Sure, you bitch and moan from the comfy confines of your couch about the plot twists in your favorite TV shows, and you sure as hell made sure the entire office knew what you thought about the latest McDreamySteamyWhatevy hookup at the water cooler. But if you could actually talk to the producers of your favorite TV shows, what would you say? Would you pipe up to the big guns? Read Full Article

Innovator in On-Demand Customer Collaboration Cites Team’s Thoughtful, Creative Approach, Unmatched Responsiveness as Key Factors SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2008 ” The Bateman Group, an independent technology-focused public relations agency, today announced that Passenger, the leader in on-demand Customer Collaboration, has selected the firm to serve as PR agency of record, effectively...

MARKETING: Passenger helps clients test products with customer base. By JOEL RUSSELL Los Angeles Business Journal Remember the focus group? Companies may still put people in a room to watch them try their products while marketing executives watch from behind one-way glass. But the old-fashioned marketing concept is quickly turning virtual. Passenger, a tech company on L.A.’s Miracle...

Fox is pairing with social networking service Passenger to launch a private online community giving the network access to ongoing audience feedback on programming and marketing efforts. Made up of some 2,000 loyal Fox Network viewers invited to join, the community lets members preview new shows, interact with TV producers, post comments, engage in online discussions and participate in...

Network Eyes Greater Engagement and Collaboration with Viewers. Passenger today announced it has partnered with The Fox Broadcasting Company to help launch an online community for viewers of FOX programs to drive improved communications and viewer collaboration on programming and marketing. The community is built for viewers aged 18-49 from FOX drama, reality, comedy, and animation programs...

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the executor producers of Lost, just gave the ABC Studios Advisors a special thank you in their latest podcast. Here's a short excerpt from the interview. The podcast can be heard in its entirety at abc.com. Click To Play

Passenger (profiled by JackMyers Media Business Report back in January) announced today that it had closed its Series C round. The investment was led by StarVest Partners; both Steamboat Ventures and Shelter Capital Capital also re-upped their participation. To date, the company, which offers Software as a service (SaaS) with a focus on customer collaboration, has raised a total of $20.5M.Read...

“Through our online Customer Advisory Board, we have a new platform to engage our customers in two-way dialogue so we can harness their insights and vehicle dreams as we move quickly to develop and refine technologies and products,” said Deborah Meyer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Chrysler LLC. “Chrysler designers and engineers have always had a pulse on the...

Chrysler this week is launching a new program that aims to bring consumers--some 2,000 of them--into the boardroom, virtually. The industry's first online Customer Advisory Board (CAB) will have consumers offering their takes on product features, designs and technology. Read Full Article

Automaker to Recruit Online Consumer Advisory Panel.Chrysler will begin recruiting U.S. residents in the next few weeks to participate in closed, online dialogues to gather insights for the automaker's marketing, product development, vehicle features and engineering.Read Full Article (must be AdvertisingAge Subscriber) Read AdAge Mobile short version (for non-AdvertisingAge Subscriber)

The automaker plans an online "customer advisory board." The goal is "to establish a two-way dialogue" to glean consumer insights, chief marketing officer Deborah Meyer says. Discussion won't be limited to cup-holder placement or the design merits of side vents. She says participants will be asked about everything from safety issues to environmental concerns to opinions on Chrysler's ads. Folks...

Networks embrace viewers online, giving them input into what we see on the tubeABC Entertainment relaunched an online community group it refers to as The Inner Circle late last year. Initially created three years ago as a marketing tool, it was brought back to life with the help of social-networking software enabler Passenger. The company built an online community that allows ABC to engage with...

Proprietary Panels Help Consumer Companies Shape Products, Ads The private networks are part of companies' continuing efforts to figure out how to use the Web to assess and shape the way consumers think about their products. Read Full Article

Passenger has been honored with another emerging media award this time by the Summit International Awards (SIA). Passenger received the "2007 Innovator Award” under the Social Media category for the Passenger platform. This is a great accomplishment, as the “Innovator” award is one of the top recognitions by the Summit International Awards. The award highlights Passenger as a...

Web 2.0 has created a goldmine of information on customers' opinions and preferences, wants and needs, goals and dreams. That insight is trapped inside millions of online blog posts, community sites, and personal pages that hold the tantalizing promise of helping companies better understand their customers.Read Full Article

Former EarthLink Executive to Extend Company’s Leadership Position Today, Steve Howe, a former executive at EarthLink, was named chief operating officer, effective immediately. Howe will oversee strategic planning, business development, sales, finance and day-to-day operations. He will also spearhead the company’s New York expansion while evaluating additional growth...

Web 2.0 lets brands become a part of the consumer conversations that are already happening...Read Full Article

Founded in 2005, Los Angeles, California-based Passenger helps "companies redefine their customer relationships by fundamentally changing the way consumers are able to communicate with their brands," Steamboat Ventures Managing Director Dan Beldy said in a statement.Read Full Article

The pace of change in the tech sector is accelerating. This year's AO 100 list of the hottest private companies includes a big batch of young innovators paving the way in emerging markets. With the large number of promising contenders, deciding which companies make the AO100 list is always complex. To pick the final winners, AlwaysOn editors, KPMG, Bridge Bank, Merrill Corp., Level 3...

Whether you like it or not, customers are out there talking about their experiences with your brand every day. It's up to you to align your organization with this reality in order to benefit from these discussions.Read Full Article

"It's no longer about a marketer throwing a message out there and yelling at people, " adds Justin Cooper, chief innovation + marketing officer for Los Angeles-based Passenger, a software-as-a-service technology company that enables brands such as ABC and Coca-Cola to deploy online "private brand communities." "With digital, it's more of an organic approach. It's about tapping into the social...

Think of consumers as partners, not 'targets'. Every company likes to brag about customer loyalty, but the relationships between many companies and their customers are only skin-deep, experts say. Customer relationship management is a fine tool--for you. But your relationship with your customers must be a two-way street.Read Full Article

"Errett added that communities are affinity groups, but that successful social network communities must be authentic, and authenticity only exists where there is an emotional connection. MySpace's Gold finished by stating that those consumers attracted to social networking engage because they are seeking a sense of community. Therefore, the key to a successful social networking community is...

"Passenger is an extension of our marketing," said Ravi Parmeswar, Sara Lee's vp-business insights. "Because they are out there, we are constantly coming up with ideas that we can bounce off our consumers. It's about [consumers] feeling their opinion counts." Read Full Article

Most forward thinking marketers would agree that the advertising and marketing landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years with the dawn of web 2.0 and the powerful influences of social media. As more and more consumers embrace social media as a way to communicate with each other, marketers are clamoring to tap into this relatively new medium and its vast influence.Read Full Article

Los Angeles Business Journal April 2-8, 2007 By Anne Riley-Katz Staff Reporter Remember focus groups? Well, this is the digital age, so it’s no surprise that there are groups gathering virtually on the Internet rather than in boardrooms to discuss brands and products. What’s surprising is that participation in these groups increasingly is by invitation, and only for fans or...

Translated from French to English With Passenger, the consumer becomes a consultant for brands. The companies use Web 2.0 to solicit the advice of their most influential consumers. How to tap into the conversations from those on the Internet; on blogs or their favorite social channels around a brand or product? That is the question that Justin Cooper and Andrew Leary asked themselves,...

Recently we've seen a few new developments in this sector of social networking which seem to confirm that branded communities are on the rise. You have to remember that plenty of companies have been striking deals with big social networks like MySpace and Facebook. But some companies want to host their own branded social networks, and start-ups are beginning to, well, start up for that purpose....

Leading brands such as Coca-Cola, ABC Television and Sara Lee are leveraging Passenger to easily deploy private brand communities designed to facilitate meaningful discussions with customers and better understand how to respond to changes in consumer behavior, attitudes, tastes and market trends.

The new software platform allows companies to create social networking web sites focused on their own brands. Passenger said that Coca-Cola, ABC Television, and Sara Lee are among the customers using the firm's product to deploy their own private brand communities.Read Full Article

Social networking sites aren't just for college kids and hopeful daters anymore. More and more companies are looking at online communities as fertile areas for consumer feedback and customer connection.Read Full Article

Passenger, a technology company that connects brands with consumers, has unveiled its new Customer Collaboration platform that aims to provide Fortune 500 companies with the ability to build private brand communities.Read Full Article

Brand community platform provider Passenger is making its services more widely available to advertisers. The firm launched in January 2006, and until now has been working with clients like Nestle, Coca-Cola, ABC Television and Sara Lee. Passenger powers private brand communities, allowing companies to conduct product or advertising research with consumers who have signed up to participate. Read...

Some of America's largest companies are instituting a velvet rope policy online and providing their best customers with exclusive perks thanks to technology from Passenger, a start-up which recently raised $2.5 million. Founded in January 2006, Los Angeles-based Passenger sells a software service that allows companies, including the Coca Cola Co., Sara Lee Corp., and ABC Inc., a division of the...