The ashes from the family’s Christmas Eve yule log may have been still smoldering when they were left outside the 100-year-old, $1.7 million, Long Island Sound-view Victorian, a source said.

The wind may have blown the embers into the old, wooden building, sparking the Christmas morning blaze.

Madonna Badger, 47, a founding partner of the top-tier branding firm Badger Winters, and a male friend were the only ones to escape the furious 5:00am fire, which gutted the waterfront Victorian home in Stamford.

Her 10-year-old daughter, Lily, and seven-year-old twins, Sarah and Grace, died in the inferno, according to a relative who did not want to be identified.

Badger’s parents, who were visiting from Southbury, Long Island, also died, cops said. Public records identify them as Lomer and Pauline Johnson.

“My whole life is in there,” Badger sobbed as emergency responders led her away from the flame-filled home.

The already tragic story took another heartbreaking twist Monday as details emerged about how the oldest victim, Lomer Johnson, of Southbury, Conn., — a retiree who worked as jolly St. Nick — tried in vain to save his granddaughter.

“He had the little girl with him,” Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told reporters.

Of the seven in the house, only Badger and her companion, contractor Michael Borcina, survived the blaze.

In the early 1990s, Badger became a top fashion marketer with her spicy Marky Mark underwear ads and sultry Kate Moss Obsession ads for Calvin Klein.

Initially hospitalized after the blaze, she was later released and transferred to an undisclosed location. She looked devastated as she briefly emerged from the hospital.

Borcina, the head of Tiberias Construction in Manhattan who was doing the renovation work on the house, remains in stable condition at a local hospital.

Firefighters said Borcina and Badger were both trying desperately to re-enter the house when they arrived and had to be restrained.

Badger had moved to the mansion with her girls from Manhattan at Thanksgiving 2010 and is estranged from her husband, the girls’ father, Matthew Badger.

The mansion’s charred remains — deemed a safety hazard — were razed by the city Monday at the conclusion of an on-site investigation and the removal of the bodies.

Stamford officials are expected to reveal the cause of the fire and other details — including whether the family had working smoke detectors, or whether the on-going renovations somehow abetted the flames — at a press conference Tuesday.

A relative of Matthew Badger said he was “absolutely distraught.” He was at home in New York when the blaze broke out, and rushed to Stamford, according to cops.

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia called it “a terrible, terrible day.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/conn_house_where_died_in_fire_is_9L1w0pmo2b5XztIYVOWWQI

Social games have begun to influence consumer behavior and purchases. According to Saatchi Saatchi, 66% of tablet owners play social games daily, and 46% of tablet gamers are women. In fact, the largest group of social gamers is women between the ages of 35 and 44, the second largest is women between 18 and 34. Men make up the third largest group.

[More from Mashable: The 10 Best Android Games of 2011]

Marketing to these demographics in today’s economy is a top priority for retailers. And ramification offers companies a chance to engage young audiences and start to build consumer-purchasing habits that aren’t entirely based on continual discounts and free stuff.

In 2008, DKNY was one of the first retailers to experiment with social games by partnering with digital paper doll game Stardoll. In 2010, PopSugar created a more grown up version of Stardoll with their release of Retail Therapy. The online game made a strong debut, featuring popular brands such as Banana Republic, Barney’s New York, Diane von Furstenberg, Gap, Juicy Couture, Topshop and Tory Burch. Retail Therapy’s release showed that social games weren’t just for tweens and teens anymore.

[More from Mashable: The 15 Best Mobile Apps of 2011]

Now, three year later, games are growing up. Brands and retailers alike have begun to experiment with different forms of online games. Here are nine examples of companies that successfully leveraged game mechanics in consumer marketing.

1. Nike’s “Winter’s Angry” Perseverance Campaign

Ending 2011 with a bang, Nike launched an interactive campaign to promote its winter wear. Players assist the athlete in “beating the cold” through a series of actions. For example, players can test their reflexes to win prizes for completing certain actions. The games feature world champion wideout Greg Jennings, U.S. women’s soccer player Alex Morgan and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Allyson Felix. The highest scores achieved between Dec. 9-15 were eligible to win a trip for two to meet a world-class Nike athlete.

2. Norma Kamali’s 3D Movie

Earlier this year, fashion designer turned futurist Norma Kamali launched Norma Kamali 3D, a site that features her first 3D movie and ecommerce shopping experience. But you may not have noticed that there was actually a game within the movie. Kamali asked viewers to find six objects within the experience.

The first week of the site’s launch, over 20,000 Facebook fans requested a free pair of custom 3D viewing glasses with the designer’s signature cat-eye frames. “I am hoping that people see 3D not just as a source of entertainment, but as a shopping utility,” Kamali told FMM in an interview earlier this year. “In the future, we will be able to view, shop and play with fashion in 3D.”

3. ALDO‘s Instagram Mood boards

To promote the launch of its fragrance collection, ALDO worked with Dynamo and ALLDAYEVERYDAY to create a Facebook game. Players chose from a series of Instagram photos that, once selected, were compiled into a mood board that they could post to their Facebook Timelines.

What makes this such a truly amazing campaign is that no retailer or brand had yet combined Instagram and Facebook in this manner. In an interview, marketing director Vyara Ndejuru shared that the brand wanted to create a “visual experience for their customers” that would entice them to visit the new A is for ALDO microsite. “ALDO customers are accustomed to immersive experiences; Instagram and Flickr are huge drivers for them,” she added.

In order to launch this campaign and build awareness amongst their fans and customers, ALDO promoted on its homepage with calls to action built into the microsite once the customers clicked through. They the company followed up by emailing its customer base in French and English and by engaging via Facebook.

4. Bonobos Incorporates Gamification in Ecommerce

This year the online closet solution for men, Bonobos, incorporated gamification into three of its social media campaigns. In its Easter Egg / NotCot collaboration and Twitter #secretcode campaign, the retailer hid images of models dressed in Bonobos signature pants around NOTCOT.org and NotCouture. Site visitors had to search the site to find and click the images. The first 50 people to find the pants everyday received a $25 Bonobos credit plus free shipping. As a bonus, social audience members who clicked the little guy in paisley pants received a special code for $100 off their purchase.

Bonobos is applying social engagement and gamification to engage a male customer base. “There is a new breed of male shopper online,” says David Fudge, head of Bonobos social media, “While they may want to look great, they don’t necessarily want to talk about fashion. They want to know how it’s going to look in real life.”  Fudge says that when it comes to marketing to male consumers through games, marketers must “speak to their customers and audience like their one of your personal Facebook friends.”

Richard Mumby, vice president of marketing, added, “The key to making gaming work within our ecommerce experience is focusing on making it social, not making it commercial (in terms of focusing solely focusing on sales). Your fans and follows are looking to interact with you, not to passively take in your content,” he advises. “Provide engaging posts and tweets that solicit a response. Allowing them to take action and become involved in something is the key to a very loyal and evangelical customer base.”

5. Gilt Groupe Built VIP Program On Social Rewards

In his book, Gamification By Design, author Gabe Zichermanm references Gilt Groupe, specifically how the flash sale retailer awards its top consumers with exclusive access to the site. Gilt launched Gilt Noir, a loyalty program for the top 1% of its online shoppers. The members received a scented candle and a member’s card as well as the ability to shop 15 minutes before any sale begins.

Instead of offering discounts, Gilt offered access. And in retail, we know that access and exclusivity go a long way with our consumers. Once they get it, they want to maintain it.

6. BlueFly and Badgeville

Earlier this year, BlueFly partnered with Badgeville to enhance Bluefly customers’ online shopping experiences and to encourage customer interaction via badges and leaderboards. Shoppers were rewarded based on the actions they took on the site, such as watching videos, creating wish lists, writing reviews and reading blog posts. As players earned higher badges, they earned early access to products and special deals and discounts, among other rewards.

7. Valentino’s 3D Museum


In Decermber luxury fashion house Valentino launched a virtual 3D museum, a downloadable desktop application for Macs and PCs. Viewers navigated through various galleries, clicking over 300 virtual dresses and pulling up original sketches, advertising campaigns, 5,000 archival images and nearly 95 fashion show videos. The virtual museum had over 10,000 downloads its first day. While the digital event lacked a fluid experience for viewers, it accomplished Valentino’s goal of continuing his legacy.

8. Best Buy and CityVille

Zynga says more than 230 million active users plays its games. And more than 71 million Facebook users play CityVille.

This year, Best Buy became the first virtual branded retail store in CityVille. In the game, players build houses and roads to create a city, seeking to collect points they can use to unlock new game features. Players can place other businesses in their games, but they have generic names, like “bakery” or “toy store.” Players who chose to add a Best Buy to their virtual worlds signified they wanted the brand present in their lives.

9. HSN Arcade Entices Fans To Stay Onsite Longer

Similar to BlueFly’s goals, online and television retailer HSN launched the HSN Arcade to encourage customers to spend more time on HSN.com. When it launched, the HSN Arcade featured 25 video games that consumers could play for free while watching a live stream of HSN’s television channel. The games enabled consumers to post their scores to Facebook streams as well. HSN’s integration of shopping, social networking and gaming are largely driven by the retailer’s focus on engaging female consumers online.

Making the Case for Gamification and Retail

As technologically savvy, social consumers, we solicit fashion advice via mobile apps like Pose and Fashism. We post images of things we want to buy to our Facebook page and let friends say yeah or nay. So when it comes to gaming, the next logical step is to add some retail fun.


Basil Farano, co-creator of Stylmee, the first 3D fashion app for iPad, believes that retailers must try to make the experience as “real” as possible for players. “In Stylmee, the gaming experience is built around challenging our member’s knowledge and taste in fashion as they try to build a fashion boutique and empire,” Farano says. “We use the same problems that real boutique owners would face to challenge our member’s ‘fashion-ability.’ It is a very realistic experience, which is what we believe the social gaming community is hungry for.”

When brands and retailers reward players based on the success of the their actions within a game, “retailers can increase their perceived value to the player, aka shopper, through rewards that don’t tarnish their brand image,” adds Farano.

By 2014, a gamified service for consumer goods, marketing and retention will become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon, says a recent Gartner report. It seems that social gaming, like social media, will become critical for nurturing customer relationships through play. Do you agree?

This story originally published on Mashable here.

The fatal Connecticut fire that killed a fashion-marketing exec’s three children and parents was possibly sparked by embers from disposed fireplace ashes, The Post has learned.

The ashes from the family’s Christmas Eve yule log may have been still smoldering when they were left outside the 100-year-old, $1.7 million, Long Island Sound-view Victorian, said a source.

The wind may have blown the embers into the old, wooden building, sparking the blaze.

The already tragic story took another heartbreaking twist today as details emerged about how the oldest victim, Lomer Johnson, of Southbury, Conn. — a retiree who worked as jolly St. Nick — tried in vain to save his granddaughter.

“He had the little girl with him,” Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told reporters yesterday.

Johnson, 71, was outside, face down on a small, jutting roof. The child was just inside the window.

“I think he had his granddaughter and he tried to get her out,” the chief said.

It was not clear which of the three little girls who perished in the flames he’d been trying to rescue.

Johnson and his wife, Pauline, were staying in the turreted, under-renovation home visiting their daughter, former Calvin Klein art director Madonna Badger, and Badger’s three daughters, 10-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace.

The other two girls were found on the second floor, one floor down from all their bedrooms, the chief told reporters.

Pauline, the grandmother, was found on a staircase hallway between the second and third floors.

Of the seven in the house, only Badger, a founding partner at the top-tier branding firm Badger Winters, and her companion, contractor Michael Borcina, survived the 5 a.m. blaze.

Badger, in the early 1990s, became a top fashion marketer with her spicy Marky Mark underwear ads and sultry Kate Moss Obsession ads for Calvin Klein.

Borcina, who was doing the renovation work on the house , remains in stable condition at a local hospital.

Firefighters told the chief that Borcina and Badger were both trying desperately to re-enter the house when they arrived and had to be restrained.

Badger had moved to the mansion with her girls from Manhattan at Thanksgiving 2010 and is estranged from her husband, the girls’ father, Matthew Badger.

The mansion’s charred remains — deemed a safety hazard — were razed by the city today at the conclusion of an on-site investigation and the removal of the bodies.

Stanford officials are expected to reveal the cause of the fire and other details — including whether the family had working smoke detectors, or whether the on-going renovations somehow abetted the flames —at a press conference tomorrow.

At Saks, where Johnson played Santa, shocked friends shared fond memories.

“He was a great guy, always joking,” an eighth-floor Saks security guard told The Post.

He and his wife were to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary the day after the fire.

As for the girls, they were “just incredibly sweet and really magical,” said Sam Badger, a nephew of their father.’

“Lily was a little more quite, a little more reserved than her sisters,” he remembered.

“The twins just kind of seemed to bounce off each other, I suppose. They just seemed to be like one person, almost,” he said. “It’s really so sad to see them all suffer this fate. This is the most tragic thing.”

Additional reporting by Christina Carrega, Yoav Gonen, Laurel BabcockDaniel Gold and Mitchel Maddux

The victims of the brutal Conn. house fire.

The mom was later released and transferred to an undisclosed location. She looked devastated as she briefly emerged from the hospital.

A relative of her estranged husband, Matthew Badger, said he is “absolutely distraught.”

He was at home in New York when the blaze broke out, and rushed to Stamford, according to cops.

“They were an amazing family,” the relative said.

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia called it “a terrible, terrible day.”

With AP

AP

December 25, 2011: Firefighters investigate a house where an early morning fire left five people dead Sunday in Stamford, Conn.

STAMFORD, Conn. –  The fatal Connecticut fire that killed a fashion-marketing executive’s three children and parents was possibly sparked by embers from disposed fireplace ashes, the New York Post has learned.

The ashes from the family’s Christmas Eve yule log may have been still smoldering when they were left outside the 100-year-old, $1.7 million, Long Island Sound-view Victorian, a source said.

The wind may have blown the embers into the old, wooden building, sparking the Christmas morning blaze.

Madonna Badger, 47, a founding partner of the top-tier branding firm Badger Winters, and a male friend were the only ones to escape the furious 5:00am fire, which gutted the waterfront Victorian home in Stamford.

Her 10-year-old daughter, Lily, and seven-year-old twins, Sarah and Grace, died in the inferno, according to a relative who did not want to be identified.

Badger’s parents, who were visiting from Southbury, Long Island, also died, cops said. Public records identify them as Lomer and Pauline Johnson.

“My whole life is in there,” Badger sobbed as emergency responders led her away from the flame-filled home.

The already tragic story took another heartbreaking twist Monday as details emerged about how the oldest victim, Lomer Johnson, of Southbury, Conn., — a retiree who worked as jolly St. Nick — tried in vain to save his granddaughter.

“He had the little girl with him,” Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told reporters.

Of the seven in the house, only Badger and her companion, contractor Michael Borcina, survived the blaze.

In the early 1990s, Badger became a top fashion marketer with her spicy Marky Mark underwear ads and sultry Kate Moss Obsession ads for Calvin Klein.

Initially hospitalized after the blaze, she was later released and transferred to an undisclosed location. She looked devastated as she briefly emerged from the hospital.

Borcina, the head of Tiberias Construction in Manhattan who was doing the renovation work on the house, remains in stable condition at a local hospital.

Firefighters said Borcina and Badger were both trying desperately to re-enter the house when they arrived and had to be restrained.

Badger had moved to the mansion with her girls from Manhattan at Thanksgiving 2010 and is estranged from her husband, the girls’ father, Matthew Badger.

The mansion’s charred remains — deemed a safety hazard — were razed by the city Monday at the conclusion of an on-site investigation and the removal of the bodies.

Stamford officials are expected to reveal the cause of the fire and other details — including whether the family had working smoke detectors, or whether the on-going renovations somehow abetted the flames — at a press conference Tuesday.

A relative of Matthew Badger said he was “absolutely distraught.” He was at home in New York when the blaze broke out, and rushed to Stamford, according to cops.

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia called it “a terrible, terrible day.”

Click here to read more on this story from The New York Post.

As an added bonus, the Tulalip Resort Casino will simultaneously hold its Wedding Open House to showcase its amenities and services.

Since 2004, the Northwest Bridal Showcase, which is the largest bridal show in the county, has been held in the conference center at Comcast. But show owner Paulette Deckers needed to enlarge the event to meet vendor demand.

Comcast Arena wasn’t able to do so without altering the format and removing some important elements, such as the fashion show stage. As the fashion show is one of the most popular parts of the Bridal Showcase, Deckers said that wasn’t an option.

Deckers didn’t want to turn down the new vendors who had been making inquiries or disappoint existing vendors who wanted more booth space.

“I have the best vendors in the world,” she said.

So she made the difficult decision to change venues. She believes there was no other option.

Deckers tentatively approached Tulalip Resort Casino, unsure if they would be interested. It turned out they were and worked with her to get everything in place.

“I think they have wanted an event like this at the facility,” Deckers said. “Over the past two years they have had an open house to promote their bridal services, so this is a really nice combination. With the show, they get to showcase their bridal services to a larger number of people.”

Tammi Bryant Olson, director of marketing at Comcast Arena, said Brad Buckles and Brides Club will replace Deckers’ event with bridal shows on Jan. 28 and 29 and Sept. 22 and 23.

“We hosted the Northwest Bridal Showcase here for eight years and we produced the Dress Dash as an accompaniment to that show,” Bryant Olson said in a statement. “It was a pleasure working with Paulette to grow her show and we wish her the best.”

Deckers said she still appreciates the years she spent at Comcast Arena and looks back on that time fondly, but she can’t help but be excited over the new venue with its new possibilities.

For a start, parking will be easier compared to downtown Everett. That was something she knows many attendees found difficult at past shows. The Tulalip facility is also appropriate for the event. The AAA-rated, four-diamond resort is already a popular wedding and honeymoon destination.

The Tulalip Resort Casino and nearby Seattle Premium Outlets offer dining and shopping opportunities within easy walking distance. These attractions may also serve as a draw for more Canadian visitors to come to the Bridal Showcase.

While it won’t be open in time for this year’s event, Deckers joked that next year’s brides may find it easier to get grooms to come to the show after the new Cabela’s sporting goods store opens.

Some brides spend one day scoping the vendors and return the next for detailed information after discussing options with their grooms. Bridal Showcase tickets are good for re-entry both days.

There will also be a special dress sale again this year. In the past, the Northwest Bridal Showcase teamed up with Brides Against Breast Cancer and a local radio station for an annual dress dash. Because Brides Against Breast Cancer stuck with Comcast Arena, the Northwest Bridal Showcase will offer a three-hour gown sale on Jan. 14 called Run for the One.

This new dress sale will feature gowns from local dress shops priced at $199 or less. Deckers hopes to team up with another charity for a similar dress event in the future.

The Northwest Bridal Showcase will feature its popular fashion show at 2 p.m. each day. The show runs about 45 minutes and includes tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses and other attendant attire.

More than 100 vendors, about 20 more than in past years, will be at this year’s Northwest Bridal Showcase. Some bakers and caterers plan to have samples available.

Tickets, on sale now at www.nwbridalshowcase.com, are $2 less than the price at the door.

Deckers has great hopes for this year’s show and venue. She’s encouraged by its growth and the increase in vendor inquiries. She also thinks that people are starting to see the benefit in staying local for their wedding services.

“Why travel way south or way north to get what you need when you can get it all here?” she asked. Many brides are surprised to learn that travel fees often apply for services ordered outside of the county.

While vendor space is already filled for this Northwest Bridal Showcase, Decker will begin taking reservations for 2013′s new vendor space in March. Businesses that make arrangements in advance are able to get a free walk-through of this year’s event.