The future of search marketing

Hi everyone

In contrast to the grim state of online advertising we discussed last week, search marketing is going from strength to strength, and rightly so.

As the web exploded we needed a way to navigate through the maze of information and Google's unique search algorithm made it simpler, faster and better than the rest at finding the stuff you wanted.

Sure, there are other search engines out there, but Google dominates the game in most markets. And it's not hard to see why.

By ranking results based on popularity, it made the web more meaningful to most people, so much so that Google became synonymous with the entire concept of 'search'. The smart people at Google also realised that most companies would love to advertise to Google customers based on how targeted this audience would be, and so created the most powerful online advertising model ever via their paid listings. Newspapers were dead, long live Google was the mantra.

So much so that search now dominates many discussions about digital marketing media. Search Engine Optimisation strategies ensure we have the right key words, and links, so our web sites rank highly on Google so customers can find us easily. Getting the right pay-per-click advertising on Google drives most Search Engine Marketing strategies. And this growth has fueled an entire industry of marketers specialising in this field.

No other strategy can impacts your online traffic to the same degree. So you'd be a fool to want to change the search tool right?

Perhaps not as foolish as you might think. The name of the web 2.0 game is about what users want, and it's been nearly 10 years Google has used the same search engine process. And many customers, including me, think we deserve something much better. Here's why:

1. Ranking by popularity is often not enough: The basic issue is the 'most popular ranking' may not be the most relevant to you. We've all experienced it - the site or information we're looking for is swamped by the big spenders and larger sites earlier in the rankings. As asked in this Time Magazine article on the frontier of search, 'who needs 14,120,000 results in response to a single question? People don't want a list - they want an answer'.

2. The growth of community search: In the blog 'the future of search is not google' and in this ABC news article recently, they both chart the fact that search is becoming more of a dynamic search experience, one in which the community will be able to shape, refine and organise searches so they are much more relevant to you.

Already sites have sprung up like http://www.mahalo.com/ that combine different elements of social media and rankings for a much different experience. Type in 'pig flu' in Google and you get the usual, disparate lists of information. Type it into Mahalo and you get a completely different, I think better, inter-connected experience.

3. Does Google really want to change? It's easy to beat up on the big guy I know. But hey, the reason we hated Microsoft wasn't really Bill Gates (or was it?), it's because they stuck to a shitty bit of software and wouldn't evolve it (much).

Google are on a good thing, but they haven't really been very open in their listing methodologies and policies - so how accurate or fair are they really? And yes, while they have tried something different with SearchWiki, it seems half-hearted. Don't tell me the smart people who brought us Google Maps and Google Earth couldn't do an improved search engine. Of course they could, but why would they spoil their cash cow??

4. Social media may become a search driver: One of the reasons Google may have to genuinely start to move forward are tools like Twitter. It may seem odd, but as this blog notes actually Twitter may genuinely evolve into something of search phenomena itself. The reason is this - search via Twitter is based on immediacy not popularity, and in the age of immediacy news sites like Digg rule the day.

Google has pretty fast updates on news from the big media and big sites but it’s not real-time, there’s at least 1 minute delay for even the most world-breaking news. On the other hand, Twitter search can give the user real-time responses, with every Tweet literally becoming a new search result.

So what of these changes? One thing for certain, Google will not be replaced over night, and will continue to have a significant role to play in our marketing in the near future. But if Web 2.0 has taught us anything it is that we must listen to what people, real users are saying, and be open to the change they want.

Search is evolving and it wouldn't surprise me if we were all Mahalo-ing some time soon. Brilliant ad model or not, Google, there go the customers.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Dog days for online advertising

Hi there

If you've been keeping up with the digital marketing news lately lately, you'd know that online display advertising - mainly banner ads on web sites - are going through a bit of a rough time.

The tougher economic climate, and the increasing number of other digital marketing options, has meant a slash in online advertising budgets. The latest research shows it slowing dramatically and perhaps even going negative by the end of 2009.

While this may mean better availability in online media for our ads, it unfortunately also fuels the argument that online advertising is not reaching audiences effectively. The crises in all media, documented by Bob Garfield in his Chaos 2.0 Scenario and updated more recently in Apocalypse Now, highlights that online media cannot yet match the reach/frequency hole left by a fast-dying old media dinosaur.

Add to this the plethora of other social media options in terms of earned rather than paid media, and the growth in search marketing, and it's easy to see why online display advertising is starting to be viewed as an option rather than a requirement for 2009 campaigns.

That's not the way it should be - and agencies need to shoulder some of the blame for that. Because many the banners we're producing just aren't in the same Web 2.0 league as the rest of the work. Not even close.

Most online creative I've seen lately is at best uninspiring, and at worst intrusive and damaging to the brands. It's unfortunate that while I've been banging on lately about the incredibly high standard of digital and integrated creative work this year, looking around it's really hard to come up with banner ad campaigns locally and regionally that are something different and effective.

As Advertising Age highlighted this week in this article, most online display ads 'remain the safe haven for traditional one-way communication'. Online ads aren't taking advantage of the incredible opportunities available to them, and aren't even getting noticed, let alone starting conversations.

They have become the bland hand-luggage that accompanies other media suitcase campaigns - too easy to ignore because they lack relevance and engagement. It's as if we've accepted online advertising requires a lower standard of creativity, but somehow believe it will still perform well.

Clearly it won't, and here's my take on how we need to get online advertising back on board again: (Thanks to IDGM site for some of the quotes below)

1. Use rich media: When producing online display creative these days, we need to start utilizing rich media as our main tool. Basically that means creating far more sophisticated banners capable of housing video, games and other interactive elements. This has been talked about for several years, but mass broadband penetration is now making it an everyday reality. In response to increasing demand, ad-serving companies such as DoubleClick and Eyeblaster are focusing more and more resources on pushing the boundaries of rich media.

Check out 'Eye Blaster Creative Zone' to see what's possible. We can create ‘Social ads’ that allow users to post content to the social network of their choice. Video, branded games or other content can be pulled from ads and transfer-red to Facebook or MySpace, allowing it to spread vi rally. Other developments include ‘Talk-Back’ banners, which enable consumers to give feedback via an ad, and ‘Chat’ ads, which allow users to have questions answered via an ad in real time. What this means is that advertisers of all shapes and sizes can adapt display technology to suit exactly their own purposes.

This can even apply to conservative sectors such as financial services or airlines, where people can actually order tickets or services from within the banner. Static banner ads - broadcasting one-way messages that have little impact, relevance, and often under perform - need to be killed off.

2. Broaden our measurements: The growth of rich media and other new online display formats raises questions about the usefulness of click-throughs as a measure of the success for all campaigns. In a recent post Nicolas Zurstrassen, associate director of digital at Nike, believes that click-throughs are still important as a means of gauging interest in an ad. “However, as brands move away from a focus on destination sites and toward integrating themselves into the environments where their consumers interact, it is essential to have another level of measurement on top of the click-through. The past few years have seen the rise of this metric – engagement.”

This point is important. Traditionally, digital display campaigns sought to drive consumers away from a website and onto a brand’s site. In the case of direct response ads, this made sense, as it would be the brand’s site that would convince them to make a purchase. Brand-building campaigns were, on the other hand, limited in what they could show on a banner, and were often forced to pull readers to the brand site where they could enjoy a fuller experience.

The promise of the latest rich media formats is that brands can bring their content to consumers, rather than vice versa. David Prideaux, executive creative director at Publicis Dialog notes that “This is the big creative opportunity. There’s more content and the next creative opportunity is the ‘widgetisation’ of banners. Rich media now allows for messages to be turned into applications, so instead of having to click through to a site, the banner can deliver much more information and a far more engaging experience on its own.”

The result is that has noticed that rich media has helped campaigns buck the trend of declining clicks. “The average click-through rate is 0.2 per cent and falling. Contrast this with rich media, where you can get two to three per cent if you have a really strong execution.”

These metrics can be anything from viewing time on a video, playing time on a game banner or level of completion on an interactive order form. The key is to define what the objectives and measurement aims are up front prior to creative production - as it's an important part of the creative process.

3. Utilize better targeting: Web sites and media agencies are getting much, much better at targeting customers - not just through demographics but through profiling and behavioural targeting. Basically now we can pinpoint individuals who visit sites and track where they go to build a better idea of our target customers based on their actual behaviour.

This revolution in online advertising highlighted here, means we can reach more people on more sites and move beyond just the big portals to reach out directly to every one of our customer segments. Not only that, but it can means reduction in costs as well.

4. Throw away the matching luggage: The final point is perhaps an important one to discuss with our clients. There is a perception among some marketers and agencies that online advertising creative in an integrated campaign "should look like the rest of the campaign. For consistency, look and feel, to make sure we re-enforce the same message". Perhaps that may be true with some static online ads of the past, but we've already seen how effective these have been.

Well here's the counter-argument to that matching luggage philosophy. Customers really don't care if your ad looks the same as a TVC or print ad. The web is built on engaging people and getting them to interact with your message. Great integrated campaigns DO NOT force the online ad to look exactly the same as the print ad, because they recognise it is a different medium and customers have different requirements and expectations. Yes at the end of the day the overall message should be the same, but the execution should play to the media's strengths. And it's need to have a strong creative idea that's right for the environment.

Despite the tough times, the future for online ads can be bright, but we have a bit of catching up to do to get to the same level as other digital marketing efforts.

Hope to hear your thoughts on this.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

HumanKind ideas in action

Hi there

First, sorry for the delay in this post!

Second, I'm NOT usually writing this blog to 'sell' Leo Burnett/ARC, but this week, I'm doing so unashamedly.

Last week we had our Global Product Committee in town reviewing Q1 2009 global work, and it was fantastic for Leo Burnett Bangkok to host this event.

There was truly some inspiring work, in particular in the integrated area, that I thought was worth sharing.

Our HumanKind approach is all about putting people first - getting beyond just saying what our products do and starting to show what our products/ brands can mean in people's lives. As we say, we're more interested in delivering real purpose through creating acts, not just ads.

For me personally, what defines our new type of HumanKind work, in particular in the digital and integrated area, includes the following key elements:

- Real human insights: These campaigns have looked at what people really feel/think/do/react and have come up with something fresh and relevant.

- User at the centre of the experience: They have all gotten people involved in creating and involved in the experience. Not just speaking at people, but getting customers to participate.

- Relevant brand utility: The campaigns are about providing the brand's purpose as something practical and useful for everyone. This way the brand becomes truly involved in what people want.

- Tools for re-imagination and sharing: The campaign has not stopped at just telling a story, but actively getting people to interpret the story and add to it in the way they want. Across every media, not just online.

- Star-reaching ambition: All of these campaigns are ideas that can be as big as they want to be, can be applied globally, and extended almost indefinitely. Great campaigns are not afraid to be hugely ambitious for the products or brands they represent. They really do want to make our clients famous - in all the right ways.

Here are just a few of my favourites,

1. Earth Hour Campaign - WWF: Last year we took on Sydney, this year we've taken on the world! A campaign to help increase awareness for global warming by turning out the lights. Reached an estimated 1 billion people last 28 March. If you can think of a campaign with bigger ambitions, I'd like to know about it. Here is the site

2. Ephemeral Museum - Pampero Rum: A fantastic way to help unearth the city of Lisbon's culture and make people a part of that experience. See the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooscH571RAA

3. The Shop - Red Cross: A wonderfully simple way of making the intangible more tangible, selling 'hope' in a retail environment in Madrid. Check this great idea here, and we'll see if we can make it happen in Thailand! Stay tuned..

4. First Coke of the Year - Coca Cola: Humanity and optimism, the central themes of this integrated campaign from China. The campaign invites the public to participate, sharing their own personal stories about who they chose to share their first Coke of the year with and give their First Coke of the Year to the person of their choice, both on-line and in-store. Great use of Liu Xiang, especially given his failure during the Olympics. Apparently the site attracted more than 20 million visits. See the TVC here.

Look forward to sharing many more ideas with you, locally and from around the world, throughout the year.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com