Gettin’ Google With It

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Posted by Guest Blogger: Liz Dodder, Nestlé USA’s Online Communications Manager

I admit it; I’m addicted to Google. I Google everything from prospective boyfriends, song lyrics and frittata recipes to Argentinean vacations and rush hour driving times (not to mention the best thing on Google Maps, Street View). So when I learned I was going to Nestlé’s Google Boot Camp II, a program designed to help Nestlé marketers and communicators better understand online strategies and tools, I was thrilled.

I couldn’t wait to see this Corporate America Nirvana (surely you’ve heard some of the benefits of working at Google: free food and foozball for all, massage and yoga, every employee being granted the luxury of free time and the ability to make a difference). It sounded good on the surface, but I wondered, what makes Google work? How do they stay on top as the technology leader in organizing the world’s information? And how can we apply it to improve our business? Here it is, straight from the inside (tip: don’t try to Google it).

Top 10 Ways to Get Googled

10. Inject your culture with cool. Google culture is really cool. They do have free meals and snacks in cafes all over campus with a focus on nutritious, local, high-quality food. Their dress code of “You gotta wear something” fosters creative expression and hip comfort for all. Music/movies/vegetable gardening on the lawn: all free. Not to mention free time each week (20% to work on your own projects). The happiness shows, and Google benefits.

9. Beef up on-site benefits. Google has a tech stop/help desk in each building. Seriously, you can take your laptop down anytime and they will fix it right there, no hold music required. Also, every building has fitness areas and casual areas with couches, games and massage chairs – and every one of them is full of employees engrossed in their laptops. Mobile, comfy work stations also = very cool.

8. Get your message out there, try something new. Even Google bathrooms give you data. Just as I can read ads in the stalls of my favorite restaurants and bars, here I can “Learn on the Loo,” improving my own Search results, finding out about company training and more – all while multitasking. This definitely gets my attention; I am captive, interested in the topic and I don’t even have to make time to get the message. I’m already looking forward to future bathroom visits.

7. Give to Search, and it will give back. At Google, Search is king. And there is much to learn about how Nestlé can optimize our online properties for Search. We learned that we don’t spend enough time or money in online search to get the optimal results for our brands. When you run a Search program (with the help of our agency, Moxie), you get to decide how much to spend, which search words make sense, and then test it out real-time. Looking at the click-through data gives you immediate feedback on which terms work best. Then, you can make changes to your program immediately. And studies show that being top-of-search increases top-of-mind.

6. Get on the Tube. YouTube channels are free! (Our agencies can’t compete with that.) Although you can lose many hours of your life browsing YouTube, you can also find real answers (it’s the second-most visited Search page on the internet, after Google). People are looking for video content more and more to get information on a variety of topics. YouTube can be your video library – a place to collect all brand videos from each of your websites, with free hosting, comments and user analytics (just make sure to check our rights over the content). You can even add links back to your website right in the video. Whether you go with professional videos or a more creative approach, it’s an easy way to reach a huge audience of consumers that might not make it to your site.

We also discovered that our brands are on YouTube whether we’ve posted the content ourselves or not – so it’s important to understand how our brands are being portrayed. We’ve all heard of the nightmare customer service video being posted by a disgruntled customer. These videos have taken over the brands’ top search spots, leaving the consumer without any messaging from the brand. More video content or free channels can help counter that.

5. Leverage other video/content. So you never aspired to be Martin Scorsese. You can still increase brand lift on YouTube without creating tons of video. You can buy sponsored links (like a Google Search program), pay for Pre-Roll advertising or partner with brand-sympathetic content that is already popular. Check out Burger King, who partnered with comic Seth McFarlane on his video content (http://www.youtube.com/user/bk).

4. It’s all about content. These days, you’re not only advertising; you’re creating content. You’re asking consumers to engage with your brand – and that takes content, which is something consumers are looking for (50% of all sales are researched online prior to purchase). Google helps you push (with Search) and pull (with GCN ads) consumers to your content with Search programs, GCN Ads, YouTube channels, free blogs and more. We heard about digital strategies and lessons learned from brands like Safeway, Nature Valley and Lipton, where Google programs moved significant offline sales.

3. Keep your eye on the phone. Everyone wants to invent the next “iPhone” – the product that consumers can’t do without. Smart phones, those with integrated web browsers, are already beating computers in number per household – and mobile computing is growing fast. Our number one priority here is to create mobile-optimized websites, and we can look next to mobile promotions and iPhone apps.

2. Get to know Social Media. The Skinny Cow has more friends on Facebook than I do (well, I can be a Facebook Snob, and the Skinny Cow has never met a person she doesn’t like). Wonka Nation gives consumers virtual backstage passes with its video content on Facebook, the Nesquik Bunny spreads brand cheer on Twitter and the Skinny Cow has actual conversations with her consumers on Twitter. Your brand needs friends. A question for you: why would a consumer want to be your brand’s friend? What value can your brand add to a consumer’s life? For a successful social media plan, you have to answer these questions, and then create content and timing to support it.

1. Relearn Google math. At Google, 1+1=5 (don’t show this to the Finance folks). This equation seems a little off, but after realizing the online world is not just a selling transaction point, but a communication platform that influences consumers from all sides, it makes sense. The other boot campers and I have seen that online strategies such as Google Search, content networks and video/social media have an exponential impact on brand lift. And we all want that.

New Research Shows Online Ads An Effective Driver of Offline Sales and Branding for CPG

Monday, August 24, 2009

comScore and DunnHumby recently released a co-sponsored study proving that the offline sales lift from online display ads can exceed lifts realized from TV. Not only were sales lifts from the internet higher than TV, but they were also achieved sooner. Additionally, an impact was seen across 80% of the campaigns that ran on the internet.

Offline Sales Lift from CPG Brand Advertising Comparison Between TV and Internet Total U.S. Source: Information Resources, Inc. and comScore, Inc.
	TV (IRI)	Internet (comScore)
Sales Lift	+8% over 12 months	+9% over 3 months
Percent of Campaigns Showing Statistically Significant Lift	36%	80%

In 2008, Google commissioned a study with Harris Interactive among three CPG brands to compare the brand building effectiveness between traditional TV and online platforms. Effectiveness was equated to impact and engagement.

Identical traditional TV ads were shown on three distinct platforms: 1) on TV, 2) on a computer screen replicating a YouTube video environment, and on a computer screen replicating a click-to-play video embedded in content. The Harris Interactive results showed that :30 commercials on YouTube and embedded video ads performed at parity with TV. All three were on par with the ability to communicate key messages about the brand, strengthen likeability, and drive purchase intent.

The two pieces of research referenced above support that internet advertising is an effective medium to increase offline sales and branding, both very important metrics for CPG.

But have CPG companies been shifting ad dollars from TV to Offline?

Trended data from TNS Media Intelligence show that TV spend accounts for about 58% of total ad spend and this has been a consistent share of total ad spend since 2005. Even for year to date June 2009, this percentage still holds. However, we see that so far in 2009, internet ad spend has increased from about 2% to 4%, but these ad dollars were reallocated from newspaper and radio. It will be interesting to see if and when shifts occur from TV.

Video is the Catnip Du Jour for Modern Moms

Monday, August 17, 2009

Posted by Guest Blogger Jessica Hogue, CPG Research Director at Nielsen Online

They watch it (entertainment factor). They create it with handheld cams (community building factor). They also entertain and interact with their kids through properties like PBS Kids, Nick, Noggin and Disney (family factor). And online viewership is growing. Across all categories, moms spent nearly 43 percent more time viewing video online (in minutes) in June 2009 compared to the previous year. There are two key reasons why video seems to be gathering momentum among online moms.

The first reason, albeit a bit perfunctory, is simply accessibility. Widespread broadband is certainly important here, but video is also an enabler of sorts, allowing moms to participate in activities they might not otherwise have time for. For the same reasons that DVR’ing is addictive, moms can troll for content at any hour of the day (or, more likely, night) and catch up on, say, old episodes of Grey’s Anatomy.

Earlier this year, the Online division of The Nielsen Company conducted a video ethnography to better understand why, and specifically how, moms engage with digital applications in their everyday lives. We equipped select respondents with video cameras and tracked their interactions with social media, devices and technology daily for a week. In video diaries submitted from women hailing from Denver to Atlanta, moms captured moments sitting at the table with their tween or a toddler on their lap playing games online and engaging with educational content.

This ability to connect – to social networks and to those nearest and dearest – is a critical driver in moms’ viewing habits. Online video enables moms to engage with their social networks (a word on vlogging communities in a minute), as well as with kid-centric content. It is also creating new opportunities for moms to interact with and engage with their kids in a manner that is wholly relevant to their increasingly wired lives. Beyond our qualitative ethnography insights, the numbers support this: After entertainment video viewing, moms 21 to 54 collectively over index by 54 percent for time spent streaming kid-centric, gaming and toy properties.

Importantly we’re seeing just how much mom’s age and the age of her children matter to the types of video content she finds valuable, which is critical to informing marketers on how to better target, reach and develop relevant messaging for these women.

For example, in June 2009, more than 9 percent of unique visitors to gaming and toy properties were moms aged 21-34 with children between the ages of 2-11, compared with almost 14 percent of moms 35-49 (also with children between the ages of 2-11). While many may assume that younger moms might be more predisposed to streaming video than their predecessors, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Moms 35 and up have increased their viewership of kid-centric streams in the last year by more than 38 percent in June 2009.

Vlogging

Vlogging is still a fairly niche activity among online moms but there are signs that it is growing. Not only do most mom-oriented social communities have vlogging capabilities, but there are increasingly dedicated networks for vloggers, such as MomVloggersClub.com and MomTV.com; moreover, sites like Momversation that feature content from influential bloggers inspire conversations around topical issues. Even Wal-Mart’s site enables video uploads by its Elevenmoms (now numbering in the 20s). Moms gravitate to the intimate nature of video-sharing for everything from frank product reviews (the rationale goes that if you can physically see how another mom uses something in her daily life that perhaps that is even more persuasive than a text-based endorsement) to vlogging about challenges with vaccinations and special needs.

Knowing that moms today engage with video on a variety of fronts is useful from a consumer insights perspective. But that’s just scratching the surface. The data suggest there are opportunities for marketers to further segment moms beyond traditional demographic lines to better understand their viewing needs and to fine tune how and when we reach them. Through our ongoing research into the digital lives as moms, we’ve integrated learnings from audience measurement, mobile usage as well as mining mom blogger and mom discussion forum buzz to continually evolve our understanding of moms needs (online and offline) and issues she’s most passionate about. We hosted a webinar in May presenting additional insights from this work, available here: http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/webinars.

More Google Tools for Food Advertisers, Food Content Providers and Foodie Minds of America

Monday, August 10, 2009

Posted by Jenny Liu, Industry Marketing Manager - CPG

Google Wonder Wheel

Google has a product called Wonder Wheel. It creates a visual representation of search results in a spider diagram-like format. Clicking on the Wonder Wheel option brings up a tag cloud of hyperlinked search phrases. To use wonder wheel: conduct a search on google.com, on the results page, there is a expandable 'show options' link next to 'web'. You will see Wonder Wheel as an option under Standard View. Let's take a ride on the wheel and dig deeper into what consumers are searching for related to summer salads.

According to the wonder wheel results for 'summer salad recipes', consumers are looking for 'cucumber salad', 'chicken salad', 'fruit salads' and 'pasta salads'. They are also looking for recipes that are easy. If one clicks on the result for 'easy summer salads', we see that consumers will go so far as to type in the word 'simple' into the search bar, searching for simple 'avocado salad' and 'simple cabbage salad'. We also see that consumers will even search for salad recipes based on ingredient varietals like 'olive oil salads' and 'balsamic vinegar'.

When one expands the wheel to focus on balsamic vinegar, we see that consumers care about its health benefits, whether or not it has calories, if balsamic vinegar from modena italy is somehow different from others, how to make a reduction and what would be a suitable substitute if one dislikes balsamic vinegar or finds that it stains the ingredients.

You can, of course, continue to build new Wonder Wheels by continually clicking on new related searches.

Google Timeline

On the flip side, what does the content look like on the provider side to fulfill the consumer curiousity? Are people or publishers writing about easy summer salads? What does the trend look like? For this, you can consult the timeline tool, found under the wonder wheel selection.

You can alter the dates to the current year and see the monthly trend of articles that talk about easy summer salads. The article must note all three words.
In the monthly trend for 'summer salads', you can see the ramp up that steadily takes place reaching the peak in July and August.

This timeline tool is particularly useful for tracking the “zeitgeist” of certain keywords and topics. For CPG, we see increases in information being written about 'acai' and 'probiotics' as one would expect.

Cookin' With Google

A product called Cookin' With Google is listed under Custom Search in Beta. It is a tool that consumers can use to help hunt and peck specific recipes that match up to ingredients they may have already on-hand or already have in mind. For instance, perhaps a look into the fridge yields the following random ingredients: eggs, chicken peas and cheese. If this string is punched into this tool, we see this search result:

What's nice about the tool is that it can be further refined for Vegan, Crockpot, Vegetarian, Atkins, Weight Watchers, and Gluten-Free to name a few. A really neat tool for consumers looking for recipes that suit their lifestyle.

Consumers Seek Value. But Value Means More than Low Price.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Posted by Jenny Liu, Industry Marketing Manager, CPG

According to a recent Harris Interactive study, 62% of online consumers are purchasing more generic brands as a result of the recession.
But are consumers willing to switch to generic brands across all categories?

Mintel, a CPG solutions and research provider, says that U.S. consumers have a much closer relationship with their branded personal care and health products than food. This is especially evident when you compare this U.S. behavior to that in Europe. In Europe, private label personal care products are a lot more commonplace. Some of these European private labels like Boots have even entered the US market as a strong competitor.

This relationship was confirmed in a recent ICOM survey who's stats provide a rank list of product categories.
Respondents of the survey said they would switch to generic brands as follows:

59% for food and household products
48% for health products
48% for personal care products
23% for pet care products
12% for child care products

Not surprisingly, consumers are least willing to switch to generic store brands when it comes to their pets and kids. In those categories, the brand equity is something that consumers are willing to pay for.

Another thought occurs to us as we visit this story. It's common for prescription health products to have a "generic" version. But it seems odd to refer to traditional consumer packaged good products found in food, drug and mass as "generic". As a matter of fact, these days, private-label brands are everything but generic.

According to Mintel, private labels are providing more than just cheap alternatives to national brands. They are attracting shoppers with premium ingredients, portability and health benefits.

In the first half of 2009, Mintel has seen almost 1,800 new U.S. private label introductions in food, which accounts for 27% of all new food products introduced year to date. Compare this with that in 2005, when only 13% of new food product launches came from private label.

The new product innovations coming out of private label lines no longer rely on 'me-too' products. According to Mintel's Krista Faron as quoted from QSR magazine, "Private label manufacturers realize 'value' means more than 'low price' to consumers, so they're wisely creating new products that deliver on some of today's most exciting food trends."

This includes giving shoppers convenience, nutrition and even ethnic fare that may help target the local demographic. Examples taken from the QSR article include: SuperValu's Culinary Circle line features an upscale Pork Carnitas Enchilada Casserole. Safeway has jumped on the portable and high-quality lunch bandwagon with their line of Rice Noodle Soup Bowls which makes "desk-dining easy". Lucerne Foods has an Eating Right brand that includes kids' Whole Wheat Mini Ravioli with fiber and protein and Light Ice Cream Cups containing probiotics.

It seems that one of the big advantages to being a private label brand is the ability to compete across many different categories which allows them to identify trends from one category and implement it in another. They also know their local demographic well, and can cater to the taste and value attributes of their immediate audience. These make private label brands a force to be reckoned with. It therefore becomes all that much important for CPG brands to maximize top of mind awareness and show that they are an expert in their field.

Google research conducted in 2008 showed that paid search is an effective way for CPG brands to effectively lift top of mind awareness. Across four different CPG industries, a search result served in the top sponsored position triggered with a non-branded keyword showed a range of 10% point to 28% point lift in unaided awareness.