How to Extend the Power of Search Branding

New York, June 24, 2010 — (iMedia) — Vibrant Media teams with search experts from comScore to explore innovative ways to extend keyword advertising into relevant web content.

Traditionally, keyword and hyperlink marketing strategies have focused on direct response -- hitting customers at the bottom of the search funnel, when they're most apt to make a purchase. But what about brand building? Can these keyword strategies be employed to make an emotional branded connection with consumers?

During its Spotlight presentation at the iMedia Brand Summit in Miami, Fla., leading contextual in-text solutions provider Vibrant Media teamed with search experts from comScore to explore innovative ways to extend keyword advertising into relevant web content.

Eli Goodman, search evangelist at comScore, pointed out that the internet is disproportionately used for direct response marketing -- which means a lot of brands are missing out on opportunities. He illustrated the impact that search engine marketing has on online branding by presenting two examples: one brand that is getting it wrong, and one that is getting it right.

GE, he noted, can do better. The company has invested heavily in its "ecoimagination" environmental branding. The problem? No one searches for "ecoimagination."

"People don't care about GE, but they do care about the environment," Goodman said. Unfortunately, GE isn't focusing on the keywords that people use to search when they want information on the environment, an emotional topic often near and dear to their hearts. Thus, GE isn't a part of that conversation in consumers' minds.

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"So how do we get beyond just your brand name and get to that emotional connection?" he asked. He presented Kraft as a stellar example of a brand that gets it. Kraft has invested heavily in terms well outside the realm of its own brand. And as a result, Goodman said, search and keywords are a major source of traffic for Kraft. In fact, 37 percent of its search clicks were paid and heavily generic in April 2010, he noted.

But it's about more than just refining your keywords. It's about employing a solution that bridges the gap between search and display. Enter Vibrant Media, an in-text solutions provider that analyzes billions of hyperlinks per month and partners with more than 4,500 premium partners. "Hyperlinks present the opportunity to extend your search campaign and incorporate a lot of what you're doing with your display campaigns," said Jay Seideman, RVP national sales, East, at Vibrant Media. He went on to present some recent examples of brands that have leveraged in-text advertising solutions to extend the reach of their keyword targeted campaigns -- and to make that true emotional branding connection.

Bing
The company's goal was to get people to try out its new search engine. Thus, when people scrolled over the company's selected terms on publisher sites, the ads that popped up referenced real-time search results on Bing. "Our overall mantra is 'value, not distraction,'" Seideman said. Real-time search results provided that value in Bing's case.

IBM
IBM wanted to capitalize on the tremendous number of articles that are written about the U.S. Open during the course of the event. So, during the Open, the company implemented an in-text campaign in which keywords popped up real-time stats and scores on players and matches. Again, value -- not distraction.

Toyota
It's no secret that the brand has faced some negative press over the past year. But instead of pretending like the negative press wasn't happening, it engaged it with an in-text campaign. When people moused over keywords in otherwise anti-Toyota content, they gained access to emotional videos featuring Toyota employees, as well as factual whitepapers. It worked so well that BP currently plans to take a page from Toyota's playbook, Seideman said.

Every company's needs are unique. So how can your brand extend its keyword advertising into relevant web content?

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Lori Luechtefeld is editor of iMedia Connection.

About Vibrant
Vibrant is a world leader in contextual technology aligning billions of words across the internet with relevant video, information, tools, and advertising. With over 4,500 premium publishers, reaching more than 164 million unique users per month (comScore, April 2010), Vibrant gives top brand marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites. Vibrant works with top brand advertisers such as Microsoft, Unilever, Warner Bros and AT&T. The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in London, New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf. Vibrant's rapid growth has been recognized by the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 lists. For more information, visit: www.vibrantmedia.com or www.hyperlinkevolved.com or www.facebook.com/vibrantmedia or http://twitter.com/vibrantmedia.