Google Data » Emma McKeithen

Whopper Freakout

Emma McKeithen — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:33:00 +0000

Posted by Emma McKeithen, Account Manager

It's a holiday weekend for some of us and thus a good time to catch up on laundry, errands, and the Whopper Freakout. You've probably seen the commercial - on track to become one of the best-recalled ads of the last five years, according to AdAge. The ad, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, sets up a compelling scenario: how would people react if Burger King stopped selling Whoppers? The ad's teaser footage of real people being confronted with the news drives to an eight-minute documentary on WhopperFreakout.com. According to ComScore, the site drew 250,000 unique visitors in December and has had over 1.5 million video views since being posted.

Although not CPG, it's funny, compelling, and drives home the power of consumer brand loyalty. Confronted with the news that their favorite burger is discontinued, perhaps forever, consumers get nostalgic, passionate, and, in some cases, close to a conniption.

From good to great

Emma McKeithen — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:26:00 +0000

Posted by Emma McKeithen, Account Manager

In the last year we've seen a lot of success with campaigns in the Content Network, and we've heard from you that content campaigns are increasingly driving more clicks, more efficiently, than ever. We've blogged about best practices in our Content Network before, but for those of you who need a refresher, it encompasses thousands of sites and and multiple ad formats (text, banners, video, gadgets). Ads can be targeted automatically, using our keyword content targeting, or manually (you hand-pick individual sites or groups of sites).

We think a major part of the increased success is due to advertisers developing better structure and execution for their campaigns. Account managers and advertisers have learned what works well and are setting up strong, targeted campaigns from the get-go. And the sites themselves have changed: we're adding better sites and improved placements every day.

Jeremy Mayes had a great post a few days ago -- here are his thoughts on what makes the Google network great.

Is your site a secret garden?

Emma McKeithen — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:05:00 +0000

Posted by Emma McKeithen, Account Manager

A new survey from Prospectiv, a lead-generation company, further indicates that consumers are actively looking for information on CPG products online. Some 70% of respondents said that they seek information on the Internet before purchasing. Most people preferred researching CPG products via branded e-newsletters or search. The real takeaway, though, was that although consumers trust and prefer branded CPG sites for product information, 67% said they often cannot find them.

Considering how many sites are out there, this problem isn't surprising: consumers simply aren't aware they exist.

Say that a consumer has heard that antioxidants protect the body from free radicals and wants to learn more about which foods are a good source before she heads to the grocery store. She might already be signed up for a newsletter, but more likely she'll do a search. If CPG sites for pomegranate, green tea, and chocolate products come up in the natural or paid results, she's likely to go to these sites for more information (and ideas on what to pick up on her next shopping trip). Fully 40% of respondents said that the Internet influences daily purchase decisions -- "a number that's kind of astounding," according to Jere Doyle, Prospectiv's president/CEO.

We strongly believe that when people are searching, it's as if they are raising their hands to ask a question in hopes of getting an answer. Is there a better time to engage a customer if you have the answer they are looking for on your site? That's the beauty of search advertising: you are providing a solution to a current or interested customer. It's not an ad; it's a solution.

CPG sites are some of the best out there. They're rich in product and health information, lifestyle and recipe tips, and ideas and activities for families. But they are also walled gardens, and marketers need to find ways to open the gates for visitors. Whether it's optimized search, a YouTube channel, or offline media that drives consumers online, it's important to give people the tools to find and spend time with your brand -- before they head to the store.

Got Buzz?

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:41:00 +0000

Posted By: Amy Chauvin, Account Planner

Many marketers are looking for alternatives to traditional marketing to create buzz around their brands. We're not suggesting that CPG brands totally eliminate traditional marketing; using word-of-mouth tactics alongside more traditional methods has always been important for brands. The difference is technology and a willingness to test new campaign types, be they blogs, viral campaigns, or other methods that drive awareness.

According to a recent article in Online Spin, A.C. Nielsen evaluated nearly 80 new CPG products across several subcategories that were launched in the U.S. in 2005 and 2006. Here are highlights:

Advertising is best predictor of buzz: After analyzing blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales, researchers found that the best predictor of buzz for a newly launched CPG is a large advertising budget.
Greater media spend equals greater buzz: On average, the top 10% of products with the most buzz spent nearly $20 million on paid media for the launch. In contrast, the companies that generated the next 40% of blog buzz spent an average of $15 million; the companies that generated the bottom 50% spent an average of only $5 million.

A few products dominate CPG buzz: Not all CPG subcategories and products generated buzz at the same level. In fact, 10% of brands accounted for 85% of total CPG buzz in the study. Over-the-counter (OTC) drug brands have higher buzz, partly driven by consumers' higher level of involvement with them. Edgy brands were also among the top 10% of products with the most buzz.

Buzz precedes sales peaks: Buzz tends to occur very early in relation to a new product launch, with peaks in buzz preceding peaks in sales two-thirds of the time in the launches studied.

Buzz enhances sales forecasting accuracy: For the select products that generate substantial buzz, this study provided the first-ever evidence that buzz volume can positively influence sales. In a regression-based sales forecasting experiment, incorporating actual buzz levels resulted in a meaningful accuracy improvement to forecasting models, by as much as 20%.

Brand uniqueness prompts buzz: Beyond media spend and distribution, category familiarity (as indicated by higher purchase frequency) and product distinctiveness show value when attempting to anticipate or predict buzz.

These findings show that an increase in online spending can result in generating more buzz - and who doesn't want that? With the growing popularity of blogs and gadgets (aka widgets) to strike a winning balance of traditional marketing and word-of-mouth, the opportunities to achieve the ultimate buzz are endless and attainable.

The CNN/YouTube Debates

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:55:00 +0000

Posted By: Caity Noonan, YouTube Sales Rep, CPG team

As you may know, last night YouTube teamed up with CNN to broadcast a U.S. Democratic presidential primary debate unlike any that's ever been done before. Through the power of YouTube, people from all across the country submitted more than 2,900 video questions, some of which were broadcast and answered by the Democratic candidates live on CNN from the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. This debate was the first one sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee this year.

For 5 months now, presidential candidates and voters have been interacting directly with each other on our You Choose '08 platform. YouTube helped to further flatten the political dialogue by giving people from all walks of life an opportunity to ask questions of these candidates.

The same debate format will take place for the upcoming Republican debate on Sept. 17th. So let your voice be heard. You can submit video questions now through Sept. 16th.

Gadgets hit the ground running…and roaring?

Emma McKeithen — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:44:00 +0000

Posted By: Emma McKeithen, Account Manager

We've talked a lot about gadgets (also known as widgets) on this blog -- how easy it is to create them, their diverse appeal and incarnations, and the upside for marketers. As gadgets gain traction online, we're starting to learn more about how they are used and perceived by users. So far, we're hearing great things. Recently, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) cited a study of 1,200 kids ages 9-17 and 1,000 parents regarding the use of advertising on their social networking pages. Although there was some resistance to social networks putting ads on their personal pages, young people had a different view of ad units with an incentive or fun appeal. Coupons, giveaways, games, and videos were all cited as valuable features of interactive ads, and the study found that 20% of teens added content provided by a marketer to their personalized pages in the last month. When there's something useful or interesting in an ad's content offerings, the ad itself is viewed very differently from a traditional ad, in that it's helpful, fun, and engaging, and so users spend more time with it. Imagine, a user not only viewing your ad, but playing around with it, and possibly downloading it for later. That's a gadget.

Gadgets have an advantage over banners and other rich media offerings in their flexible formats - the sky's the limit, almost, in what you can do; think of it as a mini-website you can push out to the web. As a marketer, you drive awareness, engagement, and site traffic all through a single ad module. With a unique ability to update a gadget frequently (up to several times a day), your content stays fresh and engaging. (Check out our original post for details.)

As comScore is now measuring the reach and impact of widgets online, we can expect to see advertisers do more in this area. A current example the WSJ story cites is a promotion by New Line Cinema for their new film, "The Golden Compass." New Line designed a site where people can create a virtual "daemon," an animal spirit, that can be downloaded and shared to their personal homepages, blogs, social networking sites, and with friends. So far, at least 200,000 people have created daemons and four million people have interacted with them online, according to New Line Cinema. I decided to give it a try - turns out my daemon is Nithreus, the tiger, who is "modest, assertive, outgoing, competitive, and responsible". Sounds about right. By the way, the movie doesn't come out until December.

As was noted in the newspaper report, engagement does not necessarily mean conversion. The product itself has to be good. But at a time when it's increasingly difficult to get in front of the consumer, let alone engage with him or her, the numbers are promising for marketers using Gadgets/widgets to communicate their campaign message or offering. If you've got a great site, chances are, you can design a great gadget - and why not? There's more about Google Gadgets here - or if you're itching to create them, start here.

What’s all the noise about….Google Audio Ads?

Emma McKeithen — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:05:00 +0000

Posted By: Corrine Perri, Senior Account Executive, Google Audio

A quick update on Audio. As most of you know, we recently signed a multi-year agreement with Clear Channel Radio, the largest radio station group owner in the U.S. This is an important milestone for us. Under the agreement, Google Audio Ads can sell a portion of guaranteed, premium 30-second advertising inventory on 675 Clear Channel AM & FM stations.

These Clear Channel Radio stations, when combined with our existing radio station partners, give our advertisers access to radio inventory on over 1600 top-rated radio stations throughout the country, with "Top 10" stations in 24 of the top 25 U.S. markets and coverage of over 99% of the U.S. population aged 12 and older (meaning 99% of people 12+ can tune in an hear one of our stations; Source: ACT1 / Arbitron).

Where can you hear our ads? Google Audio Ads run on traditional radio stations that you may listen to at home, at work, in the car, in the gym, at the beach, at the store or thanks to the portability of radio, just about anywhere you can take radio and tune in.

It's a great time to consider doing a radio buy now that it is as easy as AdWords. We'll check back in with some CPG-specific ideas in the near future.

Mentos geyser history

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 22 May 2007 23:44:00 +0000

Posted by: Nora Ziegenhagen, CPG Account Rep

People have performed many amazing feats in hopes of achieving a world record. Most Cockroaches Eaten may be the most disgusting, Most Books Typed Backwards may be the most pointless -- and Most Mentos and Soda Fountains just may be the most unexpectedly (and messily) beautiful.

Mentos and Eepybird are coming together again to make geyser history in Cincinnati on May 24, 2007. That's when Eepybird, with the help of about 500 Cincinnatians equipped with the new "Mentos Geyser Loading Tube," will launch the largest number of Mentos geysers ever to be set off all at once in one location -- in an effort to set a world record, of course. The extravaganza will take place on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati at 6pm EST.

This would have been a perfect event to take advantage of our geo-targeting technology to lure young Mentos lovers from the greater Cincinnati area. But even without that, it will most definitely make an awesome click-to-play video campaign to drive traffic to their site.

You may recall that we blogged about this a while ago: it's very cool to see Mentos run with a fun idea that caught fire and turn it into something much bigger. Clearly there is still a lot of momentum around Mentos + soda -- once an experiment, now a bona fide event.

FMI 2007 in Chicago

Emma McKeithen — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:20:00 +0000

Posted By: Emma McKeithen, Account Manager

For those of you attending FMI May 6-8th in Chicago, we'll be there too! Come stop by our booth (#3954) and meet Google CPG marketing specialists to understand how Google can help grow your business. Look forward to seeing you.

Moms Know Tech Update

Emma McKeithen — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:37:00 +0000

Posted By: Amy Chauvin, Account Planner

We've had such a great response to our Mom's Know Tech event in Chicago next week that we're full to capacity. We'll be sure to post some highlights following the event, and we're considering holding similar events at other Google offices in the near future. Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned!

The Perfect Egg

Emma McKeithen — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:23:00 +0000

Posted By: Rich Godwin, Team Lead

Call it a slow news day or post-Easter chocolate detox...either way we, the Google CPG team, LOVE Cadbury Eggs. So, we find this clip on YouTube from Conan O'Brien to be funny and somehow relatable - perhaps it hits a little close to home in revealing one guy's idiosyncratic tendencies.

And I thought I was alone in stashing Cadbury Eggs for the coming months, pulling out my little blue bags of chocolate gold in times of need, hunger, or just when I felt deserving of a treat. The weird thing is I'm not that way around other holidays. I don't hoard Halloween or Christmas treats. Valentine's Day candy does nothing for me. But, those mini eggs are something I eagerly anticipate every year. I know they hit the stores in time for Valentines Day and will be gone before Easter Sunday. As I said, after viewing the Conan clip on YouTube, I now know that I'm not alone. Take a look at just some of the Egg lovers here on the Cadbury Egg Goo-off contest.

Cadbury and Hershey's (Hershey's holds a license to make Cadbury chocolate for the US) face an interesting dilemma. Certainly the demand is there for these seasonal Eggs to be available year round. But do they lose their unique marketing appeal and cachet by going year round? Hard as it is for me to say, these things mean spring and Easter as much to me as daffodils, daylight savings and the start of Little League. Keep it seasonal, Cadbury Eggs, I count the days until you return.

Moms Know Tech

Emma McKeithen — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:00:00 +0000

Posted By: Amy Chauvin, Account Planner

Understanding how moms communicate and interact with media on a daily basis is an intregal part of marketing to this powerful demographic. According to eMarketer, 32.2 million moms are online in the U.S -- or 18.4% as a total percent of U.S. Internet users. We feel this group of tech savvy women is so important that Google's CPG vertical is holding a Moms Know Tech event in Chicago on April 24th.

The 3-hour seminar will include presentations by industry experts who will help us learn more about this segment of online users and the implications of their online habits for your brand. There will also be a panel of moms discussing their media habits, priorities, and technology attitudes and behaviors.

If you'd like to attend or learn more, please contact your account executive or account manager.

Product Recalls: Informing and Educating at a Crucial Time

Emma McKeithen — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:15:00 +0000

Posted By: Jen Bradburn, Senior Account Planner

When we published the weekly Google Zeitgeist for March 18-24, it was the first time in 6 years that a product recall has placed in the #1 and #2 positions in our top gaining searches. Clearly the pet food recall has sparked a tremendous interest in finding information online through search, more so than any other recall seen to date:

We have learned some valuable lessons as a result of the many recent recalls. Here are a few of our top findings:

1. Breaking news fuels online searches

This surge in online activity around the pet food recall is not surprising. Those working with brands affected by the many news events of 2006 have learned that there is an immediate, measurable online reaction to product recalls and negative press. The recent peanut butter e.coli scare and computer battery recalls are just a few of the recent events that catapulted affected brands into our top search queries.

2. Breaking news fuels growth of online content

The conversation spreads rapidly online as news stories, editorials, blog posts, online comments, and even consumer-generated videos are quickly added to the web after the story breaks. In the wake of the spinach e.coli outbreak in fall 2006, many forms of content was added to the web, and today there are more than 1.98 million indexed pages and 6,750 blog posts that referenced the recall.

3. Nimble companies, or competing interests, are often the first to react

Other interested parties often act quickly to get their messages out as soon as the news breaks. Once the peanut butter recall story broke, lawyers immediately targeted related searches and created websites to provide information that would help consumers identify whether they had been affected in order to consider taking legal action. Ads for lawyers and consumer groups still make up the majority of search and content ad messages that are targeting consumers searching for recall related information online.

Because our data reveals that consumers begin searching online immediately after the news of a recall is released, it is extremely important that companies prepare for this influx of searches by considering the following three steps:

1. The moment information is publicly available, make it findable.

Pet food recall searches were some of the top gaining searches on Google the week the story broke, it is clear that concerned consumers are in record numbers using search engines to find recall information. Ensure the official information is available by immediately routing searches to the press release and official statements the moment it is available online.

2. Target Searches and Content in Post-Event Proactive Branding Campaigns:

The spotlight of press and public concern can cause immediate spikes in active searches for brand information, but it's important to have a continuous presence on search and content targeting in the months that follow.

3. Use Site, Sound and Motion for Maximum Impact:

When jetBlue passengers were stranded on the tarmac at JFK, frustrated customers who were stranded at terminals decided to post their own video accounts on YouTube. jetBlue’s founder, David Neeleman, responded by posting an apology on YouTube, which quickly became one of the top ten most viewed videos of the week. His apology received more than 85,000 views in 48 hours, and has had 276,000 total views to date. YouTube and video ads can act as a powerful additional broadcast outlet – marketers should consider make official statements, interviews, and important information available in video format.

Google Gadgets

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:00:00 +0000

Posted By: Dennis Domingo, Sales Engineer

What are "Gadgets"?
In recent months, there has been an increased interest in customizing one's personal space online. That personal space may be public (a MySpace page, blog or homepage) or private (computer desktop, Google Personalized homepage or mobile phone). Many people are also using widgets, also known as gadgets, to customize, embellish, differentiate and engage with their interests.

For marketers, gadgets are a new, highly effective platform for new initiatives and objectives. Our own Google Gadgets offering is one of our fastest-growing products due in part to their ease of use.

How will Gadgets help build my brand?
Google Gadgets are merely mini-applications that live in a personalized environment. Gadgets are easy to create -- if you can make a website, you can create a gadget. As Newsweek has noted, "User-generated content was a hallmark of 2006. It's a fair bet that 2007 will be all about further customizing your online life."

You can create and use Google Gadgets to:

Create another channel to engage current and new customers
Introduce new products
Provide opportunities for brand consideration
Drive sales of your product online and offline
Reach a broader audience
Allow for an ongoing brand presence
Provide product feedback and updates

Where will consumers see my Gadgets?
You can place Google Gadgets on a Google Personalized Home Page, the Google Desktop, blogs and other sites. Another nice feature: you can use existing data inputs like content feeds and other services (YouTube, Google Video, Google Custom Search Engine, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Maps, Yahoo traffic service, weather service data, etc.) to create interesting and engaging gadgets.

Here's an example recipe gadget I put together that uses a cooking video from Google Video.

Interested in adding this Google Gadget to your Google Personalized homepage? click the "+ Google" button above.

Interested in adding this Google Gadget to your Blog or website click here.

You'll find more information on Google Gadgets at http://www.google.com/apis/gadgets/index.html

Join the Google Bracket Challenge

Emma McKeithen — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:51:00 +0000

Posted By: Rich Godwin, Team Manager

Greetings, hoops fans -- it's time for you to show your keen insights and overall NCAA savvy! Join the first annual Google Client Bracket Competition!

All you need to do is sign up, make your picks and get the smack flowing. Don't just wow your own office and co-workers -- go ahead and show our other clients, and your friends at Google, your bracket brilliance.

There's no charge to get in, just sign up and get your picks in before the first game on Thursday. Oh, and email us with your name, company and contact info so we know who's joining. It's our "Client Bracket Challenge" so of course you need to be one of our clients to join.

Prizes? You bet. Not only does the winner get the bragging rights of winning the Google Bracket Challenge, but also we are throwing in a Wii, a few games, and everything to get you started. Oh, and a nice Google lava lamp for your cube, too. "Yeah, I won that..."

So sign up, email us your contact info, and have fun. Do share this with any co-workers who want to pile on, too, but only one entry per person.

To accept this invitation and join the group, click here. You'll be asked to enter the group's password before you can join.

The group password: notDuke

Let the Madness Begin

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:51:00 +0000

Posted By: Susan Minniear, Vertical Operations, CPG

I'm not what you'd call a sports fan. When people ask if I saw "the game" last night, I have no clue whether they are referring to hockey, basketball or tennis. But there's something about March Madness that brings out the fan in me once a year. (Winning a NCAA pool last year helped, of course, as does the fact that my alma mater, Indiana University, usually makes the tournament.) The March Madness games are fast-paced, full of collegiate pride, and I can't help but be drawn in by the excitement.

Apparently I'm not the only one caught up in the Madness. According to eMarketer, the NCAA Tournament brings in more advertising dollars than the Super Bowl and other professional sports. In fact, this year's March Madness ad spending will surpass $500 million -- 70% higher than it was in 2000.

But advertising spending isn't limited to TV. Sports fans are all over the web this month. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, in 2006 traffic to sports-related websites increased by about 20% on the first day of March Madness. Last year, 8.1 million visitors accessed March Madness content during the course of the first two days.

How can you capitalize on this increase in traffic? Consider targeting sports fans over the next few weeks by selecting NCAA-related sites within our Site Targeting network or targeting your ads to sports-related content within our Content Network. This could be the perfect time to test CTP Video ads as well. "This is the equivalent of a more traditional :30 spot on TV, rather than running a search impression and banner ad because of the level of engagement," Jon Gibs (Nielsen//NetRatings Senior Director of Media) told ClickZ Stats.

Contact your Google team for more details and creative ideas.

The Brand Terms Debate

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:18:00 +0000

Posted By: Susan Minniear, Vertical Operations

Even if your brand already ranks number one in natural search, it's important to add brand terms to your keyword list. Why? Here are four reasons:

1) Control. You have much less control over your organic listing. The position of your brand on the page can fluctuate, and you cannot control the message that consumers see. Paid ads allow you to shape your brand's message exactly as you choose. You can even include common misspellings of your brand term in your keyword list to be sure that people get to your landing page.

2) Competition. Your competition is very likely advertising on your brand terms. If you’re not, and your competitor has an ad show up with a compelling offer, you could likely lose a customer. According to a recent study by Hitwise, one in seven brand searches does not end up at the brand's website. Capitalizing on your brand in both natural and paid search will better direct people to your brand's landing page. Studies show that over half of all searches include a brand related term:

3) ROI. According to eMarketer, the conversion rate for brand keywords is nearly 4 times that of non-brand keywords:

4) More is better. People respond to different types of messaging. Perhaps some are looking for basic information regarding a product, leading them to click on a natural search result; others may be seeking promotions, and are more likely to click on an ad.

Let us know if we can help develop a campaign around your brand terms. It's certainly worth testing.

Love is in the air!

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:29:00 +0000

Posted By: Amy Chauvin, Account Planner

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and lots of people are scrambling for some last-minute gift ideas to express their love. There are conflicting reports as to whether flowers or a romantic dinner will top the list of most popular ways to say "I love you." If you're a man, you will most likely run out for a bouquet of flowers for your sweetie. According to the National Retail Federation, 58% of men plan on giving flowers. (That's in keeping with the over 50 million roses given for Valentine's Day each year.) Another report by Discover Card (paid subscription required) contends that a special dinner will top the list for both men and women.

One thing is for sure: spending for this red-hot day will increase over last year. The "2007 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey," conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, estimates that the average consumer will spend $119.67 this Valentine's Day, up from $100.89 last year. Both Discover and the National Retail Federation agree that men will outspend women. For those of you who really wait until the last minute -- and many of us do -- there is always the e-card, no stamp required. If you have a little time, however, it may mean more to give the real thing. A study by Harris Interactive (paid subscription required) found that 56% of men and 79% of women save the Valentine's Day cards they receive. We all know that cards last a lot longer than chocolates or flowers.

And if you do play cupid this year, you'll be one of more than 1 billion people to send a Valentine!

Top 5 Trends in 2007

Emma McKeithen — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:07:00 +0000

Posted By: Emma McKeithen, Account Coordinator

Thanks to our Chicago colleague Jim Lecinski, we read Trendwatching's good summary of the Top 5 Trends to watch for in 2007:

What consumers consider "status" will be redefined this year. No longer just Tiffany and Mercedes, immersive participation and eco-lifestyles will emerge as the envy of your friends and neighbors.
Tyranny of real-time transparency. Consumer reviewers and bloggers will continue to expose everything from scandals to unacceptable customer service in an instant and global way on the net.
Debate will rage about what will constitute "Web 3.0." As consensus is emerging around Web 2.0, it's now time to start the debate on what's next.
"Trysumers" emerge. What are they? Trendwatching says: "Freed from the shackles of convention and scarcity, immune to most advertising, and enjoying full access to information, reviews, and navigation, experienced consumers are trying out new appliances, new services, new flavors, new authors, new destinations, new artists, new relationships, new *anything* with post mass-market gusto." We say: Wow.
More and more companies tap into the "Global Brain." The idea of using the web to source the top 1% of brains for any need, idea or category goes from novelty to norm.

Here's the full list.

What’s for dinner?

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:04:00 +0000

Posted By: Dennis Domingo, Sales Engineer

I can be picky with food, and it's my mother's fault. A longtime subscriber to Gourmet, my mother loved to try recipes that were different from our culture's cuisine. She was the first on our block to make sushi. She was big on making her biscotti and her own pasta. She is the "OG" (Original Gourmet) in my family.

I've carried that same enthusiasm for food into my adulthood. When I have time, I'm always game for trying some new and exciting recipes. When I vacationed in Thailand, I didn't ride any elephants or check out the silks at Jim Thompson. Instead, I opted to take a cooking class on the island of Koh Samui.

Now, with the launch of Google's Custom Search Engine, I can make my own search engine for recipes. Just the recipes, baby!

How is that different from a Google Search? What if I wanted to search for recipes that have beef and corn as ingredients?

Here's a Google.com result:

Recipes appear in the search results, and you can refine your query. A Custom Search Engine for recipes only searches recipes and pages from specific sources I designate. This gives me more control over the content I see. Here's a result from a Google custom search engine:

Great - now I have recipe-specific search results and the option to refine even further. Maybe I want to use beef and corn as ingredients and use a crockpot to prepare something. The search labels allow me to find recipes according to cuisine style or preparation technique, which is so useful for busy parents like me who don't have a lot of time to run out and get something to make a recipe work. Instead, I can get the recipe to work for me according to what I have in mind or have handy in the pantry. You can also collaborate with people who are interested in cooking and sharing recipes. Also, if you search for recipes quite often, consider adding a nifty Google Gadget to your Google HomePage :

Marketers and website publishers can benefit as well by adding a Google Custom Search Engine to their website or blog. Check out how easy it is to add the code and set it up. The upside: provide your visitors with more comprehensive information, make the search engine look and feel like your own, and leverage your expertise in a value-add on your site. You become an even better resource (and web destination) for your users. Here are some examples of sites using Google's Custom Search Engine.

Enjoy, and bon appétit!

Click-to-play video ads

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:45:00 +0000

Posted by Emma McKeithen, Account Coordinator

A bit more about our video ad offering. Sorry if this seems like a sales pitch, but the more we use it, the more we love it. All the video ads on the Google Network are in the click-to-play format -- which means viewers choose to watch your ad. If you were thinking, "Just play the video when the page loads!" research has proven that this is a total turn-off -- er, "bad user experience." It's far cooler to have people who choose to watch, engage, share and repeat your video ad. It's true that this may mean fewer overall viewings -- but the quality of the viewer goes through the roof as you have someone actively deciding to watch your message (maybe even again and again). Since they have control over viewing the ad, these viewers are more likely to have a positive experience and feel good about your brand.

Google's video ads have no serving or hosting fees, and we accept up to two minutes of footage. Here's a recent Saturn ad created by Goodby Silverstein especially for Google Video.

And there's more about video ads in two recent case studies:

Paramount Vantage launched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth with video ads on the Google Network, targeting specific audience segments with huge reach at effective cost. The campaign was a huge success: exit surveys showed that 33% of opening weekend attendees heard about the movie online, and it grossed 30-50% higher per screen than the average film. Check out our case study and the ad

Fox Home Entertainment found that Google Video Ads performed best among 15 competitive web properties. Some highlights from our summary.

generated the most traffic at the least cost
provided the best conversion rate to sales
were exceptionally sticky for potential buyers

The way the cookie crumbles

Emma McKeithen — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:47:00 +0000

Posted By: Jenny Reynolds, Account Manager

Last week, the marketers for the California Milk Advisory began a unique outdoor campaign. They plastered "Got Milk" advertisements inside bus shelters throughout the city, while infusing the bus shelters with the smell of fresh-baked cookies in hopes of enticing commuters to drink milk.

Unfortunately, the campaign came to an end when "activitists complained that the aroma could trigger asthma attacks and allergic reactions in people who are scent sensitive." (SFGate)

Although this unique approach to capture consumers did not fully bake, we think it could have stirred up a lot of buzz. We heard people talking about it even before the bus shelters were set up with the cookie scent. So we thought about how to connect this campaign online, and a Google Map seemed like the perfect complement. Dennis Domingo, our Sales Engineer, drew up a Google Maps demo featuring the Muni Station locations participating in this campaign. If the California Milk Advisory Board wanted to highlight where commuters could find these locations on a website, they could have designed and embedded a custom Google Map.

A locally-targeted keyword campaign driving users to this website and the map would have been a great way to close the online/offline loop. But there's no crying over spilt milk (or phantom cookies). Let's keep these ideas in mind for another time.

Making markets super

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:30:00 +0000

Posted By: Rich Godwin, Senior Account Executive

Have you read Progressive Grocer's Oct. 15th story in which Jenny McTaggart interviews Bob Meyer, the president of ad agency Meyer & Wallis, about the state of supermarket marketing? Here's the entire article (PDF).

Bob pulls no punches in his insightful and often dead-on Top Ten Rules of marketing -- I've read it several times and shared it with many colleagues. A point that Bob underlines in the article: many supermarkets haven't advanced their marketing strategy in decades. Sometimes it seems like they haven't progressed from "Everything you want from a store and a little bit more" or " It's Joe Albertson's Super Market....", or "Since we're neighbors let's be friends" -- and yet the consumers, stores, and products have all changed dramatically. Shopping patterns, consumer needs, media consumption, and marketing as an art & science have all evolved. I hope Bob's Top Ten list is a wake-up call to the industry, because I sincerely believe it may already be too late for some supermarkets. Others have to act now -- as Bob says, "step out of their comfort zone" and "stop acting like a grocer."

But, I think Bob stopped too soon! To paraphrase the famous philosopher and Buccaneer Barbossa I'd say to Captain Meyer, "We are naught but humble marketers." Here are a couple more steps I'd like to see supermarkets follow.

#11 - Stop treating your website like a side project. Your website should be a central part of your marketing, and it should be managed by the CMO. Too many supermarkets don't have a strategy for the website -- or worse, the website and online marketing is overseen by a separate department from those marketing the stores and the brand. Your retail brethren made this mistake in the late 90s and early 00s. They've got it right now, and you should follow suit. The Internet is essential to your customers' daily lives. Your website should a marketing hub to engage, help and build loyalty with your customers -- not just a place to collect email addresses or snag an online order. Online marketing and websites can and will drive offline traffic in your stores. That's another post for another day, but it's being proven continuously.

#12 - Help customers find your great web content. Most of us love the Internet because it gives us instant answers to anything we want to find or learn about. Like many people, I get recipes online instead of consulting a cookbook. I have the laptop in the kitchen, do a quick search and boom, I'm off and running in getting my family's meal together. I'm not alone: the top 3 seach categories for Baby Boomers are health, weather and recipes (eMarketer report: Seniors Online, 2006). Many grocery websites have great content: recipes, healthy living tips, nutritional content, store locators, and much more. But you need to help people find all that.

Nothing is better than connecting with your customer when they are searching for information that your website offers. If you have the info they need, you are helping them. Yes, it can require advertising money to help them find you, see your offering, and click through to your website -- but sponsored search links are seen as a benefit, not a hard sell or ad. Drive people to your site and let customers spend time with your brand. It will pay off.

Here's an example of a recent search I did for chicken salad.

The first sponsored link is for Target. Yep, Target has a great recipe that they want me to see and try. Every major supermarket chain I checked had a recipe too, but they aren't promoting it. Remember, you only pay if the person searching clicks, and you only have to promote this to people who live in areas where you have stores. I like Target, but shouldn't grocery stores own this?

#13 - Get in the pool and swim some laps! The water's warm, it's not too deep, and the only way to become a strong swimmer is to practice. The Internet has a lot to offer, and you are going to learn a lot. Maybe you'll make a few mistakes on the way, but everyone does at first. The important thing is to start trying things, testing and learning. The Internet is not going away. It's quickly becoming even more essential to your customers' very busy lives. So it's critical that you start learning, and fast. In 2005 the top 5 supermarkets spent on average less than 1% in Internet marketing, and much of that was in website development (TNS 2005 Multimedia Spend Report). If you don't implement some key lessons quickly, you can bet your direct and indirect competitors will. Wal-Mart committed 7% of its 2005 marketing budget to Internet marketing (TNS 2005 Multimedia Spend Report). That's over $33 million. And it's grown dramatically since then.

I'd welcome your thoughts or feedback on how supermarkets can do better.

Super Bowl spot vs. YouTube upload. Guess who wins?

Emma McKeithen — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:18:00 +0000

Posted By: Emma McKeithen, Account Coordinator

Here are more thoughts on Super Bowl spots - and maybe some ways to save yourself from that splashy 30-second spend!

As powerful as these ads are on the tube, Big Game advertisers might get more bang for their buck by creating a purely-online spot. Many bloggers and media folks, including us, have written about the Dove Evolution video: its powerful message, its viral effect, and now, its ROI. Advertising Age (paid subscription required) reported that Dove had their biggest-ever traffic spike in less than a month as a result of uploading the viral ad to YouTube - three times more traffic than after it ran its Super Bowl ad in 2006. True, viral video ads aren't created and promoted for free, but a Super Bowl ad spot last year cost about $2.5 million for 30 seconds, plus some steep production costs. YouTube, on the other hand, is free, and the Ad Age report proves its impact and reach to be comparable if not greater than TV ads, assuming it's a great campaign.

Of course, not everyone can or should do a viral video campaign. It takes a lot of planning and thought to pull it off. Dove is a superb example of one that nailed it.

But you do have other options for getting heard and seen online. Convert your ads into click-to-play video ads that users can watch and click through to your site. Upload your commercials, both old and new, to YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video, AOL and others. Run a search campaign around your TV flights on relevant keywords to capture the buzz of your television ads. All of these things help to maximize the effect of an ad, even if it's not viral.

There's lots of buzz about video and viral marketing online. We'd love to hear about other great campaigns if you have some in mind or have thoughts about the ones mentioned here.

Touchdown!

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:47:00 +0000

Posted By: Amy Chauvin, Account Planner

Right on the heels of the upcoming holiday hustle and bustle is Super Bowl XLI. For many diehard pigskin fans, in fact, this may be a bigger event than Christmas! And even for non-footballers, we all know and love those much-anticipated Super Bowl commercials that cost advertisers a pretty penny. Some years, the ads are more entertaining than the game itself. They can also be extremely powerful in driving online buzz, searches, and site visits. According to eMarketerer, here are the top advertisers by website visits via Superbowl-ads.com for the 2006 game:

Interesting that more than half of these sites belong to CPG advertisers. Some used paid search to help drive site visits -- especially important for new product launches and initiatives (like Ford's Escape Hybrid or Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty) and for driving users to a specific landing page or microsite (like Burger King's www.whopperettes.com). There are tons of searches that take place during and after the Super Bowl around the ads. People want to be able to watch them again, learn about the products, share the spots with friends, and find out more about what was behind the campaign.

We saw some missed opportunities last year where advertisers didn't run search campaigns around their own Super Bowl ads, but their competitors did -- buying up relevant keywords and taking advantage of the online buzz. Don't forget that on the coffee table, along with the pizza, beer, and chips, there sits the laptop. Be sure to maximize the impact of your television ads, especially during the Super Bowl, with an online campaign. The more cheeky, innovative, or intriguing your ad is, the more powerful the online response -- and the more reason to be there. Let us know if we can help.

Having Your Kate…and Cameron Too

Emma McKeithen — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:11:00 +0000

Posted By: Rich Godwin, Senior Account Executive

We blog as often as we can, dear readers, to keep you informed and answer your questions -- and many of our clients and CPG friends are asking us for updates on YouTube.

CBS announced this week that running clips and shows on YouTube is actually increasing TV audience for its shows. This news is likely a surprise to some people, as many predicted YouTube and its ilk would take viewership away from TV, not add to it. But CBS seems to be proving that theory wrong by getting huge online interest with clips like Kate Winslet talking about Cameron Diaz with David Letterman, a scene from CSI, and SportsLine's Power Performances for the week. In fact, in just one month CBS has had more than 29 million videos viewed on YouTube, and 3 of the top 25 videos on YT were from CBS. Plus CBS is driving viewership to these shows! Perfect.

BBC, Mediaweek and many other news stories dig deeper into this news. Our takeaway from all this for CPG is that if you have video assets -- TV spots, educational or instructional video -- consider posting it on YouTube. There is an audience waiting to watch. It won't necessarily be as big as CBS', but it will be an audience eager to spend time with your brands.

Beauty Day summit

Emma McKeithen — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:43:00 +0000

Posted by Kevin Kells, Director of Google's CPG Vertical

On November 15th, the Google CPG Team hosted our first-ever Beauty Day Summit at the Cornelia Day Resort in New York City. Attended by over 50 beauty marketers and their agency partners, the event focused on the changing landscape for marketers and the desire to connect with passionate beauty consumers in new and different ways. As beauty marketers know, there are specific business and media issues facing brands in a piece-driven, innovation-heavy category. Namely, how do you efficiently get those consumers who are most interested in your category to raise their hands so that you can serve up the most relevant brand message to them, whether it be text, image or sight-sound-and-motion video?

Google speakers were followed by a highly engaging "beauty maven" panel led by author and blogger Tia Williams, former beauty director at Teen People. Panelists offered varying perspectives on representations of beauty as well as how they search for and engage with beauty products online. What was constant was their desire to tap into a passionate online community in order to constantly interact with other real women about beauty products -- from positive to negative experiences to everything in-between. They clearly brought to life that this passionate community is alive and well: top-cited activities include browsing blogs and beauty sites for product reviews, shopping online, and connecting with other beauty mavens for tips and trends. The panel talked about advertising too - what they like, dislike, and how they view and engage with beauty advertising online and offline. One piece of creative in particular was the subject of much discussion -- Dove's "Evolution" out of Ogilvy & Mather's Toronto office:

It's a great example of the engaging content some marketers are producing, and it certainly has a place online where women can experience and share it.

After that, everyone was welcome to test drive some of Google's newest products, including Google Trends, Mobile, Local/Coupons, Video, and Checkout. It was a great event, and we plan to hold many more category-specific discussions with our marketing partners in the coming months.

Fan of the Fowl?

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:53:00 +0000

Posted By: Jenny Reynolds, Account Manager

With Thanksgiving almost here, people are actively searching online for the latest recipes and ideas for their Thanksgiving meals. A perfect example of this is turducken. A turducken ("TURkey-DUck-chiCKEN") is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a small chicken. Take a look at the search volume for turducken vs. deep fried turkey around Thanksgiving for the last two years:

With turducken in the lead for 2005, it could be the winner this year! As far as turkey trends go, will we see more turduckens or deep-fried turkeys served this Thanksgiving? We'll have to check back with Google Trends in a couple of months. One possibility is that people search for but don't serve turducken.

If there is one takeaway from these seasonal search trends, it’s that people are online looking for the latest recipes around the holidays. CPG companies should take advantage of this audience and ramp up their search campaigns to capture new leads around this category - it's wildly popular and, apparently, quite trendy.

By the way, if you are looking for a good turducken recipe, you can find one here.

Happy Turducken Day!

‘Tis the season…today and every day

Emma McKeithen — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:28:00 +0000

Posted By: Emma McKeithen, Account Coordinator

Some of you may have read about or perhaps attended MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit in Palm Springs last week. There were two great takeaways (free registration required) related to online holiday campaigns that we thought were worth a mention. In planning for holiday campaigns, the search executives on the MediaPost panel advised working way in advance to build brand awareness and to test messaging. While this isn’t exactly a new idea, it's a good one to consider these days as we see holiday campaigns appearing earlier and earlier every year. (Who among us isn't already viewing wreaths, colored lights, and Christmas music -- and before Thanksgiving, which used to be the starting point of the holiday shopping season?) No matter the holiday, even before consumers are buying, they are online-- and they’re planning for the upcoming holidays, seasonal events, and of course gift occasions. Make sure you’re there all the time, not just following what brick-and-mortar stores do.

The same panel stressed keeping a part of your campaigns on year-round. We encourage clients to run continuously on brand and key terms to fill in their seasonal, flighted, and offline campaigns. This is not only easy but also cost-effective, and it’s always a good idea to have something there when people are searching on your brand attributes or reading content related to your products. More often than not, someone’s going to show up in that space. If not you, then who?

Bottom line: it's not too late to get something up for the holidays, but you should also be thinking about what happens in January and planning for Valentine's Day. We'll share some ideas and tips on setting up these campaigns in an upcoming post.

Goodbye soy, hello…camel?

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 22:50:00 +0000

Posted by Grace Ting, Account Strategist

"Honey, pick up some 2 Hump on your way home?" Say goodbye to soy, and make room for camel milk from Vital Camel Milk, a Kenyan company. According to Business 2.0, it's going to be HUGE. Camel milk may soon be a $10B business globally and apparently, it's really good for you. Yesterday an article in Reuters mentioned that camel milk is being marketed as a health drink to hotels and tourists in India's Jaisalmer District. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, camel milk contains three times the vitamin C in cow's milk, is high in iron, unsaturated fatty acids, and vitamin B, and is beneficial for people with diabetes. For those who can't quite stomach the idea of straight camel milk, camel milk-based ice cream (in delicious saffron-pistachio and strawberry-vanilla flavors) may be a more enticing way to ease into its health benefits.

Maybe we'll see it in grocery aisles across the U.S. before long -- and we can't wait to see how it's marketed.

We love this commercial

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 22:29:00 +0000

Posted by Rich Godwin, Senior Account Executive

It's funny, it's well made, and I've watched it at least 15 times or more.

And I'm not alone. On Google Video it's been watched 410,000 times just on one posting (and there are at least 10 more posts), plus it's on YouTube and plenty of blogs and other sites. As of today, 179 blogs have posted this ad.

We'll post later about the impact this sort of free marketing can have. For now, enjoy a great spot, and let us know what you're "sinking about."

"Hot or Not" for marketers

Emma McKeithen — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:19:00 +0000

Posted by Rich Godwin, Senior Account Executive

Warning: If you keep reading, you're going to enter a "time-suck" (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, in case any of the engineers who built it are reading this): Google Trends. The upside is that you can take any topic (up to 5 at the same time) and compare search trends over the last 2.5 years. This can lead to some amazing insights, keen understandings, and straight-up "what the....!"

Take the now-famous Mentos and Diet Coke example.

Look at how the trends spiked in the summer when the video took off on YouTube. How cool would it be to know when, how, and how much your new ad campaign, PR or sponsorship is affecting search behavior? Notable news and PR items flag the major spikes to illustrate possible correlations between online and offline events. Google Trends could be the first step in figuring out which promotion or event was most effective in driving traffic and awareness on Google.com

So here's the downside: it's not just for brand marketing. I'm left to contemplate why the Scissor Sisters blow away the Spice Girls in search in the UK, but in Canada Scary and Posh still rule. What pulls more search, the one time (and only one time) World Series-winning Boston Red Sox, or the 3-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots? I guessed the Pats, and I'm wrong. New England is still baseball country

So do check out Google Trends. Also note that Trends lags by about one month, so searches aren't going to be up to the minute. But you can see how popular your search query is by region, city, and language. You can also look at Google Fight, a site that we have nothing to do with and aren't exactly sure how it's pulling its data, but it's another fascinating take on what we're all looking for.