American Express Open is launching the Business Gold Rewards card that will help small businesses earn double rewards points on marketing spending. The card offers double points for all spending on online marketing. The announcement comes on the heels of American Express allowing cardmembers to use points for Facebook advertising. This marks the first time any company has connected a rewards program to advertising spend -- it also represents the only rewards program designed to generate demand for a business (most are cost-cutters), according to the company. What small businesses need is demand for their products and services, said Doug Tabish, vice president of Charge Cards at American Express Open. "They are pushing us to help them think more holistically about how to generate demand," says Tabish in a release. "We're responding by offering maximized benefits with Business Gold Rewards, allowing entrepreneurs to reinvest the points they earn to better their existing businesses." With the Business Gold Card, business owners will now receive three times the points on airfare as well as double the points on advertising, gas and shipping. For one New York City-based small business FertilityAuthority.com, an online source for male and female fertility information, online marketing has become a core function and vehicle for increasing its growing customer base. "As an online company, we have spent a significant amount of time and effort in advertising across social channels, including Facebook and Google. This allows us to attract new users and connect with existing ones," says Paul Bucalo, director of customer acquisitions for FertilityAuthority. "We spend thousands of dollars a month to actively market our company. The new rewards platform will enable us to convert this spend into valuable rewards points that we can use to reinvest in other business functions at no cost." According to the American Express OPEN Small Business Search Marketing Survey, a survey of small business owners utilizing some type of online marketing for their business, three-quarters of entrepreneurs planned to add some form of online marketing in 2011. Roughly three in ten will add a company Web site (36%) or social media strategy (29%). About one-in-five plan to add search engine optimization strategies (23%), mass email campaigns (22%) or search advertising campaigns (16%).
It seems that youth-oriented cause-marketing campaigns are hitting their mark. Millennials (a/k/a Gen Y) are more aware than Americans of other generations of campaigns such as Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty (33% versus 21%) or Gap RED (26% versus 9%), according to a new study of this cohort from the Barkley marketing agency, Service Management Group and The Boston Consulting Group. Millennials also report greater exposure to such campaigns through social media (40% versus 22%) and online news (28% versus 22%). Media-wise, Millennials watch significantly less TV than do other generations. Just 26% report watching 20-plus hours per week (versus 49% of the rest of the population). Furthermore, they are much more likely to consume TV on their laptops (42% versus 18% of other generations), and somewhat more likely to watch it via DVR (40% versus 36%) or on-demand (26% versus 18%). The survey of more than 5,000 respondents probed Millennials' attitudes about cause marketing, grocery and apparel shopping, restaurants and travel, as well as digital and social media habits. Other findings:
On Tuesday night, team jerseys emblazoned with the Boost Mobile logo will debut on players in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the organizations' multiyear partnership, making Boost the first league-wide marquee partner of the WNBA. The brand will appear on the jerseys of 10 teams, including Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Tulsa Shock, and Washington Mystics. Boost Mobile will also have a strong presence in these 10 teams' arenas, where its brand will be displayed on courts and pole pads. "Boost Mobile sees this partnership as an effective way to market our products and services to a diverse audience," Dave Mellin, communications manager of sponsorships for the brand, tells Marketing Daily. "The WNBA's fan base is young, urban, and multicultural, which describes Boost's core customers. WNBA fans are also passionate and loyal to the brand, and we're looking to leverage both characteristics through this partnership." As the official wireless services partner of the league, Boost Mobile will be featured through WNBA national and local marketing activities throughout the life of the partnership. In addition, special programming highlighting the "WNBA's Top 15 Moments presented by Boost Mobile" will be included as part of the league's 15th season celebration. All 15 moments will be featured during an NBA TV special presentation that will air on Aug. 26. They also will be highlighted during select WNBA national game broadcasts and will be featured on a special microsite on WNBA.com. Fans will be able to rank their favorite moments from Aug. 23 to Sept. 13. The top five greatest moments will be counted down during the WNBA Finals broadcast beginning Oct. 2. The brand will have an integrated presence throughout courtside signage and in-game advertisements during national game telecasts, along with a variety of in-game promotions, prominent exposure on WNBA.com and NBA.com, and inclusion in WNBA social media channels. Boost Mobile will also be the presenting partner of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals. Beginning next year, Boost Mobile will be the title partner of WNBA All-Star, the presenting partner of WNBA Tip-Off and WNBA All-Star balloting, an associate partner at the WNBA Draft, and will be prominently featured within the WNBA-specific area of NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas each year.
Orbitz is launching a Facebook promotion that features 50 dream vacations worth up to $15,000. The vacations include brands such as Marriott, Caribbean Cruise and Radisson. The game, called "Orbitz 50 Faves," runs through Sept. 18. To play, people can "Like" Orbitz on Facebook and then begin bidding. To start, each new player will receive five bids. Every bid placed represents one entry to win. Players can check out the trips, look at what their friends have bid on, and then place bids on their favorite trips. Each day, players get an additional bid for every friend playing the game. The more friends the player has, the more bids they get and the greater their chances of winning. To further encourage players to invite more friends to play, six trips have been "locked" and can only be "unlocked" if at least 10 of a player's Facebook friends are playing the game. "Players who work their social networks the best can end up with enough bids to place on all 50 trips, or increase their odds of winning a particular trip by placing more and more bids on it," said Chris Orton, president of Orbitz.com, in a release. Some trips offer spending cash, plus activities and amenities such as a guided rain forest tour, relaxing spa treatments and even a personal butler service. Some of the 50 trips include a trip to Hawaii where the winner can stay at their choice of Marriott resorts. Another trip is a Caribbean Carnival Cruise for two. A trip to Rome includes a five-night stay at Radisson Blues. Orbitz is also promoting its Orbitz Games feature, now available on the Orbitz Facebook page. Orbitz Games originally launched in 2001 and expanded to a standalone Web site, http://www.orbitzgames.com, in 2005.
If you use the Web regularly to search for products to purchase, you probably have witnessed search retargeting in action and not given it a second thought. For example, have you searched for a new electronic device online only to see an ad for it prominently displayed elsewhere? Or, while searching for clothing to purchase, have you seen an ad on another site that displays a certain item in your size and favorite style? That's search retargeting in action -- an extra layer of relevancy to ads served to consumers after they conduct a search that can increase the likelihood of a purchase action. So now that you know what it is and the main reason why it is important, what other advantages does search retargeting offer your business? Here are a several reasons why search retargeting can assist your business' online advertising needs: 1) Reach more searchers: Often, as a result of placement on the search engine results page (SERP), many consumers whose searches included your paid-search keywords for your business may not see your ad -- much less visit your site. Search retargeting is a great complement to what you are already doing in search by enabling you to extend your reach to searchers beyond the SERP and reach more consumers who have demonstrated interest or purchase intent for your brand. 2) Continue the conversation: With paid-search ads, your only opportunity to advertise to consumers who are searching is when they are on the SERP. Search retargeting enables you to reach consumers for several days following their search query, providing an opportunity for you to reinforce your businesses' marketing message and open the door to storyboarding. 3) Clarify positioning against competitors: By purchasing competitors' branded keywords, you can market directly to consumers who are searching for information about competitors' products and services. 4) Deliver brand impact: Be selective when it comes to whose search retargeting offerings you plan to take advantage of to promote your business. Choose a partner who offers you a creative canvas where you can utilize a wide variety of display and video ad formats so that you can deliver marketing messages with more branding impact to prospects who have declared interest or intent for your brand. 5) Drive greater ROI from your display spend: comScore research shows that consumers exposed to display ads are 38% more likely to conduct an advertiser-related branded keyword search over a four-week period. Search retargeting enables you to drive more results from this increased search activity. This same research indicates that consumers exposed to both search marketing and display campaigns are more likely to make a purchase than by just search or display alone. 6) Control your brand message: In the wake of any news coverage about your brand, search retargeting provides a creative, targeted way to respond at the right time to the right audience of searchers. 7) Manage more budget: If you are already managing your businesses' search engine marketing (SEM) budget, search retargeting is the perfect opportunity to leverage your expertise in keywords and keyword bidding into display advertising. Although these are reasons for adopting search retargeting for a Web-based campaign, it's important to remember that search retargeting campaigns can also incorporate mobile search data. When captured in a holistic profile, they can allow for retargeting across devices -- both PC and mobile. Consumer search behavior is not straightforward and search retargeting used as part of a broader media campaign will better enable your business to connect with your target audience and benefit from how they search online and on the go.