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.
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