21/02/08
SHUTTERFLY GALLERY LAUNCHES TO INSPIRE AND ENGAGE STORYTELLERS
Company unveils social network to help customers inspire each other with
their stories
Introduces First-of-its-Kind “Make One Like This” feature for quick photo
book creation
Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), the leading Internet-based social expression
and personal publishing service, announced today the launch of Shutterfly
Gallery, a new community platform for sharing and connecting with others. At
the outset, this new Shutterfly social network will leverage the power and
enthusiasm of the viral Shutterfly community, allowing customers to
creatively inspire one another by sharing their photo books online and
exchanging comments about their experiences. To learn more about the
Shutterfly Gallery, please visit http://community.shutterfly.com
“Shutterfly Gallery adds the power of social networking to our vibrant
community and marks the next great chapter in establishing Shutterfly as the
industry leader in storytelling,” said Jeffrey Housenbold, president and
chief executive officer of Shutterfly. “Our customers are inspiring and
enthusiastic storytellers and have asked for a way to share their stories
with other customers and the general public. Now, we are providing them more
ways to tell their stories – both via group collaboration capabilities
through our recent acquisition of Nexo Systems, and in Shutterfly Gallery
where they can electronically share their beautifully-designed personal
photo books, further proving the unlimited flexibility of our personal
publishing platform.”
According to IDC, 70% of the US population uses the internet as part of
their everyday routines, and 87% indicate they have used a social network.
Shutterfly Gallery provides a virtual community destination for people
interested in learning more about storytelling and sharing photo books in a
trusted environment.
In a few simple steps, any storyteller can easily be a part of the
Shutterfly Gallery community. Members can introduce themselves by
personalizing an online profile complete with their favorite picture, unique
username and a personal description.
Shutterfly Gallery members can post their photo books, share their thoughts
and perspectives on storytelling, add photo books to their “favorites” list,
rate and comment on other photo books, and share interesting Gallery
projects with friends and family with the “email a friend” feature. To
expand sharing beyond Shutterfly.com, photo books posted to the Shutterfly
Gallery can also be embedded into a personal webpage or blog.
Shutterfly is also making it even easier to create photo books in less time
with the introduction of “Make One Like This,” a unique new feature that
allows customers to “copy” posted photo books and use the designs as
templates for their own personal creations. Customers can select their
favorite book and choose the “Make One Like This” feature, which will
preserve the look and feel of the book design while removing the original
photos and text. Customers can then add their own text and photos.
“Shutterfly Gallery is another great example of how Shutterfly is
continuously innovating to meet our customers’ wishes while keeping a
disciplined eye towards business results,” added Kathryn Olson, chief
marketing officer of Shutterfly. “The initial response from our community
has been very positive – thousands of books have been posted by our
passionate customers and tens of thousands have been viewed. Consumers are
flocking to the Shutterfly Gallery to share stories, to discover and comment
about themed books, and to build their own unique photo books.”
Moderated by a community manager, Shutterfly Gallery is divided into 16
occasion-based categories for easy photo book browsing. Additionally,
visitors can quickly and easily view books by category, book size and other
filters such as “most popular,” “most commented,” and “most copied” to get
inspired to create their own books.
The SWPP 2008 Convention was an outstanding success,
we have 138 days to get ready for the 2009 convention - which starts on January 14, 2009
Photo Quote: I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them. - Diane Arbus