Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Microsoft Launches New Strategy Against Google

Every brand is trying to connect with local audiences, and local coupon and savings websites and mobile apps have exploded in popularity over the course of the past year. Groupon leads the buzz, but a failed buyout attempt by Google last year left the doors wide open for the industry to expand.

Microsoft is attempting to seize the opportunity by going in a different direction than Google (who is rumored to now be looking to launch its own program called Google Offers). This week, Microsoft announced it is partnering with Dealmap, an online deal aggregator, to offer localized deals through Microsoft’s Bing search engine to U.S. users. The video below appeared on the Bing blog with all the details.

<a href="http://video.msn.com?mkt=en-us&#038;brand=msn video&#038;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:2d427226-041b-40e8-ba91-5c1ae7a8130a&#038;showPlaylist=true&#038;from=bingblogplayer_en-us_bing&#038;fg=Bing_Marketing_player_bing_blog" target="_new" title="Bing Launches Deals">Video: Bing Launches Deals</a>

The new partnership between Bing and Dealmap brings over 200,000 deals in over 14,000 U.S. cities via both the web and a mobile app for both iPhone and Android devices. Deals come from well-known sources such as Groupon, Restaurant.com, and Living Social. Users can browse for deals by location, business name, keyword, or category. They can also save deals that they find and like, or they can email deals to friends. Of course, they can also claim deals with the deal provider.

Ironically, the new Microsoft and Dealmap service only works on HTML5-enabled mobile devices. That means people who own devices that use Microsoft’s own Windows Phone 7 won’t be able to use it. Microsoft claims that Windows Phone 7 should support HTML5 by the end of 2011.

Now, the ball is in Google’s court. We’ll have to wait and see how Google responds, because you know they won’t leave the localized deal platform launched by Microsoft and Dealmap unanswered. If the rumor reported on Mashable in January about Google Offers is accurate, we might not have to wait very long to see the next stage of this story unfold.

Why Your Brand Needs to Rank High in Google Searches

There are two primary reasons why your brand needs to rank high in Google searches. The first is simple — if someone is searching for keywords related to your business, you want to be one of the top results to boost traffic to your website and hopefully convert some of those visitors into customers.

However, it’s the second reason that’s even more significant. In short, reason number two is because your target audience is undoubtedly using Google. It’s by far the most popular search engine and there is no indication that Google will lose that title in the near or distant future.

Think of it this way — what do people do when they want to find a specific type of business, product or service? They don’t pull out the local phone book anymore. Instead, they go to their computers, mobile devices, iPads, or whatever web-enabled gadget is closest at the time, and they visit Google.com. Bottom-line, your audience is on Google and you need to be there, too.

The key to success is investing the time and effort into boosting your Google search results for your targeted keywords. You can do this in two ways. First, you can use ethical search engine optimization techniques when you create your content. Second, make sure your content is amazing enough that the online audience you spend time building likes it enough to talk about it and share it with their own audiences.

By investing time in building your online audience and relationships through social media marketing and establishing your reputation through focused content marketing initiatives, your brand reputation and your Google search rankings will grow organically simply because more sites will link to your own content. More incoming links equates to more credibility and authority according to Google search algorithms.

In other words, all of your online activities will ultimately help your efforts to boost your Google rankings. As long as you understand that your brand needs to be represented on Google, then you’re on the right track to making sure you’re not just represented on Google but ranked near the top of search results for your targeted keywords.

Have you spent time implementing search engine optimization techniques, building relationships, and publishing amazing content in order to boost your Google search rankings? Leave a comment and share your story.

Image: stock.xchng

Is Mobile Marketing Still an Option or Now a Requirement?

If you thought social media marketing grew quickly, then hang on tight because mobile marketing is absolutely exploding. Every company is trying to get their brands a few taps away from smartphone and tablet owners, so consumers can engage with brands anytime and anywhere from their iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Blackberry devices, and so on.

This month, Apple unveiled a new subscription option for mobile apps in its store that streamlines the process for app developers to sell their apps and charge monthly fees for their use. Of course, Apple tacks on a 30% fee for themselves using this new process, but they also take care of credit card processing and other behind the scenes tasks and maintenance. Now, mobile app developers can sell their apps to the growing iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad consumer base for free, for a one-time fee, or for ongoing subscription fees.

The trick for businesses is finding the sweet spot that balances the usefulness of the app with the amount people are willing to pay for it. No one knows the secret yet because although mobile marketing is exploding, it’s still in its infancy.

And that leads back to our original question. Is mobile marketing still an option or now a requirement? In 2011, all companies are looking at mobile. It makes sense. That’s where customers are moving if they’re not already there. Research from Forrester reveals that U.S. consumers are expected to spend over $1 billion via mobile in 2011. Of course, that’s not all through apps, but it demonstrates a clear trend in consumer behavior.

The problem for businesses in 2011 is falling victim to the risk of marketing scared. The last thing a business should do is invest time and money into creating a mobile app just because that’s the big buzz or just because competitors are doing it. Instead, take some time to create a truly useful mobile app. As Forrester predicts in its 2001 mobile trends predictions:

“Companies will invest first in convenient services for customers; acquisition will come second. In the hierarchy of benefits that mobile offers — revenue generation, cost savings, and convenience — convenience will reign for the next year. However, for some industries, particularly in the retail space, we expect more and more companies to reach seven figures in direct mobile transactions.”

The key take-away is this: mobile marketing is a huge opportunity, but don’t dive in without a paddle or your efforts will drown. Your first step must be to plan, strategize, and think long-term by creating a truly useful app for your target audience.

What is your company doing in the mobile space? Leave a comment and share your story and your opinions about mobile marketing.

Image: Flickr

Old Spice Continues to Entertain and Drive Social Media Buzz

I’ve been thinking about writing a post about the newest Old Spice Guy commercial for several days.  Yesterday, I found an article on Advertising Age about that newest commercial that includes some interesting statistics which support the post I was planning, so here goes my take on it.

The Old Spice Guy commercials have been very successful in making an old brand that many people associated with their grandfathers into a brand that younger generations are actually pausing to consider.  Both male and female audiences are talking about the Old Spice Guy commercials with the newest commercial (and my favorite so far) getting 3.4 million views on YouTube in the first week that it was released.  You can view it below.

One of the things that keeps the Old Spice Guy commercials alive is the company’s willingness to give up control of their content.  When an Old Spice Guy commercial is uploaded to YouTube, people use clips to create their own videos.  They talk about the commercials, share them, and make them their own.  That’s a brand manager’s dream come true.  However, giving up control of a brand isn’t something that most large companies are willing to do yet.  The Old Spice success is a perfect example of how the power of the social web can drive brand buzz, but unless a company is willing to lose control to a certain extent, that buzz potential is very limited.

It’s still unknown whether or not the Old Spice Guy commercials are actually driving sales, but those metrics are more important when it comes to tracking actual advertising performance.  When it comes to tracking social media marketing success, brand conversations and sharing are far more important and indicative of an initiative’s performance in terms of building brand value, creating brand advocates, and generating word-of-mouth marketing.

Based on the number of social web views of the most recent ad (previous ads each generated over 2 million views online within the first week after their releases), Old Spice is definitely benefiting from a strong social media buzz generated by the ads.  The question is whether or not the company can sustain that buzz, deliver on the brand’s promise, and meet consumer expectations for the brand again and again.  Only then will that buzz turn into long-term, sustainable growth for the brand and business.

What do you think?  Will the Old Spice Guy commercials have a long-term positive impact on the Old Spice brand and business?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Social Networking in China Grows Exponentially Among Specific Consumer Segments

Take a look at the chart from eMarketer that shows the growth of social networking users in China since 2009 and projected through 2015.  It seems like every business is focusing on expanding into China with such a huge number of consumers finally accessing more of the products and services from outside the country’s borders.  Social networking represents a big opportunity to connect with those consumers based on these reported usage trends.

The eMarketer data represents Internet users in China who use social networks via any type of device at least once per month.  In 2009, only 155 million people in China were accessing social networks at least one time each month.  Today, that number is 265 million, and by 2015, 488 million Internet users in China will access a social network at least once per month.  That’s a lot of potential customers who might be interested in learning about your brand.

An interesting fact to consider about social networking in China is that different social networking sites are favored by different consumer segments.  Brands need to find the right social networking destination to connect with the right audience.

eMarketer points out that social networking users in China are very willing to follow brands on social networks, blogs, websites, and so on.  In a study by OgilvyOne Worldwide, social media users in China ranked following and friending brands as the second most popular social media activity that they participate in.  An amazing 87% of social media users in China already follow and friend brands on Twitter.  With such widespread acceptance, it’s unlikely that the willingness to follow brands on social media among the Chinese audience will decrease anytime in the near future.

As with all forms of social media, social networking gives brands and businesses an incredible opportunity to listen to customer conversations, define and meet customer needs, and plan for the future in order to best meet those needs.  There are a lot of people in China who are willing to listen to your brand.  Are you preparing to connect with them?

Image: eMarketer

Brands Spread the Love for Valentine’s Day Promotions

This year, brands are looking for new ways to connect with consumers and drive sales with unique Valentine’s Day promotions.  Many of these new marketing initiatives leverage social media as one would expect in 2011.

AT&T is a brand that stands out from the crowd this year in terms of launching modern and unique Valentine’s Day promotions.  AT&T put together a campaign called Shout Your Love from the Mountaintop that debuted just four days before the February 14th holiday. The tagline for the promotion was, “when you love someone, you want to tell the world. You want to shout it from the mountaintop.”

Customers were asked to share their messages of love on the AT&T Facebook page (shown above) and beginning at 8:00 a.m. (PST) on Valentine’s Day and ending in the evening the same day, “fully qualified Mountain Men yellers” read those messages of love on HTC Inspire 4G phones and shouted them for the world to hear.  The shouting aired on a live webcast and the submitted messages and Mountain Men videos appear on the AT&T Shout Your Love from the Mountaintop Facebook app (shown below) and on the Share AT&T YouTube channel.

Within the short four days of the campaign, nearly 10,000 people submitted messages of love.  Three days before Valentine’s Day, AT&T added a Twitter element to the campaign by asking users to use the Twitter hashtag #LoveShout to spread the word, and AT&T invested in Twitter promotion so the hashtag would be listed in the top trending topics.  To round out the online marketing promotion, banner ads and video ads were placed on a variety of top websites such as AOL and Yahoo!

I’m not sure if this campaign drove the ROI AT&T was hoping for, but it undoubtedly drove a positive brand buzz.  What do you think of this creative Valentine’s Day promotion by AT&T?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.