PJA Blog: The Complex Brand

MINI Cooper updated the whole search process after Crispin Porter ‘fired’ them to take on VW. Some of what Jim McDowell, head of MINI USA, did to shake things up with the 4 finalists (50 agencies, 8 got questionnaires, 4 got into finals):

• Weekend boot camp for the four finalists, requiring the agencies to perform in front of each other. Agencies had to create name tags on the spot, then answered questions that tested their improv skills
• Each time went out for drives in rainy weather in MINIs to gather ideas for a scrapbook. One team was arrested. Another dropped out at this stage.
• The finalist process lasted 2 months. Each agency was treated as if they already had the business.
• The winning team, Butler Shine, created a video and uploaded it to the Web for the client. The new work breaks in spring.

I continue to see articles refracting out of the HRB piece from a few years back on what a company really needs to consider in terms of customer satisfaction: unless a customer ranks you an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10 when asked, “Would you recommend this company or its products to a colleague?” you might as well hang it up and go home. Six or 7 out of ten basically means they won’t bug off to your competitor; below 6, you are in serious trouble. I have to say, that’s how I think about the brands that mean a lot to me, such as Kiehl’s skincare products. I press them into the hands of friends and family. I am a 9 out of 10 supporter. Aveda used to rank high, but all their stuff smells the same now, and their customer service in the stores is too aggressive.Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go moisturize.

We heard a good presentation here from Anne Kennedy at Beyond Ink.Some of her points:

• Search only works when someone knows to look for something. That’s the challenge of visibility: How do you let the search engines in?
• All web business takes place on an 11″ or 15″ screen, and most of it in search takes place above the fold.
• 10% of search budgets are devoted to search, but only 1/10th of that to search engine optimization, despite the fact that more than twice as many people choose natural search results over paid by click, AdWords, etc.
• Updates to Google, such as the Jagger algorithm update, force out link strategies such as cheesy links, link farm schemes, and cloaking (showing engines one page, delivering another: though this can be a good thing for a global pharma that sells different drugs/doses/prices per-country).
• Some clients get into search engine trouble inadvertently; e.g., creating 2 URLs for the same index of content for convenience’s sake (www.x.com and x.com). This will trip a filter in some search engines to force you down the results line.
• Google still runs the show: 46.2% of all search, versus 22.8% for Yahoo and 12.6% for MSN. However, because 2/3 of first-page results are unique when searched on the top 3 engines, it’s best to focus on the quality of content, not a specific engine-targeting strategy.
• New content types allow for faster ways to get above the fold than waiting the 6 months it typically takes to get into the organic results:Shopping links: usually above the fold, good for B2CNews: usually above the fold, and a great way to go if you embed links in your electronic release, and in a sense optimize your language. You also can ‘buy your way’ up the feed for about $500 per release. These items generally stay up for 30 days. This is a particularly good way to go if you want journalists to write about you, because 100% of journalists use search. These optimized press releases are growing 12% a year in healthcare.

  Local: local content speciality can get you into this above-the-fold box.

  Premium pay per click: at the very top of the fold.

  Pay per click: on the right-hand side

• Blogs. Blogs are big. 57% of journalists read blogs, and 27% of them rely on blogs to do their jobs. Blog strategies should cover content (at least 3x a week), syndicated guests, and MyST, which can filter out competitor mentions. I’m on shaky ground here. Doug Reynolds, can you throw me a lifeline?

That’s it for now.

Remember to brush starting on the inside.

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New research suggests that the left (analytical, logical, speech, language, reasoning) and right (creative, less disciplined, face recognition, reading of emotional cues) sides of the brain become better integrated during middle age, making way for greater creativity. As you all know, this is literal as well as figurative, because the two brain hemispheres are real, and connected by a row of fibers called the corpus callosum. The aging brain simply grows stronger through use and challenge.Gene Cohen, founding director of the Center on Aging, Health & Humanities at GWU Medical Center, sees four phases of activity that begin in the early 40s (don’t worry, everyone, you’ll get there soon enough):

1. midlife re-evaluation (early 40s): new goals and priorities
2. liberation (55-75): shed past inhibitions to express the self more freely
3. summing-up (65-85): review life, give back
4. encore (75+): affirmation and fellowship amid adversity and loss

Neurons may lose processing speed with age, but become more richly intertwined. That is why it’s more likely for older people to use their gut rather than agonize over what their heart says versus their head (there goes Operations Research).

More good news: you are less likely to dwell on negative feelings as you age and you are less likely to fly off the handle. Why? The amygdalae mellow, too. Those being the pair of almond-shaped structures that sit near the center of the brain, screening sensory data for signs of trouble.

What can boost the power, clarity and subtlely of our brains as we age?

1. Physical exercise. It increases blood flow to the brain and filters waste from it while boosting oxygen levels.
2. Mental exercise. Maybe there’s something to those sudoku after all.
3. Challenging leisure activities. Dance, play board games, play an instrument, do a sudoku, read.
4. Achieve mastery at something. Learn a language, play an instrument, take up painting.
5. Establish a strong social network. It lowers your blood pressure, among other things.

Remember, it’s not crisis, it’s opportunity. Or something.