a business and know the value of promotional campaigns on Facebook but have been stopped by the logistics, legal aspects and costs, you might want to check out Wildfire Interactive’s Promotion Builder application. The service, which has now been integrated with Publisher’s Clearing House’s new PCH Boost API for sweepstakes handling, is a great solution for instantly walking Facebook’s prohibitive promotional terms. Read more..."

How to Get Customers on Facebook and Twitter
Inc. Magazine, March 01, 2010
..."It's not easy. "Most people won't spontaneously want to become fans of your company," says Victoria Ransom, the CEO of Wildfire Interactive, a Palo Alto, California, company that specializes in helping businesses attract fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter. "You have to give customers a reason to engage with your brand." For anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, Ransom's company will build you a Facebook application designed to attract new fans to your company's page. The applications typically try to entice users with a contest -- say, a chance to win a $50 gift certificate -- or a coupon. Once a customer clicks on the link, she is directed to a page that asks her to input her Facebook account information. When the customer completes the form, a link to the promotion typically will be published on her Facebook page, which can attract more fans. Read more..."

Facebook Helps Brands Get A Clue With Preferred Developer Consultant Program
TechCrunch, Dec 16, 2009
"Facebook has been making a strong push lately to embrace brands and celebrities through its Facebook Fan Pages, applications, and through Facebook Connect. Unfortunately, many brands have absolutely no idea how to engage their audience through the site. Today, Facebook is lending them a hand: it’s launching a new directory featuring well established consultants who have proven they know how to leverage Facebook’s platforms. The directory is launching with 14 consultants, including Wildfire, a platform for building Facebook-enabled promotions. Read more..."

Wildfire Launches A Legitimate, Easy To Use Sweepstakes Platform For Twitter
TechCrunch, Nov 2, 2009
"If you’ve been on Twitter for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a tweet that asked you to retweet something (usually a link to a spammy-looking site) for the chance to enter a contest. Of course, these are typically bogus, leading many people to simply ignore them. And that poses a problem to the companies who really are trying to run sweepstakes on Twitter, who can have a hard time proving their legitimacy. Wildfire, a platform for building viral marketing campaigns, is looking to help: the company has just launched support for sweepstakes on Twitter, allowing brands to now manage campaigns across their websites, Facebook, and Twitter simultaneously. Read more..."

Wildfire helps companies create Facebook marketing campaigns
Building 43, Oct 27, 2009
"There’s a whole industry developing around Facebook near the social networking company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., and one of the leaders is Wildfire Interactive, Inc. The privately held technology company’s software makes it easier for businesses to create and tailor their own sweepstakes or other interactive promotions in social media networks, including Facebook. Businesses looking for help in the ever-evolving social media Web world apparently like what Wildfire offers. The company — founded in the summer of 2008 — was profitable after only one year of operations, according to its Web site. Its client list includes Facebook, Pepsi, Unilever, Sony, AT&T, Ogilvy, Publicis and Fleishman Hillard. Read more..."

fbFund’s Wildfire builds contests on Facebook for brands
VentureBeat, Sep 1, 2009
"Remember marketing sweepstakes? You’d fill out a card with your personal details for a chance at a Caribbean vacation or a free steam cleaning. They’re moving online into Facebook Pages and Twitter in a way that could have farther reach and a fbFund-backed startup called Wildfire Interactive, Inc. is setting its sights on this. The company has built a self-serve platform that lets businesses from mom-and-pop shops to international brands create contests. Sweepstakes are a way to lure hundreds or thousands of Facebook users into following the business on its Page, setting the basis for a longer-term marketing relationship. Read more..."

HOW TO: Create Branded Promotions on Facebook
Mashable, May 23, 2009
"You cannot expect your brand to gain traction in social media by simply setting up a blog or a Facebook page. You have engage your audience by participating in the conversation, providing value, and reaching out to potential customers. On Facebook, this is especially true - a good campaign push can take your brand a long way. With that in mind, Wildfire has created a web tool and Facebook application that can do just that. With a few simple steps, Wildfire will help you create a comprehensive promotional campaign for your brand on Facebook, Ning, MySpace, and your website involving sweepstakes or a user contest. Read more..."

AlwaysOn Global 250 Competition
AlwaysOn : The insider's network, May 16, 2009
"AlwaysOn and KPMG have officially launched this year’s AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies competition. The AO Global 250 is a competition for the top emerging private companies that are creating new business opportunities in the global technology industries. This includes private companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in the following sectors. Read more..."

Wildfire Platform Brands Interactive Promotions
BizReport, May 11, 2009
"If you're new to the social networking space or are just beginning to research the benefits of branding a social site to interact with consumers, a new tool from Wildfire could help. The technology company has released a tool which allows corporations, small businesses and marketing agencies to quickly create branded, interactive promotions in the social space. Using the platform marketing agencies and brands can quickly create branded sweepstakes, contents or even post incentive-based surveys to engage users. The apps created can be published simultaneously on multiple social networks as well as a company website so that users can 'play' in any location. Read more..."

Ning Apps Bring A New Dimension Of Flexibility And Power To The Social Network Platform
TechCrunch, May 6, 2009
"Ning’s social network-building platform is getting a huge boost today, with the private beta launch of Ning Apps, a new suite of applications and features that Network Creators will be able to deploy across their networks with only a few clicks. The news has been a long time coming - network administrators have long been asking for features that could enhance their networks. But because of the nature of Ning, which houses hundreds of thousands of unique social networks, Network Creators were often requesting totally different things. Now they’ll be able to make everyone (or nearly everyone) happy. Read more..."

New Website for Creating Viral Promotions
SmartCompany, May 6, 2009
"Viral marketing has become a popular way of advertising products with the rise of social media. Sites like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace have become havens for marketers looking to spread their message in a quick, efficient manner. But a new California start-up is hoping to help other companies deal with the social networking maze by setting up viral marketing campaigns in a one-stop solution. Wildfire offers technology in a web application that allows SMEs to create branded, interactive promotional materials and publish them on multiple social networking sites at a time. Read more..."

Interview: Victoria Ransom, CEO and Founder of Wildfire Interactive
AllFacebook, May 5, 2009
"When Facebook hosted the first ever governance vote a couple of weeks ago, one of the biggest winners of the vote was Wildfire Promotion Builder, the company that developed the Facebook Governance voting application. As soon as I noticed that Facebook hadn’t built the application internally I had to find out who was behind the company. After doing a little digging I found out that the company was a winner in the last round of the fbFund, Facebook’s seed fund for entrepreneurs looking to build applications with Facebook’s social technology. The company appears to have perfect timing, offering a suite of tools for developing branded interactive promotions, many of which are targeted at leveraging Facebook’s new public profile format. Last week AllFacebook had the opportunity to talk with Victoria about the company’s plans. Read more..."

One-Stop-Shop for Creating Viral Promotions
Springwise, May 4, 2009
"Half of all internet users enter online sweepstakes and contests each month, according to Forrester Research, yet few companies have the technical know-how to integrate such promotions with the social networks they're typically advertised on. A California startup aims to change all that, however, with a new online service that gives companies an easy way to build interactive promotions that tap into the viral capabilities they need to succeed. Read more..."

ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards: The Finalists are In!
ClickZ, April 30, 2009
"Finalists were selected by ClickZ's editorial team from nominations for the 2009 ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards that met eligibility requirements. A panel of industry practitioners, including contributors to ClickZ and Search Engine Watch, will determine the final winners. Winners will be announced online on June 2, 2009. Read more..."

Voting Begins on Governing the Facebook Site
Facebook Blog (Mark Zuckerberg), April 16, 2009
"Today, we take the next step in opening our site governance to everyone who uses Facebook with our first user vote. Through an application developed by Wildfire Promotion Builder, you can now vote on which documents you want to serve as the foundation for governing the Facebook site. Read more..."

Next Steps on Facebook Governance
Facebook Blog, April 3, 2009
"The 30-day comment period for submitting feedback on Facebook's proposed governance documents has ended, but the opportunities to help shape the policies that will govern Facebook have only begun. Since announcing the new governance structure in February, we received more than 3,000 comments from the over 10,000 members who joined each of the groups dedicated to discussion about the proposed Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR). Read more..."

fbFund Winner Wildfire Launches Promotion App (Beta Invites)
TechCrunch, March 6, 2009
"Facebook fbFund winner Wildfire is launching the private beta of its web application, The Wildfire Promotion Builder, which allows companies to create their own branded interactive promotions, including contests, coupons, sweepstakes and giveaways. Using Facebook Connect combined with the power of the application, companies can simultaneously publish promotion campaigns on the designated “promotions tab” on the company’s Facebook page and on the company’s website (campaigns can also be simultaneously run on MySpace, Bebo, and other standalone websites). Read more..."

The 2009 OnMedia 100 Winners
AlwaysOn Network, January 22, 2009
"We are pleased to announce our third OnMedia 100 list of the top private companies in online marketing. The 2009 list presented a new challenge for the editorial team, namely spotting the companies that embrace the current market pressures and crystallize into diamonds—amongst the many more that will be turned to dust. Read more..."

Q&A with fbFund Winner Wildfire: New Brand Marketing Strategies on Facebook
InsideFacebook, January 6, 2009
"Super Rewards Q&A with fbFund Winner Wildfire: New Brand Marketing Strategies on Facebook January 6th, 2009 wildfire1In a continuing Q&A series with the winners of fbFund’s $250k second round of funding, Inside Facebook recently talked with Victoria Ransom, creator of the WildFire application. Victoria shed light on WildFire’s strategies for success and highlighted the rise of advertising on Facebook. See our recent coverage for more background on changes in brand marketing inside social applications on Facebook. Below, Victoria discusses how WildFire grew its business and handled marketing campaigns for giants like Pepsi, Amazon, and RedBull. Read more..."

2.0 Campaigns for Any Budget
Marketing Sherpa Blog, December 22, 2008
"When a budget gets cut, experimental marketing dollars are often the first to go. Management cannot afford to dabble in unproven strategies. They want to focus on predictable, reliable tactics. What a bore, right? You’ve been reading about social networks and viral marketing all year–and now you can’t get the budget to test them. Fear not, help is here. Read more..."

'Non-techie' Wins $$$ Facebook App Award
The Sydney Morning Herald, December 16, 2008
"A Kiwi entrepreneur who won $US250,000 in an international internet business competition says she is no techie but is good at setting goals and reaching them. Victoria Ransom's company Wildfire Interactive beat more than 600 entries to design an application to be used on the social networking site Facebook. Read more..."

Räumungstitel per Facebook
Der Spiegel, December 16, 2008
"Die 32-Jährige Victoria Ransom hat den Wettbewerb um die beste Geschäftsidee für das Facebook-Netzwerk gewonnen. Die Unternehmerin - nach eigenen Angaben alles andere als technikaffin - setzte sich mit einem Vermarktungskonzept für einen Getränkehersteller gegen 600 Mitbewerber durch und erhält nun ein Preisgeld von 250.000 Dollar. Read more..."

Facebook's Developer Hug
Forbes, December 10, 2008
"...With the economy worsening, developers say they need all the help they can get. "One thing that is tough right now is funding, so this is a real boost for us," said Victoria Ransom, chief executive of Wildfire, one of the five grand prize winners. Wildfire's application helps businesses run interactive promotions, sweepstakes and coupon giveaways. Read more..."

fbFund Winners: Discover Your Favorites
Facebook Blog, December 10, 2008
"Last month, we asked for your help in choosing the next great Facebook Platform applications. Thanks to those of you who tested the applications and contributed, over 180,000 votes were cast. We've narrowed down over 600 developers who applied for fbFund—Facebook's program to award grants to talented entrepreneurs who build applications that help you share, connect and discover on Facebook. And today, we're happy to announce the five grand prize winners and recipients of $250,000 each to put towards developing more meaningful applications for you. Read more..."

Facebook's fbFund Names Winners of $225,000 Grants
Washington Post, December 9, 2008
"Facebook has just named the five winners of $225,000 cash grants from the second round of its fbFund, a joint venture between Facebook, Accel, and Founders Fund meant to cultivate and reward excellent applications on Facebook Platform. The winners: GroupCard, Kontagent, MouseHunt, Weddingbook, and Wildfire. Read more..."

Facebook’s fbFund Names Winners of $225,000 Grants
TechCrunch, December 9, 2008
"Facebook has just named the five winners of $225,000 cash grants from the second round of its fbFund, a joint venture between Facebook, Accel, and Founders Fund meant to cultivate and reward excellent applications on Facebook Platform. The winners: GroupCard, Kontagent, MouseHunt, Weddingbook, and Wildfire. Read more..."

Will Facebook's Apps Contest Jumpstart Its New Advertising Strategy?
BusinessWeek, November 11, 2008
"Facebook has just launched a new voting application that will allow its members to cast votes on which of 25 selected new applications should win funding from its $10 million fbFund. Read more..."

Vote For Your Favorite FBFund Apps, Help Them Win Some Cash
TechCrunch, November 11, 2008
"Facebook is in the final stages of selecting five winners of $225,000 FBfund grants and has just put up a Facebook application that lets members vote for their favorite apps out of the 25 finalists. Read more..."

Facebook Invites Members to Vote in Developer Competition
CNet News, November 11, 2008
"The FBFund08 app was not created by Facebook, but by Wildfire, one of the app development companies in the running for an FBFund grant. Facebook effectively acquired the app from Wildfire to power the poll. Read more..."

Facebook Names 25 New App Fund Winners
VentureWire, October 16, 2008
"One new winner is specifically geared toward marketing. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Wildfire Interactive Inc.'s Wildfire app has two components. One part for brand advertisers allows them to quickly create their own promotions, contests or give-aways that can be distributed on Facebook. The materials are then linked back to the company's canvas page. "Instead of the company going through and creating their own custom promotion, we created an automated process," said Victoria Ransom, chief executive of Wildfire. "They can get up and running in minutes." The other piece of the application allows consumers to share contests and promotions with their friends. The angel-backed company, founded in July, has already signed up Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. and Facebook itself, which is using the tool for its "Facebook for Good" campaign, a contest where people pay tribute to people who have used Facebook for some positive social change."

Facebook Names Top 25 fbFund Recipients
Reuters, October 15, 2008
"Twenty-five innovators -- including Ph.D. candidates in Comparative Literature, former NASA engineers and an eco-race driver for the World Solar Challenge -- were announced today as the latest recipients of Facebook's fbFund funding cycle. fbFund is the novel program that awards teams of entrepreneurs $25,000 grants -- no-strings attached -- to help build businesses on Facebook.com or around the Web with Facebook Connect. These recipients are eligible for an additional $225,000 each in grant funding, which will be awarded to five winners selected by Facebook users and the fbFund advisory council in December. Read more..."

The Latest on Facebook's German Insurgency: A Contest About Who Does Good Deeds on Facebook
VentureBeat, October 7, 2008
"Facebook is so serious about making the world a better place it launched a contest on the subject today, in German. The contest “invites people to pay tribute to those who have used Facebook to influence social change and contribute to a more open and connected world, the company says. Read more..."