The Think eBiz Blog

Brand Matters; Brand Building with Online Marketing

Online Marketing is more than a vehicle for producing leads and sales - it's now a major driver for brand building. Companies that traditionally advertise on television or print publications are learning that they need an integrated online marketing component to be successful. There were great integrated promotions during the recent Super Bowl. There were also companies that paid big-bucks for Super Bowl ads and failed to capitalize online. Then there was one company that was very opportunistic, leveraging it's competitors very expensive Super Bowl ad for its own gain.

PS: I am no longer associated with Trajectory Brand marketing. Please contact me to discuss online marketing, including search, online brand marketing and business effectiveness online. I am in a position to recommend other branding, marketing and communications companies other than Trajectory at this time. thank you.

Offline and Online Marketing; the live blurs.

In the beginning (before 1994), it was called Marketing. Simply put, it was offline - since online did not exist. Maybe there was a distinction between print and television/radio marketing campaigns. Then Al Gore created the internet (ok maybe not Al) and there became two marketing worlds, each so dissimilar. Now offline and online are blurring; into integrated marketing. That's a good thing.

Think about it; create an advertisement for a print magazine and include a URL for more information. That's a loose integration. However, when the person views the online ad and it is reflective of the print ad - the branded experience is extended. This is a good thing.

And when you ask your readers and television viewers to Google; this simply becomes marketing, with no distinction between the off and online marketing worlds. Pontiac's latest television ad invites you to "Google" Pontiac, while displaying the Google homepage. Why not simply ask the viewer to type www.pontiac.com? Simple - Pontiac is leveraging the action verb - "To Google". This is a clever thing.

The lesson is quite clear; marketing is once again firing on all cylinders to extend their branding and experience across multiple channels. Google agrees (from a quote on Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch); "We are happy that Pontiac has featured Google search in their television ad campaign. This is evidence that mainstream brand advertisers are increasingly realizing the close relationship between broadcast advertising and search usage."

The lines are blurring and once again it simply is called... marketing.

Brand Awareness with Paid Search

Do you think "Search Engine Marketing" for building brand awareness for your company? We know that Search is a powerful vehicle for eCommerce and/or traffic building, but for building brand awareness? The answer, according to a study conducted in July is a resounding yes.

A study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Search Engine Effectiveness Committee has determined that brand awareness is indeed enhanced by the use of paid search placement.

"Results were stunning. "On average, when respondents were asked to name a specific leading brand within a tested industry, they were 27 percent more likely to name the brand displayed in the top spot compared to a control group not exposed to the ad," reads the study. Unaided brand awareness jumped from 43.9 percent for the search control to 55.6 percent for the top position. This result is for brands generally already well-known, which makes the results even more exciting.

Many brand marketers consider unaided brand awareness scores a highly valid measurement of advertising effectiveness. Marketers want consumers to consider their brand at every stage of the buying cycle. Higher unaided brand awareness increases the likelihood a consumer will include the brand in a purchase selection set."

For the eMarketer, this study should help you to justify and implement a full three-prong strategy of building brand awareness, driving traffic and delivering ROI in the form of sales conversions or high quality leads.

Click here to read the full article.