Alex Lirtsman

With the introduction of deep linking in iOS 9, Apple is taking on Google in mobile search. Columnist Alex Lirtsman takes a look at the new turf war.

Alex Lirtsman, chief strategist at digital agency Ready Set Rocket, explains how retailers can find the right attribution strategy for their business.

When Lirtsman began his Baruch MBA degree, he was in the financial services industry earning a six-figure salary. Over the course of his MBA program, he realized he needed to risk a change. So he left his first field to pursue what was for him a more challenging, more creative endeavor in digital marketing. Lirtsman began his current professional journey as a $10-per-hour intern at Freshpair, Inc., a small but growing e-commerce company.

The stakes are especially high when you’re working on a redesign of your e-commerce site. You can’t build a useful prototype without gathering the data that give you a strong understanding of the consumer who will be using the site. If your analytics aren’t set up properly and you can’t measure the current customer journey, you’ll wind up wasting countless hours in building a prototype based on a hunch.

Ready Set Rocket Founding Partner Alex Lirtsman examines the Amazon dash button and how it can affect less well-known brands. He speaks with Bloomberg's Cory Johnson on “Bloomberg West.”

Retailers might do well to be skeptical, said Alex Lirtsman, founding partner and chief strategist of digital agency Ready Set Rocket. Facebook isn't just looking to foster communication, but to create revenue streams.

Retailers need only look back a couple of years to a time when Facebook encouraged them to collect "likes" and grow followers—and then demanded they pay for them.

Some digital marketers, however, don't believe that Facebook will be in a position any time soon to host much more than snackable short-form content. Alex Lirtsman, chief strategist at New York digital agency Ready Set Rocket, points out that content created for Facebook is different from the content publishers host on their own channels — and will remain different, least until there's a significant change in the consumption behavior of Facebook users.

Alex Lirtsman, co-founder and chief strategist of digital agency Ready Set Rocket, isn’t waiting around for wearables to achieve mainstream acceptance. The 34-person New York shop bas been working with major brands such as fashion retailers like Kenneth Cole (which it connected with Google Glass), Ann Taylor, Michael Kors, as well as packaged goods marketers such as Johnson & Johnson.

Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. are set to loosen their grip on the $19 billion U.S. mobile-advertising market. Ready Set Rocket LLC illustrates why. The digital agency’s customers cut ad spending on Google and Facebook by about a third this year, underlining how marketers are shifting beyond just the Internet giants, according to Alex Lirtsman, Ready Set Rocket’s co-founder. Marketers are instead turning to mobile-ad startups such as Chango Inc. and AddThis Inc., which can help target audiences… Show more

Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. are set to loosen their grip on the $19 billion U.S. mobile-advertising market. Ready Set Rocket LLC illustrates why. The digital agency’s customers cut ad spending on Google and Facebook by about a third this year, underlining how marketers are shifting beyond just the Internet giants, according to Alex Lirtsman, Ready Set Rocket’s co-founder. Marketers are instead turning to mobile-ad startups such as Chango Inc. and AddThis Inc., which can help target audiences more efficiently, he said. Show less

Nowadays, it seems like every brand has a blog to round out its digital footprint. Some blogs are better at producing relevant content and others are better at posting an instant viral hit. But what does it take to find that sweet spot? Here are five elements for a successful brand or corporate blog.

The very phrase “advertising with Google Glass” may seem like a contradiction, but Kenneth Cole recently became the first brand to do just that with the help of Men’s Health magazine and New York-based digital agency Ready Set Rocket, which collaborated with Cole’s in-house creative team on a Glass-powered project to help launch its new fragrance “Mankind.”

We spoke to Ready Set Rocket co-founder and Chief Strategist Alex Lirstman and Robert Genovese, VP of integrated marketing at… Show more

The very phrase “advertising with Google Glass” may seem like a contradiction, but Kenneth Cole recently became the first brand to do just that with the help of Men’s Health magazine and New York-based digital agency Ready Set Rocket, which collaborated with Cole’s in-house creative team on a Glass-powered project to help launch its new fragrance “Mankind.”

We spoke to Ready Set Rocket co-founder and Chief Strategist Alex Lirstman and Robert Genovese, VP of integrated marketing at Kenneth Cole, to learn more about the campaign. Show less

The key ingredients to leading a successful business vary. It’s my belief that a balance of both right-brained and left-brained thinkers is necessary to power creativity and innovation, while providing the risk-management and accountability necessary to see a business succeed.

The new digital consumer experiences content through many channels. The exodus from desktop to mobile continues to grow exponentially. When the shift to mobile first occurred, brands were following the visitors but not necessarily the revenue as mobile consumers were early adopters and conversion rates were not significantly impacted. The shift over the past year has been so significant, brands are now being financially impacted since mobile revenue is not growing as fast as mobile pageviews.

Even though Google Glass taps into a small, niche client base, Ready Set Rocket and Kenneth Cole chose to focus on early adopters because they're considered as cutting-edge, and they fit well with the cologne's target audience. Ready Set Rocket developed an application that, once downloaded, "loads" a daily deed over a 21-day period. After completing each deed, the user can take a photo of the act and share it. "We saw people capture good deeds like sending notes to servicemen and women, buying… Show more

Even though Google Glass taps into a small, niche client base, Ready Set Rocket and Kenneth Cole chose to focus on early adopters because they're considered as cutting-edge, and they fit well with the cologne's target audience. Ready Set Rocket developed an application that, once downloaded, "loads" a daily deed over a 21-day period. After completing each deed, the user can take a photo of the act and share it. "We saw people capture good deeds like sending notes to servicemen and women, buying strangers coffee and making monetary donations," partner of Ready Set Rocket Alex Lirtsman told me. Show less

There's no doubt that in today's marketing landscape, it's survival of the fittest. Alex Lirtsman, cofounder and digital strategist at Ready Set Rocket and Emily Wengert, VP of user experience for Huge, insist that if modern marketers want effective campaigns in this competitive climate, their plans must be digital, mobile, social, personal, and always on.

"VR is the ultimate tool for customer engagement, and it's light-years ahead of any current brand engagement touch points. It's the ultimate way a car company can showcase their latest car, a retailer can provide a view of their Fashion Week event, a travel destination can showcase activities, or any advertiser can truly take a thirty-second spot to the next level," says Alex Lirtsman, cofounder of digital marketing agency Ready Set Rocket. "Just imagine walking through IKEA or Home Depot… Show more

"VR is the ultimate tool for customer engagement, and it's light-years ahead of any current brand engagement touch points. It's the ultimate way a car company can showcase their latest car, a retailer can provide a view of their Fashion Week event, a travel destination can showcase activities, or any advertiser can truly take a thirty-second spot to the next level," says Alex Lirtsman, cofounder of digital marketing agency Ready Set Rocket. "Just imagine walking through IKEA or Home Depot without the crowds and being able to browse and purchase at your leisure twenty-four/seven. The technology is already here; all we need is user adoption." Show less