There isn’t a lot of variability when it comes to text ads. A search for mortgages leads you to ads that repeat the word ‘mortgage’ several times with perhaps a couple of rates thrown in. Most other keywords produce similar outcomes.
It’s rare that a simple text ad stands out among the crowd. And if it does, one is usually witnessing the work of an inexperienced search marketer (see our Playing with Matches column). So when there is a search campaign that thinks beyond normal constraints, it certainly needs to be called out. Tide’s search ads for its Loads of Hope movement break the traditional “rules” of search and build a brand in a channel typically seen as a simple direct response medium.
Though the ad in the screenshot broad matches into a less relevant query, there’s no denying that the ad has a couple of things going for it. At first you might wonder why Tide is showing up for Nashville, but in this case it only adds to the intrigue. Additionally, the landing page leads, not to the Tide homepage, but to a Twitter page where Tide can continue to have a conversation with those already interested after having clicked on the ad. Lastly, the Twitter page highlights Tide’s generosity with free laundry tweets for Tennessee flood victims rather than selfishly demanding something from its visitors. I don’t know how Tide is measuring success from this campaign, but from our point of view, it’s already successful.
Snaps for Tide.
Tags: loads of hope, nashville, Sarah Hu, tide, twitter