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Google Advertises Chrome on TV in Biggest Offline Marketing Investment Ever

You might think it’s strange that one of the biggest internet brands is advertising its web browser product in television commercials, but in actuality, it’s a perfect example of how important integrated marketing is for all businesses — even the biggest web company.

In a new series of commercials, Google tries to connect its Chrome browser with human experiences and develop an emotional connection between users and the branded experience. Watch two of the commercials in the new “the web is what you make of it” campaign for Google Chrome below.

It’s a smart move and marks the biggest offline marketing investment that Google has ever made. The Chrome browser is chipping away at market leader Microsoft Internet Explorer market share, and the company believes that getting more people to use Chrome will lead to greater loyalty and use of other Google products, particularly Google’s search engine.

The New York Times reports that Google spent some time talking to internet users in New York City and asking random passersby what a browser is. Surprisingly, most didn’t know the answer and even fewer realized that there are different browser options available to them. You can see for yourself in the video below.

Clearly, education has to be an important part of Google’s marketing strategy, particularly when casual internet users are unlikely to see the value of downloading a different browser unless the benefits are clearly communicated to them. It doesn’t seem like a big leap to assume that people who are happy with Chrome will use other Google products, particularly since Google does such as great job of integrating its products. It all goes back to education though. Will these television commercials be enough to motivate people to switch to Chrome? For more web-savvy people, the answer is probably yes, but for the less technically adept users, the shift might not be easy.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

SEO for Brand Facebook Pages and Twitter Profiles Lacking

New research from BrightEdge Technologies reveals that the vast majority of branded Facebook pages and Twitter profiles do not appear in the top Google results for keyword searches on the corresponding brand names.

More specifically, BrightEdge analyzed the top 200 brands in the world and found that nearly 100% own the top Google search result for their brand names but only 31% see their branded Facebook page or Twitter profiles in the top 20 Google search results for the brand name. Another 20% see their branded Facebook page or Twitter profiles in the 21st-40th results in Google searches on their brand names.

That means approximately 1 out of 2 of the top 200 brands in the world are failing when it comes to social media profiles and search engine optimization (SEO).  Nearly 50% of these branded Facebook pages and Twitter profiles don’t appear until the 5th page (or later) of Google search results for their own brand names.

So who is doing it right? The study shows that retail brands are doing a better job overall of optimizing branded Facebook pages and Twitter profiles for search while insurance and finance companies are doing the worst.

It’s important to note, however, that the study did not find a correlation between branded Facebook page and Twitter profile SEO and engagement rates. On the other hand, there is no arguing the fact that securing high Google search results for your brand name is an important part of online brand reputation management. Surely you want the content that you have some control over to appear high in search rankings related to your brand name. Branded Facebook pages and Twitter profiles offer a great way to get more of your own content listed high in search engine results.

Most marketers think of social media profiles as tools to boost search engine rankings for company-owned destinations such as websites and blogs, but it’s important not to forget that SEO works the other way, too. Your varied online destinations should be fully-integrated and offer cross-promotional opportunities so they all benefit. Higher search rankings will be a natural result if your efforts are fully integrated and leverage perpetual marketing strategies rather than relying on silo marketing techniques.

Image: stock.xchng

Cashing in on the Royal Wedding – 5 Bizarre Royal Wedding Merchandise Options

Back in November 2010 when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement, analysts quickly spoke up about the money the royal wedding could bring to the U.K. retail sector. Early estimates predicted that royal wedding-related merchandise revenue could reach more than $40 million.

Now, the Royal Wedding is upon us and merchandise with Prince William and Kate Middleton imagery or related messaging is flooding the market. Following are some particularly creative (i.e., strange) products featuring the future king and queen’s likenesses:

Beer

One bottle of the special Royal Virility Performance Beer from Britain’s BrewDog brewery contains one-third of the amount of a prescription Viagra dosage. If that’s not enough to get your libido going, Royal Virility Performance Beer also includes chocolate and Horny Goat Weed–two ingredients known for their aphrodisiac powers.


Don’t worry. If you don’t need a Viagra boost, there could still be a Royal Wedding-related beer for you such as Adnams Royal Wedding Ale which lists honey as a key ingredient (according to the Adnams website, honey beers have been used to celebrate weddings for years–hence the term “honeymoon”).

Another option, Kiss Me Kate, comes from England’s Castle Rock Brewery.

Condoms

Crown Jewels aren’t just any condoms. As the tagline says, these are “condoms of distinction.” These condoms come in a souvenir heirloom collector’s box and include a collectible portrait of the royal couple.

Sick Bags

Royal Wedding not your thing? Feeling ill from all the media attention? Try the Throne Up Royal Wedding Sick Bags — available in red or blue.

Toilet Seat Covers

So the Royal Couple can be with you at all times, try the Royal Wedding commemorative toilet seat cover!

Refrigerator

You can break away from the royal nuptials for a snack and still see the Royal Couple’s smiling faces in gigantic size on your refrigerator doors with the GE/GDHA royal refrigerator.

I guess it’s not surprising that the Lord Chamberlain’s office issued guidelines for Royal Wedding merchandise in December. The Royal Wedding is big bucks and retailers aren’t going to miss their chance to cash in.

What’s your favorite Royal Wedding merchandise? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Web Email Provider Affects Email Marketing Response Rates

For most brands, email marketing is a critical component of the marketing plan and response rates and return on investment are scrutinized very closely. But are you analyzing response rates based on recipients’ email providers?  According to new research by Chitika, you might want to start.

Depending on the web email provider a person uses, that person may be more likely or less likely to click on links in your email marketing messages. Furthermore, that person might be more or less likely to stay on your website after clicking through to it depending on the web email provider he or she uses.

The top web email providers in North America in March 2011 Yahoo! Mail. The market share breakdown is as follows (via eMarketer):

  • Yahoo! Mail = 62%
  • Windows Live = 27%
  • AOL Mail = 7%
  • Gmail = 4%

Separate research from other companies has revealed that Gmail has a much larger market share than the Chitika study claimed (closer to 30% market share). However, the demographics and behaviors of Yahoo! Mail versus Gmail users does not seem to change from one study to the next.  Those demographics and behaviors follow:

  • Gmail users tend to be younger than other web email users.
  • Yahoo! Mail users are more likely to open and click on email marketing messages to visit the email message landing page.
  • Gmail users are more likely to click through the email message landing page when they arrive on it than Yahoo! Mail users.

These findings tell marketers a few important things that you should be watching in your own brand email marketing campaigns. First, Gmail users may be more tech-savvy and are more choosy about which email marketing messages they actually open. Second, when you can convince a Gmail user to open and click through to your email landing page, you’re more likely to convert that visitor to a sale or reach your goal. The Chitika research showed that Gmail users are three times more likely to click through when they arrive at an email marketing landing page than Yahoo! Mail or Windows Live mail users are.

It’s interesting to think of different ways that you can slice and dice the demographic profiles and behavioral profiles of customers and email marketing message recipients. There may come a time when you reach a point in your analysis that you can delete specific web email providers from your email marketing list entirely. It’s something to think about.

Image: stock.xchng

The Quantifiable Value of Return Policies for Brands

In a recent study by Northwestern University and MIT researchers (reported by Neuromarketing Blog), a quantifiable value was placed on retail return policies.  While it may seem like the real value of return policies comes from the positive brand perceptions they create, there are now hard metrics that prove return policies are important and should be well promoted

In the study, researchers determined the specific value that customers put on having the option to return items they purchase online.  As you might expect, the value was closely tied to the perceived risk of a purchase.  However, the study also reveals some specifics about how much more customers are willing to pay for a great return policy.

The study determined that the value of a return policy on men’s shirts equates to $3.19. For women’s shirts, the value is $5.00. However, the value of a return policy on women’s shoes is $15.81. These valuations make sense when you consider the fact that purchasing a man’s shirt is less risky than purchasing shoes for a woman. Without actually trying the shoes on, it can be difficult for women to find the right fit. Men’s shirts are more likely to fit without trying them on than women’s shoes are. It’s a riskier online purchase making the value of a good return policy five times higher for women’s shoes than men’s shirts.

Of course, a good return policy can mean different things to different people, but offering comparisons between your return policy and competitors’ return policies can demonstrate to consumers that yours is more valuable (assuming it’s better than your competitors’ return policies). If your return policy is great, make sure your customers know it, too. They need to understand its value in order to see it as an important benefit to them and differentiator of your brand from others.

You can follow the link to read the complete Northwestern University and MIT study findings. It’s filled with statistical analysis and information you can take to your leadership team to help you sell the need for your brand to have a great return policy.

Image: stock.xchng

Which Brands are Engaging Fans on Facebook Pages?

A new study of over 200 million Facebook page fans conducted by Visibli reveals some interesting findings about how well brands are engaging consumers on the most popular social networking site.

Some of the highlights from the study tell us:

  • Audi Facebook Page fans are highly engaged. The only other brand to rank in the top 5 Facebook pages with a minimum of 100,000 “likes” ranked by Visibli is American Airlines. See the chart below for details.
  • Celebrity Facebook pages are the most active and their audiences are the most engaged. In fact, engagement increases as celebrity Facebook pages grow. The exact opposite is true of brand Facebook pages.
  • Celebrity Facebook pages get twice as many “likes” as brand and media organization Facebook pages get.
  • Media organizations get 2 and a half times as many comments on their Facebook pages than celebrities get and 5 times more than brands get.
  • Half of the “likes” on posts published on Facebook pages happen within the first hour and 20 minutes after the post is published. 80% happen within the first seven hours and 95% happen within the first 22 hours after the post is published.

What can brands learn from this study? First, media organizations are doing a better job of encouraging Facebook page fans to publish comments and join the conversation than brands are. Furthermore, Audi and American Airlines are two branded Facebook pages to review and determine how you can implement similar strategies into your own brand Facebook pages to boost engagement.  Finally, it’s easy to spend less time on your brand’s Facebook page as the audience gets bigger and bigger simply because you’re no longer publishing and interacting in an effort to build your fan base. However, you can’t let your Facebook activities slide just because your audience is growing organically. The online audience is fickle. If you’re not providing fresh and interesting content and conversations, they’ll replace your brand with another in the blink of an eye. Don’t let them get away.

Getting fans to like your Facebook page is only the first step. Once you have them listening, you have to give them meaningful information that they’ll want to share and talk about. That’s how Facebook pages become a successful indirect marketing tool and can help build your brand, business and bottom-line.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts about brand Facebook page engagement.

Image: Visibli