Google Data » Aaron Lichtig

What We Learned from CES 2011

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Well, it’s been just over a week since we wrapped up another exciting CES with some very innovative new product displays. From the world’s thinnest tablet (and a concept tablet...and a waterproof tablet!), to a range of smart tvs, to a surge in ultrabook designs, and of course who could leave out the sleek new smartphones, this year’s show had many talked about products.

But what will have consumers buzzing the remainder of the year, as many of these products gear up for their official releases? While it’s tough to predict that, we did want to take a quick look at what happened after CES last year, to glean insights into some trends we can look for this year.

Insight #1: CES week search volume could be a good indicator of launch week popularity

Insight #2: CES 2012’s Top 5 Products had 50% more Google Searches than CES 2011’s Top 5
ASUS Transformer Prime looks like a potential big winner based on Google search volume, and its volume was even greater than two of last year’s hottest products, the HTC Thunderbolt and Motorola Atrix.

Insight #3: Samsung made a much bigger splash this year with 3 of top 5 mobile searches, while in 2011, HTC had 2 of the top 5 products. Top products are determined based on query volume.

Insight #4: Among top launches, the Nokia Lumia was the most frequent 2012 product searched in a single session on Google.com and heavily searched on YouTube. The ASUS Eee Pad and Transformer Prime were cross-researched on Google.com most often with the Lumia. User activity on Youtube showed top term Nokia Lumia with 1.3 million video views for the Nokia LumiaTV ad.The ASUS Eee Pad had ~400K video views for review and there were about ~540K views for “Ipads2 vs ASUS”.Consumers are searching primarily for products and product reviews on Google.com & YouTube to learn more about new launches during CES.

Nina Thatcher and Amy Liu, The Google Tech Team

2012 Predictions For Marketing To Moms

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Great article out this week on by Holly Pavlika at mediapost emphasizing the importance of video and mobile in marketing to moms in 2012. You can read the whole thing here.

Here are the video and mobile highlights:

1. More mom video content on the web.

Moms love to view other moms in action. They trust what another mom has to say more so than they do celebrities. And they consume a lot of video on a weekly basis. So it’s only natural that video content will continue to rise. YouTube is commissioning new channels and Deca has launched “Kin,” a mom/women’s channel. And, don’t forget “The Mom’s View” from Maker Studios. Moms are also finding that their personal channels on YouTube can turn them into web celebs, lead to book deals and make them money with the right content. Brands need to jump on the video bandwagon if they want to stay engaged with mom.

2. Mobile will continue to influence mom’s path to purchase.

Moms armed with smartphones are putting them to good use. Brands that don’t yet have a mobile strategy are way behind the curve. Moms see mobile as their command center and remote control for managing life. According to BabyCenter, 53% of moms purchased a smartphone because they had become a mom. And, it’s influencing her path to purchase. With smartphone and apps in hand, she can comparison shop, check out potential purchases with friends, download coupons, manage the budget and more. Her phone is connecting her to all the information and references she needs to make a purchase decision.

Congrats to King Arthur Flour

Aaron Lichtig — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Congrats to CPG Company King Arthur Flour of Vermont for being featured in Ads @
Google's 2011 at a glance "on the map" feature!

Think fast in the first Think Quarterly of 2012

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:35:00 +0000

[Cross-posted with the official Google blog]

In the amount of time it takes you to read this blog post, roughly 382 Android phones will be activated, 250,000+ words will be written on Blogger and 48 hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube. The world is moving faster than ever before, bringing us instant access and split-second connections to people and information.

Speed is important in technology, but equally essential in business. Consumer expectations are rising as we learn to take speed for granted; today’s email is tomorrow’s snail mail. In our hyper-real-time world, nanoseconds matter—which means we need to question old assumptions. How will we respond to consumer expectations as the demand for instant access to everything intensifies? How will we keep pace in a world that moves at web speed?

The new Speed issue of Think Quarterly explores these questions and more. Our SVP of Engineering Urs Hölzle shares our efforts to speed up the Internet, while Astro Teller, Director of New Products, dreams about the amazing inventions these improvements will unleash. Paul Gunning, CEO of Tribal DDB, talks about the rise of real-time marketing. And journalist Jeff Jarvis wonders if we’re really that fast after all.

We hope you enjoy the issue. Let us know what you think on +Think With Google. And if you’re at CES this week, drop by our Room to Think in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center and tell us your thoughts live. We’ll also host a Google+ Hangout there with Astro Teller, author of Speed of Dreams, on Thursday at 2pm PST.

Posted by Allison Mooney, Think Quarterly Editor

Google – Where We’ve Been and What’s Next

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Here's the story of Google from its inception to present day. From our humble beginnings, we've always tried to put the user first and we will continue to do so in 2012.

A new agency council for a new kind of shopper: introducing The Google Shopper Marketing Agency Council

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:46:00 +0000

Guest post by Stephanie Redish Hofmann, Head of Agency IPG, Google

As festive shoppers deck the halls earlier each year, putting their bargain detective hats on in search of products that provide the best value for each dollar spent, marketers have had to change the way they think about reaching these savvy shoppers. Because while a shopper's first interaction with a product, the First Moment of Truth (FMOT), used to occur when that person saw a product on the store shelf for the first time, the advent of the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) -- the online moment at which a person first develops an opinion about a brand, prior to encountering it in the physical world -- is changing the way marketers think about the digital path-to-purchase.

In turn, the Shopper Marketing Agencies (SMAs) that work closely with marketers to capture mind and market share during each holiday shopping season and beyond have been working hard -- using rich data and deep understanding and insights -- to help companies evolve their digital marketing strategies to 'win' this newly defined and important moment in time. They are a vital part of a vital marketing transformation, which has changed the game for modern marketers.

We've always valued our relationship with these SMAs -- but it occurred to us, as this uber-busy season approached, that it would benefit consumers, advertisers and SMAs alike to work even more closely together, delving deeply into understanding the ZMOT model as applied to shopper marketing and digital brand activation along the path to purchase.

To do this, we formed The Google Shopper Marketing Agency Council. This group is comprised of leading SMAs, including Arc WW, DraftFCB, Integer, Mars, Momentum, RPM Connect, Saatchi & Saatchi X, Shopper Sciences, ShopWork, The Marketing Arm, Triad Media, TracyLocke, and Upshot -- and its goal is to advance understanding of how online and offline behavior drives purchase consideration and decision-making, and to overcome the challenges related to communicating this transformation.

We're looking for this group of marketing innovators to help guide the way Google engages and partners with SMAs and the industry in general, and are sure it will help us better support SMAs in search of the best way to help their clients' brands win the ZMOT. Stay tuned for news and updates!

ZMOT – Top 10 Book!

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Congratulations to Jim Lecinski and the ZMOT book team for being honored as one of Ad Age's top 10 marketing books of 2011. You can read the full article here.

The Tablet Generation

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:27:00 +0000

Just think about it...in just a few years these kids are going to be your consumers. If you don't have a tablet search and display strategy, you're not just missing today's shoppers, you're also missing tomorrow's.

2011′s Best CPG Marketing on YouTube

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:42:00 +0000

As we approach the end of the year, we've taken some time to reflect on all of the great brand marketing that we've been fortunate to be a part of in 2011. The video below highlights what we think are some of the best examples of CPG marketing done on YouTube this year. We'd love to hear your thoughts about your favorites.

Happy viewing!

YouTube and TV Ads: Your Media Plan Needs Both

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:29:00 +0000

Pre-roll video ads are playing an increasingly important role in online media plans, and many advertisers wonder how these newer formats compare with traditional TV ads. YouTube partnered with Ipsos on a study across 2,400 people split into groups exposed to :15s & :30s video ads. We tested to see how these units compared and complemented each other and found:

· Among those exposed to the 15 second spot on both YouTube and TV combined, we found 2x better recall than TV alone, 1.5x better for those exposed to the 30 second spot

· 5 out of 6 advertisers saw ad recognition lift on the :15 spot for YouTube + TV over TV Alone, and 4 out of 6 advertisers saw lift on the :30 spot

· YouTube generally has the same impact on aided brand attribution as TV for both :15 and :30 ads

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Final Episode – Google’s Kevin Kells

Aaron Lichtig — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:28:00 +0000

The final episode of our CPG Thought Leader series features Kevin Kells, the Industry Director for the Home & Personal Care vertical at Google. Over the past 5 years he has helped hundreds of brands enhance their digital marketing plans. Kevin also has rich experience as a brand marketer at companies like Revlon, Unilever, and Diageo.

In the video below, Kevin talks about the importance of making Google a part of brands' new product and campaign launch plans. He sees Google as a powerful marketing engine that can help drive rapid awareness and trial of new products. According to Kevin, brands can spark awareness through YouTube and Display advertising, capture intent through desktop and mobile search, and drive purchase through mobile ads and coupons. Don't hesitate to reach out to Kevin with questions or comments.

Consumers on tablet devices: having fun, shopping and engaging with ads

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:07:00 +0000

(cross-posted on the Google Mobile Ads Blog)

Tablets have quickly emerged as a distinct third digital screen in consumers lives that fill the gap between desktops and smartphones. But there are still many open questions about exactly how consumers are using them. We explored tablet search trends earlier this year, but wanted to dig deeper and answer key questions such as: What are the contrasts between tablet use, laptop use, and smartphone use and how are consumers engaging across these devices? What are the most common activities (playing games, searching, reading, etc.) that tablets are used for? What ads are most relevant and useful based on how people are using the devices?

Tablets are for fun, entertainment, relaxation, while laptops are for work
One of our studies, a diary study that had people record every occasion that they used their tablet over a two-week period, found that most consumers use their tablets for fun, entertainment and relaxation while they use their desktop computer or laptop for work. Tablet devices are personal - 91% of the time that people spend on their tablet devices is for personal rather than work related activities. When a consumer gets a tablet, we’ve found that they quickly migrate many of their entertainment activities from laptops and smartphones to this new device.

Tablet owners are building the device into their daily routine. Our research found that the most frequent tablet activities are checking email, playing games and social networking. We also found that people are doing more activities in shorter bursts on weekdays (e.g. social networking, email) while engaging in longer usage sessions on weekends (e.g. watching videos/TV/movies).

Tablets are multi-tasking devices with at least 42% of activities occurring while doing another task or engaging with another entertainment medium. Of all the activities that people do on tablets, checking email, playing games, social networking and searching are the ones most frequently done in front of the TV. Many consumers also used their tablets to check email while eating, and listen to music while cooking.

The activities shown in the above chart were self-reported by respondents.

Tablets primarily stay home, few travel
But unlike smartphones that go everywhere and laptops that travel between work and home, few consumers take their tablets with them when they leave the house. However, consumers do take their tablets on vacation or work trips where they use them as a laptop replacement and a small number take them on their commute. Interestingly, our recent research found that tablets are for the most part a one-person device, although there are consumers who share their tablet with other family or household members.

Tablets are, however, mobile within the home, with the highest usage taking place on the couch, from the bed and in the kitchen.

The activities and locations shown in the above chart were self-reported by respondents.

Consumers are shopping on tablets
Many consumers do a lot of window shopping on their tablet and our data shows that they are making more and more purchases on their tablet devices. Indeed, tablets figure to be a significant new way for people to be shopping this holiday season. While shopping they are engaging with familiar brands through social media sites, deals discounts, and navigating directly to trusted shopping sites.

We also found that people are using their tablets for activities that they are also doing in the real world, such as searching for something in their local area, shopping (browsing and purchasing), and managing finances.

For many people, websites and apps designed for smartphones just don’t cut it on tablets. Instead consumers are taking advantage of the bigger screen and prefer using fully featured apps and the full desktop sites on their tablet.

We found that some of those activities also extend to additional devices (e.g. smartphone, laptop, etc.). These activities included shopping (both browsing and purchasing), searching for information, managing finances, checking the calendar and checking email.

Consumers don’t view ads differently on tablets, but they do expect more interactivity
Consumers are engaging with useful, relevant and rich ads that take advantage of the touchscreen interface on tablets. Some consumers expect more interactivity from ads on tablets than they do from ads on their desktop computer.

We believe that tablet ownership will continue to rapidly grow in 2012 and that tablet usage may change over time, particularly as smaller devices come on the market. We plan on continuing to conduct research to understand consumers’ uses of their tablet devices and are excited to share these research insights with you.

Posted by: Jenny Gove and John Webb, User Experience Research, Mobile Ads

Official Google CPG Blog 2011-11-29 10:59:00

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Here's a great new video on the evolution of Google search. Enjoy!

Holiday Insights and Tips from Google

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:15:00 +0000

Think it’s too late for holiday marketing initiatives? Think again!

Today the Think with Google team is launching December Adventure, where every weekday between now and December 23, they’ll share useful, surprising and delightful insights and opportunities for sparking your online holiday sales via search ads, mobile and more. It’s prime time for online shopping, so follow Think with Google on Google+ for daily tips! You can also add this helpful holiday calendar to automatically see these tips on your Google Calendar.

Our December Adventure is just beginning - so bundle up, log on, and get ready to grow your holiday business day by day.Click here to visit Think with Google on Google+. To share the glow of these holiday insights, use #decemberadventure.

Five Truths of the Digital African American Consumer

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:54:00 +0000

If African American consumers aren't a part of your brand's digital strategy, they should be. African Americans are one of the most engaged, influential, and responsive online audience segments.

Last month, Google and GlobalHue teamed up with OTX to understand what role search and other digital advertising technologies play in African Americans' purchasing decisions. The team, which included Google CPG's own Jason Crain, uncovered five key truths that every CPG marketer needs to consider:

African Americans are early adopters, and are more likely to watch video online and to access online content via smartphones and other alternative platforms.
Digital technologies provide an important “microphone” to African American consumers, who are significantly more likely to use Twitter and to recommend online brands and products to acquaintances.
They are avid searchers, more likely to use search daily, and to click through on search ads.
This audience is nearly 50% more likely than others to begin their “path to purchase” with search.
African American consumers are substantially more responsive than the general population to digital video ads and smartphone ads.

Here's a cool infographic with even more study findings:

In addition to the graphic, the team also put together a 43-slide deck that you can steal from with pride for use in your own presentations.

For more thoughts on the research, check out the excellent coverage in AdWeek.

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 6 – Ford’s Matt Van Dyke

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:18:00 +0000

Today's video features Ford's Director of Marketing Communications Matt Van Dyke. He spoke to our 200+ attendees at Think Branding NYC about Ford's social media strategy, with a focus on Ford's use of Google+. In this episode, Matt discusses the importance of listening to consumers when planning social media strategies.

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 5 – Mindshare’s Ritu Trivedi

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:17:00 +0000

Over the past four days, we've featured a consultant, two Googlers, and an entrepreneur in our CPG Thought Leader Video Series. Today's thoughts come from a leader in the agency world, Ritu Trivedi, Managing Partner at Mindshare. She discusses today's demanding consumers and how they are interacting with brands.

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 4 – Consmr’s Ryan Charles

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:27:00 +0000

In today's video, we hear from Ryan Charles, the founder and CEO of Consmr. Consmr is a ratings and reviews site for products in the food, home, and personal care spaces. The site's mission is to ensure that consumers make informed decisions about everyday products.

Ryan's a huge believer in the concept of the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT). In this video, he shares his thoughts on how the consumer's path to purchase is evolving and how online research is shaping purchase decisions, even in categories formerly seen as "low consideration."

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 3 – Google’s Karen Sauder

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:40:00 +0000

In today's episode of the CPG Thought Leader Video Series, Karen Sauder, Industry Director, Food, Beverage and Restaurants at Google, discusses the excitement of brand marketing today and the new brand storytelling opportunities that digital offers.

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 2 – Google’s Karim Temsamani

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:23:00 +0000

In episode 2 of the CPG Thought Leader Video Series, Karim Temsamani, VP of Global Mobile at Google, talks about the growth of the mobile industry overall and consumers' pattern of shifting access from desktop to the cloud.

CPG Thought Leader Video Series Episode 1 – McKinsey’s David Edelman

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Today we're launching a new video series on the Google CPG Blog. Every day for the next week, we'll post a video of an industry thought leader sharing advice with CPG companies about how to improve their digital marketing. All of the speakers featured in this series spoke at Google's Think Branding event in New York in October.

Our first video features David Edelman, Partner and Co-leader of the Global Digital Practice at McKinsey & Co, sharing his thoughts on online content development strategy. He talks about how businesses are finally realizing that a big part of what consumers are doing online is looking at content and recognizing the need to develop the type of content with which consumers want to engage.

If you're interested in speaking with David, you can reach out to him at David_edelman(at)mckinsey.com. You can also read his thoughts on Google's Think Branding event here.

Webinar Tomorrow: Make Your TV Campaign Smarter

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Are you marketing a CPG brand next year? Will TV be part of your strategy...or at least, do you hope it will be?

Let’s make 2012 the year we learn more from our TV campaigns.

The Google TV Ads team would like to invite you to a webinar on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 to demonstrate how CPG brand marketers are getting smarter about their TV buys. Highlighting use-cases from your industry, members of the Google TV Ads sales team will show how Google TV Ads can support each stage of the product life cycle, including:

Enabling macro and micro level targeting at launch
Segmenting your audience on TV to drive growth
Analyzing post-campaign attribution and improved ROI metrics

We hope you can join us!

- The Google TV Ads sales team


What Webinar: Make Your TV Campaign Smarter		When November 16, 2011 2:30pm EST/11:30am PST		Register Click here to register

This Week: Google+ Webinar and Help Desk Hangouts

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:14:00 +0000

As you may already know, last Monday we announced Google+ Pages for businesses, a collection of tools and products to help clients get closer to customers. We’re offering two awesome opportunities for you to learn more about getting your business on Google+:

Wednesday: Learn with Google Webinar: Getting Your Business on Google+
Wednesday November 16, 2pm ET. Register here.
Join our live webinar hosted by Google+ experts to learn more about how you can bring your company and customers closer together using Google+. Key topics that'll be covered include:

Setting up a Google+ Page for your business
Best practices and early use cases for using Google+
Promoting your Google+ Page
Improving the performance of your ads with +1 annotations

Thursday: Help Desk Hangouts
Thursday November 17, 12pm - 3pm ET. Visit our Google+ Your Business page.
Still have questions? Talk face-to-face with a Google+ expert using our group video chat product, Hangouts. Learn technical tips, content strategies, and potential use cases for your business.

Check out how Zen Bikes uses Google Plus in this awesome video!

Ten Mobile Site Best Practices

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Keep it Quick
Simplify Navigation
Be Thumb Friendly
Design for Visibility
Make it Accessible

Make it Easy to Convert
Make it Local
Make it Seamless
Use Mobile Site Redirects
Learn, Listen & Iterate

Think Insights with Google is out of beta and packing a data punch

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:12:00 +0000

Quick pop quiz:

Based on search history, consumer demand for pretzels peaks in what month of the year?
How much (in $) does search add to the world’s GDP?
In 2011, what percent of people dreamed and brainstormed about their next vacation?
What percent of the daily queries on Google.com have never been seen before?

These are just a few questions that can be answered* on the new Think Insights with Google, our information and resource hub for marketers. The site is fresh out of beta and sporting a playful new look, helpful tools, more studies, the latest trends and exciting videos. We invite you to visit the site, take a look around and see what’s new.

If you only have a few minutes to spare, try playing with our new Real Time Insights Finder tool. With just a few clicks you can spot emerging trends and gain valuable consumer insights, all in real time. For example, the most popular video in common among males 25-34 in Italy and the U.S. is the Official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game trailer.

Although we’ve made a lot of enhancements to Think Insights based on initial user feedback, we’re always trying to iterate and improve. So please don’t be shy! Join the conversation by adding the Think with Google page on Google+ to one of your circles, or stay tuned for updates by subscribing to our newsletter.

Think Insights is forward-thinking and rooted in data. We hope you’ll use it as a one-stop shop for consumer trends, marketing insights and industry research.

*Answers to pop quiz (they can all be found on Think Insights in less than 60 seconds):

December, Real Time Insights Finder Tool
$540 billion directly to global GDP, The Impact of Internet Technologies: Search Study, Jul 2011
50%, 5 Stages of Travel Interactive Infographic
16%, Search Fact & Stat

Re-thinking Mobile Marketing & Analytics webinar recording featuring Avinash Kaushik

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:09:00 +0000

Missed the Think Mobile webinar on Nov. 2nd? The recording is now available on the Google Business Channel on YouTube:

In this video, Avinash Kaushik shares some best practices mobile marketing strategies, and points out some strategies that you should beware of. He also shares a framework for bringing fast, innovative measurement to your mobile data (including a special downloadable report).

For more visit: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash

Reminder: Google’s Think Mobile Webinar featuring Avinash Kaushik – November 2nd

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:48:00 +0000

Not sure how to most effectively leverage and measure your mobile marketing campaigns? Well, you’re not alone. While mobile is an incredible new way to distribute content and reach customers on the go, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to measuring the impact of our mobile efforts (like applications, advertisements or mobile-optimized websites).

We just wanted to remind you to tune in this week to Google’s Think Mobile webinar, Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!, led by Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist. Avinash will share tips and best practices for mobile marketing campaigns, new metrics unique to mobile, and how best to measure mobile ads and websites.

When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST
How: Register here

Webinar: Holiday 2011 – Consumer Shopping Intentions

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:52:00 +0000

Have you marked your calendar with key shopping dates for 2011? Do you know how consumers plan to shop this holidays? Join us for our Think Holiday webinar and you’ll find out the answers to these questions and much more. Register here for the Nov 3 session.

comScore and dunnhumbyUSA Research Shows Online Advertising Lifts In-Store CPG Brand Sales By an Average of 21%

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:26:00 +0000

ComScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, and dunnhumbyUSA, a global leader in building brand value for consumer goods and retail companies, today released results of multiple studies measuring the offline sales impact of online display advertising for consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers. Retail sales were measured by analytically linking the permission-based comScore panel of one million U.S. Internet users to their anonymous loyalty card in-store purchase data provided by dunnhumbyUSA; no identifiable personal data was disclosed. By comparing the in-store brand buying of households exposed to online advertising with that of households not exposed, it was possible to determine the impact of online advertising campaigns. The results of the studies indicate that exposure to online display ads can lead to improved in-store sales for CPG brands.

“Effective advertising has always been about increasing awareness, favorability and purchase intent in order to increase in-store conversion,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “After several years of conducting advertising effectiveness research for CPG brands, we are learning how digital campaigns can lift sales in retail stores. It’s now clear that online ad campaigns should be an integral part of any CPG marketer’s integrated communications strategy.”

“The comScore dunnhumbyUSA research highlights the potential impact of an integrated, customer-driven approach across channels,” added Matthew Keylock, Senior Vice President, New Business Development & Partnerships at dunnhumbyUSA. “With these results we are one step closer to a more comprehensive understanding of what motivates shoppers to buy and how online advertising can play a significant role along the path to purchase.”

CPG Campaigns Show Median Offline Sales Lift of 21 Percent

An analysis of multiple CPG online ad campaigns that involved comparing the offline buying of households exposed to advertising with the buying behavior of households who were not exposed revealed a median in-store sales lift of 21 percent among the exposed households, with five out of every six campaigns generating a positive sales lift. Approximately 70 percent of campaigns generated a double-digit sales lift, and more than 40 percent generated lifts of at least 30 percent.

U.S. Offline Sales Lift for CPG Brands Among Households Exposed to Online Advertising Compared to Households Not Exposed Studies Conducted 2008 – 2010 Source: comScore AdEffx and dunnhumbyUSA
Offline Sales Lift	Percent of Studies
0%	17%
1-10%	14%
11-20%	19%
21-30%	10%
31-40%	17%
41-50%	10%
50%+	14%

Lorraine Twohill – Brand Genius

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Congrats to AdWeek's newest brand genius Lorraine Twohill.

From the article:

Let other marketing executives worry about how consumers perceive their brands. For Google’s Lorraine Twohill, it’s about inviting users to help create hers.

“We’re the only company on the planet that lets others play with our brand,” says Twohill, who was named Google’s vp of global marketing in 2009. “We stand for something that’s very unique and personal with users. There’s a trust there. The users feel like they own our brand.”

Using Google Insights for Search to Analyze Ethnic Restaurant Trends

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:16:00 +0000

Last week at my birthday dinner at an excellent Chicago Korean restaurant (San Goo Gab San), a friend mentioned that ethnic food, especially the cuisines of Asia and Africa, has become increasingly accessible and popular in the Chicago area since he first moved there in the 1980s. This isn’t a revelation. There are clearly more ethnic places in the Windy City than there were when we were young. According to one account, in 1970 there was just one Indian restaurant in all of Chicago and now there’s a buffet on every corner.

It was the discussion that followed the comment that got me thinking. The dinner attendees started speculating about which cuisines have grown the most in popularity, and whether Korean food has become more widely available, or grown more in popularity than Indian food. Some enterprising guests even started speculating about which cuisines were “poised to pop” – which ethnic foods would become as popular 30 years from now as Chinese food is today. Everyone had an opinion, but no one had any data.

Being an analytical chap, I decided to see if Google’s enormous query database could help us answer these burning (or should I say spicy?) questions. The tool that I used, Google Insights for Search, is a publically accessible tool that allows you to compare indexed search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. You can find it at: http://www.google.com/insights/search/.

I used query volume for “Chinese Restaurant, Indian Restaurant,” etc. as a proxy for a cuisine’s popularity. While this is not a perfect way of measuring the popularity of ethnic food, it’s a whole lot easier than hand counting every ethnic restaurant in the US, which would take a rather fun and tasty 100 years.

My research attempted to answer three questions: 1) Which ethnic cuisines are the most popular in the US, and how have these trends changed over time? 2) Which “emerging” or “frontier” cuisines are likely to become more accessible and beloved in the future? And 3) is the growth of ethnic food in America geographically broad-based, or limited to large, diverse cities? This analysis yielded some obvious conclusions and some that were more, shall we say, delectable.

Which ethnic cuisines are the most popular in the US?

Three cuisines, Italian, Chinese, and Mexican dominate America’s ethnic food landscape. From 2004-2008 (and likely before that as well), Italian food held a slim lead over the other two big players. In mid-2009, just as the world economy emerged from the depths of the financial crisis, Italian food lost its (probably) century-old lead to Chinese food. Shortly after, in mid-2010, Mexican food also jumped ahead of Italian food and, according to forecasts, will likely stay there.

If current trends hold, Italian food will have great difficulty regaining the title of America’s ethnic food king. As in so many other fields of contemporary human endeavor, the Chinese seem to have won out over the Western Europeans in the American food game.

Surprise, surprise – Kung Pao Chicken has stolen the crown from hapless Veal Parm.

Trailing behind the big three are Indian and Thai cuisine, which is easily available in most large cities and small towns all over the US. The demand for Indian and Thai food has remained steady for most of the decade, with the exception of a small bump of ~5% this year. I suspect that Indian and Thai food will be flat to up in the coming years unless their prices drop.

Two other well-established ethnic cuisines, Japanese and French, are worth noting. Unlike Chinese, Italian and Mexican ones, Japanese and French restaurants are usually more upscale. As you might expect, interest in this pricier fare has been flat for the past 8 years, and declined slightly during the recession. If things keep moving in their current direction, Indian and Thai cuisines may overtake Japanese food in popularity over the next decade, even with relatively flat growth.

Which” emerging” or “frontier” cuisines are candidates to become everyone’s favorites five years from now based on growth rate?

If I had to bet, I’d put my money on Korean and Vietnamese. Searches for Korean food have delivered an almost 40% increase since 2008 as bulgolgi tacos and kalbi enter the mainstream and Americans realize that Korean food really isn’t all that foreign to American palettes. Brazilian food, on the other hand, has taken a tumble, with interest dropping nearly 20% since the mid-2000s.

Vietnamese food, which is my personal favorite, has surged 20% in 3 years. It is now ahead of Brazilian food and has separated itself from Ethiopian and Cuban food to take firm command of second place among “frontier” cuisines. Vietnamese food is healthy, flavorful, and contains meats and noodles familiar to average Joe’s. As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow and more Americans visit Southeast Asia for vacation, the popularity of Pho and Bun is likely to grow. In fact, in this month’s issue of Fortune magazine, the founder and CEO of Chipotle announced that he is working on an idea for a fast casual Southeast Asian restaurant, which will launch sometime in the next 5 years. I think he’s on to something.

Brazil’s economy may be surging, but its cuisine isn’t.

Are ethnic restaurants growing in small towns (or just big cities)?

I was born in State College, Pennsylvania, a tiny Big Ten college town nestled in the mountains in the center of the state. When I was born in 1980, State College was home to few ethnic restaurants – we had a couple of Chinese places, a Mexican place called La Bamba, and not much else. Over the years, however, State College has become something of an ethnic food mecca. It’s now home to Indonesian, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and many other world cuisines.

Is State College the exception or the rule? Have smaller towns and more remote states experienced an influx of new cuisines, or is the growth in ethnic foods’ popularity limited to large, diverse, immigrant-heavy cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago?

The answer is a resounding “no.” From Ohio to Nebraska to Idaho, ethnic food queries are growing. Try it for yourself!

You, too can use Google Insights for Search to find data that confirms or refutes your random hypotheses about everyday life - or even better, your business. Give it a shot: http://www.google.com/insights/search/.

Guest Post by Aaron Lichtig

Google’s Think Mobile Webinar featuring Avinash Kaushik – November 2nd

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:26:00 +0000

Not sure how to most effectively leverage and measure your mobile marketing campaigns? Well, you’re not alone. While mobile is an incredible new way to distribute content and reach customers on the go, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to measuring the impact of our mobile efforts (like applications, advertisements or mobile-optimized websites).

Tune in on November 2nd for Google’s Think Mobile webinar, Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!, led by Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist. Avinash will share tips and best practices for mobile marketing campaigns, new metrics unique to mobile, and how best to measure mobile ads and websites.

When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST
How: Register here

Better together: new insights on display ad effectiveness across screens & multi-screen case study

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:34:00 +0000

Rich Media Display Ads Across Screens = Better Together
We partnered with Nielsen to measure the incremental impact of multi-screen advertising. In a study conducted at CBS’s Television City media lab run by Nielsen, study participants were asked to view related content across TV, PCs, smartphones and tablets. A 15-second video ad promoting Volvo's S60 sedan was shown to different groups of participants, with some people seeing no ads, and others seeing the ad on a different combinations of screens controlling for frequency.

The results clearly demonstrated the impact that multi-screen advertising has on branding. In the group that was exposed to TV ads alone, 50% of people correctly attributed the ad to Volvo. For groups that saw the ad across all screens -- TV, PC, smartphone and tablet -- the brand recall jumps dramatically to 74%.

Similarly, only 22% of the group that was exposed to just the TV ad correctly recalled that the ad was for a 4-door sedan versus 39% of the group that saw the ad across all screens.

We share this ad effectiveness research on the heels of our recently released internal data on multi-screen usage patterns revealing how users select the type of screen they are interacting with at different points in their day (New! Search data reveal that when the sun goes down, the tablets come out). The multi-screen opportunity is looming for advertisers so we wanted to share these new insights and showcase examples of successful integrated digital display campaigns.

Smart advertisers are already running integrated digital campaigns.
We’ve worked with hundreds of advertisers who have translated their desktop search and display goals to mobile and now to tablets. One example we’ve shared previously is the Animal Planet case study, and today we want to share a new example: adidas. adidas, in partnership with Carat, worked with Google to extend their video brand message to digital. With Google’s unique cross-channel capabilities, adidas was able to extend its video creative across all digital platforms, adapting them for engagement across PCs, smartphones and tablets.

Guest post by: Johanna Werther & Ben Chung, Google Mobile Ads Marketing

New Webinar: Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message – Finally!

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:27:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like you don’t know how to most effectively leverage your mobile marketing campaigns? While mobile is an incredible new way to distribute content and reach customers, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to measuring the impact of our mobile efforts (like applications, advertisements or mobile friendly websites).

We’d like to invite you to join us for a webinar discussing mobile marketing metrics, led by Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist. In this exciting webinar Avinash will share his tips and best practices for new metrics unique to mobile, as well as how best to measure mobile ads and websites.

We hope you can join us!

What: Mobile Advertising Webinar: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!

When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST

How: Register here

How online display ads build brands for marketers today

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:39:00 +0000

Last week, we shared examples of how direct response marketers are driving strong results with display advertising. But you’ve heard it before -- beyond driving immediate clicks and conversions, display builds brands. And as digital budgets accelerate, for an increasingly growing number of brands, display advertising has become an important part of their strategy. In fact, in the recently conducted Advertiser Intelligence Reports study, by Advertiser Perceptions, advertisers are planning on spending more digital display dollars in the next 12 months for brand goals than direct response.1

So this week, we’re turning our attention to pioneering brands who used display advertising as a critical component in their overall marketing mix to connect with their audience, engage them emotionally, and as a result, drive meaningful results. Let’s take a closer look.

Animal Planet attracted 1.6MM viewers for the season premiere of River Monsters, putting it in the #1 spot among its target audience, by running an integrated video and rich media campaign across YouTube, AdMob, and the Google Display Network. (read case study)

Volvo drove an 88% lift in purchase intent for its new S60 sedan by leveraging the YouTube homepage and masthead unit, interactive video ads on AdMob, and standard IAB ads on the Google Display Network. (read case study)

Sealy reinvented its Posturepedic brand using YouTube promoted video ads and in-stream video ads, which drove 46% of its website traffic during the first week of the campaign. (read case study)

At OMMA Global this week, we shared a simple framework for brand building that we developed after analyzing the campaigns of our most successful brand advertisers. These “better practices” focus on three key areas: connecting with the right consumer at the right moment, delivering an engaging message, and measuring the metrics that matter.

Connecting with the right consumer at the right moment. As consumers continue to access the internet more frequently throughout the day, from a multitude of devices, it’s increasingly important for brand marketers to create device-inclusive, rather than device-specific, campaigns. And by targeting a combination of audience and contextual signals, it’s now easier than ever to reach the right person, at the right time, on the right device through the Google Display Network or DoubleClick AdExchange.

Engaging them emotionally. The best display ads don’t just leverage sight, sound, and motion, but also harness display’s interactive capabilities that drive deep engagement with a brand. Our research shows that rich media ads drive significantly better brand performance than standard Flash ads--1.7X for brand awareness, 2.7X in purchase intent, and 5X increase in brand favorability.2 We also see that newer ad formats, like mobile display and in-stream video, are even more effective at moving consumers down the brand funnel. Lastly, we’ve seen masthead ads on the YouTube homepage garner an 11% interaction rate and drive a 4X lift in engagement compared to standard ads.3

Measuring more robustly. Looking beyond simple clicks and conversions, brand marketers use Campaign Insights to measure increased awareness and interest through the lift in search queries and website visits. Paired with Google Analytics and Multi-Channel Funnels, advertisers can see a complete picture of the chain of online and offline media that drives brand engagement. And to close the loop, many of our brands match geo-targeted display campaigns to offline sales to measure the true impact of a display ad campaign.

More and more studies show that brand marketers who focus on these three levers see the the greatest return on their display ad investment. With display’s ability to connect more precisely with your target consumer, engage more emotionally with interactive messages, and measure robust metrics along all parts of the purchase funnel, it’s no wonder that display builds brands.

Watch this space.
google.com/watchthisspace

(1) Advertiser Intelligence Reports (AIR) study, Advertiser Perceptions, August 2011
(2) The Brand Value of Video and Rich Media Ads, DoubleClick, September 2011
(3) YouTube Homepage Impact Study, Compete, December 2010

Posted by Brian Zeug, National Sales Director, Display and Video

Non-Brand Terms Drive More New Visitors to Your Site

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:59:00 +0000

A great guest piece from Dan Schock, Google Retail Team Director

Search as a means of driving sales has evolved in the past few years. As recently as three years ago, most retailers and brands still viewed their “Internet” plan as a means of driving e-commerce. The Internet was a distribution and sales channel measured by its ability to drive online revenues.

Then, as the Internet evolved into a broader media platform where consumers researched, watched videos and compared products/prices, and then often made their purchases in a physical store, many advanced companies began to include offline sales as an additional factor in measuring their overall Search ROI.

In 2011, the most forward-thinking retailers and brands have started looking at a new measurement to calculate the success of their online campaigns: new customer acquisition and the lifetime value of those new customers.

Think about your own search strategy: most likely you bid on as many of your brand terms as possible. And you should: here are customers that know you, who are raising their hands (via “queries”) and asking for information, then converting at a high ROI.

But what about “non-brand” terms: queries higher up the purchase funnel like “makeup”, “detergent” or "paper towels”? These shoppers are still browsing and researching but they’re not converting at the same rate as those searching for your brand terms, so you may either not be buying non-brand terms them or buying very few. Why? – Most likely because you’re hooked on those brand ROIs. Why pay a higher CPC for a lower conversion rate?

I’ll tell you why: because those non-brand terms drive a higher percentage of new customers to your site – and when you consider the lifetime value of those customers they will pay off! Here are people looking for products and services you offer, but did not think to type your brand into the search box. You are not (yet) part of their top consideration set. And look at the advertisers who are on that search results page: it’s your competition! You are not even putting yourself in the game.

So what do we recommend? Only you know your relative new customer acquisition costs and lifetime customer value payouts. Every retailer has different metrics, but here’s the general thinking: your brand terms ($.50 CPC) payout at an ROI of 10:1 while your non-brand terms ($1.00 CPC) payout at 5:1. But your non-brand terms bring in more new customers who will eventually payout. In year 2, they buy enough to amortize that initial ROI up to 8:1. Then in year 3 they’re loyal customers who are paying out at 10:1 (or higher). So that initial $1.00 CPC is now paying out – and that new customer you bought three years ago is now a lifetime customer (and you didn’t let the competition get them either).

So don’t relegate those non-brand terms to the “too low ROI” bin. Give them a chance. There is value in there beyond immediate ROI. All it takes is a little forward-thinking strategic discussion, some help from your quant team and the ability to see value beyond today’s sales report. Think about turning new customers into lifetime customers.

Highlights from this week’s Google CPG Industry Newsletter – 8/19 Edition

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:14:00 +0000

WHAT’S HOT

1. Patrick Pichette (Google CFO) in McKinsey Quarterly: Check out McKinsey’s wonderful interview with our laid-back Canadian CFO.

2. Google to acquire Motorola Mobility: Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users. Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android’s phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.

3. Games now in Google+: My family has a games closet. Inside you’ll find a few decks of cards, two decades’ worth of board games and a Twister mat for those times when we’re feeling limber. Playing games is a great way for us to spend quality time with each other (and a little healthy competition never hurt anyone either). Today we’re adding games to Google+. With the Google+ project, we want to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web. But sharing is about more than just conversations. The experiences we have together are just as important to our relationships. We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life.

______________________________________________________________________________

GOOGLE NEWS

Google+ Ads Would Perform Well
An eye-tracking study conducted by EyeTrackShop suggests that if Google+ offered brands an option to place ads on the social network, site visitors would spend at least as much time gazing at them as they would with ads on Facebook.

YouTube Starts to Look Like a TV Network

Lollapalooza livestream just the latest step (AdWeek)

New Webinar: Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message – Finally!

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:01:00 +0000

We’d like to invite you to join us for a webinar discussing mobile marketing metrics, led by Avinash Kaushik, Google's Digital Marketing Evangelist. In this exciting webinar Avinash will share his tips and best practices for new metrics unique to mobile, as well as how best to measure mobile ads and applications.

We hope you can join us!

What: Mobile Advertising Webinar: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!
When: Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST
How: Register HERE

Two Things Every CPG Marketer Should Do to Win in Mobile

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Your customers are on mobile; as a marketer, you need to be on mobile, too.

So, you may be asking, what are the two things that a CPG marketer should do to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the growth of mobile? Here are our recommendations:

1) Create a mobile-optimized site. Consumers become extremely frustrated when they go to a mobile website that's tough to use. Harris Interactive, in a March 2011 mobile interactive experience study commissioned by Tealeaf, found that:

23% of shoppers had cursed, 11% had screamed, and 4% had gone as far as to throw their phones when mobile sites did not display or function properly. Screaming and cursing are not key drivers of purchase intent!
63% of all online adults would be less likely to buy from the same company via other purchase channels if they experienced a problem conducting a mobile transaction.

There's even a website, http://mobilemarketingfail.com, which writes snarky blog entries about poorly designed corporate mobile sites. Don't be their next entry! Talk to your media agency or Google team representative today about how to get started.

2) Separate mobile search campaigns from desktop and optimize, optimize, optimize: Mobile campaigns perform better when they're created separately from desktop campaigns. Consumers use different search keywords when they're on their mobile phones than they do when they are on their computers. Work with your search agency or media team to ensure that you have a separate mobile campaign. Then, track your performance and optimize.

Studies Show Search Ads Drive 88% Incremental Traffic for CPG Brands

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:16:00 +0000

Today's post is a guest post by Lizzy Van Alstine, Research Evangelist on Google's Quant Management Team

Advertisers often wonder whether search ads cannibalize their organic traffic. If search ads were paused, would clicks on organic results increase, and make up for the loss in paid traffic? Google statisticians recently ran over 400 studies on paused accounts to answer this question.

In what we call “Search Ads Pause Studies”, our group of researchers observed organic click volume in the absence of search ads. Then they built a statistical model to predict click volume for given levels of ad spend. This model generates estimates for the incremental clicks attributable to search ads (IAC), or in other words, the percentage of paid clicks that are not made up for by organic clicks when search ads are paused.

On average, the incremental ad clicks percentage across verticals is 89%. This means that a full 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused. This number was consistently high across verticals. For the CPG vertical, the mean incremental ad clicks percentage was 88%. Check out the video below for an overview of the study's findings.

The full study can be found on research.google.com

Highlights from this week’s Google CPG Industry Newsletter

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Here are the top highlights from this week's Google CPG industry newsletter. Happy Reading!

WHAT’S HOT

1. Think Quarterly: At Google, we aim to help people and organizations navigate a world gone digital. That's why we created Think Quarterly. We don’t want to review what’s happened; we want to prepare you for what happens next. For each issue, we tap our homegrown visionaries, plus heads of industry, innovators and experts, to lend their insights and outlooks on the digital future. We hope it gives a view into what drives us as a company and inspires those of you who lead the way. We hope you find the content engaging and insightful. Included are insights from Dennis Woodside on his vision for our industry, as well as SVP of Advertising, Susan Wojcicki’s Eight Principles for Innovation. Think Quarterly is very much an experiment, and like any other Google product we aim to iterate, so please let me know what you think. And if you like it, +1 it!

2. What Do You Love? Would you like to find out everything you can about the things you love in one place? Now you can. Check out What Do You Love? Type in something you love: monkeys, photography, or Merlot, whatever comes to mind. Enjoy.

3. New Tablet Targeting Options Now Available: You can find the new "Tablets with full browsers" targeting option under the Networks and devices section of the Settings tab within your AdWords account. Read more on the Inside AdWords blog here.

4. Google+ Project Update - Sparks: Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That’s kind of what Sparks does: looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share.

GOOGLE NEWS

How brands can get started on Google+
Marketers shouldn't wait around to get started with Google+, writes Heidi Cohen. Even if Google won't let your brand carve out a page of its own, it's important for individual marketers to climb aboard, so they can start figuring out the site's features and check out how the potential audience is using the network. "As a marketer, it's critical to get onto Google+ and start kicking the social media tires," Cohen writes.

"Android is Top Mobile Operating System in the U.S., Says Nielsen" (ReadWriteWeb, July 28):

"Today Nielsen is reporting that Google's mobile operating system Android now has the largest smart phone operating system (OS) market share here in the U.S. The top three mobile OS's, according to this new data, are Android (39%), Apple's iOS (28%) and RIM (20%)."

MOBILE UPDATE

Brand marketers see a future in mobile
About half of brand marketers have mobile strategies but their spending remains minimal, with a majority planning to lay out less than $50,000 this year and only 7% budgeting more than $300,000, according to an IAB-sponsored survey of 300 top brand marketing executives. But 72% of those surveyed said they planned to boost mobile spending over the next two years, with branded mobile sites and display ads cited as two of the leading strategic components.

Think Quarterly – The Innovation Issue

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:40:00 +0000

At Google, we aim to help people and organizations navigate a world gone digital. That's why we created Think Quarterly.

We don’t want to review what’s happened; we want to prepare you for what happens next. For each issue, we tap our homegrown visionaries, plus heads of industry, innovators and experts, to lend their insights and outlooks on the digital future. We hope it gives a view into what drives us as a company and inspires those of you who lead the way.

We hope you find the content engaging and insightful. Included are insights from Dennis Woodside on his vision for our industry, as well as SVP of Advertising, Susan Wojcicki’s Eight Principles for Innovation.

Think Quarterly is very much an experiment, and like any other Google product we aim to iterate, so please let me know what you think. And if you like it, +1 it at thinkwithgoogle.com/quarterly!

You can also check out a great article about Think Quarterly in Sunday’s New York Times here: Slowing Down to Savor the Data.

Do you Have the Right Mobile Strategy for Back to School?

Aaron Lichtig — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:18:00 +0000

Post by Grace Dolan, Google Mobile Ads

During the summer months, more users turn to mobile devices to shop. Summer is also when the Back to School shopping season begins. This is a perfect opportunity for marketers, especially in retail, consumer electronics, and cable/telecommunications, to get in front of their target customers who are hungry for information to make purchases. Last year we saw a lift of 500% in mobile searches for retail and consumer electronics categories over the summer months.

I experienced the growth in mobile searching personally over this past 4th of July weekend. My brother is in college, he was researching options for a new laptop for school. During a family barbecue, he and my father were on his smartphone, comparing features, prices, and getting opinions from others (photo featured below). My brother was able to interact with everyone during the get together instead of being inside on his computer.

This isn’t just happening at my parents’ house. The Back to School demographic is on mobile devices, often several hours a day, for more than just a phone call or text message. According to Sergio Alvarez, Chief Operating Officer of the interactive marketing agency Ai Media Group, "The Back to School crowd is leading the way with mobile. As mobile phones increase in versatility and power, they have become more like pocket computers than phones. Colleges and institutions are taking advantage of this technology. We consider mobile to be an integral part of our marketing strategy, and we will continue to make it part of all our campaign portfolios.”

As a marketer, how can you maximize Back to School success with the peaked traffic? Here are a few tips:

Prepare for the massive traffic spikes with appropriate budgets in place.
Be on top 24/7. Bid to be in “above the fold” positions on Back to School categories. This is essential on mobile.
Give them incentive. Include Mobile Offer ads to help drive redemption in-store, online or on the phone.
Be local. Direct customers to your store by adding your location to your ads.

Back to School is a great opportunity to be in front of your target audience, especially if you maximize the potential of mobile marketing. Don’t miss out; visit the mobile ads site today to find out more.

Use the Google Display Network to Target Back to School Shoppers

Aaron Lichtig — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:57:00 +0000

Today's post is a guest post from Jieun Baek on the Google Retail Team

The trends for ‘back-to-school’ queries over the past four years illuminate more than when queries start and peak. These searches have been analyzed and grouped within categories that can help shape retailers’ display strategy for this year’s back to school season on the Google Display Network.

The following categories and sub-categories, in order of frequency, were the most commonly searched themes for back-to-school queries:

Society: Education, Legal, Social Science
Entertainment: Music and Movies
Shopping: Apparel, Mass Merchants and Department Stores, Flowers Gifts and Greetings
Local: Regional Content, Jobs

As the graph below indicates, back to school searches begin to quickly rise at the beginning of July, peak in mid-August, and tail off at the end of September. So start gearing up for back-to-school season, and be sure to target these relevant categories on the Display Network!

Highlights from this week’s Google CPG Industry Newsletter

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:27:00 +0000

WHAT’S HOT

1. Google+: Sharing is a huge part of the web, a part that we think could be a lot simpler. That’s why we’ve been working on adding a few new things to Google: to make connecting with people on the web more like connecting with them in the real world. We hope you like what we’ve cooked up so far. And stay tuned, because there’s more to come. Click the link or the logo to learn more about how Google+ works.

2. Google+ for Brands: We have been watching Google+ take shape over the last week and we’ve seen some really great companies get involved. But frankly we know our product as it stands is not optimally suited to their needs. In fact, it was kind of an awkward moment for us when we asked Ford for his (or was it her?) gender!

How users communicate with each other is different from how they communicate with brands, and we want to create an optimal experience for both. We have a great team of engineers actively building an amazing Google+ experience for businesses, and we will have something to show the world later this year.

The business experience we are creating should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses. We just ask for your patience while we build it. In the meantime, we are discouraging businesses from using regular profiles to connect with Google+ users. Our policy team will actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles.

Over the next few months we are going to be running a small experiment with a few marketing partners to see the effect of including brands in the Google+ experience. We’ll begin this pilot with a small number of named partners. If you represent a “non-user entity” (e.g. business, organization, place, team, etc.) and would like to apply for consideration in our limited program (and be amongst the first to be alerted when the business product launches) you can sign up here: http://goo.gl/zq95C

3. Google Wallet: Google Wallet is an Android app that makes your phone your wallet. It stores virtual versions of your existing plastic cards on your phone. Simply tap your phone to pay and redeem offers using near field communication, or NFC. Learn more by clicking on the link.

4. The Google CPG Blog: The Google CPG Blog is always hot. For all of the latest news and updates in the world of CPG digital marketing, please visit: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/. We are updating the site a couple of times per week now, so check back often. This week you can read a guest post by Patrick Tedjamulia about how to create a digital dashboard for your brand and download the Zero Moment of Truth E-book.

_____________________________________________________________________________

STAT OF THE WEEK
Consumers can’t seem to get enough video. Video delivered “over-the-top” via the internet to a growing range of devices is fueling this newfound passion. The only limit to video viewing, it seems, is the number of hours in a day.

Media usage is changing rapidly as more internet-enabled devices enter the home, and are used in front of the TV. Consumers’ digital media habits are shifting significantly—and perhaps permanently—away from the TV set to other screens.

_____________________________________________________________________________

GOOGLE NEWS
Google Scoops Up 5 Creative Awards at Cannes Lions Ad Festival
Google, a company that has made its name off search and has famously eschewed brand advertising for over 10 years, have picked up five awards for creative and inventive advertising campaigns. You can’t tell me that you didn’t love that Dear Sophie Lee spot!

Evolving the Google Design & Experience
Starting last week, you might have noticed that things look a little different across Google products. We’re working on a project to bring you a new and improved Google experience, and over the next few months, you’ll continue to see more updates to our look and feel. Even our classic homepage is getting a bit of a makeover.

The Zero Moment of Truth

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

The way we shop is changing and marketing strategies are simply not keeping pace. Whether we're shopping for corn flakes, concert tickets or a honeymoon in Paris, the Internet has changed how we decide what to buy. Today we're all digital explorers, seeking out online ratings, social media-based peer reviews, videos, and in-depth product details as we move down the path to purchase. Marketing has evolved and modern marketing strategies have to evolve with the changing shape of shopping.

At Google, we call this online decision-making moment the Zero Moment of Truth -- or simply ZMOT.

Winning the Zero Moment of Truth is a powerful new eBook by Jim Lecinski, Google's Managing Director of US Sales & Service and Chief ZMOT Evangelist. Jim shares how to get ahead at this critical new marketing moment, supported by exclusive market research, personal stories, and insights from C-level executives at global leaders like General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and VivaKi.

If you're a marketer, a CEO, a sales rep, or an aspiring entrepreneur, this eBook on marketing strategies and the ZMOT will help you understand this shift in the marketing landscape and show you the strategies it takes to win.

Click on the headline to download the e-book, get more information, and watch new video content.

How to Create Your Brand Digital Dashboard

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Today's blog entry is by Patrick Tedjamulia, Senior Account Manager, Food & Beverage at Google.

How can I keep track of my Brand online?

That seems to be the question I hear all the time these days. In our insta-share culture, Brands are realizing that they can either hear about the conversation after the fact, or they can participate in the conversation in real-time.

Here are a few of the triggers that cause Brands to ask "How can I keep track of my Brand online?"
- Search Trends
- Blogs/PR
- Social comments
- Product recalls
- User Generated Content (Videos)
- Reviews
- Voluntary Product Placement
- Competitive activity

Last year, I worked with Google's iGoogle team to develop a framework for Brands to create their own Brand Digital Dashboard. Let me show you how its done.

Create a New Tab on iGoogle
- Go to iGoogle and access iGoogle's settings
- Add a Tab so the Dashboard can live on its own and be shared easily
- You can customize the theme/banner of the tab with your own brand

Add Gadgets
- Search the iGoogle Gadget Directory for gadgets to add to your Tab.

Here is a list of gadgets I recommend
Google Insights for Search - customize this gadget's settings with the search terms and locations you want to see. You can add multiple instances of this gadget so you can see Rising Searches, Top Searches, and Interest Over Time.
Google News - customize this gadget's settings with the topics you want to see
Google Analytics - login to your Analytics account and access Analytics reports.
Twitter Search - simply type a term and see the most recent Tweets with that term
Flickr - simply type a term in the search tab and see relevant pictures
Blogs - you can also add any blog you want as an RSS feed (ex: Yahoo Answers, etc...)
Other Gadgets of interest may be: YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, etc...

After you have created your dashboard, the key will be to develop marketing strategies that will allow you to act on this real-time insight. But, at least you now have a better sense of what's happening with your Brand online.

Think with Google: ‘Word of Mouth’ study shows Google directly informs 146 million brand conversations a day

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:14:00 +0000

There are more than 2.4 billion conversations about brands every day, according to our latest ‘Word of Mouth’ study with Keller Fay. More than half of consumers involved in these conversation say they’re likely to make a purchase based on what they talk about. We wanted to know more about how media and the Internet play into all this conversation so we took a look at what effect the Internet and search has on a word of mouth. The study shows how media and marketing channels provided content before, during and after consumer conversations by surveying 3,000 adults across 12 categories.
It turns out that while most people still talk about brands face to face, their conversations are informed by the Internet more than any other media source. And, when they’re online, users go to search sites more than any other. This is even more true after conversations, especially those sparked by TV. People follow up by searching for more information and prices more than any other online activity including social media.

Check out this video or here on Think Insights for more information on the full study!

Tablet Computers are Here – Are you Ready?

Aaron Lichtig — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:44:00 +0000

With more than 165 million tablets expected to ship over the next two years, tablets are becoming a popular device with engaged, tech-savvy consumers.

Given this explosive growth, tablets need to be a part of your marketing strategy. So Google is now making it easy for you to target tablet devices.

We’re pleased to announce that we’re developing new targeting options to help you better connect with this audience. To give you greater control over your AdWords ads, we’re changing the way you can target tablet devices.

In the next couple of weeks, the “Networks and Devices” section of your Settings tab within your AdWords account will include a new targeting option titled “Tablets with full browsers.” While you’ve been able to specifically target Apple iPad devices in the past, the new capability will enable you to easily target your ads to the entire tablet device category. In addition, you'll be able to select more precisely the types of devices and operating systems on which your AdWords ads will show. For example, to display your ads on the Apple iPad, you’ll be able to choose “Tablets with full browsers” as your device targeting setting and “iOS” as your operating system setting. Tablet targeting will be available initially for Apple devices only, but we'll expand ad serving to other specific devices in the near future.

Once this capability is available in your account, your ads will automatically start running on tablet devices and no further action will be necessary on your part. If your campaigns were specifically targeting Apple iPad devices, you may notice an increase in impressions and costs as we include more tablets in our ad serving options. If you don't want your ads to appear on tablet devices, you’ll be able to specify this preference in your device targeting settings by following these step-by-step instructions.

Brand Marketers - Make sure your digital team, media agency, and/or SEM knows about this new feature.

Avinash Kaushik Digital Measurement Webinar – Watch Video Here!

Aaron Lichtig — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:10:00 +0000

Here's Avinash's webinar, for your viewing pleasure:

Webinar: Three Stages of Digital Marketing And Measurement – Sign Up Now!

Aaron Lichtig — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:21:00 +0000

An Obsession with Advertising, Accountability & Awesomeness.

A guest post by Avinash Kaushik

I am so incredibly impressed with the rapid evolution of advertising and marketing possibilities around us. Offline, online, social-- there are so many things to do, and so little time (and budget!).

One of the absolute delights of online marketing (regardless of type) is the amount of accountability you can bring to your marketing budgets. How many people looked at your ad in a magazine and took action? You can measure this for your digital display ads. How many potential customers how were actively looking for cars, saw your ad on TV, and then went to your destination? You can measure this for your search ads. How often do prospects listen to your radio ads completely and then take engage with you? You can measure this for your YouTube ads.

I could keep going. It is so exciting what we can measure, regardless of the online channels we use, or the measurement tools in which we have access.

And yet, it is heartbreaking how little we bring all this awesomeness to bear upon our digital efforts. So much of our marketing is simply replicating our offline advertising online. And what is particularly heartbreaking to me, the author of two books on web analytics, is how we bring our low expectations of offline measurement to our online efforts.

So let's change this. Together.

On May 19th I am conducting a webinar that will share my point of view on three stages of digital marketing and measurement. [Sign up for the webinar here. Seats are limited!]

Here are three three phases of accountability and awesomeness...

The toddler phase: Here most of our measurement is based on simply response based metrics. This is far more accountable than other channels, but there is so much more we can do and with such little actual effort. We'll cover conversion tracking (simple one page tagged and you get so much!) and how a couple clicks get you the joy of call tracking data for your mobile search advertising campaigns.

The rebellious youth phase: CTR? Sure. CPC? No problem. CPA? Done! (If you don't know what these are we'll cover them, too!) But how about a holistic understanding of the impact on your business of all your online marketing? No, not just the one big conversion, but all the micro-conversions? This is such a delight. You develop the complete impact of your acquisition strategy and are better able to balance your marketing portfolio. Trust me, you want to do this. Every day.

The digital ninja phase: Macro and micro conversions? Check. Revenue? Yep. Economic value? When you hear OMG, know that it was created for this concept. The most glorious thing any Marketer can do, and the CMO and VP get, is a robust understanding of not just the activity (clicks, conversions et. al.), but also the value created for the business (including revenue). This is how the good get to the great (and we'll cover the approaches you can use to get there!)

So come join us on May 19th for an incredible hour and half where we’ll talk digital marketing, measurement, and strategies to kick things up a notch. And yes, bring awesomeness to everything we do.

See you there.
-Avinash