The Beast Behind the Engine

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Some of us use Google, while others of us just google. Either way, Google has dabbed a bit into everyone’s life, to say the least.

Don’t know what the capital of Poland is? Google it.
Don’t know how to make the yummy Brazilian dish Frango com Catupiry? Google it.
Don’t know who sings those lyrics you love? Google it.

But what do you really know about Google?  Beyond providing information on virtually anything you ask for, most know it as another option for an email address. Or that you can pay to advertise on it.  But there’s another way of looking at this all-knowing, all-powerful search engine. In just that way, one could say, it strives to be all-knowing, all-powerful — to have a hand in everything you do.

The video below will share just a piece of what else Google is about.

What do you think? We’d love to hear what you have to say regarding… well, anything! Google, Marketing, Media, whatever!

No Comments | Tags: advertising, Google, online advertising, social media
Posted by Paulina in Opinion

Got Milk-y Marketing?

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Since 1993, no other ad slogan has gained as much attention and been abused more than “got milk?”.  According to GotMilk.com, the campaign has over 90% awareness in the United States!

The idea came from the ad agency Goodby Silverstein who was hired by the California Milk Processor Board.  It all started with this first “got milk?” commercial produced by Michael Bay, which was later nominated as one of the best 10 commercials of all time in a USA Today Poll:

From this ad spot and many more that followed, a successful brand was born.  The problem is: Most people fail to recognize that a brand is not just a logo, slogan, or name.  Album defines it as the “perceptions and expectations of your customers and prospects.”  In other words, it’s what people feel, expect, and hope when they think of you.  “You” is an appropriate word, because a brand is human.  It carries a personality just like the people around us.

But this isn’t a lecture about branding, this is a post to show the lack of creativity and blatant misunderstanding of what made “got milk” so popular.  Hint, hint, it wasn’t this magic formula:

Got [replace "milk" with your amazing product] ?

Enjoy these brilliant examples.  Since they asked, I answered:

Ah man, I don’t have any on me today.  When I do, I’ll let you know.

Actually, I do.  I’ve found that the ground is the best place to find it.

You mean, do I have a raft?  Or have I gone rafting before?  Oh, I’m sorry, you’d like to see my new rafting.  Yeah, I’ve got a rafting right here.

Hey, congrats!  I’m happy you “got video phone.” You’re really movin’ up in life.

Not anymore.  At least not for more abusive “got milk” examples.

1 Comment | Tags: advertising, media, slogans
Posted by Nathan in Opinion

Is Twitter living up to the hype?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

A surprising poll result from LinkedIn and Harris Interactive shows a lack of faith in Twitter from the business community. Only 8% of respondents consider Twitter to be “very effective”, while half considered it only to be “somewhat effective.”

Some would say that either businesses don’t fully understand the potential and are using the tool incorrectly or that Twitter is over-hyped and will eventually fizzle out.

I think Twitter will change it’s business model and use all the attention and data to introduce a more relevant tool for businesses. They have a ton of brand recognition and a large user base, now they just have to figure out how to make a tool that businesses can’t live without.

No Comments | Tags: brand value, social media, Twitter
Posted by Nathan in Online Marketing, Opinion

What comes first – The Web Design or SEO?

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

You could consider this question like the chicken & the egg controversy… and you’ll get a different answer from different internet experts. 

I am often amazed at some of the websites that Google ranks #1. The design is elementary and the content is irrelevant or somewhat spammy.  These websites all have a very high bounce rate.  Why? …because their website looks terrible.  Nobody will take a tacky, unprofessional site seriously – even if it is ranked #1 in Google.

Obviously, a website is nothing unless it is aesthetically pleasing.    BUT you can’t get too carried away with the appearance. 

A few years ago, people got carried away with the design aspect and created entire websites in flash.  Search engines don’t read flash.  So any content that was on a flash site was irrelevant.  The people who paid for an outrageously expensive, beautiful site were scratching their heads wondering why there was no traffic. This pretty website is nothing but a façade and the company will end up paying a fortune in Pay-Per-Click because their website is no where to be seen in the organic search.

So what is the answer? What comes first?  The truth is, they go hand in hand.  A website needs to be constructed with SEO tactics in mind.  The extra time and money spent to do initial SEO set-up (keyword research, META tag writing and keyword-rich content) will go a long way.

This is why I believe so strongly in working with companies that cover the whole online spectrum – from branding to web design to SEO to social media.  I don’t want to work for companies that only do SEO or that only do web design.  Both need to be mended together from the beginning, otherwise the website will only be partially successful.  COMPLETE online marketing campaigns, will make the most successful websites on the internet.

1 Comment | Tags: branding, Google, pay per click, SEO, web design
Posted by Jessica in Branding & Design, Online Marketing, Opinion

Wise Words

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

No Comments | Posted by Jessica in Branding & Design, Opinion

Kids These Days – Teenagers and Media

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I don’t think kids these days realize how spoiled they really are.  They want what they want when they want it.  I myself am pretty spoiled when it comes to media.  I want instant updates for news, to fast forward commercials, record my TV shows, and my Internet to move super fast.
I like this report done by a FIFTEEN year old intern, Matthew Roboson about how teens view media.
Here are a few passages:

• “No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarized on the internet or on TV.
• “Teenagers never use real directories (hard copy catalogues such as yellow pages). This is because real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services that teenagers do not require”.
• “Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.”
• “Every teenager has some access to the internet, be it at school or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work. Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered and visiting >4 times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not use Twitter.”

How have you become spoiled with your media?

View the full report here.

No Comments | Tags: media, social media, Twitter
Posted by Jessica in Opinion

Bionic Learning Network

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

An amazing look at some innovative technology from a company called Festo. My favorite are definitely the bionic penguins. The AquaPenguin is completely hydrodynamic and can navigate by them selves with the help of sonar, pretty cool.

I also like the iFab 3-D printer. It can print on anything from plastics to chocolate.

2 Comments | Posted by Nick in News, Opinion

a tribute to peanut butter

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Yesterday I had a peanut butter sandwich and I enjoyed immensely. I hadn’t had one in awhile because I went through a phase where I kept eating those Smucker’s Uncrustables and got pretty burnt out from the PB&J. Anyway, as I was enjoying my snack I thought about my sister in law who has a nut allergy and how she has never experienced the glorious world of nut products. Now that sucks. Could you imagine a life with no pecan pie, no peanut butter cookies, no Ms. May’s organic cashew clusters, or get this… trail mix without the almonds or peanuts??? My deepest sympathy goes out to any one with a nut allergy.  

If you do know someone with a nut allergy here is a cool product that I stumbled across:

http://www.coolmompicks.com/2006/06/food_allergies_now_in_fashion.php

1 Comment | Posted by Aileen in Opinion

It’s Shred Time!

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

I saw this short animation and thought it was pretty rad. Real simple drawings, but a cool idea. Done by Jay Howell.

1 Comment | Posted by Nick in Opinion

BENDING THE VOID

Monday, January 21st, 2008

I thought I would share a few videos about one of my favorite artist/designers, Geoff McFetridge. The first one is a profile on him and his thoughts on graphic design done by Coudal Partners. The second one is a look at an exhibit he had last year called “Bend The Void” which was held at the Mu Gallery in the Netherlands. Besides making some rad graphics, he has a pretty cool mustache also. Enjoy.

1 Comment | Posted by Nick in Opinion

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