Top Internet Brands in the News & Two Top Trends

It’s easy to get lost in the details of the daily news churn as it relates to today’s top internet brands like Google rated #1 brand globally and Facebook.

The top Internet brands*, according to a key ranking on unique visitors are:

Compete's Top 10 Sites Ranked By: Unique Visitors - April 2010

Domain & Unique Visitors

1 google.com 145,646,954

2 Facebook.com 135,375,036

3 yahoo.com 128,239,023

4 Youtube.com 90,780,604

5 msn.com 85,656,793

6 amazon.com 72,195,127

7 live.com 71,490,935

8 ebay.com 67,715,471

9 wikipedia.org 62,762,314

10 bing.com 50,122,089

Each of the top Internet brands faces similar privacy and open content issues as they are challenged to grow. Here are some updates:

1. There is a constant barrage of invasion of privacy issues.

* Facebook has repeatedly been the target of privacy controversies. When Facebook started sharing personal data and online behavior with outside websites, an advocacy group filed a complaint on May 5 with the Federal Trade Commission about the misuse of personal information. Some 31,000 users, less than 1% of total Facebook users, banded together to create the Quit Facebook Day website. Although the site attracted attention, it did not make a dent in decreasing Facebook users.

* Congress has asked Google and Facebook for cooperation into inquiries regarding privacy practices. Google had a snafu with WIFI data that was mistakenly collected in Luxembourg.

2. Foreign countries are challenging the open content concept.

• Youtube and Facebook have had numerous incidents. Facebook is banned already in Syria, China, Iran and Vietnam. Just recently, both Facebook and Youtube were banned from Pakistan due to inappropriate Muslim content. They have since been allowed to be reinstated by censoring out content inappropriate to Muslims. Bangladesh followed Pakistan’s lead and banned Facebook as well.

• Italy is threatening Google’s open content premise and business model. Three Google executives were convicted of violating Italian privacy laws because the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to control Internet content. He believes that the Google leadership is responsible for third-party text, photos and videos and if the conviction is upheld, Google’s business model of advertising and searching based on open access to all will be at peril.

As these top Internet brands continue to grow and attain more market share, power and revenues, you can expect to read more news regarding yet undiscovered privacy issues. Just remember that you can have a voice through collective groups online, through social media campaigns and our government and politicians if you want to speak your mind.

You can also expect additional foreign countries, be it Western Europe or third-world countries, to be questioning and censoring the Internet to suit their politics, policies or religions. The overall nature of the Internet may look very different from country to country in the future. Each of the Internet brands may look very different overseas vs. the US version of the same brand. It is not unusual for the global expansion of any US brand to face serious issues unique to each country. It will be necessary for the management to be in close touch with their foreign consumer insights and constituents in order to succeed. What are your thoughts?

What’s next for these top Internet brands? I guarantee there will be a lot of change, aligning of powers (Yahoo’s online search deal with Microsoft), some further company consolidations and product/service brand expansions. For instance, although Google started out as a pure search engine business, they have expanded into more software-like enterprises with Chrome OS, Docs and Android. Google is even entering the media industry with its “Internet TV” deal with Sony this fall. What do you think is on the horizon?

* Note that I am including only pure-play internet brands (but not for long) and not brands that have brick-and-mortar, multi-channel or manufacturing components.

(For the curious, here are some additional rankings based on: Best Global Brands, Great B2B sites, Top E-retailers, Top website designs, and on and on depending on what criteria or industry you want to look at).

Brands and the Media: The Trust Factor

When we hear bad news about a major company, we follow avidly as former brand kingpins are toppled from their lofty thrones in the few minutes it takes to post a news release online. How do media reports affect our brand loyalty, and how do they impact the degree of trust we feel toward these brand leaders?

For example, BP PLC has been charged with responsibility for the worst oil spill disaster in history—thanks to the oil rig fire that has destroyed not only fishermen’s livelihoods, ruined coastal environments and caused upheaval to the world’s oil supply but also encased BP’s formerly stellar reputation as a global brand (ranked #83 in 2009) in slimy residue. Greenpeace recently posted make-over’s of the company’s logo on its website depicting the oil company with less than complimentary images and words.

We’ve also seen the previously pristine Toyota brand suffer immense damage as a result of their unwillingness to put customer safety above corporate profits and performance. Today they are still trying to repair their tarnished image after a series of embarrassments and ongoing reports about manufacturing negligence and lack of responsiveness to consumer complaints.

Even the highly-vaunted Lexus brand was hit hard after Consumer Reports, a trusted source of information about brands in various consumer goods categories, labeled the 2010 Lexus GX 460 dangerous and issued a “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” recommendation in its April 13 Cars Blog. The impact of such a warning could lead to a drop in overall sales for Toyota, especially as the company is trying to recover from its recall fiasco.

Worse than the lost auto sales for Toyota is the loss of consumer confidence in its brand. Numerous Lexus owners posted comments on CR’s Cars Blog the day the “don’t buy” warning was announced, expressing feelings ranging from deep concern to total outrage. Some readers even stated their annoyance with Consumer Reports: “…I hope that CR isn't trying to stay relevant by feeding into today's 24-hour news cycle with its insatiable hunger for negative news.”

Public opinion is very sensitive to media reporting of real or perceived disasters and debacles. Not even President Obama is immune from brand erosion. Denny Hatch’s blog, Business Common Sense, says it succinctly: “Obama’s massive PR failure (following the BP oil rig fire)…is not about politics, it’s about process—an exercise in public relations and communication that directly applies to every organization—a one-person entrepreneurship, CEOs of a small business or a giant corporation all the way up to the President of the United States.” 

The issue in question is not the facts of what the White House did or didn’t do right after the fire, but the perception transmitted by multiple media channels that they did nothing. Says Hatch, “This is about critics putting negative spin on administration policies and the White House shrugging it all off.” Hatch’s conclusion is worth noting: “It’s not good when the face of your organization has egg on it.”

Not all news is bad news, however, and plenty of media attention was showered upon Apple when it introduced its newest offspring, the iPad, such as the glowing review published by Engadget. As Apple has so often and so masterfully branded itself, and Time magazine reported just prior to the iPad’s launch, “…it's not about the features—it's about the experience. You just have to try it to see what I mean."

In a time of brand flux and economic uncertainty, it all comes down to the user experience. If Toyota’s products are deemed unsafe, their sales plummet. If the oil giant BP fails to respond quickly and appropriately to a global disaster, their image is damaged and their credibility suffers. If the White House seems to turn a deaf ear to a major environmental disaster, they are perceived as uncaring and unresponsive. If a company like Apple continues to offer products that customers love, they will enjoy market domination, which makes it difficult for competitors to gain an advantage.

All of these situations ultimately focus on the relationship between a brand and its customers. It comes down to trust. Is your brand trustworthy? Can you identify other companies who have lost or gained trust in the marketplace as a result of being scrutinized by the media? Share with us the way your brand has been affected—positively or negatively—by media coverage.

Brand Trends that Engage Your Consumers

Brands have reached new heights on engaging and influencing their audiences. One-way messaging designed solely to build awareness and increase sales has been replaced by a message that focuses on the consumer’s experience and the role and relationship they have with the brand.

As mentioned in our post on Monday, social media is on the rise. This has given companies a first-hand chance to directly engage consumers. Advertising can be personalized based on the user’s wants and needs. Face it - consumers have a voice in today’s branding mix more than ever before.

Let’s take a look at some recent successful brand engagement campaigns and techniques.

GO ONLINE: GIVEAWAYS & POLLS

· Dockers. Remember their commercials from the SuperBowl this year – go online during or after the game for a chance to win a free pair of Dockers? Did their giveaway yield results? Yes! Not only was ‘Dockers free pants’ the most searched term on Google in the United States on Sunday and Monday, but maybe more importantly the pants giveaway engaged consumers. Jen Sey, vp of global marketing at Dockers said, “Our objectives for our Super Bowl ad were clear - we wanted to first get consumers' attention back on Dockers, but more importantly, we wanted to engage them in our brand and get them into our new products.”

· Cottonelle. Another popular engagement campaign (and one that was certainly visible throughout the Chicago area) was the Great Debate: Roll Poll done by Cottonelle. Consumers were asked how they roll their toilet paper - over or under. Answers could be submitted online or through text messaging. It was easy to track the results and declare a winner at the end of the poll. This poll challenged consumers to think about how they use the product in a non-traditional way.

· Mountain Dew. Through their campaign – DEWmocracy – Mountain Dew is allowing consumers to vote on the next new beverage flavor. Users can go to the website to cast their vote and see a timeline and breakdown of votes. This campaign allows consumers to make a product decision. Will DEW drinkers have more loyalty to the brand after being engaged in the decision-making process?

TELL THE BRAND’S STORY: THE AVERAGE USER BECOMES A BRAND CELEBRITY/SPOKESPERSON

· Old Navy. Who doesn’t want a chance to be a featured mannequin in Old Navy stores and win $100,000 in the process? Old Navy recently featured commercials with people acting as the mannequin in an America’s Next Top Model atmosphere as part of their Supermodelquin Super Search. While the winner still has yet to be announced (June 3), the search drove thousands of entries and certainly increased brand awareness.

· Activia. It’s one thing to have a celebrity talk about her improved regularity when adding Activia yogurt to her diet, it’s another thing to have someone who could be your friend, neighbor or mom tell you. The Activia Challenge web page lets you be the judge of the effectiveness of their yogurt. You can Hear the Real Results from Real People or be one of those voices yourself. While there is no grand prize for being part of the challenge, coupons are available as is a refund if the challenge doesn’t work.

· Pantene Pro-V. Pantene this week announced the World’s First Reality Hair Star. Many women entered for a chance to put Pantene’s hair products to the test. This is yet another example of a company empowering the consumer to be the brand spokesperson.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS: BUILDING A BRAND COMMUNITY

· Nike Plus. Buy the shoes and gear, track your workouts and connect with others in the Nike community. Nike Plus encourages its consumers to do more than just wear its product. An online community exists for other Nike Plus users to share workout information, join challenges, motivate each other, and have a conversation about their experiences. What does your brand do to build strong relationships with its consumers? Do you have a brand community?

· US Cellular. This telecommunications company is in the business of connecting calls and connecting people. In their “Real Everyday People” advertising efforts, they are highlighting an average, but unique US Cellular customer and then including his/her cell phone number at the end of the commercial. Viewers can then connect directly with this person to learn more about his/her experiences. By doing this, US Cellular is creating a community and a personal touch to their brand.

· Threadless. This Chicago-based tee-shirt company is all about community with their ongoing, open call for designers. Without a strong community Threadless wouldn’t be able to do everything they do. They rely on users to submit and score designs. Your design gets selected and your tees get sold on the website. Way to empower the consumer to participate and support the brand. What feedback do you seek from your users and consumers?

These are just a handful of examples of what some companies are doing to more actively get their consumers to participate in their brand. What examples do you relate to most? What is your company doing to attract and engage consumers? Does it work and, if so, how are you measuring results? Let’s share our ideas!

Risky or Smart? The new trend of “Omega Male” Marketing

Old Spice’s Isaiah Mustafa has gained fame and made viewers laugh for his portrayal in the brand’s somewhat goofy “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Campaign.” Axe has its Theaxeeffect.com website where men are invited to visit such sites as the “Women’s Attention Deficit Disorder research center at AXE.” Miller Lite has launched The Miller Lite Registry – a Website supplementing Miller’s TV ad where a groom registers for beer when his fiancé isn’t looking.

These examples showcase a growing trend of brands positioning themselves toward a certain type of young, single male. There are a couple of common themes or tactics used across this trend, which Slate’s Jessica Grose might call omega male brands (See: “Omega Males and the Women Who Hate Them,” March 18, 2010). First, humor, often colorful and demographic specific, is central within the message. Second, women are used in the appeal (e.g., using the product will help attract women, or women are key to the punch line).

In this context, these tactics can be considered risky because the messages being communicated may ultimately alienate other people in the market. For example, perhaps male members that are more conservative or slightly older may be offended by the colorful humor. Maybe some female fiancés take their registries seriously and don’t like the implication that their soon-to-be grooms’ have a blasé attitude toward gift registry.

Maybe not. How does a brand marketer find the right balance? Old Spice seems to have struck the right tone given what we know of the popularity of Isaiah Mustafa. But last fall, Burger King and Pepsi seemingly missed the mark - with both receiving public criticism and Pepsi offering an apology. Begging the question, what might the short- and long-term consequences of “omega male branding” be?

The trend of omega male marketing and brands is worth examining because it can be related to the “big-picture” choices brand marketers make every day. We understand that we can’t be everything to everybody and be successful. However, does that mean we are willing to risk offending those that fall outside of our target market? We welcome your thoughts.

The Tsunami Impact of Social Media (and Tips to Help you Swim Through It)

Brace yourself, the social media Tsunami has reached land! Facebook has 400 million worldwide users, Youtube is the second largest search engine with more than 2 billion views per day, 80 percent of U.S. companies’ primary tool for finding employees is LinkedIn, there are over 200 million blogs, there are 18.1 million Twitter users, and 48 percent of U.S. consumers over 12 years old have one or more social network profiles.

Yes, social media networks are not only mainstream, but are the #1 online activity, surpassing porn. They’re growing and morphing into something new even while you are reading this blog (like the new Facebook Open Graph platform and Foursquare’s badge marketing).

How has it changed the everyday consumer and our brands? Our fundamental human behavior has changed, no joke. There’s been a paradigm shift in the ways you and I interact with each other. Instead of using a Jewish Yenta or your friend as a typical matchmaker, 17 percent of U.S. couples successfully turned to online dating services to find their wife or husband last year. Such powerful social networks have created an active, targeted two-way flow for people to easily connect, relate, and meaningfully communicate between themselves and with entire businesses and brand entities. Networks like Facebook travel beyond the old boundaries of privacy with photos, fans and the new “like” buttons that now track your online activities outside of Facebook. Even Twitter has quickly narrowed the communication gap between a brand and its consumers. Let’s face it, our privacy standards are now looser, more transparent, easily accessible and yes, in a sense, more personal.

This is where you, as the marketer, come into play. You have amazing power at your fingertips, but only if you use it strategically, honestly and very, very quickly, in order to stay ahead of competition, of course.

As a veteran brand marketer, I know what your daily life is like with management reports, balancing the marketing mix, executing near perfection, measuring results and aligning company objectives. Of course you need to prove that your ideas are efficient and effective. To help you out, I have compiled some key facts that any marketer could use. Explore these sources, share these facts with your management, align them with your objectives and create a story for diving into the turbulent social network marketing waters.

Facts and Studies for Building a Social Networking Case for Management

* 221 million total U.S. online users

* 125 million U.S. Facebook users

* 43.5% of US Internet users use social networks, this is set to rise to 50% by 2012

* Average of 5.5 hours/month spent on social networking sites

* Internet users who use social networks are more likely to shop online, especially under 25s (Gen Y) who are more than 2x as likely to be online shoppers (Gen X 50% more likely)

* 30% of social network users visit several times/day, 20% visit nearly everyday (Twitter Usage in America)

* Depending on your target market, different generations use social media differently.

* 1 of 5 internet users (18%) purchased because they saw something on a social network site although there is low trust from the consumers (Vision Critical, 2010)

* 47% of U.S. consumers consider a brand message on a social site most trustworthy when in the form of a discussion or recommendation from friends, family or contacts within the site, and 33% consider coupons or special offers most reliable (Vision Critical, 2010)

* Everyone can be a publisher on the Internet through reviews, company blogs, fan pages, “like” buttons, Twitter messages, LinkedIn updates, etc. This means that companies cannot control the positive or the negative content about a brand. Although this is a legitimate fear, don’t be afraid of negative PR.

* Be patient, a long-term strategy pays off in social media.

* 70% of U.S. consumers trust opinions posted online as much as brand websites

* Companies most engaged in social networks experienced more than 18% increase in revenues and those the least engaged experienced a 6% decrease.

http://brandsmart.chicagoama.org/