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Google AdWords Trademark Policy Change Goes Into Effect Next Week!If you’re an agency, you’re likely aware of the major Google AdWords trademark policy change that will be going into effect beginning June 4th-15th. This change will significantly impact the control we’re able to have over our client’s brand names within Google Paid Search. What you need to know: -Google will no longer investigate the use of trademarks as keywords in the US, UK and other countries as well. Anyone who wants to sponsor your brand name can, effective June 4th. -Previously, Google restricted the use of brand names in ad text and would take action to prevent such usage. Only authorized resellers were allowed to use you brand, which ensured that most were restricted. This policy is being lifted as of June 15th, so previously disapproved ad text may now be permitted to run in both Google and the Content Network. Google will judge whether the ads will be able to run, and the trademark owner will not be able to prevent people from using their trademark in ad text. It is likely however that Google will not allow direct competitors to include their competitor’s trademark within their ads. What you can do to protect your clients: 1. Ensure that their brand presence is strong- ensure you’re bidding on their branded terms, include their brand name within the ad copy, URL, etc. 2. Report display URL abuse to Google- if you find brand hijacking (causing traffic to be diverted to sites other than your client’s) Google will take action 3. Negotiate deals with competitors- agree to not bid on each others trademarked terms Clients frequently question the value of bidding on their branded terms, when they have natural search presence and often times are listed within first page results in Google. As search marketers we know that having our client’s brand name present in both natural search listings and paid search listings can result in a sort of ‘page domination’ and ensure that we stand out against competitors who’s ads are likely appearing under our branded terms when searched for. This recent trademark policy change stresses the importance of this ‘page domination’ now more than ever. For more on the Google AdWords Trademark policy changes, click here. Labels: Brand Awareness, Google, Paid Search, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Hip Hop …and Twitter?!?!? Not only have hordes of actors, news reporters and CEOs joined Twitter, but you’ll also find a number of hip hop stars participating. Sure, current big shots like @50cent and @ThisIsLilWayne are tweeting but quite a few other rappers sport an ever-growing following.
So if @souljaboytellem (with over 600,000 followers) gets a listen to a new guy’s track and tweets his legion - that type of simple promotion can move a no one into a someone overnight. A New Pricing System for OnlineThere are a few pricing models for online advertising and we all know them well: CPM (define), CPC (define), and CPA (define) being the major ones. But recently, Ari Rosenberg brought me a very novel and intriguing pricing model. It's so unique that he patented it and has some pretty major advertisers and publishers using it. It's called IPC, or impressions per connections pricing. Maybe we'll all be buying media with this new pricing structure some day. Here's what Ari had to say about it. Harry Gold: Ari, please tell me a bit about your background and how you came up with IPC pricing. Ari Rosenberg: I used to be sales manager at Snowball.com (we changed our name to IGN in 2001). We had three "hub sites" at the time, including IGN.com, Chickclick.com, and Powerstudents.com. While on our sites, I had noticed how often we were running ads that didn't seem to fit. Our sales folks were great at pumping in ads that made very little sense for the audience our brands attracted (Ameritrade running on Chickclick.com, for example). At the same time, I also learned firsthand what it was like to have a campaign I sold get canceled because the ads did not perform well. This was a strange feeling coming from traditional media sales and I was resentful that revenue I booked would cancel because "their" creative didn't work on my site. I knew there had to be a better way to formulate a deal structure where everyone could benefit and performance on all sides was incentives. Read more... Labels: Advertising, ClickZ, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Share Maps with Social Horizon's URL Shortener: http://amap.to/Check out the video to see it in action. You can also follow amapto on twitter at www.twitter.com/amapto. Labels: Facebook, Integration, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, web 2.0 Twitter is A-Buzz with Starbuck’s New CampaignStarbucks has launched a campaign with the hope to target a new generation of coffee drinkers. The goal? To get them to tweet about it, of course! Starbucks is putting up posters in six major cities, and has challenged people to post a picture on Twitter of one of the posters today. The first five to post are rewarded with a Starbucks Gold Card with $20 on it.  As one of the biggest marketing efforts Starbucks has had to date, the goal of this particular campaign is to tell the Starbucks story- about a company that truly values the quality of their coffee. This message is particularly important to those of the new generation who have grown up with Starbucks as a commodity. The ads themselves are a flashback to ads in the ‘60s and ‘70s, heavy on the copy- as Starbucks hopes to evoke the message that there’s a lot to say about coffee. Some worry this is not the approach to take with this generation- for which Starbucks may not be about the coffee for this generation, but rather is about the atmosphere and a place to hang out. Starbucks understands that Social Media Marketing is key for this campaign. Some of you might remember that on Election Day, Starbucks gave away free coffee to anyone who voted. What you may not know is how all the buzz about the giveaway started. Leading up to Election Day, Starbucks had a single 60-second TV commercial on SNL advertising the giveaway, and posted the video online. By the time Election Day came, this video was the 4th most viewed on YouTube- not to mention, Starbucks was being tweeted about every eight seconds. With 1.5 million fans on Facebook and 183,000 followers on Twitter, Starbucks hopes this campaign will create the buzz it’s looking for. For more on this new Starbuck's campaign, check out the NY Times Article. Labels: Advertising, Brand Awareness, Social Media Marketing, Twitter Spring Potluck 2009It was a bittersweet Potluck Lunch - last one at our Leo Birmingham Parkway location! Competition was fierce but thankfully everyone brought their A-game. Setting up...the anticipation is building!  Fruits of our labor! All our client names were listed on the flags...brilliant!  Meryl recreated the garage in our office - very impressive! Complete with Austin Powers, and all. Dig in!  And the awards go to... Dan/Shane - best last minute dish (delivery is the way to go sometimes...) David - best stomach satisfying dish (rum cake with homemade chocolate sauce) Meryl - best 46 Leo Birmingham Parkway theme (see picture above for full effect) Laura - best use of a condiment (chocolate frosting is considered a condiment around here) Ra - best presentation AND most nutritious dish (fruit salad - see above for full effect)  To see more pictures, view them on our Facebook Page at: www.overdriveinteractive.com/facebook. Labels: Campus Life Connecting the Dots - Building a Community Channel for Social Properties Within Your WebsiteWhen it comes to social media marketing, what isn't hot these days...Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace...the list keeps going. And when considering using these social branding channels, these aren't just another set of marketing toys to play with, remember, these are your brand's identity. And with hundreds of millions of people scouring these sites for information daily, your connection with a potential customer needs to be seamless. One aspect of any social media campaign that should be approached is to connect the dots within your marketing channel. There are a number of brands that dive into social media with a lack of experience in launching within the space. So, let's put on a little scenario. Brand A has product X and creates a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube page. They take the time to pamper the process and create lasting value behind these pages, through effective videos, messaging, images, and interactive content that brings value to the brand. Excellent! Now, next question: How are you sharing this content with your users?
But, what haven't you done yet? Connect the Dots. When building a social media strategy, it is crucial to connect a brand website with external social media properties. There are simple and advanced ways to do this: 1. Place simple calls-to-action on the homepage  This allows users to have a stronger connection to any social properties. A user's relationship with your product hinges on these particular moments. We are opening a door here by allowing users to quickly share and disseminate content across their own personal networks. Allowing this opportunity for a user sets a clear goal for them. First, they are not confused by the 'impostors' that may be lurking on the web. These are the unofficial channels of a product, many of which exist. These channels have unclear and more than often, incorrect information listed - which hurts the brand's reputation in the end. 2. Build an Online Community Channel Within a Channel  This is a bit more work, as it requires building a channel on your website that captures the true meaning of all your social networks. This could include a live twitter feed, a Flickr gallery, calls-to-action that connect your Facebook, MySpace, Blog, etc. This builds a user's confidence about the brand, and removes any falsehoods that might exist in the social space otherwise. By building in this access to the social properties for users, we build the relationship from a more personal connection. We've eliminated the falsehoods that might live within a user's mind, and connect users with accurate and efficient channel sharing capabilities. This stems from an idea called relationship management. Companies often think of how to effectively build awareness to their social channels, grow their fans, followers, friends, etc. This is often part of what is coined a Phase I build-out for any social media program. Included in a Phase I build-out is an integration strategy, and connecting the dots between social properties and a brand website, often done during this phase - is a must-do. I've seen the mistake more than often where brands build-out social channels, but fail to harness the conversation where they already receive the most traffic - their very own website. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about social media or just online marketing general. Labels: Facebook, relationship management, Reputation Management, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter EMC Announces 2nd Annual Content Management Writer's Summit: June 4 - 5 at the Hotel Gansevoort, NYC!For any writers/bloggers in the enterprise content management space interested in attending or participating... see the post on the EMC Documentum Community from Joyce Watts at EMC: EMC 2nd Annual Content Management Writer's Summit: June 4 - 5 at the Hotel Gansevoort, NYC! The Writer's Summit brings together dedicated writers, bloggers and industry experts in the world of content management and archiving/compliance. This year's theme is Innovation and Business Trends, and the impact it has on Enterprise Content Management, Archiving and Compliance – in 2009 and beyond. This highly-interactive event is hosted by the content management and archiving division of EMC and includes one-night hotel accommodation and meals during the event. Below is a list of topics to be discussed: - Content Analytics & Business Intelligence - Information Virtualization - Good Governance vs. Business Agility - Web 2.0 - And more! Please contact Joyce Watts at EMC for more information: watts_joyce@emc.com. Labels: ECM, EMC, enterprise content management Eight Things You Need to Manage Social Media"Who Owns Social Media Campaigns? written last week by ClickZ columnist Rebecca Lieb, explores who should manage social media for companies - public relations firms, search firms, or agencies. I'm grateful to Rebecca for getting me a gig at ClickZ as a columnist more than two years ago. This week, I'm appreciative because she gave me fodder for my column here. Below is a comment I posted last week in response to her column; I'd like to elaborate. Online Marketing firms who have search, online media, creative, development and tracking technology under one roof are the only entities really qualified to deploy and manage a robust social media channel alive with good content, creative and interactive applications. Agencies might be close but most PR firms are just not equipped to deploy creative and technology-infused online assets and blend them with high-octane online media programs. Certainly "search only" firms are not the right folks for this either - they don't have great creative or online media buyers. The one thing PR firms may have a leg up on is good blog-relations programs. Let me list skills and components that a company needs to manage a social media campaign in a comprehensive way and explain why online marketing firms are the right ones to make it happen. First, the lines between search, online media, online creative, and online technology are blurring and nowhere is that more true than with social media marketing. A social platform is a channel that will forever build your brand, encourage engagement, and drive site traffic, leads, and commerce. Only online marketing firms adept at maintaining, managing, tracking, and optimizing "always on" online channels and technologies should be in charge of managing these platforms. A robust social platform has tons of moving parts and technologies behind it. So in exploring what type of firm is best at managing a social platform consider the following. You wouldn't have your PR firm build and manage your Web site, right? You may have your branding agency do it but probably not. However, you would retain your pure-play online marketing firm that has all the creative, search engine optimization (SEO), and technical/Web development skills under one roof to build and manage your Web site right? Well a social media platform is like a huge Web site that not only integrates with your site but lives all over the Web. That's why a full-service online firm is they way to go. Read more... Labels: ClickZ, online marketing, Online Media, Social Media YouTube Masthead Goes UGThere have been a lot of buzz recently about Sprint’s user-generated “Human Clock” which will launch this week on YouTube. The ad, which supports Sprint’s “Now Network,” will feature videos of people holding up one number that will be strung together similar to a clock. “For example, at 12:09 the ad would display four people, each holding up one number to represent 1, 2, 0 and 9,” MediaPost writes. The images will change as the minutes and hours tick by.  The ad will utilize YouTube’s masthead ad unit which works with other ad units on the homepage. This placement is great for advertisers who want to make a big splash. Zal Bilimoria, product manager for homepage at YouTube states, “On average, these rich media masthead units have 14% interaction rates, compared to the industry average noted by DoubleClick for similar-size units of just under 5%.” The ad unit will also be available as a widget at Sprint’s Now Network micro-site. The site also features interesting facts of things happening “Now,” such as the number of bicycles being produced worldwide, traffic updates in major cities, and even the number of people stuck in elevators. Overwhelming at first, the montage of stats is artfully displayed as a series of interesting stats happening around the world. I admit, I have been on the site for over 42 minutes and I haven’t even clicked on half of the stats. To find out more about the number of coffee cups being produced or the next bus arriving in Portland, visit the site at http://www.sprint.com/network For more information about this post please visit MediaPost's article, "Sprint Takes Over YouTube Home Page With UG Human Clock" Labels: Advertising, Online Media, Social Media Marketing, Video, YouTube Want to be on the Cover of Harley-Davidson's 2010 Catalog?Harley-Davidson has always been known as a brand who is more than just product - it's a culture and such a big part of people's everyday lives. Therefore, what better tribute to riders and fans then the opportunity to be immortalized on the cover of their 2010 Motorcycle Catalog and in their online photo mosaic. In order to create the image, people will need to submit their individual photos, which will be used to create one big mosaic. Photos could be of fans/riders, their bikes or a riding related experience. Help Harley-Davidson reach their goal of 10,000 photos by next Friday, 5/15!! Click here to get started: http://www.harley-davidson-mosaic.com/  Labels: Client News, online marketing Walk for Hunger 2009!On Sunday, 5/3, 44,000 people came to the Boston Common to raise millions for the hungry during Project Bread’s annual Walk for Hunger. The 20-mile pledge Walk attracted over 1,000 religious organizations, as well as 1,200 corporate teams, 1,200 schools, and 700 friends and family groups. These Walkers and their sponsors raised $3.8 million to provide food for 400 emergency food programs in 128 Massachusetts cities and towns. The funds will provide a hot meal or a bag of groceries for out-of-work families next winter. To learn more about the cause or to donate, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/dfhk3b  This year, five Overdrive team members joined the walk and raised $1,200 for the cause (of course we were decked out in our full OD gear!). It was the 2nd year in a row that Overdrive has been represented at the Walk for Hunger...and luckily, NO RAIN this year!Getting started - leaving the Commons full of energy:  Mile 10 - halfway there...  Once we saw the bridge, we knew we were in the home stretch! At last - happy faces after crossing the finish line!!  We'll be back again next year! Labels: Campus Life |
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