Hey, twenty-somethings...do you "cwing"?

Speaking directly to yours truly, Ogilvy is setting to launch a campaign to a market segment called "Cwingers," twenty-somethings often watching TV on the couch with a laptop open across their laps while taking calls or texting simultaneously. Their segment name is coined after those of us who swing from one medium right back to another, and the campaign will begin with a vignette during "Gossip Girl" then send viewers online to watch the middle or the end of the story.

What I like about the campaign is not only the smart targeting, but also their use of reality TV in the ads--which have I even mentioned, is a new line of Dove body wash--which are stories of four real women simililar to those we follow in Gossip Girl. Personally, they had me at "real-life Manhattan drama on my laptop," since that's how I normally catch up with guilty pleasures like The Hills and Gossip Girl anyway.

This is just another example of how smart targeting can get noticed when we truly think about who we as marketers are speaking to.

SEO and ethics

To briefly expand on this week's conversation about SEO:

From firsthand experience, I've come across a few prospective clients who have heard what seem to be SEO horror stories, but no one can fully explain why they don't want to invest in it for their company's site. To me, suggesting SEO to a client is a sound way to increase the likelihood the site will be found, without paying a monthly fee for AdWords. That said, they will likely need "take the site back to the shop" for an update periodically, but there are certainly no ethical gray lines in optimizing a site to be easily found by all search engines, not just Google. 

Check this out! I even found an SEO programmer whose brand niche is that he's 'the ethical one.' So funny. http://www.seo-writer.com/freelance/seo-ethics.html

 

As for our discussion on AdWords and the clarity of the results as actual ads, I do think it's as clear as the "Special Advertising Sections" in magazines, designed to be characteristic of the magazine's typical layouts. Those even fool me sometimes. It's up to us as consumers--and web users--to be on our toes and to know what we're clicking. 

"Crippling" Design

In my previous post, I mentioned the importance of thoughtful copy and the amazing results than can happen when designers and copywriters work together to create their product. Another thought on design--also taken from A List Apart--is the crucial task of testing web designs, and the devastating effects that can occur in not doing so.

Nick Usborne provides a list of elements to test before publishing your site:

"Here are just a few of the design elements we have found can make a significant difference to the performance of a web page:

• The position and color of the primary call to action
• Position on the page of testimonials, if used
• Whether linked elements are in text or as images
• The amount of “white space” on a page, giving the content space to “breathe”
• The position and prominence of the main heading
• The number of columns used on the page
• The number of visual elements competing for attention
• The age, sex and appearance of someone in a photo"

Utilizing this list would certainly make a difference in ensuring you're developing site that speaks directly to your audience in the way your company intends. Research shows that within 1/20th of a second, web users make a judgement about a company according to the website image. The time it takes to test the design elements would certainly be worth the 1/20th of a second snap-judgement of a prospective customer in order to draw them in.

Words matter most. Well, almost.

During discussions about what we can find on  A List Apart, I was most drawn to articles emphasizing the importance of smart web copy. (Here's one: Calling All Designers, Learn to Write!"). During my time working at a small advertising agency, I was constantly researching the way that ad agencies presented themselves online. My particular agency, I thought, placed a huge amount of emphasis on graphic presentation and not enough on copy, both for digital and print purposes. From looking through sites on the best agencies, even those with extremely sophisticated web designs, the use of smart copy is evident. And often times, the shorter, more thought-provoking text was most effective. 

A few samples of well written text that is woven seamlessly into the site design:

www.immarketinggroup.com/#

The light, understated design elements are really reflected well in the way the text is presented as well as the actual message. In a few brief sentences, the company states its mission and when they can best help a prospective client. 

www.shineadvertising.com

This is funny. The very best of web writing, in my opinion, as it's hard to do. Shine Advertising (birthplace of the infamous GoDaddy spots), always has clever copy about how their why their no-frills site is either under construction (as in this case) or why they're too busy to put up a plethora of work samples. All stated in a way brilliantly in line with the irreverent brand they've build for themselves. 

www.riggsadvertising.com/talent.html

If you can't see the image, go ahead and click on the site. There's no way, using this page as an example, that a designer and copywriter couldn't work together to build a page with little text that still delivers the message the agency wants to convey about its team. Riggs is very, very good. 

Tricks are for kids!

(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

A report released March 14 from Consumers International apparently also made note of the way the websites of junk food companies (Kellogg's included) are using their websites to target children. The study on advertising to children and the food industry is called "New Media, Same Old Tricks," and it blames the parents as much as the companies for allowing their children to be exposed to the messages. Because so many sites (check out http://www.frootloops.com/healthymessage/index.html for their "healthy message") reinforce the behaviors for parents with assuring, "healthy" messages, children are actually exposed to the brands exponentially longer than they are during a 30-sec. TV spot. Despite recent discussions about the link of childhood obesity to TV and the food advertised to kids, those advertisers have chosen a new route, which is actually better for them, and worse for kids. 

Justin Macmullan, of Consumers International, emphasizes the reason that utilizing online advertising, instead of TV, to reach kids is a big step in the wrong direction: "In many countries kids already spend more time on the Internet than watching TV. That's why it's vital we have mandatory regulations that restrict junk food companies from using new media to perform the same old marketing tricks on our children." 

Kids in America

I've examined the use of online games by companies like Kellogg's to market their cereals (most of them sugary and unhealthy) to kids using these interactive tools. I found this article from CNET that looks further into how companies are subconsciously working their way into childrens' minds: virtual worlds, geared towards kids 7 to 14. 

The article, "Are kids ready for ads in virtual worlds?" raises that very questions, an important one, many of us want to raise our kids to decipher what is advertising. Olsen points out the ease of building brand affinity with children in these environments because they consider their online activity as "playing," naturally associating included brands or products with good feelings. For example, avatars users create on whyville.net can test drive Toyota Scions.

With respect to the sugary cereal commercials almost exclusively targeting children, these types of engaging methods could certainly build stronger brand relationships as kids grow up. If I'm a 9-year-old driving my Toyota Scion via my Whyville avatar, maybe when I'm 15 that will be the first car that enters my mind as I get my permit. 

Yahoo tries something new. Again.

In an earlier post, I mentioned sites Hulu and Joost, which offer web users a legal way to download/stream their favorite shows or movies (including network programs). This article by Brian Stetler of the NY Times draws attention to Yahoo's attempt to generate original video programming via its site...and what went wrong the first time. He cites the company's extremely expensive attempts to draw television viewers to the website with original talk shows and sitcoms and calls them all "disasters." 

Sibyl Goldman, Yahoo's head of entertainment, cites the problem being one that has been discussed throughout the entire IMC program, targeting the right audience and identifying a need. Their latest attempt will create the programming in reverse: target their largest audience and build programs around what they want to see. 

This could have been groundbreaking had it not been done already by Sprint and Suave, with the "In The Motherhood" series. These original short "webisodes" are genuinely funny and were written from real moms sending in hilarious moments from their everyday lives. Check out the first one, filmed in 2007:

Interestingly enough, Yahoo's first series is called "From Spotlight to Nightlight" and targets moms, with topics such as zany celebrity baby names. Nowhere in the article did Stetzer reference the success of "In the Motherhood" as an original web series or its success crossing over to a series for ABC this spring. This is a great example of web-originated video crossing over into mainstream media.