Monday, June 18, 2007

MyGoogleSpace

by -- Rashidi Barnett

In August of last year, Google and MySpace
announced their $900 million dollar deal on search and contextual ads. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks the Google contextual ads on my log in page become a lot more targeted than they once were. The first one I actually noticed was a little over a month ago when there was an ad with the keyword “Pittsburgh,” my hometown.

Last week I saw some more targeted and relevant ads served based on things that are in my MySpace profile.

What caught my eye initially was the ad for “Del Mar.” I have listed under my list of favorite albums “Any Café del Mar CD.” The Café del Mar is actually in Ibiza, Spain, they put out compilations of the type of music they play there. If the keyword term for “café del mar” was purchased by Expedia, and it showed “Save on trips to Ibiza, Spain” then that would be much more relevant.

I have “The Matrix Trilogy” listed as one of my favorite movies. What is potentially a missed opportunity is that “The Matrix Trilogy” was actually released on HD-DVD on May 22, 2007. As of today, June 19, 2007, Amazon is purchasing the keyword “Matrix Trilogy”. Maybe they don’t have it running in the content network?

Overall, I’ll be taking a closer look over the next few months to see if there is any improvement. Marketing is always more effective when it is both relevant and timely.

If you have noticed targeted ads on your MySpace page, please let me know, I’d like to hear.

Update : June 22, 2007

I noticed some more ads based upon my profile. I don't have "Slap Maxwell" on my profile, its actually Maxwell the Columbia Records recording artist. I don't have "Family Guy" either, though I do enjoy "Family Guy." (I actually had to check to see if it was on my profile, and no, its not) I do have Musiq on my profile as well.


Tuesday, June 12, 2007

JUSTIFIED Marketing

by -- Rashidi Barnett

I am a huge advocate of strong, smart integrated marketing approaches. It's one thing to have a great television or banner ad campaign. But when you break down organization silos and extend the olive branch to your marketing brethren, one can create unique opportunities to positively impact your brand,
or your clients brand.

Research shows that "25-30% of total media time is spent multitasking." Marketing 101 teaches us that the more a consumer is exposed to a marketing message, the more likely they are to remember your brand. In my humble opinion, integrated TV and online ads would help boost the performance of both tactics. A rising tide lifts all ships.

On the evening of February 11 of this year, I was watching the Grammy Awards. Toward the end of the show, Justin Timberlake came on stage to perform his song “What Goes Around.” During the end of his performance, he got up from behind the piano and grabbed a digital video camera.

He continued to perform for another minute as the video feed from the camera was broadcasted. I thought to myself, “great picture.” And in my marketing mind, I expected there to be tie in with the manufacturer of the video camera. I waited until the end of his performance and in anticipation of some sort of ad or marketing plug, I already had my cursor flashing in the browser of choice. Unfortunately, no ad by the camera manufacturer and no tie in on the Grammy's Website.

There was an opportunity for a micro site, sponsored by the manufacturer, with additional footage of the day of, him getting ready for the show, or at least the footage of him on stage. However, I didn’t find any “official” footage anywhere online, but I did find two individuals that posted the footage on Youtube. Interesting enough , CBS has a partnership with Youtube, so it seems that they were not taking full advantage of their relationship.


The total views to date are 90,483 and there was potentially an opportunity to drive more traffic to a microsite or Youtube, if it were supported by offline initiatives. As you can see, the demand was there. It could have provided a complimentary experience, and additional exposure and brand awareness for JT (as if he needed it), other performers of the Grammy’s, as well as the manufacturer of the camera.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting some blogs about some great multi pronged marketing initiatives that I’ve noticed. In my humble opinion, I feel that many advertisers and marketers can learn from these campaigns. Its not a shameless marketing approach which consumers have become numb to. They’ve been able to balance their marketing message with a complimentary experience for the consumer.

Reference : Click Here

NOTE : In case you aren't a huge JT fan, "Justified" is the name of Justin Timberlake's solo debut.

Here's a link to the performance