Archive for August/2009

Blog followers may remember I had already posted my opinions about Google Wave. Let’s read now what Borislav Kiprin thinks:

Google Wave – Introduction

When we talk about Internet there is always one company that will be mentioned one way or another in the discussion – Google Inc.

Founded on September 4, 1998 by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page the company’s service was first and foremost targeting the online search segment. By creating a complex algorithm Google ensured user satisfaction pillaring on the following aspects:

·         Simplicity – design that does not make one’s mind busy with something else than getting the stuff that the user is visiting Google Search Engine for

·         Relevance – ranking results according to the number of times the search term appears on a page, number of sources linking to that page, trustworthiness etc.

·         Added Value Service – Email, News, Coding, Online Advertising etc. (a complete list of Google’s Products)

Nowadays, there are few segments on the Internet that Google has not penetrated and offered a service or a tool. It has grown into such a size and influence that people started comparing it to the ones of Microsoft. But there are few things that are differing the company from Bill Gates’ one.

Its Search Engine amounts to 63% worldwide in 2008 market share. But 99% of Google’s revenue comes from advertising and not only from Google’s AdWords and AdSense, but also from its acquisition of DoubleClick(and Ad Serving company). The latter has turned into quite a buzz and antitrust investigation by US Court of Justice fearing a creation of monopolistic effect favoring Google. Some felt that with the acquisition advertisers will be facing higher prices, users invasion of privacy and website owners lesser revenue. However, both the US Court of Justice and the EU Commission saw none of that threatening the market and allowed the acquisition. Whether their opinion is the correct one, we are yet to see.

But let’s talk a bit more about Google’s Added Value Services and Products! And to do that we should see where the company has put its money:

·       Search Engine

·       Telecommunication & Messaging – GoogleVoice, Gmail, Google Talk

·       Software – Google OS, Android (a mobile device OS), Chrome, Picasa, Google Docs and other coding opportunities

·       Innovations – Google Labs

·       Advertising – AdWords, Adsense and DoubleClick

·       Video – YouTube

·       Knowledge Base – Google Books & Scholar

·       Social  - Blogger.com

The list is so extensive that it will be tough on your eyes to lay’em down all and most likely by the time you read this blog entry not so much complete. It seems that Google has some money to spare on achieving goals and is acting very aggressively on the market by purchasing companies with recognized or not so much potential (yet). The big question here, though, is how this will reflect on us as a consumer in the long term. What is the goal in Sergey’s and Larry’s heads?

a.        Software wise – At a certain moment of our digital lives, I believe most of us have been complaining about one or other Microsoft’s product. Fast forwarding a few years, I wonder if we are not going to be put in a position where Google with its products will have the same market share that Windows or Microsoft Office Suit has at the moment and force most of us to use them fearing incompatibility with competitor’s products.

b.       Information wise – Everyone that has a Gmail account does not have privacy on his/her searches on Google.com anymore. Emails are scanned to deliver tailor-made advertising on the left side of your window or on the top where news feeds are. And besides the Google bot delivers the biggest share of the knowledge base – online published information. The issue here is Google owning both sides of the equation. This is an enormous power source and “Do no evil” will simply not cut it out of peoples mind. After all the company is a business entity with shareholders to satisfy and show/deliver on return of investment.

Google Inc has been on a shopping spree in the past few years. Actually, it was not only the search engine company that was doing so, but also its two biggest competitors in the face of Microsoft and Yahoo.

there seems to be a tough competition all across the board and much of it is not related to the core business of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo… All three companies are trying to evolve and not found themselves behind the competition.  But for Google we can recognize four major acquisitions that are proving the company’s determination to stay as the Number 1 search engine and the top online advertising machine:

• YouTube – an online social platform for sharing video content.
• Adscape – an in-game advertising company
• FeedBurner – a customizable web feed management platform
• DoubleClick – an internet ad serving company

This can only make me think that Google is focusing on its Web 3.0 future – the user generated content and customization, where the social effect and personal exhibitionism will be the ruling factors. The only thing missing from that table is a well behaving and progressing social network like Facebook (Microsoft already invested $240 million there securing a 1.6% stake in the company). Of course, Google has Orkut but it failed to hit the jackpot with it and now it is mostly used in South America and particularly Brazil.

Few weeks back, though, two long waited events concerning Google became a reality – the release of Bing and the collaboration pact between Microsoft and Yahoo:

• Bing is a rebranded and a new approach to search offered by Microsoft. It is still on the launch stage and introduction to the user base, but it is gaining fast a market share. However, this is cutting more of the Yahoo searches than of the Google ones.
• Microsoft ‘s and Yahoo’s signed an agreement on combined internet search that will equal to 28%  (Bing + Yahoo searches) of the searches in the US. Almost immediately after that, Google has announced a new beta version of its search engine , improving the indexing speed, accuracy, size and comprehensiveness.

   

   

So I guess, we can say that we are living in exciting times not only as search engine users, but also as digital advertisers, website owners and fans of the internet medium…

Google Wave – The Application

What is Google Wave? – Communication, Collaboration and Sharing tool (pictures, videos, links, thought etc.).

Up till now, the user had an email client, a social network to share his/her thoughts, an instant messenger to talk to friends and peers, a photo bank to share photos… Virtually, there is a tool to satisfy almost every need of the individual to interact and share stuff with others. But with Google Wave and its launch later this year that landscape will be changed forever.

The marvelous thing about Google wave is the open source code that will allow the long tail usage of this medium. Since the online user is getting more and more demanding this customization will assure the acceptance of this new tool.

• Wikis
• Drag-and-Drop sharing
• Applications and Extensions
• Language spell checker in 40 languages

Another great point here is the fact that interaction is held in real time – users can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. And if two or more users are online within the discussion in the same time, they can talk to each other again in real time.

But then the killer here is the fact that Google Wave can be implemented in third party websites – personal and organizational. So this tool will allow real-time follow up and relationship management. One can embed it in his/her website/blog or another CRM system.

From a personal point of view, the Google Wave will allow the user to collect all the online conversations he/she participates in or would like to follow in one place. This is a time saving feature I am sure many will be appreciating.

Now, all is asked from us to be patient enough to wait for this tool to be released later in 2009.

Here is some background reading, should of course you being interested to follow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave

http://mashable.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-guide/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-drips-with-ambition-can-it-fulfill-googles-grand-web-vision/

http://mashable.com/2009/07/21/google-wave-invites/

Google Wave – Application for Marketers

This Google Inc. tool might mean quite a lot to the digital marketer. With it the following are becoming easy to implement:

• eResearch – focus groups and panels
• CRM – data collection, customer satisfaction management, real time Q&A
• Branding & Brand Management – presence, new product awareness
• Event Management & PR

Google wave seems to be a tool that everyone was waiting for without even knowing it, especially SMEs. This application will allow the smaller players in the advertising market to reach potential customers and maintain conversation with current client base relatively effortless in a much more optimized way. They just have to tune to the customer’s wave…

… And something a bit off this posts topic – an interview conducted by TechCrunch’s team with the participation of the Google Wave creators:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55JA6_mm-jE&feature=player_embedded

Link source: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/exclusive-video-interview-with-the-google-wave-founders/

Good job, Bobby! Any further comments, my friends?

Best

Manuel A. Alonso Coto

Hello everyone:

As part of their examinations, our students from the Master in Digital Marketing, will be posting in this blog for a month about certain concepts they have been assigned by the Academic Direction.

All our students are marketing and advertising professionals with experience in the commercial communication arena, so I’m convinced their ideas will be of general interest for all readers. Anyhow, to assure the posts quality I will be reviewing them prior to their release. Besides, the rest of the students will enhance each post with their own ideas… So I hope you all enjoy this new section we have entitled “Master in Digital Marketing in Pills”.

This first post is by Paul Mato to whom I have asked to revisit the concept of Blended Marketing. His ideas follow:

To start talking about the term of Blended Marketing I would like to issue a

definition that could be reduced to: the new marketing mix. What the blended

marketing covers is nothing new, is all about what has always been done in

marketing that is to select the best tools to convey the same idea. This new

approach emphasizes on the need for all the selected tools to work in the same

direction and on the same concept so that each one will support the rest. Thus we

can say that each of the online and offline tools speak the same thing.

This is what was commonly called 360 campaigns that, although many agencies

have sold it, very few have come to achieve. With the advent of digital marketing

appeared many agencies specialized in this field. The problem that occurred was

that companies hire by one side the conventional offline communication and on

another side the online actions so, in many cases, on and offline had little to do

with each other. This has partly a sense in the beginning as the target to be reached

in the online medium in many of the cases had little to do with the offline target

but this is no longer true and has forced brands to create comprehensive

communication plans in which there is a synergy between each of the media used.

In this new era of communication had happened some very radical changes since

the base of the communication (the target) to the actions that have to be done to

get it. The consumer has become a critical mass not only passive consumers of

advertising (the prosumer) but it is very highly active in seeking information and

validation of the messages conveyed by the brands, forcing them to be stronger in

their messages and to “get off the ground” to talk face to face with their customer.

All this joined with the development of multiple tools in the digital environment

has meant that marketing departments have now to work with a much larger

number of tools that were previously required.

In short, this new concept of blended marketing is trying to give all the marketing

managers the view that there is a need for a communication unity in whatever the

media (social networks, online display, outdoor, TV …) is used on each campaign.

Every message thrown to the consumer should be carefully decided to get the

point that every impact they recieve is working on the same concept and idea

regardless from whic is the source.

Best

Manuel A. Alonso Coto

PS. Someone may suggest a recent campaign following this parameters?

Nuevos tiempos, nuevos valores, nuevas formas de llegar al consumidor. También nuevos valores a retomar, aunque ya llevemos oyendo hablar de ellos. Sobre todo si nos dirigimos a un exigente target group joven, con el que no encaja lo tradicional.

Valores entre los que está lo Ecológico, lo Verde, el Environmental Friendly, y que parece haber cobrado momentum entre marcas líderes. De muestra cuatro empresas punteras, de las que podemos encontrar publicidad en esta línea.

Para empezar, COCA-COLA, que con un anuncio bañado en cercanía, se tiñe de verde al dejar claro que sus fábricas de felicidad(embotelladoras de toda la vida) están cerca de ti. Entre otras cosas para contaminar menos y ser más respetuosas con el medio ambiente…

Para seguir, el Sector Automovilístico. Donde tenemos infinidad de ejemplos (Toyota, Renault, Honda, Fiat, etc) entre lo que me quedo con los dos últimos:

- Con HONDA, pues fue la que empezó la moda ecológica en USA, aprovechando la coyuntura de gasolina cara, que despertó la imperiosa necesidad verde en los americanos, y que revalorizó de la noche a la mañana sus coches híbridos.

- Con FIAT, que en su búsqueda de un posicionamiento perdido, ha hecho un guiño a la juventud con un mensaje verde y amistoso, muy bien plasmado en su Fiat 500.

Y para concluir, Canon Inc, que si bien lleva ya mucho años desarrollando productos ecológicos y multitud de acciones en esta dirección, parece haber dado un paso al frente: Comunicando con énfasis su Certificación Ecológica (ISO 14001), y haciendo una megacampaña en USA con su GENERATION GREEN PRODUCTS.

Opniones? Para todos los gustos. Muchos pensaréis que estamos ante algo manido, de eficacia cuestionable; pero muchos estaréis conmigo en que lo Verde tiene su valor y que, bien comunicado y sin competencia en tu sector, puede dar un plus de confianza y valor percibido a tu marca.

THINK DIFFERENT!!!!

Ignacio Gafo