October, 2008 archive

Obama TV ad - ‘Wassup’

Eight years ago Budweiser changed its image from the Traditional heritage theme of the Budweiser Horses to the zany Wassup series of commercials.

They managed to make cutting edge adverts that embodied the craze of ‘Water Cooler moments’… when co-workers would meet at the water cooler or at a coffee break and say ‘Wassup’.

Well, times have changed and now Barack Obama’s marketing team have brought them back to life with this brilliant and poignant send up.

It’s the first and only great political broadcast I’ve seen; with a bit of humour it points out what has happened under the Bush administration: the credit crunch, Iraq, global warming, the housing crises, unemployment and healthcare.

Without saying anything, it says everything. Right on the money for mainstream America.

VW Touareg advert

At last a decent ad! Can’t remember the last time I saw one.

A single minded proposition, based on a benefit, executed with warmth, humour and style - Bill Bernbach would be proud.

The highest ground clearance in its class. Touareg

“Our job is to bring the dead facts to life”
Bill Bernbach

10 Signs That Your SEO Company Is a Quack

By Jill Whalen

There are so many SEO/SEM firms cropping up that talk a good game but don’t deliver results. This is in part because there’s so much information that is freely available about search engine optimization.

On the surface, SEO sounds easy - and it really is - once you’ve had a number of sites to experiment with. What’s even easier than SEO, however, is discussing SEO as if you know what you’re actually doing (when you don’t)!

Here are 10 signs to watch out for that may very well indicate that your potential SEO is a quack. Please note that one of these individually may not be bad, but if you notice more than 2 or 3 of these when speaking with any SEO company, you may just want to head for the hills!

1. Your SEO company talks about Meta tags and Google PageRank (PR) as if they are the magic bullet to high rankings.

For the most part, there’s no reason to even bring up the keyword Meta tag nor toolbar PR in a discussion about what needs to be done to get better search engine exposure for your site.

Both of them are issues that quack SEO companies will talk about because they actually believe they are the key to SEO success. They are not.

I’ve discussed in previous articles the Meta keyword tag’s lack of importance, so I won’t go into that again here. In regards to PageRank, increasing the little green bar graph’s number should never be the ultimate goal of a professional SEO campaign. A good campaign will automatically increase your real and true PageRank (as measured by Google) without your specifically setting out to increasing it on your own.

Since PR doesn’t bring you traffic and sales (nor rankings), increasing it should not ever be the main goal of your campaign. This fact is of course lost on SEO quacks.

2. Your SEO company’s site (or those of their clients) has the same Title tags on every page. Sounds crazy I know, but I’ve seen this more than once!

I once got a client who had previously used a very major SEO company that most people have heard of. They had been with this firm for a whole year, and yet the Title tags on every page of their site were all the same (the name of the company). Since Title tags are probably the most important (and easiest) thing to change on a site, any SEO company that can’t do this one basic thing for their own site or their clients’ is most definitely a quack!

3. Your SEO company talks only about optimizing for the “long tail.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with long-tail keyword phrases, as they can bring a lot of traffic when all is said and done. But you don’t need an SEO company if those are the only phrases you’re interested in - you can do it yourself just by writing articles.

Your SEO company should not be afraid to optimize for the actual keyword phrases that most people would use at the engines to find your site. Yeah, it’s gonna take time and money to go after the most competitive keyphrases, but there’s usually a happy medium.

Most sites have plenty of phrases that are somewhere between long tail and highly competitive. Those are the ones you definitely want to target.

4. Your SEO company tells you it’s ALL about links (or ALL about content).

SEO isn’t ALL about anything. It’s about lots of things all added together to make the perfect combination for your site.

A linking campaign alone will never be as effective if you neglect your on-page content, and vice versa. Be sure that your SEO company looks at your site from all angles and makes sure all your bases are covered. Otherwise, they’re probably a quack!

5. Your SEO company tells you that you need a linking campaign even though you already have tons of links and are a well-established popular site in your niche.

Not every site needs every SEO service out there. Just because your SEO company likes to sell link-building doesn’t mean you actually need it for your site. Why should you pay for something you don’t need?

The same thing goes for sites that already have great, well-written, optimized content. If you’ve got that, perhaps you just need a linking campaign to help boost your traffic and sales. Don’t allow an SEO quack to fix what isn’t actually broken.

6. Your SEO company is almost surely 99% quackish if they tell you that they can rank your brand-new site in Google for keywords that will bring you traffic within a few months.

In fact, if they claim they can do it in less than 9 months, they’re either inexperienced or lying.

Google has an aging delay that is most certainly related to the age of the site, as well as a certain trust factor. It is only the very rare and wonderful site that can get around this delay. But if your site is like most, you’re going to have to look to the long term for your Google results, regardless of what the quacks might try to convince you of.

7. Your SEO company never mentions that they may very well need to redo your site architecture so that your important pages are prominently featured within your site navigation.

In this case it’s very possible you’re dealing with an inexperienced, quack SEO. This is usually something that is not a quick fix, so most quacks are reluctant to discuss it with you (if they even know it’s important). But if your site architecture is not search-engine-ready, everything else you do will have much less impact.

8. Your SEO company can’t provide you with any quality references.

This one pretty much goes without saying, but do be sure to get references, and do be sure to actually call them. Yeah, a reference may very well turn out to be their cousin, but you should be able to get some feel for the company you’re choosing if you can at least talk to some references.

9. Your SEO company tells you that you have to have a DMOZ listing or your site will never be able to get high rankings.

Sure, a DMOZ listing is great, but it’s a link just like any other. Submit and forget about it. If you don’t get in, it’s no big deal — there are plenty of other links you can get instead.

10. Your SEO company’s site mentions that they’ll get you high rankings in AltaVista, Fast, Inktomi, Lycos, Excite, HotBot and the like.

If it does, you are 100% positively dealing with a quack! ‘Nuff said!

……….
Jill Whalen of High Rankings® is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and host of the free weekly High Rankings® Advisor search engine marketing newsletter. Jill’s handbook, “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines” teaches business owners how and where to place relevant keyword phrases on their Web sites so that they make sense to users and gain high rankings in the major search engines.

Jill specializes in search engine optimization, SEO consultations, site analysis reports, SEM seminars and is the co-founder of Search Engine Marketing New England (SEMNE) a local networking organization.
……….

Further reading about Northstar’s SEO services »

Business coaching web design

Newton Bagshawe are business coaches based in Yorkshire, specializing in time optimisation for the directors / owners of SMEs.

The project involved a complete redesign of their existing site, new corporate ID and a fully automated email capture system for visitors who download their Time Optimisation document.

Web design services:

• Web design: including database capture and secure document download
• Copywriting for the site and 4500 word document
• Basic onsite SEO
• Logo design
• Stationery design and artwork
• Website traffic statistics (Stat Counter and Google Analytics)

“The secret of a ‘Perfect Business’ all boils down to how its leader uses TIME.

In a large, diverse and unequal world, it is ironic that TIME is the one and only resource that is equally available to everyone.

The difference between a successful and fulfilled business leader, and one who is not, is how they spend their TIME.”

Visit the Newton Bagshawe business coaching website »

I’m a PC - Microsoft’s TV advertising campaign

Microsoft has gone defensive.

In response to Apple’s humorous, low budget and pertinent ‘Get a Mac’ campaign, Microsoft has splashed out on a $300 million fight back.

But hold on a second, according to W3 Schools Apple’s market share is a meagre 5.2%, compared to Microsoft’s virtual monopoly at 90.7%. Why would they even acknowledge the competition?

For Apple, it makes sound marketing sense to point out your strengths and the competition’s weaknesses, remember the Avis car rental campaign ‘We’re number 2, we try harder.’

So, not only is it a mistake even acknowledge that there is competition but then their entire campaign only makes sense if you know Apple’s ads.

It kicks off with a guy who looks like the Apple’s PC character, saying: ‘Hello I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype.’

The idea of the campaign seems to be that PC users are not dull, some of them are celebrities, work at NASA … and wear jeans! Even Bill Gates makes an appearance, picking up his groceries from the corner store with the line ‘I’m a PC and I wear glasses.’

Choosing a company name

When I came up with the name ‘Northstar’ my thinking was based on the pole star; a guiding light. It also gave me an icon to work with for the logo.

Little did I know that there are thousands of companies called northstar, which has caused confusion. I’ve received phone calls, emails and parcels for print companies, drainage businesses and couriers that bear the same name.

Just out of interest I did a Google search for ‘northstar’ and was pleased to see I came up on the first page from over 9 million results.

Wikipedia came up number one with this definition of the word:

“Northstar is a Canadian mutant with superhuman powers, which he uses for the betterment of society. Originally a member of Alpha Flight, he is later portrayed as a member of the X-Men.”

“Northstar is noted as one of the first openly gay superheroes in American comic books.”

Max Headroom: on politicians

I used to wake up to the Today Programme on Radio 4. It’s important to be informed, isn’t it?

John Humphies is great, but even he can rarely pin down a slippery politician. What a way to start the day.

Then there would be the daily papers, the evening news … the trouble is that most stories are primarily generated to create heat, rather than shed light. The result is that you’re constantly annoyed by how the world is running and the people running it.

So now I listen to music: my days are more peaceful, I feel happier. Not being informed about the latest blunders, catastophes and scandals in no way inhibits my life. It’s taken a while, but now I am in complete agreement with Max Headroom, the 1988 cult TV character:

“You can always tell when politicians are lying: their lips move.”

The rise and rise of blogging

Blogs are everywhere, from Bill in Ohio writing posts about his pet alligator to Bill Gates writing about who knows what.

Keeping track of all this information is Technorati, who currently have 112.8 million blogs on their books and more than 250 million pieces of tagged social media.

The word blog came about from the abbreviation of the term “web log.” Originally these ‘blogs’ were published by individuals as public diaries - searchable by date and topic.

The power of blogs is the interaction that enables the writer and reader to open a conversation. The interaction, ability to post comments on articles, and the personal approach of blogs has been seized by companies for its PR potential.

As marketing slowly shifts from mass TV broadcasting and expensive press advertising to the Web - blogs hold a unique position for interacting with potential clients / customers.

According to Technorati, every day 175,000 new blogs are created and over 1.6 million articles are posted (that’s over 18 updates a second).

Northstar’s Blog Technorati profile

Margaret Thatcher - marketing guru

Companies spend millions of pounds on advertising and PR to foster a warm relationship with their customers.

Occasionally there is an image crisis to manage, traces of poison found in your mineral water product, or the model who endorses your perfume has other substances up her nose.

I wonder how these marketeers would face the challenge of selling a nuclear power station to the critical British public.

In the 80’s Mrs Thatcher faced a real crisis. Windscale was regularly making the headlines with endless stories about radioactive leaks, sloppy safety procedures and cancer scares in the local community.

What does she do? Take a tour of the plant to show that it’s safe? Close it down? Call Saatchi & Saatchi to dream up some TV commercial that will allay everyone’s fears?

No.

Windscale has a bad name.

Change the name to Sellafield.

All it cost to clear up this company’s bad reputation was some new stationery and a little bit of lateral thinking. Whatever you think about Mrs. Thatcher, or nuclear power, you can’t deny this was genius.

Hate Something, Change Something

I would have hated to get the brief for this TV commercial: “Honda’s diesel engines are quieter and cleaner than traditional ones.”

What the creative team came up with was sheer brilliance, something both captivating and enchanting. You got the message - and also had the tune stuck in you head for days.

I also thought it was totally original, unlike anything on the TV at the time … until I saw their source. It’s got to be inspired by Boundin’ the 2003 Oscar-nominated short film, which was written, directed, narrated and featured the musical composition and performance of veteran PIXAR animator Bud Luckey.

Although Ad agencies keep banging on about originality, and can produce great work, it is almost always ‘inspired’ by some other true genius.

The Hate Something jingle is sung by renowned author and radio personality Garrison Keillor over a charming, clever animation of dirty diesel engines getting transformed into clean ones.

The engine was created by Kenichi Nagahiro, the man who hates diesels. When he was asked “could you ever love a diesel?” he answered: “Only if it was the best.”

Hate Something, Change Something lyrics:

Here’s a little song for anyone who’s ever hated… in the key of grrr

Can hate be good? Can hate be great? Can hate be good? Can hate be great? Can hate be something we dont hate?

[Whistling]

We’d like to know why it is so that certain diesels must be slow and thwack and thrum and pong and hum can clatter clat

[Whistling]

[Chorus] Hate something Change something Hate something change something Make something better …

Oh isn’t it just bliss when a diesel goes just like this?

[Thrum]

Sing it like you hate it… Hate something, Change something, Hate something, Change something, Make something better …”

Watch more ground breaking TV ads »

Watch Pixar’s Boundin’ » video

Visit the Honda Hate Something » website

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