Kaplow

Skype recently teamed up with Glamour.com’s Single-ish bloggers for a Skype affair to remember. Hi-tech flirters, Erin and Ryan, each went on three virtual dates using the Skype video calling software. After their virtual trysts, the video-dates were posted to the site and readers voted to determine which Skype suitors would score an in-person rendezvous with bloggers Erin and Ryan.

The partnership enabled Skype to connect with Gen Y consumers by introducing an innovative approach to speed dating and tapping into the media’s fascination with dating and relationships. The video dating challenge brought about tremendous media coverage. The TODAY Show and The New York Post featured articles stressing the message that Skype’s video calling software is free. Additionally, Kaplow successfully leveraged social networking tools such as facebook and twitter to create buzz around the program.

Skype took center stage at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 21. Attended by broadcasters, media, entertainment and communications professionals, the show focuses on solutions for delivering the next generation of audio, video, and filmed content across multiple platforms.

Recently, an array of broadcasters have used Skype’s High Quality Video calling as an easy, low-cost means of gathering news.  Kaplow, therefore, arranged for Julian Spittka, a senior engineer on Skype’s audio/video team, to deliver a presentation at NAB on how any broadcaster can successfully integrate Skype High Quality Video calling into broadcasts and enhance their news gathering capabilities.

In addition to the presentation, Kaplow leveraged Skype’s presence at the NAB Show to announce the launch of a new informational microsite, where broadcasters can find information necessary for integrating Skype High Quality Video calling into programming.  Additionally, at the show Kaplow revealed that Skype HD video calling is now available for testing by broadcasters.

Show attendees got to see Skype’s High Quality video calling in action.  With the aid of Skype and Kaplow, presenter Thomas R. Ray, III of WOR-AM delivered his session remotely via a Skype High Quality video call.

Kaplow led the media charge for Skype at the 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. On very short notice, Kaplow arranged a press conference to announce that Skype, the leader in internet communications, was working together with the world’s leading mobile handset manufacturer, Nokia - news that quickly became one of the show’s major stories.

Kaplow also arranged 1:1 briefings for Skype’s executives and for the company to participate in Pepcom’s MobileFocus Global co-op media event, where it demonstrated its new mobile applications in front of 150+ of the mobile industry’s top journalists, and to host a VIP cocktail party at one of the city’s swankiest hotels.

To end off an overly successful conference, Skype President Josh Silverman participated in a keynote panel in front of 1,000+ delegates, during which he sparred in a debate with former Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo over the value of flat-rate mobile data plans and wireless carriers’ control over consumers’ usage of their mobile phones.

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Kaplow announced the addition of MyPublisher to its diverse portfolio of category-leading consumer brands. MyPublisher, the industry pioneer in custom high-quality PhotoBook software, manufacturing and fulfillment, is an online software and internet retail company. MyPublisher provides bookstore-quality printing of self-publishable products including hardcover PhotoBooks, all at surprisingly low prices. Kaplow was awarded the business for its strategic insight into connecting brands to the right media and consumer groups both online and off.

As a constant leader in the marketplace, MyPublisher has sold and shipped more than five million PhotoBooks since 2002. In 2008 alone, three MyPublisher Web sites in the United States, Great Britain and Europe, received more than seven million unique visitors. To harness this success and foster future growth, MyPublisher chose Kaplow because of its experience in refining and simplifying conversations about consumer brands. Kaplow’s charge will be to differentiate MyPublisher in the marketplace, gain credit for its commitment to superior customer service and seek out great brand stories that will build a powerful foundation for brand recognition.

“We wanted a partner who understands how to create dialogues with large creative communities,” said Katherine Lewis, President of MyPublisher. “Kaplow impressed us with their experience in telling brand stories and their resources for increasing brand visibility.”

“MyPublisher is a fun and intuitive tool that helps everyone from friends and families, to communities and cultures, to capture and share lasting memories for future generations to embrace and enjoy,” remarked Liz Kaplow, president and CEO of Kaplow. “Our mission will be to increase the visibility of the brand and help it continue to flourish.”