Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Posted by John Cook at April 22, 2008 9:56 p.m.
Categories: Online advertising, Web 2.0
Plant a virtual forest in the Carbon Grove
The keg beer, off-the-wall antics and Internet talk were flowing this evening as Jackson Fish Market co-founder Hillel Cooperman enthusiastically introduced the company's latest Web application.
With more than 85 people crammed into the company's quirky Pioneer Square headquarters, Cooperman unveiled a carbon offset reminder service called Carbon Grove. Essentially, the new site allows users to take a short quiz and then receive reminders on ways they can reduce their carbon footprint.
Each time a person responds to a reminder, the virtual forest grows. Over time, it may even attract wildlife.
Jackson Fish Market is an unusual species in the Web startup ecosystem. (And it is not just the odd name or the fact that is is already profitable.) Unlike many companies that attempt to go big in one niche, it is attempting to go small in multiple arenas.
Its other ideas include They're Beautiful -- a virtual flower delivery service -- and Invitastic -- an online invitation service. (Cooperman tonight expressed his disdain for Evite, saying the invitation service is "offensive" to anyone who makes software.)
Carbon Grove, Invitastic and They're Beautiful are by no means big ideas. And that's just fine with Cooperman, who told me tonight that "we just want to make cool software."
"We don't have any predictive power over what will be successful," says Cooperman.
So they toss a bunch of ideas against the wall to see what sticks. And just how many ideas are percolating?
Cooperman says they have about 40 or 50 in the "back pocket." The idea is to roll out the applications in conjunction with sponsors, who like the idea of associating their brands with compelling new services. Dry Soda is the exclusive sponsor of Invitastic, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer group has lined up behind Carbon Grove. (One of the reasons this message appears when you try to visit using Firefox.)
In the case of They're Beautiful a sponsorship can run as much as $20,000 per month. In fact, the line between these new Web applications and sponsored advertisements is a little blurry.
For Carbon Grove, Microsoft approached the team at Jackson Fish Market to create a compelling application tied to Earth Day. (You can almost think of Jackson Fish Market's portfolio of 40 or 50 applications as the creative content found in traditional ad agencies.)
Cooperman says that many large corporations are looking for creative ways to market their products, with small Web applications one of the new tactics they are employing.
"We are making a series of destinations that brand marketers can come in and exclusively sponsor," he says.
More on the concept of small Web applications as marketing vehicles for corporations in this story from The New York Times, which discusses how Nike operates a physical fitness Web site for runners. Jackson Fish Market is a big believer in the idea (They wrote a 14-page research paper on it last year), saying that more ad dollars will go to sponsoring full Web applications in the future.
