From February to April, roughly 44% of traffic to consumer packaged-goods sites came from search, according to new joint research from comScore, Procter & Gamble, Yahoo and SEMPO. Those same CPG searchers reported spending 20% more in-store, in-category within a month of their search activity. These stats, according to the study consortium, highlight both the brand-building and purchase intent benefits that CPG brands can derive from adding search marketing to their mix. "We're starting to see brand advertiser interest in search translate into integrated display and search media plans," said Matt Wilburn, Yahoo's senior director, CPG. "But there's been a great desire for more information and data around the consumer aspect of search. The majority of search studies have been about click-stream data or CPMs and CPAs--and this was aimed at trying to provide more CPG insights." Nearly 163 million unique consumers visited baby, food, personal care and household product sites during the three-month span of the study--with 71 million of those visits originating via search. Baby and food products drew the most search traffic, with 60% and 47% of visitors arriving via search, respectively. Meanwhile, roughly a quarter of traffic to personal care and household product sites was driven by search. Beyond traffic generation, the research found that search-driven CPG site visitors' motivations went beyond typical direct response needs. For example, while less than a third of CPG searchers were looking specifically for the company Web site, some 73% were researching products, 64% were seeking help with an actual purchase decision, and nearly half were looking for product promotions. Understanding CPG searcher motivations was key to linking brand benefits to search behaviors. According to Randy Peterson, Procter & Gamble's search innovation manager: "Search may be one of the most effective means of reaching qualified consumers when and where they are most receptive to learning about our brands. Ultimately, this drives offline sales. "It's not just consumers searching for brand names," added Wilburn. "That does happen, but this research illustrates that consumers are meeting a broader set of needs through search. They're searching for products that can answer lifestyle questions like 'I have hair loss,' or 'I'm fighting wrinkles'--and life stage questions like 'I'm going away to college' or 'I just bought a home.'" Wilburn added that CPG advertisers aiming to reinforce their brand as "the brand of choice for fulfilling those needs" needed to secure their space on 'The Digital Shelf'--in the same way they spend billions to snag the best possible in-store shelf space. "Online, the consumers aren't walking to the shelf--they're punching in keywords, so the search engine results become a digital shelf," said Wilburn. "They evaluate the brands that show up in a split second and make a choice--and that click or link is analogous to a sale in-store. Search just represents a far cheaper opportunity to win over the consumer."
CBS Mobile has teamed with Medio Systems to add search capabilities and search-enabled advertising opportunities to its CBS Mobile Web sites. The announcement marks the official launch of Medio Mobile Search for Publishers, an ad-supported search solution built and optimized for the mobile experience. With Medio agreeing to give away mobile search to WAP sites if they become part of the Medio Mobile Now ad network, Medio becomes one of the largest aggregated mobile search ad networks in the U.S. By eMarketer estimates, the mobile Internet audience will exceed 750 million users worldwide by 2010. Medio will provide CBS Mobile users with the ability to easily search and navigate content on CBS Sports Mobile, CBS Mobile News and CW Mobile Web sites. Medio's technology was appealing because it was truly mobile-centric in concept and design, said Cyriac Roeding, executive vice president, CBS Mobile. Cell phone searches about a team, for instance, may yield a quick snapshot of the latest scores, injuries, news and gossip about the club. Relevant ads will appear next to the results, based on the users' own search terms. "More and more activity is happening off the [carrier] deck," and this network offers publishers a monetizable off-deck search product, said Omar Tawakol, chief advertising officer for Medio Systems. "We're aggressively pushing this and focusing on the larger sites." For advertisers, the new network makes it easier to reach a large group of the right people using a single self-service bid interface integrating on- and off-deck in real-time. Medio's Mobile Search platform is currently used by such mobile operators as Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, T-Mobile International and Telus Mobility.
Trendy women's fashion retailer bebe stores Inc has selected iCrossing as its search agency of record. As such, iCrossing will be expected to develop and implement the American brand's natural and paid search campaigns to drive sales and increase its visibility. bebe stores designs, develops, and produces apparel and accessories for a 21- to 35-year-old woman who "seeks current fashion trends to suit her lifestyle." Retail analysts have recently taken a liking to the retailer's prospects, based largely on its perceived ability to exploit new marketing opportunities. For this reason, Brean Murray analyst Eric Beder earlier this month upgraded bebe stores Inc from "sell" to "buy," while raising his estimates for the company. In combination with iCrossing's search marketing services and retail experience, bebe will use the agency's proprietary bid management and campaign analytics platforms to execute integrated search marketing programs. iCrossing's other clients include Travelocity and some 40 Fortune 500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Co., General Motors and Office Depot. As a result, its bid management platform is built with retailers in mind, allowing them to manage dynamic inventory and pricing, as well as seasonal price fluctuations. "We chose to partner with iCrossing based on their strong balance of retail experience, solution-focused technology and account management talent," said Barbara Wambach, chief administrative officer at bebe. The bebe company markets its products under several brand names including bebe, Collection bebe, Neda by bebe, Neda, bebe Sport, and bebe O. In addition, the company operates more than 250 retail stores--about 190 of which operate under the flagship bebe brand. Other features of iCrossing's bid management system include brand pattern recognition, so clients will be aware of relationships between brand-related keywords and more general product service or interest-related keywords; consumer purchase behavior analysis for insight into the time it takes for a consumer to make a purchasing decision; and demand-driven budget management to better understand client inventory and market demand. This summer, iCrossing was able to fast-track its expansion as a full-service digital agency following a $62 million infusion from Goldman, Sachs and other investors. Shortly after, it acquired Web development agency Proxicom for an undisclosed sum, growing from 200 to 550 employees overnight. Proxicom gave iCrossing access to an entirely new roster of clients--particularly Proxicom's automotive vertical, which includes Chevron and Toyota. Dupont is another key Proxicom client.
Off-deck mobile video provider mywaves has signed two new distribution deals--one with Nokia that will expose N-series handset users to the service's wealth of free video content, as well as a deal with Columbia Records that will add nine new music video channels (featuring Columbia artists) to mywave's 200,000-plus channel roster. The Sunnyvale-based company serves ad-supported professional and user-generated video content to a reported 1.5 million unique monthly visitors--with a Java-based platform that operates across multiple carrier networks (including 3G and EV-DO). With the Nokia deal, mywaves joins giants like Reuters and Sony Pictures in the delivery of mobile video via the Nokia Video Center. Owners of Nokia's N95 and N95 8GB multimedia handsets use the Nokia Video Center for personalized access to mobile TV and video programming, and now they'll find mywaves content (including branded videos and private channels) alongside videos from YouTube and other providers. According to mywaves' CEO Rajeev Raman, the deal will deliver "even higher visibility and reach" to advertisers like Coca-Cola (who partnered with mywaves and mobile ad server AdMob for a recent promotion in May). At the core of mywaves' deal with Columbia Records is the idea of exposing the company's global base of young consumers to more free music video content--since, according to Raman, "music is the most popular genre of content for mobile viewing with an audience that includes the most desirable and influential consumers for many brands." Users will be able to watch reformatted music videos, interviews, behind-the-scenes clips and other content from nine Columbia artists (including Nas, Wyclef Jean and Tiffany Evans) on their own dedicated mywaves channels. According to Kathy Baker, Columbia's senior director of digital marketing, mywaves is an "ideal platform for our artists to connect with their fans"--one that provides a way to monetize their "highly desirable" video content at the same time. "The combination of our artists' content with mywaves' broad distribution provides the ideal vehicle for advertisers to reach and engage mobile consumers," said Baker. "By delivering a broad spectrum of Columbia content, we will be providing our mobile viewers with exactly the material they desire--and we expect usage to skyrocket, as it has on our other music focused channels," added Raman. "These channels are an effective venue for brands wishing to reach the on-the-go generation."
Online ad network Collective Media will enhance its proprietary ad network platform with a new round of Series A funding led by Greycroft Partners in conjunction with iNovia Capital. Collective's online network reaches 120 million unique users monthly. "We are pioneering a new category within the current ad network environment, allowing high-quality brands to maintain brand integrity and exert more control over where their ads appear," said Joe Apprendi, CEO of Collective Media. "These funds allow Collective to continue developing our best-in-class platform, providing our publisher and advertiser clients with the transparent, premium network they have come to expect from us." Apprendi's background in ad networks began in the mid-90s with ClickNow, which was sold to 24/7. "We're not reinventing the ad network. We're elevating it," said Apprendi. "There are a lot of people focused on transparency now, but we were built that way first and foremost. We're 100% transparent." "Advertising dollars continue to migrate to the Web, and behavioral targeting is a hot sector," said Alan Patricof, founder and managing partner of Greycroft Partners. "Collective has grown 900% year-over-year." The investment by Greycroft is significant because Patricof is someone who has deep connections in and an understanding of the media business. Collective's platform allows advertisers to compare themselves against an entire vertical. "One of the things we think is going to happen with behavioral targeting is what happened with inventory scrutiny," Apprendi said. "There's not been a lot of scrutiny yet of how you collect the behavioral data."