Jaffe Juice

Bing it On!

I'm a few Mediapost columns behind (in terms of sharing them with on Jaffe Juice), so here's the one from September 18th, titled "Bing it On!" which essentially lauds Microsoft's head-to-head challenge with the mighty Googol. Interestingly, enough (and smartly enough), they're supporting this digital initiative with mainstream / traditional / paid media. Here's the full article:

 

In 1975, Pepsi launched their famous Pepsi Challenge, in which blind taste tests were conducted at various malls and pubic locations to gauge whether they would choose Coke or Pepsi. No surprise: the majority of consumers chose Pepsi over Coke. After all, if they’d chosen Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola would have buried these results 30,000 leagues under the sea.

The Pepsi Challenge is probably the most “classic” and direct example of the Cola Wars. In recent times, we’ve seen this brought to life in more indirect, tired head-to-head advertising, typically launched during one of the Super Bowls. Pepsi takes a more aggressive, “you’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny” approach, whereas Coke says, “chill out mate. Why can’t we all get along?”

Still, there’s something brave and ballsy about publicly taking on a competitor and letting the product do the talking, versus the creative directors. Along the same vane, probably worth sending props to Domino’s, which took a different, yet related approach with their Pizza Turnaround initiative.

Segue to present day, with Microsoft’s Bing finally ready to shake off its inferiority complex by taking on the mighty Google in a head to head, “blind” taste challenge. In “Bing it On,” consumers can type in any search term they choose and then have to choose between search result A (on the left) and B (on the right) as being the better/higher quality result. Alternatively, they can judge the round a tie. The catch if that they don’t know which search engine is on which side and the order is never consistent. (Sometimes, Bing is on the left and sometimes on the right.)

I took the test. Google won 4-0 with a fifth tied.

My initial reaction was to beat up on Microsoft. Yet another example of PC Guy getting the short end of the stick. In this case, they’d put it out there; let it all hang out…and now everyone was staring, pointing and laughing. Or were they?

On the surface, Pepsi won the Challenge against its bitter rivals, Coke. And yet Coke remained the preferred choice in the market. People use products, but they buy brands. Purchase decisions are typically not logical, rational or functional, but rather emotionally driven.

Malcolm Gladwell critiques the methodology of the Pepsi Challenge in his book, Blink, as fundamentally flawed based on initial “gut” reactions to sweeter tastes. Another way of looking at it was simply that labels do make the difference and when last I checked, we don’t purchase colas with our eyes closed…

So how does this impact Bing?

People have biases. Routines. Ingrained perceptions. And habitual behavior is the hardest to change. When I took the test, it’s quite possible (I’d even argue decisively probable) that subconsciously, I was visually looking for the search results that were the most consistent with my typical Google experience, as opposed to the best quality results.

The real innovation here was getting people to take the test in the first place – regardless of the results. Turning a ! into a ? is probably 80% of the battle in today’s crowded marketplace. Just getting a consumer to doubt the unquestionable efficacy of Google is a victory in of itself.

What if Google’s results aren’t the best results out there?

There’s an old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” That may be true, but it’s also equally true to state that “you do get a second chance to make a good second impression.”

And with that in mind, I decided to take the challenge again using keywords: Sales Force, Serena Williams, E.T., iPhone 5 and RFiD

This time, Bing won 4 out of 5 rounds, with the 5^th going to Google.  

That’s good news for Microsoft. The bad news of course is that functional benefit is not necessary a guarantee of success (see Pepsi)

Bing it On!

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/183062/bing-it-on.html#ixzz28EubZVdH

 

JJTV #125 - GroupOn tells Google where to GetOff

WOW! $6 billion dollars is a lot of money (even in my book), except if you're GroupOn founder, Andrew Mason, who just rejected an acquisition offer from the Mighty Googol.

So why not the love? Purchase price not high enough? Greed? Hubris? Deep philosophical concerns? All of the above? None of the above?

Actually none of that really matters. What *does* matter is the rise of "local social" and the role that group-based social-commerce is going to continue to play in our lives.

Get your Groove...'er Group On.

What do you think? Let me know.

• Share JJTV with your local merchants, colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV - GroupOn tells Google where to GetOff...so what's the real story here? http://bit.ly/localsocial
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JJTV #105 - The single greatest branding exercise in our time

Google built a mega-global brand with barely a penny spent on marketing and advertising as we know it.

What's the only example of any kind of visual or graphic on their homepage? Their own logo! And who foots the bill for their free impressions and exposure? You (the marketer) and I (the consumer).

Quite brilliant.

In a world where marketers are so fixated on esoteric and meaningless brand minutia like brand guidelines, Google - once again - swims against against the grain and shows that's not just ok, it's pretty damn awesome to mess with the logo.

In this case, it's to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-man (boy do I feel old!)

Bottom line: Google teaches us that even within the lowly keyword text search buy, creativity is as creativity does. It does not discriminate. It has no favorite form. It's all about the idea, it's originality, it's relevance and it's execution.

Spread the word:

• Share JJTV with your creative dept, your colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV - What Google teaches us about branding and creativity in advertising. Yes, Google! http://bit.ly/dtTAgA
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Joe the Plumber

Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So apparently "Joe the Plumber" was one of the most Googled terms during Thursday's Presidential Debate. Looks like Obama's team got on the search bandwagon to determine how Joe will actually be affected (turns out most plumbers are doing just fine during these challenging economic times)

As an side, gotta love the REAL Joe the Plumber who must be benefiting like crazy from all the increased traffic from his URL: www.joetheplumber.com - hell, he's even thinking about making a run for the Presidency, butt-crack and all.

NPR, Toilets and Death Stars

I was interviewed on NPR yesterday about Google's announcement regarding Maps and allowing consumers to create their own mash-ups using the Maps API.

I was actually at Pershing Square for breakfast at the time and I ended up taking the interview in the staff toilet!

Take a listen: Download 11_mktmorn.mp3

Maybe this whole search thing will just blow over...

...or maybe, as Ad Age's Matt Creamer puts it, Lord Maurice Saatchi is just "out of touch"

Creamer is referring to an Financial Times Op Ed piece quilled by Lord Saatchi which basically underscores the great divide between old marketing and new marketing. It also represents everything wrong with traditional advertising world - marketer, agency and media alike.

In his diatribe, Saatchi poo-poos the little upstart search engine called Google, and discounts "prediction" in favor of "perception"

Saatchi explains that, "People do not know what they want until a brilliant person shows them," and yet discounts the fact that a brilliant person can also be a brilliant algorithm. Perhaps human search like Mahalo.com will be critiqued in Saatchi's next technology master-piece. I'm holding my breath.

I'm not finished. Let's dissect that statement a little more:

• "People do not know what they want" - I find this statement to be arrogant and patronizing. It's time we stop underestimating the consumer who knows exactly what he or she wants...or at least has a good idea
• "until a brilliant person shows them" - Saatchi illustrates this point with Henry Ford, but who exactly is this "brilliant person" in today's times? Which "brilliant person" works on Madison Avenue and is "showing" consumers what they want? And while we're talking about Ford, are we talking about the same company that introduced Bold Moves and recently had a CMO change.

The rest of the article is full of hyperbole and vague, abstract and obscure metaphors. Sound familiar? Remind you of a certain golden goose that helped Maurice pay down his various villas?

BTW, I Googled "Lord Saatchi" and the third ranked result took me to a critique of his litany of obtuse and out of touch tirades. Guess the algorithm works fine after all.

PS Gotta love the banner that appeared directly above the Ad Age article

The fountain of youth

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners have teamed up with Google to create a rather interesting mash-up for their Saturn client.

New York Times reports on this new partnership, which is akin to MSN's custom- solutions initiative, i.e. allow agencies and a media publisher/vendor to create original ideas from a blank canvas.

What I like about it is the following:

• Invisible Technology
• Smart Targeting
• Innovative use of multiple assets such as Earth, Video/Click-to-play
• 3D modeling/viewing
• Personalization

Truthfully, it's not the best execution I've ever seen...a bit band-aided together (with some freaky privacy issues potentially), but it is a pretty good start in the right direction (after all, it's helped make Rich Silverstein 10 years younger - see below)

Here are some keeper quotes:

“Google wants to prove it’s an effective way to market,” Mr. (Rich) Silverstein said. “Saturn wants to sell Auras. And we want to show how we can tell good stories in a 21st-century way.

“The world doesn’t need another area to run a commercial; we’ve got plenty,” Mr. Silverstein said.

“I am so excited,” Mr. Silverstein, who is usually not given to hyperbole, said of the project. “I feel 10 years younger.”

Run Brand, Run!

Simply terrific experiential mashup done by AKQA for Nike as part of their Run London effort, using Google Maps to produce a communal-based route-finder.

Searches can be done by criteria such as "Flat as Holland", "well-lit", Park versus road and of course by distance. Courses can be shared, printed, saved and even...run!

Nicely done! This is yet another smart way of demonstrating life after the 30-second spot!

Why elephants and rooftops don't mix

Via adland, this post about a brand new media agency that has popped up to better serve our obese ad budgets. They're called RooFShout and their mission in life is to help you rise above the clutter...at least until you hit the Penthouse.

"...I figure there's a lot of blank roofs and a lot of advertising that could go on the roofs," waxes RooFShout's man with a plan, Colin Fitz-Gerald.

Piers Fawkes and myself discussed this phenomenon at length on ATS #19. While I do think there are opportunities (some signficant) in the roofvertising space, they will be exceptions rather than the norm. Furthermore, from a scaleability perspective, gazing out your aircraft window isn't going to cut it...Google Maps/Earth is going to play an important role, but the million $$$ question will lie in how often (as in recency) these maps are updated.

In the case of the wonderful Fiat campaign for example, a bunch of Fiats and a Ferrari were buried underneath the snow in Torino. Only problem was that when I searched...the ground looked very green.

The gaaagle reflex

Come on, you didn't think Google would be except from all the consumer generated content and communal marketing it has helped build up, network, tag and share, did you?

Via the Spunker, this post about the launch of Gaaagle, which ultimately using Google to present a very focused search experience on things like...you know...greed, evilosity, Chinese Freedom. Good times.

The real story of course is whether Google has Gaaaagled Gaaagle, in which case would it just be proving or validating the criticism in the first place? Give it a try...go gaaagle google.

There are some videos and other multimedia stuff. The Spunker has been kind enough to archive one or two of them just in case further gaaagling takes place (wikipedia here we come!)