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Facebook vs. Google: What does the future of online advertising and search look like?

June 29, 2009

And the battle rages. An interesting article published last week by Wired magazine explains the growing fight between Google and Facebook over the future of online brand advertising and information dissemination.

Google has been the go-to site for information over the last several years. But now, there's social media and the more personalized, network-oriented Facebook. And the question – where will people turn to get their information? To Google's algorithms or their network of colleagues, peers, and family?

What do you think? Will Facebook's extensive database of user information attract a larger advertising audience and the bigger brand campaigns that Google has been hoping for? Or will Google continue to rake in the money while Facebook struggles to turn a profit?

Comments (0) . PERMALINK See also Social media

A promotion that makes you want to sing

June 23, 2009

"Doe, a deer, a female deer..." yes, you know how it goes. But what does it have to do with marketing?

Well, recently, a Belgian television program needed to drum up some interest in upcoming auditions for a production of "The Sound of Music." So, they created this entertaining stunt in the Central Station of Antwerp. Four minutes. Two-hundred dancers. And only two rehearsals. Check out the finished product.

Comments (0) . PERMALINK See also Strategy Viral

Certified greenwashing

June 5, 2009

Next time you purchase an "all natural," "organic," or "green" item, you may want to think twice about what you're really buying. According to research by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, 98-percent of products that advertise their "greenness" are bending the truth.

And a growing trend is to imply third-party endorsements – whether they're real or not. Adopting fake labels is now the newest sin of greenwashing. And cosmetics, cleaning products, toys, and baby products are the top offenders in this area.

For an eye-opening look at greenwashing – and a sampling of the legitimate eco-labels available – download Greenwashing Report 2009.

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I want to watch something good.

June 3, 2009

How many times have we aimlessly flipped through channels or wandered the aisles of Blockbuster with one simple request – I just want to watch something good. Based on the numerous differences in behavior and taste that vary from individual to individual, this request is not always simple to fulfill.

Netflix generates Movies You'll Love. TiVo allows you to record and watch your favorite shows. But what if we had viewing options delivered instantaneously based on our individual preferences and present feelings?

The Personal Content Channel, delivered by beeTV, provides the next level of personalized viewing and new opportunities for paid promotion and personalized ads. Along with delivering this new television viewing option, the beeSTBox, beeMobile, and beeWeb also gather marketing data. Instead of a frustrating night of nothing good on, viewers can sit back and relax until the content they likes finds them.

What does this mean for marketers?

More than delivering the adorable white Cesar puppy that TLC's Say Yes to the Dress viewers can't help but want to watch, marketers can interest and even delight viewers with more certainty than ever before.

Personalized content viewing can go wherever viewers go, reaching happier viewers who are likely to have received the answer to their request – "I just want to watch something good."

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