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#MarketingTitbits – Google AdWords, Marketing Humour, Creepiest Campaigns

adwords-humour-halloween1. Google AdWords at 15: moving beyond the last click
The success of AdWords for Google, launched 15 years ago, is undeniable. Now, the search giant is keen to build on the success and add even more functionality for advertisers and benefits for searchers. Back in 2000 when AdWords first launched, it had just 350 advertisers, now that number is more than 1 million and the success of AdWords shows no signs of abating.

For those marketers who don’t know, AdWords is Google’s paid search service, whereby advertisers can pay to have their ads shown for specific keywords on Google search network, as well as on partner websites, apps and videos.

Click here to find out more information about AdWords plans for the future and developing their service.

2. The dangerous art of using humour in marketing

Content that pulls on the emotional strings is powerful and humour is no different. However, getting it right can be the difference between being derided and loved for a brand. Being funny through social content can be tricky, but get it right and the rewards are compelling. Get it wrong; however, and the awareness it generates will be unwelcoming.

KFC experienced this with their recent reconstruction of pro surfer, Mike Fanning’s, much-publicised shark attack. Fanning’s family took offence and they were forced to take it down. But for every comedic backfire, there is an example of comedy gold.

Take a look at the pros and cons, as well as some great examples of humour in marketing here.

3. Halloween 2015: the creepiest campaigns

Trick or treat? We have TREATED you to the creepiest Halloween marketing campaigns this year, and they didn’t fail to disappoint.

Once again, brands like Tesco have been trying to spook us this Halloween, and they certainly excelled with their ‘Spookermarket’ campaign. Tesco launched their online film set in one of their supermarkets which were given a spooky makeover. Hidden cameras were able to capture the reactions of customers as they encounter a series of scary situations.

Click here to view the results along with some of the other spookiest Halloween campaigns of 2015.

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#MarketingTitbits – Lego, blogging, Marc Jacobs

lego-blog-marcjacobs-smaller1. Lego to co-create marketing campaign with UK fansLego is calling upon all UK fans to help create a marketing campaign by suggesting new product ideas for a global market. Lego’s head of global community co-creation said despite the fact the company is not expecting the new products to be the next Ninjango or Lego Movie, it is hoping to build on the trust it already has within its UK community of fans. Lego are also encouraging the fans to promote this new marketing campaign via their own social media profiles.

Similarly, in the past, Lego have invited fans to give input to their marketing. For example, students in Canada sent a balloon with a Lego figure attached to the edge of space and scenes in the Lego Movie have been created by fans. To read more, click here. 

 

2. Blogger vs. Word Press: which is better for beginners?

If you’ve never written or had a blog before and you’d like to but don’t know how to get started, this is a great article for you. The two most widely used blogging platforms out there are Blogger and WordPress but it can be difficult to decide which one is best for you.

They differ in terms of ease of use, aesthetics and how easy they are to integrate to social media channels but really it all comes down to what type of blogger you are. If you’re looking for a blog that is simple, without much room for customisation, then blogger may be the one for you. However, if you’re more serious about blogging in the long term and want your blog to be totally unique, WordPress is probably the platform for you.

To read the full article, click here. 

 

3. Marc Jacobs takes to Twitter to find face of new campaign

Last week, Marc Jacobs made a controversial decision to find the face of their campaign not by the traditional method of model agencies, but through Twitter. The designer brand asked fans to post a selfie with the hashtag #CastMeMarc.

This is not the first time the company have taken to Twitter; during London Fashion Week they opened a ‘tweet shop’ allowing customers to make purchases simply by tweeting about the brand! To read more, click here.

 

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#MarketingTitbits – YouTube ads, negative SEO, Marmite

youtube-negativeseo-marmite-smaller1. The top 10 most popular YouTube ads of 2014
Now-a-days, the most popular YouTube ads tend to be made for an online campaigns, instead of airing on TV, so it’s no surprise that most of the top 10 featured in Marketing Week’s article have followed this trend.

Included in the list are the likes of Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Nike, Marks & Spencer, Always and Pepsi, who all created ads with a social media audience in mind, however, also aired shorter versions on TV. A lot of brands are now creating and sharing stories within their advertisements and this can be difficult to do in a TV ad space of typically 30 to 60 seconds, and this is where YouTube comes in. Consumers are now happier to spend time with branded content online, dependent on the entertainment and relevance delivered.

If you’d like to see the top 10 adverts, you can click here.

2. What is Negative SEO and how can you protect your website?

Negative SEO is the process of using techniques similar to those of black hat SEO, but to attack and undermine a rival’s website that can lead on to damage their rankings in search results.

This can be done in many ways, including:

  • Having a huge number of links directed to your site that are low-quality and spam-heavy with keywords that have little to no relevance.
  • Copying content from your website that is then distributed across the internet, which could possibly interfere with Google’s policy on duplicate content.
  • Damaging your reputation by being negative about your business. That could involve fake social media profiles being created, etc.

You can click here to learn more about negative SEO and the steps you can take for your business to avoid it.

3. Marmite looks to replicate 2013 success by bringing back revamped ‘End Marmite Neglect’ campaign

We spoke about the ‘love it or hate it’ brand back in November when they picked up 2014’s Brand of the Year Award, and as predicted, Unilever have chosen to start a ‘full-scale Marmageddon’ with their parody on animal rescue programmes, entitled ‘End Marmite Neglect’. Although this approach attracted over 500 complaints back in 2013, the ASA chose to take no further action with the ad, allowing the jar to make a comeback this year.

But will this campaign follow in the footsteps of the 14% sales increase that it produced in its first run?

Keep an eye out for the ad, but for now, you can read more by clicking here.

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#MarketingTitbits – personalisation, McDonald’s, Wonga

personalisation-mcdonalds-wonga-smaller1. Google’s UK sales chief: it is criminal for brands to avoid personalisation
According to Google’s sales director, Martijn Bertisen, brands are still reluctant to “put faith into mobile”, even though 60% of consumers now wish for personalisation on the platform.

At the annual IAB Mobile Engage event, Bertisen explained that although mobile searches have now overtaken desktop searches in 10 of Google’s most advanced markets, marketers are unlikely to even be ready for mobile at the most basic level. So, with consumer demand growing for further personalisation of their experiences, what’s next for marketers?

Bertisen believes that those who push into the wearables industry and speak to each individual consumer in a personalised voice will be the ones who succeed.

To read more, click here.

2. The 8 craziest ways McDonald’s has tried to boost sales

Last week marked a big birthday for the world’s biggest fast-food chain, as it celebrated the opening of its first restaurant. And to commemorate the milestone, Entrepreneur has compiled a list of some of the strangest methods that McDonald’s has used to boost the brand in the past.

From starting a delivery service in New York, to hiring a Mythbuster to talk about pink slime, it’s clear that the some are certainly less than conventional. But what do you think about Ronald McDonald’s new makeover and the brand’s terrifying new mascot, Happy?

Click here to take a look at more of their strangest moments.

3. Wonga looks to rebuild battered brand as it pledges new ‘responsible’ marketing drive

Pay-day loan firm, Wonga, has revealed its new approach in the reshape of its marketing strategy, ditching the ‘Wongie’ puppets and creating a campaign surrounding ‘credit for the real world’.

The switch follows a string of high-profile controversies that have occurred over recent years. Some issues the brand has had to deal with include compensation payments, banned adverts and multiple incidents of public criticism. Wonga are hoping to overcome this recent backlash by focusing on the improvements they are making to people’s day-to-day lives.

For more on the brands improvements, click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Google, Ryanair messaging, internet fees

google-ryanair-internet-smaller1. Does Google use social signals for ranking?Are pieces of content more likely to rank higher on SERPs if they have more social signals (likes, retweets, comments, etc.) than similar content of less social ‘worth’? Econsultancy sheds some light on the topic.

Google is known for ranking content based on its quality, but it appears now that social interaction could possibly be added to the complicated ranking equation. As of this month, Google has begun to roll out an update in the US which shares tweets in real-time in search results.

So, if you have created content and shared it on Twitter with an optimised tweet, chances are that Google may have shared it too. To read more, click here.

2. Quality now drives our messaging, not price, claims Ryanair’s CMO

Ryanair has recently announced that its profits were up 66%, reaching £614 million for the first quarter of the year. Chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has claimed their ‘Always Getting Better’ programme is the key to their growth.

Over the same period, the airline’s marketing spend hit £166m, in an aim to improve brand perception by boosting personalisation features for its customers. Although the brand appears to be winning customers from competitors, be it budget or premium, it still has work to do to push up its index score and rise in the aviation ranks.

To find out more about Ryanair’s success, click here.

3. We’ve hit the peak of ‘free’ on the internet. It’s time to pay up

Over the years, the New York Times has juggled its subscription fees from free to paid and back again a number of times, but what will happen at a point where around 15% of users are paying for a service of some sort?

Free content shows no sign of disappearing, but is likely to be ‘rebalanced’ as online payments become safer and paid content becomes more valuable. But now, as large companies such as YouTube and Apple begin to join in the premium services, will you be persuaded to pay up?

Click here to read more on the ‘peak of free’.

 

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