Two Key Features of Google Glass and its Impact on Marketers

The Google Glass is slated to be launched for the consumer market in 2014, and much anticipation has been revved up amongst marketers and users alike. For the consumers, it will be more of the “cool” factor and entertaining user-experience; while for the marketers, we will be keen to find out how to maximise advertisers’ value through the Google Glass channel.

Due to the mobility and personal nature of using the Glass, two key features are expected to be integrated in the Glass – location-based searches and personalised ads. Through Google Glass, the wearer can get instant information and marketing messages about his/ her surroundings through image recognition app; making it more informative for the wearer as well as a great marketing channel for retailers, restaurateurs and other location-based advertisers. In my opinion, it can be super exciting and fun for some users, but could be also be a nuisance to some users. Nevertheless, having an activation-deactivation option within that app would be a great feature for users. Althernatively, we will be expecting permission-seeking feature being used when marketers are engaging the Glass users. For a start, I can also foresee that advertisers would need to put up signage at their retail stores to remind and encourage shoppers with the Glass to use the location-based search app, to know more about, sales promotions and other merchandise-related information, at least in Singapore.    

In the case of personalised ads, it is believed that with Google’s dominance in the internet search business, it is expected that Google will eventually reach a level of expertise and capability to create highly-personalised search information packages for individual users through the Google Glass medium. Now, users are definitely very interested to experience such a phenomenon; especially it is something that has been created in SCI-FI genres a long time ago. I would love to try it as a novelty experience but in the long-run, I would still prefer to have the option of varying my degree of information exposure to Google, in terms of my personal interests, search preferences and “likes” within the digital world.  As a marketer, we can predict a more positive ROI for advertisers due a more targeted marketing campaign like never before. In terms of market analytics or feedback, it will be even more accurate.    

From a technology point of view, I would foresee a flooding of aggregated and customised information between users and advertisers that has not been seen before, which would require humongous technical capacity and speed to process.     

Welcome to the new digital age!

Tony Leu

Buying Google AdWords against competitors: A good sign for Southeast Asia, so learn to deal with it

http://sgentrepreneurs.com/2013/07/25/buying-google-adwords-against-competitors-its-more-common-than-you-think/

The startup community in Southeast Asia is up in arms over Rocket Internet again. This time, it’s about their perceived unethical bidding of keywords and placement of ads to siphon from competitors to their own websites.

In Indonesia, Zalora was “caught” buying Google AdWords against smaller rival Below Cepek, although the Rocket Internet company later retracted the ads and issued a vague apology.

In Singapore, Zalora engaged in a similar practice against online cosmetics store Luxola, and the campaign was even extended to multiple countries in the region.

Since the issue was brought out into the open, however, Zalora seemed to have tweaked its approach:

Before. Screencapped by TechinAsia.

After.

In Southeast Asia, this tactic has in fact been practiced under-the-radar for a few years. Since 2011, Philippine daily deal sites Ensogo and Metrodeal were found buying ads on the search result pages for CashCashPinoy and Deal Grocer, and the campaigns are ongoing even now:

Metrodeal on CashCashPinoy’s search result page.

Ensogo on Deal Grocer’s search result page.

So it’s not just Rocket Internet that’s doing it. The practice is so common worldwide that there’s a term for it: Competitive Keyword Advertising. It’s controversial for sure, and battles have been fought in courtrooms to settle scores, but often with cruel results for trademark owners.

The root of the unhappiness stems from how small business owners are disadvantaged against larger counterparts. Google AdWords placements work through a bidding process, which means bigger players have the upper hand due to their financial muscle. It’s no level playing field when smaller competitors don’t have the wherewithal to outbid the likes of Rocket Internet.

Trademark infringement comes into play here. Competitive Keyword Advertising isn’t evil per se, especially if the ad doesn’t cause any confusion and Google users are clear that the ad refers to a different company.

But a line is crossed when ad buyers deliberately use a competitor’s trademark in its copy, leading consumers to think that the Zalora ad, for example, is referring to Luxola. Ethically, the needs of consumers rise above all since e-commerce companies are ultimately serving shoppers.

Unfortunately, in terms of legal or arbitrary recourses, small business owners will find it tough going. Suing a trademark infringer is a costly, time-consuming process with no guarantee of victory.

Google has a well-documented arbitration process for such disputes which allows trademark owners to prevent ad buyers from using their names.

The problem though is that ethics is as useful as soiled tissue paper here. The process is subjected to intellectual property law, and again small business owners are disadvantaged.

Given the global nature of e-commerce businesses, a trademark infringer could easily place ads on the search pages of multiple countries. Small business owners, on the other hand, would unlikely have registered his or her trademarks at that point in each of these countries, a necessity since intellectual property does not cross borders.

And since Google requires trademark owners to show proof of their ownership, a registered trademark would have an advantage over an unregistered one since the former provides more clear-cut documentation.

Unfortunately, the process of registering trademarks can take a long time. I was told that it takes one to two years in the Philippines. And that’s an eternity in the startup world.

This is a reality that e-commerce companies in Southeast Asia must deal with. It can be a good omen: If competitors are willing to duel over keywords, there’s surely plenty of spoils to be won in the region’s e-commerce sweepstakes.

For startups and small business owners, their best recourse for now might be to apply public pressure on these large companies to change their practices. It’s an approach that appears to have the best shot of working.

Since the law favors the rich, it’s far better to appeal to the consumer’s moral sense.

Four Limitations of Mobile Marketing within a Geo-Fence

After reading the case study on “Proximity marketing” by iSIGN Media Corp, I did a bit more reading on the term “Geofencing”. It is quite an interesting topic for me to understand what are the other applications and challenges beyond supermarket mobile marketing.

“Geo-fence” is a fairly new term in the world of digital marketing. Basically, it depicts a virtual boundary created within a real-world geographical location. This boundary could be dynamically generated within a store or at a point location. Beyond that, geo-fences can also be set within school premises or neighborhood boundaries. It can be used for tracking of people's movement as well as providing crucial messages to users.

Although this form of mobile marketing is new, more targeted and more cost-effective as compared to standard in-store advertisements; it apparently has its limitations. Here are limitations that need to be addressed when using geo-fencing methods.

1. Call to Action - It is imperative that the marketing message and value preposition are attractive enough to entice users giving up their location privacy. Without participation, no campaign can be launched. Thus, the message needs to be succinct, location-relevant and one that calls for action.
   
   
2. Collect, analyze & refine – It is important to make use of the data collected during the marketing exercise to continue to fine tune the campaign based on data about buyers' behaviors, demographics and movements within the boundaries.
   
   
3. Permission Marketing – Make sure that customers' privacy are respected and permission is sought from them so as to prevent unnecessary interruption or intrusion to their shopping experience. They need to be well-informed of how the data are being used, why they are being invited to opt in and what they will be receiving in return.
   
   
4. 4 minutes rule & others – Within a relatively smaller geo-fence, the basic rule-of-thumb is to maintain the targeted location to be within 4 minutes walk or drive of the customers. If you are marketing to the customers while they are at the target location, then the call-to-action message must be more emphasized. Lastly, pre-event marketing for store, may be conveyed within a geofence that is not even at the store's vicinity.

Cheers!

Tony Leu

A Fantastic Website To Help You Build Your Digital Marketing Knowledge

http://searchenginewatch.com/

Totally love this website. As a traditional marketer moving into the digital marketing space, I really need a lot of reading and learning on this topic, especially on the latest digital marketing tools, trends and news.  

And Search Engine Watch is indeed one authoritative website that covers very much the whole of the internet marketing industry. I can really find loads of up-to-date news and practical information about the online marketing space. It is a well-organised site with topics on SEO, PPC, Analytics, Social Media, Mobile Marketing, Videos, Companies News and latest Technologies. 

Whether you are using a desktop or a mobile device, it allows you to enjoy intuitive and convenient website user experience through an optimised interface, supported with lively images and attractive colours.   

On a daily basis, if time permits, I will scan over the website for 20 to 30 minutes so as to "download" some of the latest news and information. Besides that, I've even followed this site on Facebook for added convenience in receiving any news updates.

If you are interested in building a career in digital marketing, this is definitely a fantastic website that I would recommend to follow regularly. It is entertaining and informative at the same time.    

Have a great week! :)

Tony Leu

Riding the wave of Mobile Advertising

In recent times, the number of users on tablet devices has been increasing together with the users of the mobile applications. Users now access information or create contents using applications installed in their mobile applications to share on various online social media platform.

Some popular applications even have high usage rates. This gives advertiser an alternative platform to expose the users to their products and services. Many free versions of the mobile applications contain advertisements to support the development of it. Most users of such applications do not mind having advertisements being streamed to them while using the applications as these free version of the applications served the general needs of the users in comparison to premium version of the applications.

As most of these free mobile applications serve advertisements from online advertising network, we can subscribe to the various advertising network for our advertisements to be served to these audiences. Certain developers or owners of the popular applications (STOMP) have their own advertising network (Eg: SPH). As the users of various applications are of specific interest, it is easy to identify the target audiences which we would like our advertisements to be targeted.

The advantage of serving advertisements to the users of mobile applications is having eyeballs and exposure to our targeted audiences anywhere and everywhere. Our advertisements are always on the move and not fix on one location. In comparison to the cost of advertising on print media, online advertising is significantly lower.

Some disadvantages of mobile advertising could be low click through rate. Most users of the applications are task-oriented. They may not react to the advertisements as their focus is on using the application to access information and to create or share contents. Another disadvantage would be advertisers will have to bid for the best advertising timing, position or frequency of exposure.

Hence for most advertisers, mobile application would be good for branding of the products and services. However, with careful planning to the advertising collaterals and eye-catching creative, as well as a good call-to-action messages in the advertising and good campaign, we could get users to click on the advertisements. We can also have a media strategy to serve the advertisements on times where users are most active on the applications. As well as narrow down on the advertising network or channels to advertise on.

Mobile advertising is relative new but it is a good channel for advertisers to promote their products and services. 

My thoughts on the Case Study on L'Oreal Redken Mobile (Feb 2013)

          Previously, when I did the Marketing Plan for the Avengers, while googling for research on mobile usage trend & statistics, I came to realize that with advancement in mobile devices like tablets & smart phones, which is so easily available & affordable, it has brought about a dramatic shift in consumers behavior, whereby many (my guess) companies (those smart ones) are taking advantages of this powerful & effective platform to reach out to their potential customers.

Thus, the way the marketing content is delivered should be as much as possible, tailor to the individual taste & preference; bottom line is that the content must be relevant.

Definitely, the way the content is delivered is also important i.e. how the marketing content is display on the smart phones & tablets, need to be aesthetic in terms design layout, entertaining, engaging & also informative (educational as cover in this case study).

From this case study, it clearly demonstrate the power of Mobile Marketing via a customize apps, educational program & salon locator.

My sudden thoughts on improving it (maybe has already been done) are:

i) On the salon locator apps, making use of GPS to know yr location & give info on the nearest saloon & any promotion currently (Proximity Marketing...)
To further entice the potential customer, with discount voucher, etc.

ii) On the Apps, if it can be more interactive, such that it will allow customer take a picture themselves then super-impose with different hair colorings for them to visualize how they will look.
In doing so, it speed the call to action....very effective!!!

To conclude, Mobile Marketing will be the hype & trend for the next 10 to 20 years...
why 10 to 20 years?....becruz when Nero-technology (use yr imagination!!) becomes so advance with tremendously improvement, certain trend will might shift by then....