• by mary , Stephen Harris , May 26, 2006

When you think of search marketing, most of us consider conversions as the true metric of success, driving actual leads and sales through the web site. However, in a recent Radar Research Study, over 62 percent of executive respondents said that building brand awareness was their top objective. Online marketing and brand building are not mutually exclusive ideas.

In today's marketplace, consumers no longer distinguish between off and online channels, so it stands to reason that brand building would be top of mind in both of these areas. For an example, consider the past Super Bowl--which showcased integrated off and online brand building successes and failures. In some cases, advertisers leveraged the search channels along with their television and print media--and in other cases, totally missed this opportunity. Still others saw an opportunity to extend their brand at the expense of a competitor.

A successful multi-channel advertiser Honda's Ridgeline Truck Super Bowl ad integrated an online experience where people could search for Honda Ridgeline on Google and Yahoo and be taken to a well-branded and on-message landing page. This is a good example of tight brand integration of the off- and online channels.

A failure to leverage online American Home Products' new PS Cleaners paid $2.5 million for its on-air spot without an online component. Interested consumers were unable to locate anything about this product when the games were over (a search marketing ad is now online). Without an after-game presence, this became a once-and-only advertisement at a very heavy cost.

Seizing the opportunity Then there was a very opportunistic General Motors, which co-opted a Ford advertisement featuring Kermit the Frog by purchasing "Live Green" and "Kermit" on the search engines. People that searched for these "Ford" keywords were presented with GM's online ad, "Live Green, Go Yellow", along with a branded landing page. GM's online brand building benefited at the expense of Ford's Super Bowl advertising dollars.

Multi-channel brand strategy The lesson is clear; leveraging an integrated off and online strategy is critical to enhancing overall brand awareness and relationships. To be successful, advertisers need to build landing pages that reflect the message of off-line promotions, and purchase the keywords that people would most likely enter in the search engines. When an off-line ad is integrated with a cohesive online presence, brand awareness and interest is clearly extended, which will lead to more conversions.