iMediaConnection: As Big as Paid Search Monetizing Word of Mouth "Books like ‘The Influentials,’ ‘The Tipping Point,’ and ‘ClueTrain Manifesto’ have become fashionable titles in strategic marketing circles. Numerous companies, Bolt included, are planting their flag in this emerging industry.

BuzzAgent runs elaborate, customized programs that engage panels of consumers to provide feedback to marketers about their products and train consumers on how to build buzz, giving panelists -- according to BuzzAgent's Web site -- “access to rewards that make honey seem dull.”

Bits and Bytes for July 23, 2004: "Advertisers taking advantage of Bolt's debut include Electronic Arts, Nike, Sony Pictures, Verizon Wireless, Kellogg's, MSN, Old Navy, Warner Brothers, L'Oreal, American Legacy Foundation, Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. "

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Study Benchmarks Internet 'Reach,' Suggests Targeting 'Light' Users Via Discrete Sites, Not Big Portals
: MediaDailyNews 09-28-04: By Ross Fadner "One of the study's key findings is that heavy Internet users (those who go online more than 19 days per month), who represent 38.8 percent of viewers, account for a disproportionate 73 percent of all page views. This finding is significant because it suggests that the way to build reach online isn't necessarily via the Internet's biggest players--online's so-called Big 3: America Online, MSN, and Yahoo!--but via smaller sites like CNN.com that tend to have a higher compositions of so-called 'light' users who are less likely to be found on big Internet portals. In fact, nearly half (49.3 percent) of CNN.com's unique user base comes from light users.
'Light Internet users are the key to reach-build,' acknowledges Erwin Ephron, a consultant and leading authority on media planning practices. He said the research suggests that planners should alter their online strategies to 'selective dispersion' across many Web sites.
The white paper also suggests that advertisers and Web publishers would both benefit if publishers sold their inventory based on audience usage patterns. "

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Superbrands and Cool BrandLeaders:
"Superbrands is the independent arbiter on branding. The organisation promotes the discipline of branding and pays tribute to exceptional brands...

In the UK the organisation also runs the Business Superbrands and Cool BrandLeaders programmes."

Define Superbrandsas having: “established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which (consciously or sub-consciously) customers want and recognise."

Define Cool BrandLeaders: as: ‘brands that have become extremely desirable among many style leaders and influencers. They have a magic about them signifying that users have an exceptional sense of taste and style'.


The Cool BrandLeaders retail publication will be launched at a star-studded event in London on 28 September 2004 and will be available to purchase the following day on the High Street.

The book will be sold through major retailers including: Blackwell's, Books etc and Waterstones and is also available from a dedicated credit card line on: 01825 723 398

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On branding and search ads Google Groups : SEM2Does anyone have any stats or anecdotal evidence that shows how much a brand influences CTR? That is, if I'm running a split test on Google for
two companies and everything is the same except for the headline and URL (let's say one says, "Target Jobs at target.com/careers" and the other
says, "Hanapin Jobs at hanapin.com/careers"), how much of a CTR difference can I expect?

I don't have any "stats" but I can tell you from working in direct marketing for 20 years that the brand has more to do with end conversion
than initial CTR. Initial CTR is about copy and offer, closing the deal and end conversion is affected by brand, because brand is about "trust".
There is no "personal cost" to click on something. There is a personal cost to buy / commit to something, and that is where brand kicks in.

Given equal creatives, the click is a "question", e.g. "I wonder if I can trust these people?" The answer to that question is affected by landing
page copy, and if you have a "brand", the copy is more trustworthy - that is, if the brand is a trusted one.

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eyefortravel.com - Travel Email Marketing Update : "This year over 20% of all revenues in hospitality will be generated from the Internet (15% in 2003). Another 20% of hotel bookings will be influenced by the Internet, but done offline (call center, walk-ins). In 2004, for the first time Internet hotel bookings will surpass GDS hotel bookings. Two years from now the Internet will contribute over 27% of all hotel bookings (PhoCusWright). 53% of all Internet bookings in hospitality will be direct to consumer (i.e. via hotel-owned websites). "

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Independent Hoteliers Require their Own Distinct Understanding of the Online Marketing Process / Miriam Allenson / September 2004 Ilan Blum analyses Isis Design Group's work with independents:

This area - independent, small businesses - is one of TT's biggest strengths...

Blum says that Isis Design Group is one of the few online marketing companies working in the hospitality industry that provides services in all three areas. Isis does not charge for the marketing efforts they expend for their hotel clients. Nor do they charge for website design, or for the construction and management of the booking engine. Instead Isis charges commission, a fraction of that charged by the intermediaries on each reservation made at the website. “We have a vested interest in our hotel clients being successful, because when they are, we are. We only make money when they do.” Isis currently manages the online booking process for well over 3,000 hotel rooms in New York City...

while most booking engines are passive, Blum has devised methodologies for booking engines he builds for clients that are pro-active. “Many companies are in the business of providing booking engines. But that’s it. They do nothing to help the hotelier figure out how to insure that once the prospective guest is on the site that they will actually make a reservation.”

Blum continues. “The Isis booking engine allows a reservations manager to look at the website and know how many people are on site, even what page they’re on at any given time. We can tell when a customer exits the site, and again which page they’re on. If they exit without making a reservation, maybe there’s something about that page that needs changing. We are always considering the effect of the website’s components.”

Blum sites an example. “Suppose a hotel is running a Columbus Day special. If the manager sees that 200 people have looked at it and only five have booked, then that means there’s something wrong with the package. The red flag being raised, the manager has time to look at the rate to see if it’s too high and then has the ability to change it.”

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WOOT! IT'S A NEW ONLINE MARKETING CONCEPT:

Woot sells just one consumer-electronics product every day. The items go on sale at midnight Central time and when they're gone,
they're gone. But in just one month of existence, Woot has already become a check-in-daily site for more than 25,000 Web surfers, especially tech bloggers and bargain seekers. Woot's single item Sept. 3 was a hurricane package consisting of a wet vac and industrial flashlight.

"Matt Rutledge, founder of both Synapse and Woot, said the idea began over beers with Synapse employees discussing the availability of the Woot.com address. The word Woot comes from gaming slang -- the original use meant 'Wow! Loot' in Dungeons and Dragons play -- and is now a common exclamation of excitement in Net culture. "

Google search shows "Results 1 - 100 of about 252,000 for woot.

The site design is very clean and simple taking user staright to the action...

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iMedia Connection: ING's Tom Lynch: "Tom Lynch is VP of brand strategy and advertising for ING Americas" He reckons that "detailed tracking of consumer-driven interactivity is the future."

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Branding, The first rule....iMedia Connection: Who's Protecting Your Name?:

Following a discussion re search and branding Kevin Ryan concludes " You can buy your own brand terms, and preclude others from using these terms -- but despite what you might find in a search result, making a better movie, building a better machine, or offering a better service is still the best way to keep people coming back for more."

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Fits perfectly with Jakob's ..put the user in the drivers seat....

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory:

"SURE, SEARCH MARKETING IS 'HOT,' but does it also provide clues about the future of marketing? The dramatic success of search for the consumer, marketer, and publisher demands closer examination. Is search simply a useful Yellow Page system, or are there evolutionary marketing trends going on here?

Intrusive advertising gives way to 'advertising utility:' Consumers have become more resistant to advertising due to its overwhelming ubiquity in everyday life, and the fact that they are far more informed. A recent Yankelovich Partners study1 found that 65 percent of consumers now feel 'constantly bombarded' by advertising. To make matters worse, 59 percent feel that ads have very little relevance to them.

Nearly 70 percent even indicated they would be interested in products or services that would help them avoid marketing pitches.

Yet according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project (PIP) and comScore Networks 'data memo' released last week, Internet users are largely satisfied with the returns from their frequent searches and 87 percent of search engine users find the information they're seeking 'most of the time'. Search marketing works for consumers because it is not merely messaging, but is also providing a useful service."

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How to piss users off....Travelinsider

My next task was to book a hotel in Vienna for one night (before our Danube River Christmas Markets cruise). After doing some price comparisons, it seemed the lowest cost for one night at the Bristol was $256 on Travelocity. I made a booking, but only after I'd given my credit card number did I notice the rate had changed - there was $78 in taxes and fees now added to the initially quoted rate (a 30% increase). Why didn't they show these taxes and fees on the initial page quoting rates?

I called Travelocity immediately to cancel, and was told 'if you cancel within 365 days of making your booking, a one night cancellation fee will apply'. My booking was only for one night, so this meant there'd be no refund at all after their display tricked me into booking a room that I thought would cost $256 and which actually cost $334! I asked why, if they knew how much the taxes and fees would be, they didn't show them at the start of the booking process, a question to which they had no credible answer.

I asked to speak to someone who could waive this fee due to me making an honest mistake based on their misleading display which I had immediately called them to correct. I was told no-one in the company would be able to waive the cancellation fee. I asked if the CEO would be able to waive the fee, and was told he couldn't do that, either.

I then spoke to a supervisor, Joanne, who said she had never had anyone call up to complain about the unexpected addition of taxes to a hotel rate before. Plainly I wasn't going to get any straight talk from her, either.

Eventually I got through to a third level supervisor, Holly, who agreed to lift the charges immediately. Holly was pleasant, sensible and helpful, but isn't that what the two people below her in the hierarchy are paid to be?

Instead, they lie to me and try and bully me into accepting an unfair situation. While I'd hate to see Holly lose her job, does no-one at Travelocity understand that if they employ and empower sensible front level customer service staff, they won't need to also employ two more levels of supervisors above them, and can quickly and positively resolve issues that otherwise cost a lot of time and generate a lot of ill-will?

All of which confirms a recent British study that challenged consumers to use the internet to self-package a holiday. The study showed that travel agents can source a cheaper holiday in less time.
The study pitted consumers against independent travel agents to find a holiday for a family of four, or a break for two adults from various UK airports. Agents took an average of 15 minutes to source a package holiday versus an average of 111 minutes it took consumers searching the internet. The agents found a better deal in over half of the trials.

The study showed that consumers found the internet to be confusing, repetitive and a 'bottomless pit'.

And talking about travel packages, beware of so-called 'package discounts'. I read this item with cynicism :

A travel industry analyst for Forrester Research says online travel agents can make margins above 20% on vacation packages, compared with 15% on individual hotel room bookings, and consumers can save about 15% by booking a package over individual reservations.

One of the seminal events that caused me to start my own travel wholesale company back in 1990 was looking through the brochure of a (soon-to-be competing) wholesaler and noting their three night Sydney package was more expensive than buying the individual items separately (transfers, accommodation, and day touring) - and also for sale in their brochure. I asked the company's president how it was the package was more expensive than the individual components and he said 'That is because of the extra work and extra service that goes into creating the package'.

Of course, many travel packages do give genuine savings, because they provide a good way for suppliers to hide who is discounting what. But simply referring to something as a package does not automatically guarantee its good value. Caveat emptor.

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How to stand out from the rest...
For a Restaurant Guide Unlike All Others, Look No Further Than DiRoNA: "For a Restaurant Guide Unlike All Others, Look No Further Than DiRoNA
Independent inspectors, a fine-dining guarantee and more "

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No better than Traveline or PTI

Sacramento Region Launches Comprehensive 511 Travel Information Telephone Number and Web Site: "9/1/2004 10:00:00 AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sep 1, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Just in time for the Labor Day travel rush, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) in partnership with Caltrans today announced activation of a new '511' comprehensive travel information telephone number and Web site for the Sacramento region and beyond.

The new number replaces and consolidates the proliferation of travel information numbers into one easy-to-use and remember telephone number for all of the region's transportation agencies. Now, travelers have at their fingertips information about traffic conditions, public transportation, paratransit for elderly and disabled travelers, carpooling and vanpooling, telecommuting, Amtrak and bicycling throughout the Sacramento region.
Travelers can dial the toll-free service from wireless and landline phones in the region, which includes El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, as well as Butte, Glenn and Nevada counties. The service provides links to already established 511 systems in the San Francisco Bay Area and Oregon. It is available in both English and Spanish.

"As the region's transportation planning agency, we are pleased to provide this quick and easy service for the region's travelers -- whether by train, plane, bus, automobile or bicycle," said SACOG Board Chair Christopher Cabaldon. "This service represents a giant leap forward in traveler information for the Sacramento region," Cabaldon said.

Information for 511 comes from the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, SACOG, more than 20 transit operators, Amtrak, the Sacramento International Airport and the National Weather Service, among others. Funding for 511 is provided through local transportation resources.

The Web address for 511 is "www.sacregion511.org." The site will help users plan their daily commute, access transit providers, find a carpool partner, and learn about bicycling as a commute option. With the traffic information on the site, users can check commute conditions and know the road before they go, and call 511 for traffic updates once they've hit the road.

Caltrans already has posted 17 road signs bearing the distinctive 511- swirl logo that will notify travelers of the availability of the new service. Street banners are also planned for downtown Sacramento and other cities in the region.

"Caltrans is excited about being a part of this one-stop source for travel, traffic, transit and commuter information," said Caltrans Designated Interim Director Randell H. Isakawa.

The Sacramento regional service is part of a federally sponsored effort to provide travelers nationwide with one information number, like the 911 emergency number and 411 information number. The nation's first 511 service was launched in June 2001 in northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati, Ohio metro area.

Thus far only a handful of states have implemented 511 service; in the west Utah, Oregon, Nevada, the Bay Area and now Sacramento have 511. While Sacramento is the second area in California to implement 511, the service could eventually expand to include several counties north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada.

There is no TDD number for 511, but disabled persons can access the information through the 711 disabled information telephone number.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments is the Sacramento region's transportation planning and funding agency. For further information, please contact Phyllis Miller, Communication Manager, at (916) 340-6224. "

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AllWords.com - Dictionary, Guide, Community and More:

"travolator
travelator

noun
1. A moving pavement that transports people or goods horizontally or at a slight incline, designed for use between busy concourses, eg at airports, railway stations, shopping malls, etc. Also called moving walkway.

Etymology: 1950s: modelled on escalator and originally a proprietary name."

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E-Commerce News: Commentary: What's Hush-Hush Marketing?: "Less than 3 percent of Web sites have truly identifiable and easily accessible components telling about the principals behind the business. Call it shyness, fear or just corporate discretion; this identification seems to be a thing of the past.
Customers want to know with whom they are dealing. Unless it is offshore gambling, or some contraband-porno operation, for all other legit businesses, it only makes sense to put your smiley faces and your personal images and your personal information forward.
We must sympathize with the brave entrepreneurs who stick out their necks and savings in pursuit of new business ideas and use e-commerce and rely on Web sites as the cheapest medium to push about their capabilities. Nothing wrong here.
The smart ones are using this to great success. If you follow the rules of any commerce, offering quick and easy access to the management of the company is rule number-one of any marketing and advertising strategy. However, when this process turns into a mysterious, hush-hush, secretive branding maneuver, it becomes necessary to raise these questions or suggest calling the Homeland...

Creating Trust

The days of a 15-minute fame and fortune are now old and boring stories. Today, instant punditry and guru-ism are only a Web site away. Fake data, fake certifications, fabricated experiences and dishonest bragging are all too common on Web sites. For this reason alone, it is absolutely necessary for the true and honest players on e-commerce to post their name identity, as well as photos, pictures of products and any other proof of who they are and what they say is all real.
There are several things that will create trust and confidence among your potential customers.

Ownership. The Web sites offer wonderful opportunities to roll out your business propositions and clearly identify your role as owners of the idea and gatekeepers of the technologies. There is no reason not to show your face and let the customer see you and feel comfortable doing business with you.

Profile. Explain in some detail how and why you came to the idea that you are presenting, and why you and your team are really capable of servicing such a business proposal.

Leadership. Remember, customers are looking for expertise, and you better prove it, loud and clear. Either you have it or you don't. There is no need to fabricate an expensive Web site, and try to convince people that behind the great graphics lies this mythical secret talent.

Accessibility. Unless you are homeless, living out of a cardboard box, there is no need not to clearly identify your location of operation, size, staff, people and any other pertinent information. If you do not have anything to hide, and you expect that the customer will come to you with open arms, then it is expected that you do the same.

If you know who you are, then show it, otherwise consider contacting your local Homeland in a hush-hush. "

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One to encourage "partners" to enter....Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: " A San Francisco laundromat may be the one of the world's most unusual places to surf the Internet but a sleek club on Moscow's Red Square is definitely the sleekest, according to a Yahoo! survey of the globe's best cybercafes."

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