Reimagining traditional touchpoints, OpenFortune reshapes marketing through personalized messages with lasting emotional impact.
1. Carlo, your journey from orthopedic sales to leading innovative marketing at OpenFortune is nothing short of remarkable—what moments or decisions along the way most shaped your approach to leadership today?
Over time, I started to understand that it wasn’t only the product or service that fueled the business; the people were the engine. I began focusing my attention on supporting individuals to achieve the best version of themselves. In my opinion, that’s what leadership is.
2. OpenFortune is turning heads by placing brand messages inside fortune cookies—what inspired this bold intersection of tradition and advertising?
OpenFortune was founded in 2016 by friends Shawn Porat and Matt Williams. One day, Shawn was dining at a Chinese restaurant, and he noticed how much attention people paid to their fortune cookies and sharing them with their fellow diners. Recognizing that these slips of paper could be seen as a marketing tool by adding a branded message, Shawn sat down with Matt (who comes from the advertising industry) about his idea and how to bring it to life.
Today, OpenFortune has distributed over 900 million fortune cookies in over six years. We have had the pleasure of working with so many different brands, including Liquid Death, Chime, Duolingo, the Sacramento Kings, ZipRecruiter, Hulu, and Manscaped, just to name a few.
3. With higher education facing an admissions crunch, how are universities benefiting from such an unconventional outreach method?
Because of the various options students have after high school, colleges and universities are at a crossroads with how to bring in new students to their schools. This wasn’t the case just a decade ago. According to a recent study, college enrollment totaled 19.28 million undergraduate students nationwide in Fall 2024, down 8.43% from peak enrollment in 2010 (21.0 million). Yes, you’ll still have college representatives visit your local high school and promote their school. But ask yourself, will that attract a high school student to enroll in your college?
Colleges and universities need to think creatively when it comes to attracting these potential students. Utilizing options outside of traditional advertising can be seen as beneficial to future customers, or in this case, students.
Having college/university-themed advertisements in non-traditional avenues not only sparks a conversation starter between the child and their parent, but it also piques the interest of the future student.
4. How do you ensure that the messaging inside each fortune cookie resonates with prospective students, especially in a landscape where personalization is key?
Personalization is key, but so is collaboration. Whenever we work with a company, we collaborate on what specific fortunes can speak to their customers. That way, OpenFortune can tailor each fortune so it aligns with the institution’s identity while sparking the kind of interest that drives interest for their future students.
Students might walk past a flyer/pamphlet or remove an ad from their devices, but a physical fortune cookie could create an engagement that might stick with them. We want to create moments of personalization at scale—ones that leave a lasting impression long after the cookie’s been cracked.
5. What kind of response or measurable impact have you seen from campaigns with schools like Northern Arizona or Illinois State?
We’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of colleges over the years—Northern Arizona and Illinois State among them—and the impact has been remarkable. These campaigns consistently spark curiosity, drive engagement, and most importantly, help schools connect with prospective students in an unexpected and memorable way. Many of these schools have been ongoing partners for years.
We’ve seen fortune cookies play a role in actual decision-making moments. Students have shared on social media how receiving a fortune led them to explore a school they hadn’t considered, or even make their final enrollment choice. The organic reach through shares, tags, and reactions has also been strong, with schools benefiting from authentic, student-driven visibility.
Overall, our campaigns don’t just generate impressions—they generate conversations, campus visits, and real enrollment interest.
6. In an age dominated by digital ads, what makes physical, tactile experiences like yours more memorable or emotionally effective?
You said the word memorable, and that’s vital to OpenFortune’s core business. Whenever you go to a Chinese restaurant and diners receive their fortune cookie at the end of their meals, they’ll read the message and then throw it away or leave it behind. But with branded fortune messages, the experience changes. Now, that fortune has become a conversation starter, a social media post, or even a keepsake.
OpenFortune works closely with every brand – whether it’s a dating app, sports team, or an airline, we’re creating small moments for these customers that they can share and talk about with their friends and families. Our physical placements continue to make an impression after customers leave the restaurant, and that’s something you don’t often see with physical ads.
7. What trends are you seeing in how younger generations respond to novel marketing channels, especially those that blend fun and storytelling?
Younger generations—especially Gen Z—gravitate toward marketing that feels personal, authentic, and interactive. They’re incredibly savvy and quick to tune out anything that feels overly polished or sales-driven. What resonates with them are novel experiences that blend fun with storytelling and allow them to feel part of the narrative.
We’ve seen that tactile, unexpected touchpoints—like a fortune cookie with a custom message—cut through the digital noise. It’s playful, but also emotionally resonant. When you pair that with a strong story (like a message about a future at a particular college), it sticks. These moments create a sense of discovery and often get shared socially, amplifying the impact far beyond the initial interaction.
In short, younger audiences respond best to marketing that invites them in, gives them something to react to or share, and makes them feel seen—not just sold to.
8. OpenFortune has worked with some of the most recognizable names in business—how does your experience with Fortune 1000 brands inform your work with colleges and universities?
Our experience working with Fortune 1000 brands has taught us the importance of storytelling should not only be memorable, but also aligned with the company’s brand identity. Every message must be thoughtful, strategic, and authentic—that same discipline translates to higher education.
If you think about it, colleges and universities are, in many ways, storied brands themselves. As a student, you’ve graduated from high school and have moved on to the next chapter of your life story. Colleges and universities aren’t just institutions; they’re communities, cultures, and lifelong networks. Our work with major Fortune 1000 brands has sharpened our ability to filter complex identities into simple, tangible moments that stick. We bring that same craftsmanship to our work with educational institutions.
9. Looking ahead, where do you see the greatest opportunities for OpenFortune to expand, whether in education, entertainment, or beyond?
I’d like to think the sky is the limit for OpenFortune. We’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of incredible brands across a variety of industries, spanning from banking to transportation, sports teams, consumer products, and education. OpenFortune would love to work with any company that is looking to find new and fun ways to promote their brands.
Whenever OpenFortune meets with a company, we always like to start off by hearing their goals when it comes to advertising. That way, we can share our vision about the partnership and how to increase their visibility through fortune cookies.
Carlo Palomino
Carlo Palomino is the president of OpenFortune, one of the fastest-growing media companies specializing in advertising through fortune cookies.
Carlo’s primary goal is to ensure his clients are standing out among the crowd, leading to the fastest top-line growth for every business he works with. Before becoming OpenFortune’s President, he previously served as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer. For over 15 years, he has worked with some of the largest enterprise companies like Verizon, Bloomberg, and provided clients with the best possible results to achieve their business goals.
For several years, Carlo has had the opportunity to fully understand the power that data and analytics can have to help impact local, regional, national, and global businesses that I work with. Carlo is focused on leading his team at the intersection of marketing, sales, and client success, as well as impacting enterprise and mid-market organizations, captivating audiences’ attention in the most innovative way to drive brand awareness.
Before joining OpenFortune, Carlo held various sales roles at Pars.ly, a premier content analytics platform chosen by newsrooms and marketing teams.
Carlo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Ithaca College.
