Search makes the top table

Revolution

01/09/2007

Digital Marketing Manual

Brand owners are learning the benefits of integrating search with above-the-line ad activity, reports Victoria Furness.

Advertising straplines such as "Because I'm worth it" and "Make the most of now" are synonymous with L'Oreal and Vodafone, respectively. Yet type these phrases into Google and you'll be lucky to find any mention of the brands behind the messages.

By contrast, search for Norwich Union's strapline, 'Quote me happy', and the insurer tops the results in the paid-for and natural search listings. Large advertisers such as Honda and Asda have also caught on to the importance of incorporating important keywords from their above-the-line ad campaigns in their search marketing strategy.

Other brands such as Pontiac, however, are learning the hard way from their mistakes. The US car firm took the unconventional approach of featuring a picture of the Google homepage in its TV ad last year and encouraged people to 'Google Pontiac'. But, as Edward Cowell, chief technical officer at search-engine marketing agency Neutralize, says, it backfired.

"The above-the-line ad team had a great idea, but evidently didn't know enough about search to know what could be done and how the online campaign should have been changed to back this up," he explains. "The outcome was that Mazda stole their thunder by being cleverer in its own use of search and quicker in buying paid ads." Mazda bid on the keyword 'Pontiac', so its ads topped the paid-search listings when users did, indeed, 'Google Pontiac', as instructed by the TV ad.

A survey by Carat Expert last year found that more than eight out of 10 consumers use a search engine after having partially remembered a web site address mentioned in an ad. Starcom Digital reports seeing an increase of nearly one-third in search volumes following press ads. Meanwhile, media agency, Zed has achieved positive results for client Toyota by integrating its TV ads for the hybrid model with search marketing. "We identified a strong correlation between the TV strike rate (measures reach and frequency) and search volumes, which resulted in a significant increase in test-drives and brochure requests," explains Georgie Harmel, head of search at Zed.

The main benefit of integrating search and above-the-line is that it sends out a consistent brand message to consumers through every channel, and it is often cost-effective since advertisers can alter their media spend according to results.

Given the benefits of integrating search with offline campaigns, why aren't more advertisers doing it? One issue is that search is often dealt with in a silo by the digital media or specialist search agency and simply isn't on the radar of the above-the-line agencies that come up with the straplines for TV ads.

Chain relationship

Specialist search agency Spannerworks has about 120 clients, but says only a quarter to a third bring all their agencies together when developing campaigns. "We'd like to be there for the first course, but, invariably, we're just invited in for coffee and mints," says director Dean Harvey.

Ashley Bolser, managing director of Asley Bolser Agency, thinks part of the problem is the number of people involved in managing a typical, integrated campaign. "It strikes me that the chain relationship is too long, so the search people are not communicating with the creative team in above-the-line ad agencies," he says. "I should also be pushing clients to do this more, but it is difficult because our marketing contact often doesn't have responsibility for web advertising. This is why joined-up marketing can be very hard to do in practice."

Yet, some large firms have managed it, particularly financial and travel advertisers that are used to creating direct response campaigns. "Big clients that spend lots of money building brands are thinking about it and some, such as (Norwich Union owner) Aviva, are already doing something about it," says Rob Horler, managing director of digital agency Diffiniti. He believes the results offer more than enough incentive: "We proved that changing the way Dell planned search to optimise high-ranking positions when doing heavyweight above-the-line advertising, generated £185,000 in additional sales-driven conversions."

With advertisers achieving results like this, it's small wonder that many integrated agencies and search engines specialists are looking to push the trend forward, particularly as many believe IPTV will reinforce the importance of search even more.

A search engine, Theworldwideworld.com, has been launched precisely to capitalise on the integration of on-and offline media. Its managing director Mark Tardivel, explains his vision behind "the first online search engine driven by offline advertising". "We had the idea seven months ago when we were looking at the option of putting barcodes on offline ads," he says.

Barcodes have been replaced by AdLinks; underlined words on offline ads, which users type into Theworldwideweb.com search engine to link to the brand advertiser. Later, when the second phase of the search engine goes live, they will be taken to the specific product being advertised offline. "Our business model combines eBay with Google, " explains Tardivel.

Many integrated approaches taken by advertisers have been less explicit. A popular tactic is to bid for search keywords relating to the campaign's key messages and copy. For example, in a recent, integrated push for Zurich Financial Services, Zed bid for the insurer's ad strapline. "Because change happens", in its search keywords. It may sound odd, but it's also important to bid on the client's web address as a lot of users type this into the search engine rather than the address bar.

It's not just TV ads that can be integrated. Neutralize's Cowell points to Lynx, which has been touring the country and summer festivals with its 'Manwash' events to promote Lynx Boost shower gel. "If you search for 'Manwash' in a search engine, you'll see it has been buying up keywords," says Cowell. "And it's refreshing to notice that it bought the search key phrases while doing the ad, rather than six months later."

Advertisers have also been using search engine optimization (SEO) in integrated campaigns to improve natural search rankings. The challenge is to plan far enough in advance to ensure that, once the campaign breaks, the advertiser is still top of the natural listings. This is why many search specialists advocate a year-round natural search strategy.

Other new concepts, such as local and mobile search, can be integrated with above-the-line. "If you're running an above-the-line campaign for a car, it will stimulate people to search online, which a client can cover with AdWords listings. But, people want to touch the car, which is where local search comes in, as they could use this to find a local dealer," explains Damien Burns, head of agency relations in Europe for Google.

Meanwhile, Yahoo is pushing its Yahoo Answers Q&A service which, it claims, taps into the online social networking trend. "It presents interesting opportunities for search advertising," says Stephen Taylor, regional VP of search at Yahoo Europe.

Offline agencies

Most brands rely on external agencies to create integrated campaigns, but opinion is divided over whether a search specialist or full-service agency offers the best service. "If you've only got a hammer, everything looks like a nail," says Diffiniti's Horler in support of integrated media-planning and buying agencies. "Search agencies don't earn a penny unless it's spent on search." But Spannerworks' Harvey counters: "We live and breathe search, so we are on to of the latest developments. When every person is focused on search, you can stay ahead of the game. In bigger agencies SEO is often overlooked."

Whether an advertiser opts for a specialist or larger media agency, there are some dos and don'ts that apply to every brand. First, it's important to be consistent across all media whether promoting a special offer or using key messages. Advertisers need to ensure the online user experience is positive by checking products are in stock and the web address clicks through to the site. "Sometimes site addresses don't work because the DNS servers have been set up incorrectly," says Neutralize's Cowell. "Orange had this problem for ages, but it has fixed it. If the search part of the ad campaign doesn't work , the user's journey and experience is really messed up."

Search marketing has a long way to go before it strongly influences above-the-line ads, but it has had some impact in providing insight into user preferences though the use of keywords. As a result, notes Matt Simpson, head of digital at Starcom Digital, "there is an increasing trend towards testing consumer reaction online to shape offline creative messages".

When search engines start providing more information on users' search preferences, it should boost the trend further. Yahoo's Taylor promises its new search-marketing platform, which launched in July 2007, will offer more sophisticated campaign tracking, "so advertisers can see the journey the consumer has gone through". Meanwhile, MSN's new adCenter search-marketing tool, which launched in the UK last year, lets advertisers target searchers by demographic and track results by demographic at keyword level.

No doubt, over time, advertisers will improve the integration of above-the-line and search campaigns, in much the same way as TV and direct marketing have linked. But, while online budgets continue to lag behind TV, this may still be some way off.