Another productivity tool for small budget advertisers was released by Google today. The Campaign optimizer for AdWords.
It basically analyzes your campaign settings to check what worked or haven't worked well in your campaigns. Then throws up a few tweaks in terms of budget, keywords, keyword matches, bids and ad text. Add a regrouping strategy to the analysis/results and its ready to seriously affect the business of SEM firms.
Its not yet active for India though.
If you are a GMail fan (and use Firefox), this productivity list is a must read to update yourself of the possibilities with GMail.
Seth Godin in his blog note on Empathy says, blogs are boring because "they are about the writer, not the reader."
If you think this is the case here, read the header and blog description, go away, do whatever, this is my blog!
Last week I discovered that YouTube uses Tacoda to do behavioral targeting of ads and made a note somewhere to read up a bit on the company.
It did occur to me that it was prime target for a take over by Google. And today, I found out Tocada is being bought over by AOL!
The other day I overheard a few people, working in the technology domain, talking about a new Wiki in their workplace. Good initiative, but I don't think its going to work in the corporate environments of today.
HBS has this nice interview between Professors Karim R. Lakhani and Andrew McAfee at the end of an article on how Wikipedia works. I have just taken a few snippets that are pretty much my arguments on why Wiki's wouldn't work in corporates.
- Value: "How valuable is the corporate encyclopedia" or collaboration or open discussions for the managers and top bosses? In corporates, decision making is usually top down.
- Incentive: "How much enthusiasm or incentive do we have to contribute to the corporate encyclopedia." By the way, how many senior people do you think are technology enthusiast or early adopters and willing to contribute to a Wiki?
- Openness: In corporates, knowledge and information is power and is the one thing that counts in keeping you where you are. You open up information and people a little more smarter can critique you and worst still, upstage you. Its "a technology that enables self-selection, transparency, openness—how does a manager or management deal with that?"
- Peer Wisdom: In corporates superior and boss wisdom is what counts! In Wiki's "peer review is critical. A challenge for firms that are used to managing employees and allocating the resources in a very top-down kind of way."Can the boss take a subordinate editing and correcting his comments?
- Freedom: "Wikis rely on the foundation of free expression. But can employees feel free to express their opinions to everyone in the company as Wikipedians do in their world? The CEO might be reading it, after all."
- Boundaries: "There's lots of knowledge in the outside world". Will the corporate "enable the outside world (suppliers, consumers) to interact with them?"
A colleague forwarded a wonderful Nike ad that featured two celebrities and after going home I happened to see some ads featuring Indian Sports and Movie stars, in total contrast to the international ad. This set me thinking on celebrity endorsements and advertisements in India.
We see more and more Indian companies falling into the trap of using a celebrity to get their message across. The culprit in my opinion is the creative agency's' ineptitude. But the client is also to blame for this.
Usually the agency lacks ideas and what is best way to cover it up? A celebrity. I have a personal experience, in the company I work, of the agency proactively coming up with a celebrity creative (with the name of the celebrity of course) way off the marketing task.
Then there is the HiPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) on using a celebrity (he either knows or has already signed one). Most likely this person had fallen into the trap of using a well-known face to stand out when the agency comes with mediocre ideas. Or when attacked by competition with a celebrity, he decides to retaliate with another one.
I have compiled a few ads (thanks to YouTube and the choice of a custom embed player) I have lined up starting with good (first 6) to mediocre (next 3) to bad (last 4).
No doubt a celebrity can get you saliency, make the new brand stand for something and influence purchase intention. But, they don't come cheap and can have a a polarizing effect on peoples opinion. Plus, the brand can sink with the celebrity's reputation.
Here a few pointers on how to make and evaluate good celebrity ad.
- Don't take the fish out of a pond, don't make a cricketer an actor and vice versa (Adidas-Prayers is a good example).
- Don't use a celebrity if he is not adding any value to the brand. (The Acer office ad is something I fail to understand. Hritik is an actor, a damn good one at that. What is he doing in the office?)
- Weave interesting stories around around a celebrity and if possible his star value (Coke-Thanda, Toyota Innova are good examples)
- Have a long term strategy of using the celebrity. You have already fallen into the trap of using the celebrity once. If the celebrity ad was great, rest assured the next ad you make is never going to match up.
The Business section of a paper had an article on Lenovo moving its entire Creative development to India.
"This could very well be Indian advertising's moment of reckoning.Big mistake. Whoever thought India was 'the' place to move high end creative work to. It is cheap, no doubt. But its cheap in every sense, cost and creativity too. India is the place to find good Engineers and Doctors. You get it - technical talent. At this point of time, good creative talent in India is not only rare but has completely deserted the media field.
Lenovo, the world's third largest personal computer maker, has decided to outsource all - repeat all - its international marketing-campaign activities to India, the first time a global corporation has done so. "
I might be wrong here because there are some Highest Paid Person's Opinion's (HiPPO) which are contrary due to which Lenovo decided on this move. The WSJ says, "Mr. Deepak Advani got the idea for the hub because he was impressed by the slick Lenovo ads that Ogilvy's India team had created for the Indian domestic market".
I wonder, how can he refer to these ads for Lenovo as slick (just ignore the first 20 secs of the VO at the beginning).
All I have to say to marketers is that India's time will come in the creative fields. Till then, don't be penny wise and pound foolish. You are going to spend millions in making these sick ads and then airing them.
Google recently announced the launch of Adwords Print Ads as beta in US (long time in the making). It calls this system a dynamic offer-based marketplace – not an auction.
The system works in a fairly simple way. Advertisers propose the price they’re willing to pay for an advertisement, and publishers accept or decline those bids based on factors like day-of-week, desired newspaper section, pre-established rates for the advertiser’s industry and available inventory.
With a note at the end that Google will help a person connect with professionals who can help create and manage their ads, its a clear pitch to the small budget advertisers, who can't afford big publications and have so far been happy advertising using Google adwords, to leverage Newspapers - an important component in any advertiser’s media mix.
There is a big problem though, its not going to work for Google! I say this because I fail to understand what value Google is adding in the whole process. While the goal is to extend its position as the nexus between advertisers, publishers, and customers beyond the Internet, its off strategy of 'organizing the worlds information' and some one at Google is going to wake up soon enough to realize it.
The second issue, the target for this service - small advertisers (big advertisers will continue using media houses to provide the service for them). Small advertisers flock Adwords because it works! The beauty of Google's Adwords are its algorithms that link the appropriate ads with each search query or page of online content. What's more, there is immense value in its reports that a small advertiser can unlock, real time, understand what's working and better target his campaigns. In print ads, Google is at the mercy of publications who will sift thru bids, ok them and place it where ever they want on the page. What's Google going to do - show circulation figures, offer help in creating print ads, be the feedback loop, confirm if the ad was shown and...?
Its early days in the experiment. While the game plays out, expect thousands of small Grayscale ads on news papers (definitely not full paged ones).
Google seems to be optimizing its GMail login page. This morning when I visited Gmail, the new user signup button was different.
A little research and I came up with a number of variations on the button including a whole new page.
This post might not be relevant to a number of visitors on this site. None the less, keeping in my Google tracking spirit, here are new features in Google Adwords. I saw them opening up when we started using contextual advertising.
I have been waiting for such reports for over an year now and remember discussing atleast two of the following in my interview with Google!
- Pay Per Action: Comes to India (and available globally), 3 months after it started in US. Allows the advertiser to pay only for completed actions that one defines (lead, a sale, pageview etc.,). Limited to the content network as of now. If it moves into Search, I know of a few SEO /Search marketing companies whose Business Models will come under serious threat because of this.
- Share of Voice reporting: A little different from the conventional SOVs. Tells the advertiser, the percentage of times the ads were actually shown in relation to the total number of chances the ads could have been shown. What's more find out the percentage SOV lost due to your Ad Rank and Budget constraints.
- Reach-Frequency reporting: Available in Site Targeting campaigns, tells how many users saw an ad and how frequently they viewed it over a period of time.
- Placement Performance report: Tells you where your ad featured in the Content Network - increased transparency into their performance according to Google!
Notice the new search box above the blog archive in this page? It allows you to not just search posts on this site but also articles I have linked to and all the link lists on this site. Go ahead, try it. The results are shown at the top of the page (and not in a new search result page) so that you can continue reading the post you want to.
To add the element into your blog, go to Blogger in draft and choose the element from the layout. There is also a poll element you can add to the site. I wish they had that poll element included in the create post pages, so that I can have a small poll running below each of my post asking the readers to rate my posts (on a 5 point scale) with a nice small graph display.
Its built using the AJAX Search API (main page), and is powered by a Linked Custom Search Engine (CSE).
Another WIP, experiment with CSE when I have time!
I think I should start a separate Google blog and also read their privacy policy more closely! Well, big brother is watching you more than you think or would want it to.
You log in and use the Google search, it tells you the number of times you clicked on the same link and the last time you clicked on it! Do what you want - logout, close session its still there, well the Web History is obviously not for fun or discovery!
Have you ever noticed the 'Note this' button on the Google search results? I don't know when the integration into search happened, but I just notice it.
I did hear about Google Notebook long back but dismissed it off as an attempt at adapting another Windows app for the Web. Now that I have played with it and understood it a little better, I think its a nice little app.
Google Notebook (and the link in the search results) allows you to clip parts (text,images, links, whatever) of a webpage or search result and take notes while searching or browsing. You can then organize your research, add personal notes and share it with others.
There is a probable hidden agenda for Google here! Pages being noted are in all likely hood most meaningful and also related to each other for that query or note. I am sure the engineers at Google have a nice little hack tracking what pages are being noted together. At a later stage they can easily integrate it into their search results. Now this is making others organize the worlds information! :)
I don't know if Google Coop took off, but this seems to be a much better way of achieving the same objectives...
- show results that reflect your knowledge and interests and
- help improve Google web search for specific subjects by noting/labeling the best sites
- add custom search results to Google search for users who trust you
HBS working knowledge has an insightful interview with Professor Mark Bradshaw who discusses his findings from his research 'Playing Favorites: Financing Options Sway Analysts' Thinking'.
What I like about Google is its quest to be a little better every day(even though its a market leader and believe me all market leaders are complacent). The small little things you notice from time to time on their products in bold or red or with a New! superscript are fun to test and play with.
Better still is their labs showcasing products that aren't quite ready for prime time.
A few days back, noticing the spike in news articles on iPhone (thanks to all their PR), I had an idea of writing a small hack in Python to download all news on iPhone that I can then sort and graphically plot (this hack is still WIP and I will eventually do it once I get enough time on hand). The idea came as Google trends reports the events a little dated.
Here is Google experimental, that has solved my problem to some extent.
Go Play!
Edit: Chanced upon this article on iPhone lust with a few interesting statistics.
As soon as Terry Semel (timeline) quit as CEO of Yahoo!, the financial world is abuzz with what's wrong with Yahoo. Where were they when the tech world was screaming on how Yahoo is blowing it?
There is still a huge void when it comes to the financial world interpreting all things tech...
The entire day yesterday was spent in thinking on how to make a good price announcer communication in line with equity of the brand/product I handle!
Reviewing some of the communication done in India on Low Cost Outlay packs, I chanced upon this ad of Coca Cola which I think, is a gem of an ad when it comes to communicating the price and staying within the brand foot print.
The great thing about this ad is that it is Insight driven, Unique and gives the Value proposition in the form of a great story! What's more, while telling the price story, this ad fits in nicely with the entire Aamir Khan series of Coke ads driving the single, totally own able, 'thanda matlab' idea!
It’s a disgraceful feeling coming back from airports in India. The airports are pathetic when it comes to infrastructure - ticketing facilities, security clearance, baggage clearance, seating space, food, toilets - the list is endless. That story some other time.
This post is about an experience I had recently and is about the transportation facilities to and from the airports in India.
The story starts in Chennai, the city legendary for its defunct auto meters (an interesting take by Vatsa on Chennai autogaars)! Its 19:10 hrs, I am at Mylapore about 11 kms away from the airport and I have a 20:05 hrs flight to catch. Fortunately or unfortunately I have already checked in for the flight and the hunt for a means to reach the airport starts.
Me: Auto
Auto 1 – Driver stops next to me and asks, “Enga ponum saar”? This is Trick no.1. The auto drivers understand English and Hindi perfectly. You speak in a language other than Tamil, they know you are not from that part of the country and the game starts.
Me: Airport. Evalalo?
Auto 1 – Driver scratching his stubble, “Domestic aa International aa?” The Trick no.2, a question to check if you know the city. In Chennai, the entrances of domestic and international are almost next to each other. You flinch answering this question, you are dead!
Me: Domestic.
The driver not wasting a second, “200 kudungo saar”.
I start walking, looking for another rickshaw. The driver realizes that though I am probably not from the town, I seem to know my bearings.
So he follows me slowly in his vehicle and asks, “Evalo taringa saar”? Here comes the Trick no. 3, to check if you know the city, the distances and the rates. You quote the correct rate, chances are he will not haggle and agree straight away - if you are lucky that is! You quote any random number, he knows you don't know and you know he knows you don't know and the game is up!
I am caught, as I have never traveled from that point to the airport ever. So decide that it is best to avoid the question and start looking for another auto.
Me: Auto
Auto 2 Driver slows down.
Me: Airport. Evalalo?
Auto 2 Driver asks, “Domestic aa International aa”? See all drivers have mastered the trick!
Me: Domestic.
Auto 2 Driver knows that I have already rejected one auto, thinks for a while and says, “170”
Me having wasted 5 precious minutes look at another rickshaw and stop the third one. Me: Auto. AUTO!!
Auto 3 Driver immediately slows down, “Enga ponum?”
Me: Airport. Evalalo?
Auto 3 Driver having already seen me rejecting 2 guys, “150 kudungo”
Instinct told me not to trust this guy. But in the interest of catching the flight, I agree. As soon as I got in, I tell him to take me as fast as he could to the airport. My goof and his Trick no 4, knowing your weakness or soft spot. Now, avenues have opened up for him to squeeze that extra money from you tapping this. And as expected the guy takes a route different from the one I took to reach that place from the airport. And yes, it was longer. All the while he was telling me some story on how he was trying to help me reach the airport faster.
Its 20:40hrs now, I don't know where I am! Finally, he takes a turn and I notice a board indicating the way to the airport. 20:47 hrs, I can see the airport wall and suddenly the driver turns into a Petrol pump saying his is almost out of petrol. What? I never noticed him check his damn fuel gauge. The Trick 5 comes here; take an advance higher than the trip fare. Usually, fill in fuel worth (Rs.30-50) more than the trip amount and ask you to pay it. Never fall into this trap! If you do, kiss that extra amount good bye.
By this time, I had given hope of catching my flight. I jump out of the rickshaw, hand him Rs.100/- cursing him for his treachery and run onto the road to catch another one.
Me: Auto
Auto no 4 Driver slows down.
Me: Airport.
Auto no 4 driver, “Domestic aa International aa”? Gawd! I can see the damn airport!
I jump into the auto tell him to race to Domestic terminal. The driver realizes I am in a hurry. While on the way, I ask him how much and he asks for Rs.50, which I have no choice but to accept even though it was ridiculous as I could see the damn entrance of the airport. I reach the airport entrance at 20:52 and as I enter, I can hear my name being called for the final boarding. Anyway, as there was no crowd, I check in real fast and at 20:57 hrs I step into the flight 3 minutes before the departure.
The 90 minute long flight brought my anger down a bit as I was thinking that, at least in Mumbai, I wouldn't have to haggle on the fare etc., What I didn’t know was that more was to come.
I get down at the Mumbai airport at 22:30 hrs. Reach the taxi stand in front, wait my turn for a taxi for about 10 minutes and finally get into the taxi.
Taxi Driver, “Kahaan”?
Me: Mahim.
Taxi Driver immediately says, “Boss, barah ghante wait karna padta hai turn ke liye”? The damn Trick no 6, lament and get sympathy. The hint that he is going to charge more (probably double) than the meter. And all this, right under the nose of the traffic constable who made me sit in the taxi in the first place. If this is the case, I wonder why in the world they timepass for 12 hrs at the airport!
Me: Chalna hai ki nahi, meter pe?
Taxi Driver: Nahi.
I had no other option but to get out and decide that enough was enough and start walking to the exit of the airport. As I walk, an auto driver, who has obviously dropped some one and was going out, slows down and looks at me expectantly.
Me: Bandra?
He immediately gestures me to get in which I do. A little later, I reach my destination and as I get down check the Meter. Its Rs.28 for the trip. The guy notices this and immediately says, “Pachaas do”.
Me: Kya, meter kitna hua?
Auto driver, “airport se aaye hain, wahan police ko das-bees rupay dena padta hai”.
That was it, I had seen enough and this time I decide to take his case.
Me: Chalo Police ke paas, mere aagey paise dena usko.
He stares at me and then says, “do jitna dena hai”. I give him 30 and decide not to take any more cabs/autos for the day.
The Google Reader blog, has an interesting piece on the use of next bookmarkelet to scroll thru your feeds. Playing with it, led me to to the end of the internet. As usual already noted by a few.
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