"...Brands now have a need to consider every online touch-point and how they can influence purchase decisions beyond the virtual front door of their corporate website" Quote from the "The Search and Social Media Report" from the IAB and Microsoft Advertising In a social media obsessed industry the cold hard fact remains that search engines are still the most influential gatekeepers of links (that you can directly influence!) between your brand and consumers. The brilliance of search engine marketing is that behind every search query is a person that fits into a well defined segment based on their motivation to search at that time. As a refresher it's good to think about the concept of the "intent" behind a search query. Read the rest of this entry...

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Working within an industry that changes direction in real-time and advising our clients on the best route to take can be tough for us online marketers. Whether PPC is dying or traditional PR skills are history we're constantly being bombarded with the latest industry trends and everyone's views on it. What we do all need to do is to remember to stop, take stock and focus on the goal. I attended an E-Consultancy round table earlier this week discussing Online PR & Social Media and the outcome was interesting. It was also peppered with a lot of questions and statements such as; We need developed measurement, We must move our clients forward within Social Media, Should our clients use interactive games to communicate with their customers? Whose responsibility should it be to interact with customers through social network platforms? In my opinion, the answer to all of these questions should be considered with; What will meet my client's objectives and what is my client...

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Historically some of the biggest brand wars of the past have been in the FMCG market between the big consumer players, and Coke and Pepsi have certainly been no exception! Often in the past Coke and Pepsi have beaten each other up by signing up exclusive supplier deals through restaurant and pub chains. A fact I encounter on an all too regular basis. How often have you been in a pub or restaurant and you ask for a Coke only to be met with the response 'is Pepsi okay'? Then you try to be clever on your next pub or resturant outing and ask for a Pepsi, only to be met by the response 'is Coke okay'? Annoying isn't it? All I want is a soft drink - Coke or Pepsi, I don't care! Sorry a slight sore point with me as you may have guessed. This brings me to Coke's most recent one-up-manship campaign in the US, aimed to get one over on Pepsi. Soft drink brands Coke Vault and Mtn Dew (owned by PepsiCo) are fierce competitors in the US and Coke has just launched a clever campaign called...

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