Heralding the death of non-social media
Right before the end of the year, there was a strong backlash against marketing through social media channels. If you were working anywhere near social media, it was hard to miss: People said it doesn't work. People said it doesn't work as they'd like it to. And people said it may work, but it takes effort (my favorite).
It was probably inevitable. There's never been a more explosive media format than social media. As someone wrote on one of my newsfeeds, "Is there anyone out there who isn't starting a social media company?" At any rate, backlash is practically street cred for the internet set. It's right there in the arc of the internet's growth. Personally, I have no question as to whether social media is a proper marketing channel for a company, and that's because of one simple reason: In the very near future, all media will be social media. Here's why -- and what it means for you.
Social media at point of purchase
Let's pause for a second before heading off into the future. For many brands, you could probably argue that all marketing efforts have already gone social. How?
A high percentage of purchases are already preceded by online research. And where there is online research, there are search results. Those search engine results pages often bring up links to a number of consumer review sites. Now, if you've done any amount of conversation monitoring, you know that reviewers don't exactly pull their punches. Even with shopping sites like Amazon, consumers posting negative reviews are hitting the brand where it hurts most -- at the point of purchase.
So given the above scenarios, even in a "controlled" push-media world, many brands can't even make it through the far end of the buying decision funnel without running head first into a social media situation. Compounding matters, many consumer comments are on social sites like Yelp, where they quickly rise to the top of search rankings.
This point-of-purchase invasion is heading for the physical shopping world as well. Have you tried any of the bar code scanner tools for mobile phones? I haven't found one that works well. Today. But with several of these technologies already in consumers' hands, how long until that's as seamless a part of the buying process as reading an Amazon review before purchasing online? Shoppers will be able to scan an item themselves and get all sorts of product information -- right in the store.
The rise of social viewing
So where's a company to hide from social media? On TV? Whether IPTV or internet TV is the TV model of the future, TV viewing is going to be highly social. I'd say the best glimpse of that future right now is internet TV.
Last November, I watched my high school football team play in the state championship -- on my laptop while waiting for a flight at O'Hare airport. Next to the video stream was a live chat box, open to anyone viewing the game. No sign-up, no identity verification -- just post off the top of your mind (and many did). Welcome to social viewing.
What I found particularly interesting is that during the few lulls in the game (they set the record for most points scored in a state final), the chat conversation topics would drift outside the game video to address the surrounding content on the page -- including the ads. And it certainly wasn't all positive.
Social viewing technology is also currently available in the "Watch & Chat" section of CBS.com, on View2gether.com, and in beta at NBC.com. It's similar to the gaming experience on Xbox Live, except that platform focuses primarily on voice instead of text.
If you project social viewing onto a national broadcast-like environment, you can imagine how vulnerable brands will be to public floggings. Social viewing carries with it all the things you were afraid of on the social networks, now fueled by anonymity combined with the reach of broadcast TV. With search engines aiding and abetting these conversations, even comments on small broadcasts could be discovered and shot into the mainstream conversation rapidly.
Commenting capabilities -- everywhere
In addition to TV, the future of display advertising offers little sign of protection from social media. Have you seen the display ads on Facebook? With commenting capabilities underneath? I recently commented on one, and it went straight into my newsfeed -- broadcast to all my "friends." (Facebook didn't even flag me that this would happen.)
You should expect comments across all online media to be more visible in the future. Disqus is already connecting comments across 45,000 websites, archiving them, making them more searchable, and tying them to database technologies like Plaxo.
Surely someone will invent something to stop all that, right? Here's what that would require: Less data made public for everyone to see. Less inclination among people to expose deeper and deeper levels of their lives in public. And fewer and fewer brands willing to venture into new media.
But since the public onset of the web, trends in this respect have been quite the opposite -- overwhelmingly so. So, in order to avoid that kind of social environment, brands would have to be practically invisible to anyone using online media -- and that's not exactly the objective of marketing departments.
So what's a brand to do?
How to get started
If the thought of participating in social media today seems scary, the thought of not participating in it in five years should really scare you.
Many brands will trip in their adoption path of social media. It just doesn't work the way push media like TV and print do, where you can turn on the fire hose and go from zero to $5 million a month in spend overnight. Doing so would be like the shy, quiet kid in the back of the classroom deciding to become the class clown the next day. It wouldn't be very authentic. And worse, it would be a path right back to the old-school "we're cool because we said so" form of branding. Beyond all that, it can take time to understand your audiences and to figure out what interests them and what they respond to.
This is what I would suggest to any brand that doesn't think it can go social: Start small and work your way up. Don't try to be Burger King in a month. Be yourself in a month. Start laying a foundational presence in the primary social media arenas. Initial moves into social media can be as simple as providing store locations, product information, coupons, or quizzes. Regardless, social media is where your customers are. It's where you should be too.
Papa John's has taken this route quite effectively on Facebook by adapting its website ordering technology for the social media network. As of this writing, the company has more than 200,000 "fans." Two months ago, prior to launching the Facebook app, it had about 10,000. Its 200,000 fans are a great social marketing foundation. If Papa John's can involve fans in a future Facebook campaign, their involvement will be forwarded on to their friends' newsfeeds.
Last year at SXSW, Mark Zuckerberg said the average number of friends on Facebook is 150. If that figure is anywhere near accurate, that's a newsfeed multiplier that can build significant word of mouth.
Connecting with your audience
Another proven social media tactic is to go directly to a community or group of influentials that includes your target audience. If you have something to say or share, they'll welcome you. And the more value you bring to them, the more they'll give back to you.
Virgin America connected with Boing Boing to launch its service here in the U.S. The company started by asking the Boing Boing editors to name one of its planes. (In true Boing Boing style, they tagged it "Unicorn Chaser.") That started the relationship. From there, Virgin America invited a top Boing Boing writer to join the inaugural flight.
Of course, effective social media marketing often comes back to the need for a quality product, which Virgin America has. And this reflects what Seth Godin has preached for years: Good products create their own positive press. The glowing reviews on Boing Boing were not only well written, they were supported by a convincing overview of the standout features on the plane. Boing Boing has a readership of more than 3 million early adopting consumers. What would it cost to reach them with a TV or print ad? And what ad would ever attain the level of credibility that came from Boing Boing's coverage?
So how should you begin your brand's move into social media? By reaching out to the people who are most interested in your products and services. Discover who your brand advocates are -- or who they could be. Figure out what they like about you and what they're interested in. There's a treasure trove of consumer research in that alone.
From there, expand your activities and begin engaging them in fun and distinct ways that define your brand's personality. You want to evolve with the medium so that several years from now, you don't come off as some uninformed noob.
When it comes to social media, think of your brand as a person. You don't have to be the class clown -- but you at least want to make an impression worth remembering.
Doug Schumacher is president and creative director at Basement Inc.
Showing posts with label Branding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Branding. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Gasta Opinion: Why the forecasters are wrong about digital in 2009
While the pundits may be singing a similar tune when it comes to digital advertising's immediate future, here are a few points they may not have considered.
It's the first full work week of the New Year, and already I'm tired of the constant vacillation in moods concerning the health of internet marketing.
Depending on whom you believe, digital marketing will either follow newspapers into oblivion in 2009, or it will be hit hard but not quite as hard as other media. Hardly any of the pundits give it a positive outlook. And that's a shame, with self-fulfilling prophecies and all…
There are quite a few assertions, though, that are fairly consistently questionable from pundit to pundit when it comes to predicting digital's future. Among them:
1. Failing to grow at the same rate as last year is some sort of failure -- If digital advertising grew at 10-15 percent last year, and it will hit only 7-9 percent growth this year, that's not a failure. Accelerated year-over-year growth for any market sector, whether it be manufacturing, biotech engineering, or financial services, is unsustainable in the long term. Things have to slow down at some point. If digital advertising slows down but still grows in an economy where the word "Depression" is still commonly used in headlines for op-ed pieces, I think we're doing rather well, thankyouverymuch!
My other issue with this is that more marketers are doing things with digital that are not classified as advertising and probably don't get tracked by the prognosticators. Suppose your recommended solution to an e-commerce client is not to buy a bunch of ad banners, but instead to pay to have their digital shelf presence enhanced. Is that advertising? No. Does it address the business problem your client is trying to solve? Most definitely. Will such a deal get picked up by the powers-that-be who track internet spending? Probably not.
2. Video and social media need an ad model -- It's true that in order to make money the way that Yahoo, MSN, and Platform-A do, Facebook will need to improve its ad model. And yes, something will have to come along that can replace pre-roll and overlay ads in video. But hinging digital's growth potential on these ad model conundrums is a mistake, I think.
If video advertising won't scale appropriately (and I do believe it will to a certain degree in 2009), marketers might turn to other non-advertising ways to leverage video. Viral strategies, video syndication, and content sponsorship are all ways of making video work in ways that enhance the bottom line without registering on someone's radar as an ad spend.
As long as social networks can continue to capture everyone's attention the way they have in the last few years, I doubt the lack of an ad model will put them under. Not as long as I'm spending what I do on things like Facebook gifts and Facebook ads. I think there's a lot of potential in something like Facebook ads -- not the big banner deals they do, but the smaller, targeted buys that would appeal to small business marketers. I've used Facebook ads both to recruit people for positions at Underscore and to try to sell my home. In both cases, sub-$100 investments have yielded huge gains. If Google still has plenty of potential to roll up many thousands of small, self-serve ad deals in order to make money, why not Facebook?
3. Performance-based advertising will be where the growth is -- I've seen this prediction made by many of the pundits, followed by some Google-flattering comment about how search will drive modest growth in 2009. In the short term, this might be the case, but I think we've already seen what happens in digital when too many advertisers shift their focus to DR and performance-based digital media. Things quickly get crowded. Clearance issues abound. Lead and sale volumes drop sharply unless concessions are made with respect to price and environment. This is how we weathered the last downturn, and display never really went away and experienced a rebirth when the economy turned around and marketers learned to trust digital again.
I question these three assertions, and I'm skeptical that the equation is as simple as many of the pundits make it out to be. I'm also optimistic for another reason: Analysts and pundits who don't work in digital on a day-to-day basis often have trouble understanding the dynamic of how marketing budget decisions are made. I see a lot of potential out there for marketers and brand managers to come to the conclusion that their diminished budgets can't afford last year's levels of broadcast, and for those marketers to consider digital-heavy or digital-only options for marketing campaigns.
However, it turns out in 2009, I don't think we should resign ourselves to slowed growth or declines this year. People who work in digital tend to be people who thrive in chaos. There's certainly a good deal of chaotic behavior out there in the floundering economy, and I wouldn't be surprised if we figure out how to capitalize on it this year.
Tom Hespos is president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.
It's the first full work week of the New Year, and already I'm tired of the constant vacillation in moods concerning the health of internet marketing.
Depending on whom you believe, digital marketing will either follow newspapers into oblivion in 2009, or it will be hit hard but not quite as hard as other media. Hardly any of the pundits give it a positive outlook. And that's a shame, with self-fulfilling prophecies and all…
There are quite a few assertions, though, that are fairly consistently questionable from pundit to pundit when it comes to predicting digital's future. Among them:
1. Failing to grow at the same rate as last year is some sort of failure -- If digital advertising grew at 10-15 percent last year, and it will hit only 7-9 percent growth this year, that's not a failure. Accelerated year-over-year growth for any market sector, whether it be manufacturing, biotech engineering, or financial services, is unsustainable in the long term. Things have to slow down at some point. If digital advertising slows down but still grows in an economy where the word "Depression" is still commonly used in headlines for op-ed pieces, I think we're doing rather well, thankyouverymuch!
My other issue with this is that more marketers are doing things with digital that are not classified as advertising and probably don't get tracked by the prognosticators. Suppose your recommended solution to an e-commerce client is not to buy a bunch of ad banners, but instead to pay to have their digital shelf presence enhanced. Is that advertising? No. Does it address the business problem your client is trying to solve? Most definitely. Will such a deal get picked up by the powers-that-be who track internet spending? Probably not.
2. Video and social media need an ad model -- It's true that in order to make money the way that Yahoo, MSN, and Platform-A do, Facebook will need to improve its ad model. And yes, something will have to come along that can replace pre-roll and overlay ads in video. But hinging digital's growth potential on these ad model conundrums is a mistake, I think.
If video advertising won't scale appropriately (and I do believe it will to a certain degree in 2009), marketers might turn to other non-advertising ways to leverage video. Viral strategies, video syndication, and content sponsorship are all ways of making video work in ways that enhance the bottom line without registering on someone's radar as an ad spend.
As long as social networks can continue to capture everyone's attention the way they have in the last few years, I doubt the lack of an ad model will put them under. Not as long as I'm spending what I do on things like Facebook gifts and Facebook ads. I think there's a lot of potential in something like Facebook ads -- not the big banner deals they do, but the smaller, targeted buys that would appeal to small business marketers. I've used Facebook ads both to recruit people for positions at Underscore and to try to sell my home. In both cases, sub-$100 investments have yielded huge gains. If Google still has plenty of potential to roll up many thousands of small, self-serve ad deals in order to make money, why not Facebook?
3. Performance-based advertising will be where the growth is -- I've seen this prediction made by many of the pundits, followed by some Google-flattering comment about how search will drive modest growth in 2009. In the short term, this might be the case, but I think we've already seen what happens in digital when too many advertisers shift their focus to DR and performance-based digital media. Things quickly get crowded. Clearance issues abound. Lead and sale volumes drop sharply unless concessions are made with respect to price and environment. This is how we weathered the last downturn, and display never really went away and experienced a rebirth when the economy turned around and marketers learned to trust digital again.
I question these three assertions, and I'm skeptical that the equation is as simple as many of the pundits make it out to be. I'm also optimistic for another reason: Analysts and pundits who don't work in digital on a day-to-day basis often have trouble understanding the dynamic of how marketing budget decisions are made. I see a lot of potential out there for marketers and brand managers to come to the conclusion that their diminished budgets can't afford last year's levels of broadcast, and for those marketers to consider digital-heavy or digital-only options for marketing campaigns.
However, it turns out in 2009, I don't think we should resign ourselves to slowed growth or declines this year. People who work in digital tend to be people who thrive in chaos. There's certainly a good deal of chaotic behavior out there in the floundering economy, and I wouldn't be surprised if we figure out how to capitalize on it this year.
Tom Hespos is president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.
Monday, October 13, 2008
UK-Based Gasta Search Engine Network Enters Into Sales / Merger Talks
UK-Based Gasta Search Engine Network Enters Into Sales / Merger Talks
The Gasta search network is a blended search that will deliver web results, news, videos, and images with one single keyword search, then lets users social bookmark search results in their own library. The Gasta search network extends its reach into Europe and USA, has search engines launched in South Africa, China, and Japan.
Gasta is a European trademark and the Gasta search engine was last year’s winner of the PWC award for innovation, it also holds one of the UK most valuable property domain holdings.
Belfast, Ireland - October 09, 2008 – It was announced here today that the Belfast-based web 2.0 Search Engine Network Gasta is in talks with several companies for a possible sale or merger. A well established player in European, US, and Asian search, The Gasta.com search engine network currently consists of 450+ Domains, is translated into six languages, offers a contextualised ad system, powerful SEO options, keyword management tools, and full service administration to create, launch, and quickly deploy new search engines in emerging markets and geographical regions as needed.
Gasta has created a very easy to use back-end admin system that is designed for non technical use, within the admin you can add new keywords, manage ad campaigns, replicate advertising codes, and launch new search index’s and directories in minutes, Gasta has developed its own text based contextualised ad system, InstantAds™ and the keyword direct hit service SearchMatch™ allowing users to buy targeted keywords for the geographic region they do business in. As well as this there are many seo options including InstantLinks™ the free link exchange system that publishes the main directory.” We can launch new search engines in emerging regions very easily, with the rapid deployment platform we have developed” said Higgins. “We can launch in Poland and Malaysia very quickly and have been looking out for possible local partners on the ground in these regions”.
While Gasta.com is well-established in the Search Industry, it has chosen to maintain a low profile and provided state of the art services to its visitors and advertisers. Christian Nielsen, owner of Nielsentech.com, an Internet consulting firm located in the US said he has used Gasta for many years. “Yes, I was submitting client sites to Gasta’s system back as early as 1999 when we started doing SEO and web promotion. They have evolved over the years, and we have keep in contact due to their attitude of service and ethics. Most other firms in the US don’t seem to know about them and that’s been a competitive edge for us.”
Gasta.com owner Francis Higgins believes that now is a 'good time' to transition the search engines network due to the convergence of web 2.0 technologies. Higgins said “We believe that we have created great distribution platform to easily explore and rapidly develop new and emerging regions. We have looked into the possibility of partnering with a mobile carrier to deliver local mobile search in which great opportunities are coming in the future, Gasta works well now on mobiles but we would need the expertise of the big carriers to make an impact and monetise the service.
We have worked hard over the past 12 years to improve the reach and the depth of the Gasta network. With the rapid deployment and white label solution we have developed we can quickly launch blended search engines that will bring up web results, videos, news, and images with one keyword. Our brand commands a high level of respect by those that are familiar with us and those that do some research will see our extensive digital footprint built up over the years that shows our quality and consistency and has established our brand’s value in the search marketing industry."
Contacts
Francis Higgins
Comm Director Gasta Search Networks
bizz@amiwired.com
+44(0)2890333748
Mob:+44(0)7816447363
The Gasta search network is a blended search that will deliver web results, news, videos, and images with one single keyword search, then lets users social bookmark search results in their own library. The Gasta search network extends its reach into Europe and USA, has search engines launched in South Africa, China, and Japan.
Gasta is a European trademark and the Gasta search engine was last year’s winner of the PWC award for innovation, it also holds one of the UK most valuable property domain holdings.
Belfast, Ireland - October 09, 2008 – It was announced here today that the Belfast-based web 2.0 Search Engine Network Gasta is in talks with several companies for a possible sale or merger. A well established player in European, US, and Asian search, The Gasta.com search engine network currently consists of 450+ Domains, is translated into six languages, offers a contextualised ad system, powerful SEO options, keyword management tools, and full service administration to create, launch, and quickly deploy new search engines in emerging markets and geographical regions as needed.
Gasta has created a very easy to use back-end admin system that is designed for non technical use, within the admin you can add new keywords, manage ad campaigns, replicate advertising codes, and launch new search index’s and directories in minutes, Gasta has developed its own text based contextualised ad system, InstantAds™ and the keyword direct hit service SearchMatch™ allowing users to buy targeted keywords for the geographic region they do business in. As well as this there are many seo options including InstantLinks™ the free link exchange system that publishes the main directory.” We can launch new search engines in emerging regions very easily, with the rapid deployment platform we have developed” said Higgins. “We can launch in Poland and Malaysia very quickly and have been looking out for possible local partners on the ground in these regions”.
While Gasta.com is well-established in the Search Industry, it has chosen to maintain a low profile and provided state of the art services to its visitors and advertisers. Christian Nielsen, owner of Nielsentech.com, an Internet consulting firm located in the US said he has used Gasta for many years. “Yes, I was submitting client sites to Gasta’s system back as early as 1999 when we started doing SEO and web promotion. They have evolved over the years, and we have keep in contact due to their attitude of service and ethics. Most other firms in the US don’t seem to know about them and that’s been a competitive edge for us.”
Gasta.com owner Francis Higgins believes that now is a 'good time' to transition the search engines network due to the convergence of web 2.0 technologies. Higgins said “We believe that we have created great distribution platform to easily explore and rapidly develop new and emerging regions. We have looked into the possibility of partnering with a mobile carrier to deliver local mobile search in which great opportunities are coming in the future, Gasta works well now on mobiles but we would need the expertise of the big carriers to make an impact and monetise the service.
We have worked hard over the past 12 years to improve the reach and the depth of the Gasta network. With the rapid deployment and white label solution we have developed we can quickly launch blended search engines that will bring up web results, videos, news, and images with one keyword. Our brand commands a high level of respect by those that are familiar with us and those that do some research will see our extensive digital footprint built up over the years that shows our quality and consistency and has established our brand’s value in the search marketing industry."
Contacts
Francis Higgins
Comm Director Gasta Search Networks
bizz@amiwired.com
+44(0)2890333748
Mob:+44(0)7816447363
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sale Of Search Engine Network
Sale Of Search Engine Network Generates Traffic
We've been getting a lot of emails looking for more information about the European Search Engine Network that I posted about the other day. To eliminate some of the questions, I am posting some more information about this 12 year old network of sites that is built upon their search technology. The more I learn about what they have, the more potential I see for someone with additional skills, capital, and other resources to tie into what they already have and expand on or into the European market.
Here is some more information:
- Monthly traffic of 3,000,000+ per month across the network.
- 3,500 current /past advertisers
- Registered as a European distribution partner for Microsoft Adwords.
- A partner with Google Doubleclick and Adsense.
- Has the ability to deploy new local search engines quickly.
- Currently targeting markets in Europe, US, and several other countries as well as several topics, such as travel.
- Owns at least 4 trademarks
- Currently has 450+ Domains launched on their servers.
Domains:
· International
· US
· UK
· Ireland
· Europe
· Austria
· France
· Germany
· Italy
· Spain
· India
· China
· Japan
· South Africa
· Money
· Travel
· and several others
If you are interested or require more information please let me know and I will put you in touch with the company. I've been friends with the owner for some time now and agreed to help them find a buyer if I can.
I would have thought the current economic situation would have made it difficult to generate interest in a search network such as this, but I was clearly wrong. There are many that would like to expand their current holdings and sites like social networks, consumer shopping sites, auction sites, and sites that are based on UGC (User Generated Content) seem to be super interested in adding mature search to the current offerings. Building is always an option, but why build and re-invent the wheel when you can buy.
And I just learned today that one of my old favorite UK search engines, www.Burf.com was sold and now has a new owner.
If you need to reach me, just Google "NielsenTech" and you should be able to contact me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Gasta News: Sky Music
Sky is set to launch a digital music store, in a bid to take on the likes of iTunes, HMV and Tesco.
Sky has partnered with major Universal Music to enable visitors to download thousands of songs from its artists including U2, Girls Aloud and Kanye West.
The service will be available for a single monthly subscription charge and users will able to both stream songs on-demand and download tracks. Customers will be able to listen to tracks through a range of devices such as iPods, MP3 players and mobile phones.
Sky, which plans to partner with other major and independent record labels, for the joint venture service, said it will roll out the digital store later this year.
Mike Darcey, COO at BSkyB, said the service is being set up to meet consumer demand for online music.
"Companies like Sky and Universal Music are well placed to work together to meet consumers' needs. We aim to offer an easy and affordable service for all UK music fans, while ensuring that artists are properly rewarded for their creativity."
Lucian Grainge, chairman and chief executive, Universal Music Group International, said, "The new Sky service will provide a compelling digital music experience, built for the ever growing digital appetite of music fans. In a world where a majority of UK homes have high speed broadband access, consumers will welcome a safe, state-of-the-art service and legal alternative to those services which exploit musicians without compensation."
Monday, July 21, 2008
VFI Overseas Property Tunisia
As you are aware VFI Overseas Property has now launched Tunisia, an exciting new emerging market to rival the likes of Dubai and other investment driven overseas markets
VFI Overseas Property has spent the last number of months identifying new markets for existing and future client base. We have identified Tunisia for a number of reasons.
· Unrivalled Capital growth
· Cosmopolitan society – French, English, Russian, Italians, Spanish
· Low entry level for investors
· Properties from as little as €24,999
· Frontline Beach Developments
· Low price per sq meter
· High Rental Yields
· Many golf courses – 18 hole/35 hole
· Outstanding quality of build
· International Cuisine
· 2/3 hrs flight time from Europe & Russia
· Building Bonds in place
· Tourism increased by 45% in 2006
· 6 international airports and more being built
· Billons of euro being invested by government and private institutions.
· Demographic society
· Mediterranean climate
· At present demand is out stripping supply in the property market.
In Tunisia people are still waking up to warm, sunny mornings. The lifestyle is calm, peaceful and most importantly, affordable! The cost of living is low. Utility bills are low. The prices of food and petrol are low. All this means "more of your money" and "more for your money!" More money to spend on the pleasurable things in life, such as eating out under the starry skies or sipping a mint tea at a pavement cafe and watching the world go by.
Some typical examples of the price of food in Tunisia could include a cup of tea or coffee at a cafe ranging from 20p to 50p, a kilogram of tomatoes 30p, a kilogram of pears 50p, a French Stick 10p, a liter of milk 25p or a kilogram of beef or lamb £3-£4. Supermarkets are stocked with every day needs, but the local market is the place to be to pick up items of amazing value.
Living in Tunisia, will bring you that healthy lifestyle. Fresh, fruit and vegetables in abundance and fish straight from the sea and onto your plate in minutes! There are also more than enough hot, sunny days to fit in all of the outdoor sporting activities that you can muster! As with most Mediterranean countries, the crime rate is low. You can enjoy your evenings out, bringing along the children as they are always welcome, without any rowdy behavior to spoil your fun. Old fashioned values still reign supreme and parents, teachers and the elderly are treated with the utmost respect. You will rarely find language difficulties. The main spoken languages are Tunisian Arabic and French, but since English was introduced to the National Curriculum for all school children aged 10 and upwards, it is fast gaining importance amongst the Tunisian nation.
Development – Le Voilier Resort
Le Voilier Resort is a modern beach front/marina style development with a mixture of 1 bed 1 bath, 2bed 2 bath, & 3 bed 3 baths apartments all built to a superior specification.
Designed by one of the most important and cutting edge architectural firms in this area VFI OVERSEAS PROPERTY is happy to be able to offer not only a fantastic investment but an investment which you will be able to enjoy for many years to come.
Monday, July 14, 2008
7793,845) Thursday, July 10, 2008
Gasta Branding: Organic Search listings
Purchasing your keywords in InstantAds or SearchMatch on the Gasta and Europasearch network will significantly increase you web presence for the minimum price.
Google has unveiled its first major piece of research to prove search can have a big impact on a company brand . The move could help to drive significantly more brand budget online. The findings, from a pan-European research project commissioned by the search giant, showed coming top of organic listings raised purchase consideration of a brand 4%. It also found exposure to a listing in the top paid position, with no organic listing on the page, increased purchase consideration 20%. The new and (to the tech savvy generation) most important factor in branding your company is to get into search listings and Gasta.com is a really simple and inexpensive way of doing that.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Gasta Domains: www.londondocklands.com
Gasta has over 450 Domain names for sale including
www.londonsdockland.comDomain Advertising Agency Offers £1.5M LondonDocklands.com For Sale!
London, May 19, 2008 - Today Domain Advertising Agency(DAA) announces it will broker the potential sale of one the most lucrative Geo Domain Names in the UK and Europe “LondonDocklands.com”. The London Docklands is a vast geographical area and one of the most historical destinations in the city of London. The area of London Docklands also represents many billions in financial trading terms through the most powerful global investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, with thousands of employees, residential and commercial real estate such as Canary Wharf with the tallest skyscrapers in Britain.
Prospective buyers are invited to submit offers by visiting the following url:
http://sales.domainadvertisingagency.com/domains/954/londondocklands.com
Domain Advertising Agency will post the wining bid on the front page of its website http://www.domainadvertisingagency.com when the domain is sold. The price tag of £1.5M is a cinch, considering the average 1 bed apartment price of £500,000 and the average commercial premises runs into several millions of pounds on average. The 2012 London Olympics is also right on the doorstep of London Docklands, and is also likely to drive up real estate prices in the area going forward.
Only two weeks ago, another geo domain name, “Bellvue.com” a vibrant suburb in Seattle, Washington sold for $150,000. Likewise, several geo domain names have sold over the last 18 months such as Branson.com for $1.5M, Buckhead.com an Atlanta suburb for $250,000 and Surrey.com a greater London suburb for $200,000 and WallStreet.com sold for over a million dollars in 1999.
London Docklands which stretches from the historic docks of Wapping , through the massive Canary Wharf financial centre, the Royal Docks and all the way through sought after Greenwich comprises some of the most historic buildings in the United Kingdom, juxtaposed with impressive modern architecture and thousands of impressive contemporary residential apartments for 21st century living. Other major attractions are the Millennium Dome, huge venues such as the Excel conference centre hosting mavericks such as Anthony Robbins, the gleaming Jubilee line tube extension and the busy London City airport, connecting business and leisure flights directly with Europe.
We hope to attract interested buyers such as London City Traders looking for a new venture investment, city property developers, online media consortiums and particularly foreign investors across Europe, Asia the Middle East and North America, looking for a niche opportunity to leverage their presence and investment in London. We certainly notice the significant number of Russian Oligarchs all over London, they are very welcome to submit offers too!
The domain owner, a born and bred Londoner and founder of Domain Advertising Agency.com, as a humble gesture of giving back to the community, will pledge ten percent of the net resulting sale to a charitable organization catering for the welfare of homeless citizens living in London Docklands.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Gasta Search Branding and Direct Response
Gasta Search Branding and Direct Response,
We love it when a plan comes together1 The Gasta.com strategy of aquiring and hosting new domains to launch the gasta white label search is gathering momentum as more Brands recognise that Search is the key branding tool of the future web.
In this week's NMA Podcast, Microsoft's senior vice president of strategic partnerships, Yusuf Medhi, talks about the software giant's acquisition plans following the failure of its bid to buy Yahoo!. Plus Winston Binch of US hot-shop Crispon Porter + Bogusky explains how digital agencies are moving up the pecking order, and the NMA team discuss the role of search in brand-building.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Gasta News: Brand Piggybacking
It's time to stop complaining about people piggy-backing on your search terms. Use it as an opportunity to hit back, be smarter, more nimble and win, just like Gasta.
Why the hell is someone able to advertise on Google using my brand name? Don't I own my brand name, and my product names? The simple answer is no, you don't, especially when it comes to using them in search. For the delusional lawyers that think they do, can I please laugh at you? It's gone. Shattered. You can have your brand terms copyrighted, trademarked and employ a whole team of leaders for their defense, but owning? That control state exists only in lawyers' minds. Yes, you may OWN them, but the reality is you just can't sue everybody, not anymore. Like copyrighted material that makes it onto video sites, it's a losing battle.
So, what you really need to do is look at this as an opportunity, not an obstacle.
The way that Google works, and I'm sure as hell going to get flack if I get this wrong, is that if the name is in the competitive set and it is relevant to the purchase, category, product or topic, you can buy it.
Now, what you cannot do, or are not supposed to do as a competitor to the brand, is use that brand name in the copy of that ad. You can use it in the title due to dynamic replacement, but you are not supposed to -- or it is greatly frowned upon if you do -- use it in the copy of the ad. But the reality? Eh, a lot more murky. There are just way too many advertisers buying terms, and it's that democratization that is fueling a lot of the growth.
Look, if a company is buying your product name, or your brand name, then you are doing something right. Are they riding the coattails of your brand equity? You bet your lazy corporate lemming butt they are. And they will ride it and ride it until you wise-up on how to defend it.
There are a number of companies that insist on not buying their brand names with the belief that "I am already ranked at the top of the organic results, so I don't need to." And that is true for many clients. But not buying your brand name in addition is ludicrous.
Here are three main reasons why you want to do this:
1. Combination punching
Enough research out there has shown us that the combination of having an organic link and a paid listing increases response by somewhere around 25 percent. Now, you could argue that the organic link is free and that paying for an additional 25 percent is not worth it. Wrong! Your competitors are unlikely to be over in the section of organic listings. They are hitting you in the ad space. Occupy that space so they don't own you. 2. The message
It's the one real way that you can exert control -- your message. The copy that is picked up thorough organic listings is much less easily controlled. It is the crawlers that determine it, and your homepage has to be specifically designed for that purpose to make it better. It is also relatively static and does not change over time. That would require new copy on the homepage, new tweaking and a whole new crawl by Google. When will that happen? Who knows. But you can control exactly what copy appears in a paid listing and about your brand. Adapt that copy to what is going on in your company right now. What is relevant today? Do you want everyone to end up on the one page that gets the highest organic listings? Are you sure? Have you just been hit with some bad PR? Thwart it right there and then lead the user directly to your response. Have: "Rumors untrue, company not being acquired" in the search copy.
There are a hell of a lot more people who search on terms than click on ads. Just because they didn't click doesn't mean you can't seed that meme. Press releases are a thing of the past -- a top-down linear cascade that no longer has relevance to today's consumer. Your brand names are your first line of defense in the PR war, so use them wisely.
3. Navigation
Search is not as much about searching and finding anymore as it is about navigation. People use search engines as "navigation engines" to get to where they are going. You look at the most popular queries in search engines -- the real top searches, not the ones that are edited. They are littered with URLs and brand names. It has just become easier to use search engines to type in URLs and company names than worry you'll end up at some domain park by typing one wrong letter. Spellcheck means you'll almost always get to where you want in the next click.
One of my most amusing ad buys at Ask.com was buying the word Yahoo for purchase on Google that led to Ask.com -- a wonderful triad. When running marketing at Ask, we had some significant challenges. It was never about beating Google. We were Google's largest distributor of ad listings in the world. It was a very symbiotic relationship. Frienemies, if you will. It was about getting people to think of us when they think of "search." Just by being there, we spur top-of-mind awareness for our brand. We were just not in people's consideration set. Look, the reason why Google seems lax is because competition in our business moves our whole industry forward, not just those companies that have been sitting on their brand equity like luddites. It was easy in offline -- just throw a bunch of lawyers at them. But online doesn't just mean those companies in your immediate competitive set, it means thousands of smaller shops that can now afford to advertise.
It's time you stopped complaining about people piggy-backing on your terms and started to look at it as an opportunity to hit back. "But they're driving up my costs for those words, and it's unfair!" Since when is life or business fair? Like sucker fish on sharks, start to look at that relationship as symbiotic. Use them and what they say to your advantage. Stop sticking your heads in the sand, get out there, think of how you can leverage and thwart those efforts -- and attack. Be smarter, more nimble.... and win. Or you can just throw lawyers at the problem, stick your head in the sand and watch them rip business away from you.
By Sean Cummings (nod to Imedia)Gasta News: Orange Makeover
Orange will kick off a £30m makeover this week?
The operator has worked with creative agency Fallon to produce a global integrated campaign which it said is its biggest yet.
The campaign involves advertising around its new "I am..." positioning, along with changes to 120 consumer touch points including its call centres and stores.
The Orange portal will be updated to reflect the changes with more inclusion of user-generated
Friday, June 27, 2008
Gasta News:Brand Identity
Tough economic times call for small businesses to get creative. Here is why you should consider implementing a multi-domain strategy for your business.
COST. A memorable, highly targeted and keyword-rich domain name, garners free organic search engine traffic. By acquiring a domain name from the secondary domain market, you are spending less money in traffic than by engaging in often costly keyword search buys or print advertising.
BRANDING. Acquiring domains related to your products and or services sends a strong and consistent message to your customers and builds brand equity while avoiding customer confusion and lost traffic. For example, a photographer's website would benefit from camera, weddings and portrait themed domains.
GLOBAL REACH. Although the "dot com" is the most common extension, you should cast your net wider by getting as many extensions possible, including country code specific extensions. Act locally, think globally!
CAPITAL INVESTMENT. Like fine wines, domain names appreciate in value as they get older, thanks to the navigation traffic they acquire from prominent search engine positioning. By acquiring multiple premium domain names you are building a valuable portfolio of assets.
Are you ready plan a multiple domain strategy for your business? BuyDomains has the largest inventory of premium domain names — let us help you find one that matches your business needs. Contact domains@buydomains.com.
COST. A memorable, highly targeted and keyword-rich domain name, garners free organic search engine traffic. By acquiring a domain name from the secondary domain market, you are spending less money in traffic than by engaging in often costly keyword search buys or print advertising.
BRANDING. Acquiring domains related to your products and or services sends a strong and consistent message to your customers and builds brand equity while avoiding customer confusion and lost traffic. For example, a photographer's website would benefit from camera, weddings and portrait themed domains.
GLOBAL REACH. Although the "dot com" is the most common extension, you should cast your net wider by getting as many extensions possible, including country code specific extensions. Act locally, think globally!
CAPITAL INVESTMENT. Like fine wines, domain names appreciate in value as they get older, thanks to the navigation traffic they acquire from prominent search engine positioning. By acquiring multiple premium domain names you are building a valuable portfolio of assets.
Are you ready plan a multiple domain strategy for your business? BuyDomains has the largest inventory of premium domain names — let us help you find one that matches your business needs. Contact domains@buydomains.com.
Gasta News:Search Strategy is Critical
When the going gets tough, the tough get searching.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Gasta Strategy on Brands
To get the greatest value out of your social networking strategy, you need to communicate consistently across every platform used. An online communities expert explains how.
Online social environments have multiplied at an exponential rate over the past few years. In fact, many of us have at least two or three identities online in various social networks (I have at least 15). At the recent iMedia Breakthrough Summit, 32 percent of the audience admitted to having . As a result of the social networking gold rush, I am often asked how to best leverage the ever-expanding social web to market to consumers in an effective manner. My goal in this article is to help marketers formulate strategies for engaging consumers in a meaningful dialogue across various social channels.
The distributed web for brand emphasis
Since the onset of the web as a viable marketing solution, brand marketers have been creating what is commonly known as the microsite. Despite the fact that that we label these online brand shrines as "micro," many treat the microsite as the centerpiece of their strategy (perhaps we should have been calling this interactive marketing vehicle a macrosite). While I believe that online brand initiatives ultimately benefit from having all roads lead to one place, we simply cannot always expect consumers to leave their current environments in order to become immersed in centralized brand experiences. After all, consensual brand presence in a consumer's social environment is a much more powerful statement than a consumer's presence in a closed branded environment.
You may be asking yourself, if we are no longer to place emphasis on the microsite as a central component to marketing initiatives, where should this emphasis go?
The answer to this question is rooted in the concept that many are referring to as the distributed web. I define distributed web strategy (as it pertains to marketing) in the following way: consistent brand presence across various social channels. Distributed web strategy is based on the notion that the sum of all syndicated content and messaging is greater than any single brand presence.
Last November, Forrester Research Senior Analyst Jeremiah Owyang penned an analysis of Open Social and how its impact should be explained to executives. In this incredibly prescient post Owyang writes, "Web marketing no longer is limited to your corporate site. Let go of the concept of 'driving traffic to your website' as a sole measurement of success. The web, its message and your battles are now fought on the open and distributed web."
Nearly seven months later brands are still ignoring the impact of the distributed web. I understand why marketers would be reluctant to put their brands into a sea of uncertainty; however, we have reached a point where brands can no longer solely compete on their home turf. It is time to let go!
Adam Broitman
Nod to Imedia Connection
Friday, April 25, 2008
Secure your brand Keyword on Gasta search networks
Gasta will this month launch its white label search solution on up to 150 new search domains on a UK/Ireland concentration looking to companies like The Search Works, Latitude and Bigmouthmedia. All companie on the fast development track. As gasta.com rolls out its white label solution across more and more platforms, making the networks stronger and more robust, we can see the shift as advertisers move to more niche geo targeted search networks.
Google's decision to allow brand name bidding from 5 May 2008 has seen a huge increase in inquiries by companies wishing to secure their brand names on the Gasta search network.Companies like Gucci, Adidas, Nike, etc.. look for the niche specialists search marketing companies like Gasta , this once again shows not just the number of agencies out there that provide search offerings but the indelible need to secure your brand online, and gasta is relentless at doing this on a global platform, and at a cost that companies can afford.
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