If the internet is making brands more accessible, shouldn’t modern brands act like real friends, real partners, and encourage real dialogue? This is why modern brands must be “always on” or “always there.”

Traditional branding consisted of laser-focused messaging and execution according to a well-crafted, yet ever-changing, media plan, the brand-to-consumer bible of sorts. As in, we do our branding in these channels during these times (and we really hope our target consumer listens).

That’d be like calling up my most trusted friend and having him say, “Oooh sorry, Nick. I’m actually only flighted between August and November. Please check back then.”

If modern brands are built around purpose, then it’s time we act like it. Agencies and marketers, more than ever, are the modern brand. Our voices are the brand voice.

What are those moments that consumers turn to us? When must we be present, regardless of scale? For modern brands, which is more important: mass exposure to a passive audience, or always being there for a captive audience? The answer is both… for now.

Your “always there” brand does need to prioritize somewhat, though. To begin the modernization of your brand, you still have to allocate marketing dollars strategically. The following will lay out five stepping stones for the modernization of your “always there” brand.

To start, build a solid foundation for your modern brand in your website. Think of your website as your modern brand’s home. When you invite guests to your home, there are certain expectations from your guests and certain manners the host should demonstrate. Remember the above: you are the brand you “manage”, so these certainties should not change. Also remember, from a previous post, the concept of bridge mediums in Digital Branding, the mediums that take your consumer from their home to your brand’s home.

Next, a mixture of bought and earned media: Search, Display, Social, and Mobile. Why these four buckets? Because your consumer, almost regardless of demographic or industry, spends the vast majority of their time interacting in these environments. This enables your modern brand to meet the “always there” standards. Wherever and whenever your consumer is in need, your brand is “always there.”

Modern brand communication platforms are perfect blends of bought, owned, and earned media. And the key concept behind these platforms is the purpose to be “always there.”

So, when your brand receives a call from your consumer, are you there to answer the call?

The Wall Street Journal reports that the second iteration of the fastest selling Apple product of all time has begun production. After selling 14.8 million iPads in 2010, the technology giant needs to fend off an increasing amount of competitors like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, and the HP Slate. IDC,  a Global Marketing Intelligence Firm, predicts 30 million iPads will be sold in 2011. According to WSJ, here is what “people familiar with the matter” had to say about a new version coming out:

“The new device will be thinner, lighter and will come with a faster processor, more memory and a more powerful graphics processor . . . It will have a front-facing camera for the first time for features like video-conferencing, but the resolution of the new iPad’s display will be similar to the first iPad.”

iOS 4.3 is expected to come out in this week with new features for both the iPhone and iPad. The developer pack eludes to wireless syncing, Photobooth, personal wi-fi hotspot and a front facing camera for the new iPad. Another exciting feature is photo streams that friends will be able to follow, much like Instagram and PicPlz. All of these features come together to offer high engagement with our mobile devices and opportunities for brands to connect with their customers. Advertisers will have no shortage of ways to engage customers but will need to pick the ones that will increase brand affinity and potentially lifetime value.

By now everyone knows that the Giants knocked out their fifth quarterback of the season Monday night. Dallas QB Tony Romo is out for the rest of the season because he broke his left clavicle.

As the story was developing during the Giants’ 41-35 win over the Cowboys Monday night, my group of friends debated what a clavicle was. And by debate, I mean that I was doubting my friend’s assertion that clavicle was the medical name for collarbone (because, let’s face it, why mess with the name collarbone).

My iPhone came to the rescue. I searched for ‘clavicle’ on Google and my argument was quickly put down: clavicle is indeed the medical name for collarbone. But what was most interesting about my search experience is that Google Latest Results showed Tweets about Romo’s injury – on the keyword ‘clavicle’ – I didn’t even have to search for “romo clavicle.”

Disclosure: the Search Shots blog editors are huge NY Giants fans.  We reserve the right to expunge any and all mentions of turnovers and interceptions in our NFL coverage.

He’s got flowers, one tooth and what looks like a green roof.

Announcing: the Updated Google SEO Starter Guide!

Google recently updated its handy SEO Starter Guide, first published in 2008.  The refreshed guide is very similar to its predecessor but with some timely, new additions and a cute new mascot.  It’s easier to read, with more images, better explanations, an SEO glossary and a new section devoted to mobile search.

Who’s it for?  The guide offers something for most experience levels such as SEO beginners, webmasters, brand managers or anyone interested in Google and how it works.  You can download the PDF offered by Google here.

What got better?  Enhancements can be found throughout the document referring to new tools and code that have been accepted since the 2008 publication.  The additions include:

• The canonical tag
• Adding image XML sitemaps
• SEO for mobile phones

The Canonical Tag

The canonical tag was introduced in early 2009 to help alleviate duplicate content problems – a core issue for many sites when more than one URL on a single domain hosts the same content (or largely similar content) forcing a site to compete with itself.

Example: <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish” />

The use of a canonical tag is a hint to the search engines as to which URL should be returned in the organic search results and provide webmasters with more control over the URLs that are displayed.

XML Sitemaps

XML sitemaps were still somewhat new in 2008, when the original Google SEO Starter Guide was published. Now they are an expected way of informing search engines which URLs to index and recently are able to inform search engines of vertical search assets such as images and videos.

SEO for Mobile Phones

The SEO for Mobile Phones section is particularly helpful for anyone with a mobile site or considering the addition of one. Often, when mobile sites are created, they fail to redirect mobile users or search engines to the mobile-specific site. The guide offers good information on submitting a mobile site to Google as well as best practices for directing mobile users (and mobile search engine bots) to the right content.

Google recently announced the ability to target iPads through the AdWords interface. While this development does present additional ways to leverage mobile, it’s important to realize that iPads are included in the “All mobile devices” targeting option in Google along with other high end mobile devices, e.g. iPhones, Android and Palm phones.

If you manage an account that is currently running a mobile campaign on Google with settings that target “All mobile devices,” it may be worth opting out of iPad targeting, specifically. This can be done under the ‘Settings’ tab for any campaign within the AdWords UI. Under the “Networks and devices” sub-header, click “Edit” next to “Devices,” then change targeting to “Target only selected mobile devices” and de-select the iPad as an option.

This adjustment is important for anyone running a click-to-call campaign, since phone calls cannot currently be placed from an iPad.

This week, SearchShots introduces Best In Show, our new blog feature that allows team members to critique the work of others and showcase our standards for search marketing campaigns. Today, we are reviewing mobile search campaigns in the financial services category. Has a competitor (or anyone) caught your eye for being remarkable or awful in search? We want to hear from you! Email us at razorfishsearch@razorfish.com

In the US, Mobile phone internet usage penetration is projected to increase from 83.5% 2010 to 126.2% 2013 (source: EMarketer, November 2009).  “Searching for information” accounts for 66% of US mobile phone internet activities (source: Ruder Finn, November 2009), providing a new platform for our clients to reach potential customers.

Publishers are catching on and delivering new mobile targeted opportunities.  In 2009, Google released the functionality to target High End Mobile Devices (HEMD): devices that have full internet browsing capabilities, show standard HTML and can support conversion activity from start to finish.

We decided to search around in the financial services category to see who is taking advantage of the mobile search opportunity on HEMD.

Search Results and Mobile Site Experience for ‘Bank of America’:

Search Results and Mobile Site Experience for ‘Fidelity’:

When you compare Bank of America and Fidelity, it’s clear that Fidelity is not delivering on the mobile user’s intent, but rather opting their desktop search campaigns into HEMD targeting without a mobile strategy. The copy and the landing page are identical to the branded search results on a desktop. The message is not connected to the mobile user’s intent and the landing page is not easy to navigate from the small screen.

On the other hand, Bank of America’s copy has a call-to-action to download their mobile app, which is appropriate for mobile user intent. Their mobile messaging is relevant and the site experience is easy to navigate on the small screen.

Financial Services providers should take advantage of the mobile search opportunity: implement a local strategy, leverage mobile ads with Local Business Extensions and drive the user to nearest Branch/ATM.  The testing opportunities for mobile search are endless. Financial Service providers should also test to learn the intent of mobile brand searchers by rotating different messages and call-to-actions (i.e. supporting Mobile Banking App download, Branch/ATM locator, click-to-call for customer service messages, etc).

Our Mobile Search Recommendation: Isolate the mobile SEM experience from the desktop. Pay off the mobile search query with the right experience.  Improve your campaign’s ROI and position your client as an innovator among the competitive set. For more information, read our mobile case study that shows how a Fortune 100 retail client leveraged the advanced Google Mobile HEMD targeting.

Have you had a mobile search experience that you loved (or hated)? We want to hear from you, so post your comments.

You may already be aware of Google’s effort to include location-specific business phone numbers in ads that appear on mobile devices with a full internet browser.  In fact, you may even be wondering when this function will be available to you.  Well, the wait is over – Google has officially announced the launch of clickable local phone numbers in mobile ads for users without full Internet browser access.  The cost of a click to call your business will be the same as the cost of a click to visit your website.  Activating the functionality is as easy as a visit to your AdWords set up.

Quite often, people using their mobile devices to search for goods or services are also interested in calling the advertiser directly to get additional info or to have questions answered.  It seems Google’s development of clickable local phone numbers was an inevitable step in the progression of mobile search.

Now, with the inclusion of clickable local phone numbers, potential customers searching Google via their mobile devices will see the phone number of the store location nearest to them.  Users are then connected directly to brick and mortar locations simply through a paid search ad, making their journey in the purchase funnel that much closer to ending at the advertiser’s location.

As mentioned by Paul Feng, Google’s Group Product Manager for Mobile Ads, “the local number provides additional ’credibility‘ or ’confidence‘ and the user is more inclined to click or call. The phone number also visually stands out in the way that the location line does on traditional PC ads.”  Advertisers will thus have a leg up on the competition when potential customers have direct access to phone lines set up to schedule consultations.

It is important to note, however, that this feature will only be available on high-end mobile handsets with full HTML browsers.  Even with these limitations there are also opportunities.  Activating this feature is a simple two step process in AdWords.

Once advertisers have opted in, they will benefit from this feature’s tracking capabilities.  AdWords allows its advertisers to track how many calls they receive via the clickable local phone numbers.  They are able to easily measure the results of this specific effort and determine its success.

The beta run of Google’s introduction of clickable local phone numbers in mobile ads has proven to be a great asset.  In fact, advertisers who participated in the beta have seen improved click through rates.  They also received increased visits to their websites as well as incremental phone calls.

Leave it up to Google the make it as easy as a click from your mobile phone.

Article by Jamie Jones