Many forms of search engine optimization only amount to ensuring compliance to search engines’ guidelines for inclusion and removing any technical barriers that might keep the website from reaching a proper ranking. However, other methods of search engine optimization such as keyword spamming are often viewed as “gaming the system” and considered unethical.

Displaying advertisements or sponsored results in an area visually separated from the algorithmically determined results is generally considered ethical. However, some search engines allow the ranking of a website to be influenced with a payment and provide little or no indication to the end-user that this has happened. Since the search engines give the impression or claim that the rankings reflect the relevance or popularity of the websites, this is often seen unfair or deceptive.

Search engine advertising products that don’t guarantee a specific ranking or an amount of visibility are seen as unethical by some search engine marketers. The product might provide an unspecified “boost” or the final ranking or visibility might be a result of an auction.

Paid inclusion has not caused much concern. However, it has been suggested that search engines should improve the speed they pick up new websites and that paid inclusion services thus create a conflict of interest that discourages improving service levels across the board.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Advertising with search engines is known by different names. It is also called sponsored search. Advertising with search engines could be further classified as follows:

Advertising based on a keyword search

Advertising based on a keyword search could take place through a search engine such as google.com, or a search engine partner site, such as shopping.com. For example, Google offers a service called AdWords, which allows companies, for a small fee, to have a link to their website featured when a user searches a specific keyword which the company specified.

Advertising based on content context

Many search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo! Search) have partner websites with specific content. The websites agree to let the search engines place content-specific advertising on their website, in return for a fee. The search engine then finds companies interested in advertising on websites with their desired content. For example, an online dog food retailer might have their advertisement placed on a site about dogs.

Both of these advertising formats allow advertisers to target specific users with certain interests. Generally these advertisements are paid for based on either a pay per click campaign or an impression based campaign.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Search engine optimization aims to index and improve rankings for the webpages which are most relevant to the keywords searched for according to the algorithm of each search engine. The relevant pages are returned in search engine result pages (SERPS). Basically this is done by writing a naural copy of each page containing the keywords that genuinely represent the goods and the services described within the corresponding webpages. Keywords are also used in the Title Pages, Meta Tags, Headings within a density of about 6% i.e., about 6 keywords spread over a page containing 100 words.

In order to further fine tune the pages and keep them user and search engine friendly, the architecture of the website, including its internal link structure, navigation etc., are also suitably modified for human beings and search spiders to nevigate through whole wbsite pages. Search spiders then can scan all necessary data about the whole site and store in engines’ data base. A good navigation systems imparts excellent experience to the users and they tend to visit the site again and again. This a sign of good achievement.

Numbers of inbound links to the site and the ‘quality’ of the links determine the Reputation of the website within the industry it belong to. This Reputation is one of the most important criteria for search engines to consider higher levels of rank to the deserving webpages. Algorithms are evolutionary and strives to develop every day in an attempt to provide most relevant & useful pages to the users and strike out the websites that trick them and attain higher positions for a while.

These processes are known as Organic or Algorithmic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of websites. Eventually it is essential for each and every website to get optimized organically, though temprarity they can make use of Pay-per-Click (PPC) to market their website without having to wait for the results of Organic SEO. However, users still prefer Organic Result Pages than Pages for which Advertising charges are paid to search engines. So far for inclusion in Organic Result Pages no fees are prescribed except the high usefulness of the information to the users.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

In Internet marketing, search engine marketing, or SEM, is a set of marketing methods to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). The three main methods are:

• Search engine optimization, or improving rankings for relevant keywords in search results by rectifying the website structure, and content such that they could be easly read and understood by the search engine’s software programs. It is seen that website containing the latest trends and updates are first available to the visitor.
• Search engine advertising, or paying the search engine company for a guaranteed high ranking or an ad displayed aside the results (commonly known as pay per click advertising).
• Paid inclusion, or paying the search engine company for a guarantee that the website is included in their natural search index.

Search engine marketers are experts and firms who explore of weaknesses and strengths in the methods and individual products to find the best way to promote a particular website in search engines.

Links

Products

• Google AdWords
• Yahoo! Search Marketing

External Articles

• Search Industry Explained – Four part article that gives the past, present and future of search engine marketing, optimization and related technologies.
• The Symbiotic Relationship Between SEO and PPC

Organizations

• Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)
• SEO Consultants
• SeoPros.org
• Search Marketing Association of North America
• Romanian Association for Telework and Teleactivities

Industry resources

• ClickZ
• Searchviews
• Searchblog

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public’s perception of a product or organization. The product could include anything from traditional goods and services, to celebrities, or works of entertainment.

From a marketing perspective, publicity is one of the variables that comprise the promotional mix. The other components of promotions are advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling. promotion is one of the variables that comprise the marketing mix.

Publicity is a tool of public relations. Whereas public relations is the management of all communication between the firm and selected target audiences, publicity is the management of product or brand related communications between the firm and the general public. It is primarily an informative activity (as opposed to a persuasive one), but its ultimate goal is to promote the organization’s products, services, or brands. A publicity plan is a planned program aimed at obtaining favorable media coverage for an organization’s products – or for the organization itself, to enhance its reputation and relationships with stakeholders.

A basic tool of the publicist is the press release, but other techniques include telephone press conferences, in-studio media tours, multi-component video news releases (VNR’s), newswire stories, and internet releases. For these releases to be used by the media, they must be of interest to the public ( or at least to the market segment that the media outlet is targeted to). The releases are often customized to match the media vehicle that they are being sent to. Getting noticed by the press is all about saying the right thing at the right time. A publicist is continuously asking what about you or your company will pique the reader’s curiosity and make a good story? The most successful publicity releases are related to topics of current interest. These are referred to as news pegs. An example is if three people die of water poisoning, an alert publicist would release stories about the technology embodied in a water purification product.

But the publicist cannot wait around for the news to present opportunities. They must also try to create their own news. Examples of this include:

• Contests
• Walkathons
• Art exhibitions
• Event sponsorship
• Arrange a speech or talk
• Make an analysis or prediction
• Conduct a poll or survey
• Issue a report
• Take a stand on a controversial subject
• Arrange for a testimonial
• Announce an appointment
• Celebrate an anniversary
• Invent then present an award
• Stage a debate
• Organize a tour of your business or projects
• Issue a commendation

The advantages of publicity are low cost, and credibility (particularly if the publicity is aired in between news stories like on evening TV news casts). New technologies such as weblogs, web cameras, web affiliates, and convergence (phone-camera posting of pictures and videos to websites) are changing the cost-structure. The disadvantages are lack of control over how your releases will be used, and frustration over the low percentage of releases that are taken up by the media.

Publicity draws on several key themes including birth, love, and death. These are of particular interest because they are themes in human lives which feature heavily throughout life. In television serials several couples have emerged during crucial ratings and important publicity times, as a way to make constant headlines. Also known as a publicity stunt, the pairings may or may not be truthful.

Publicists

A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a product, public figure, especially a celebrity, or for a work such as a book or movie. Publicists usually work at large companies handling multiple clients.

Effectiveness of Publicity

The theory any press is good press has been coined to describe situations where bad behaviour by people involved with an organisation or brand has actually resulted in positive results, due to the fame and press coverage accrued by such events.

A good example would be Paris Hilton’s many antics, from lurid sex tapes to clumsy behaviour on TV shows actually increasing business at the family’s chain of Hilton Hotels.

Another example would be the Australian Tourism Board’s “So where the Bloody Hell are you?” Advertising Campaign that was initially banned in the UK, but the amount of publicity this generated resulted in the official website for the campaign being swamped with requests to see the banned ad.

Definition: Publicity is the means of using an external entity ( celebrities, people from the media, etc) to increase the awareness levels of the product, company, goods etc amongst the public and/or buying segment.

Links

• Publicity Resources
• MMA Publicity Resources – Australian focus

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Business Week magazine publishes an annual “brand scorecard” of the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide. Some results from the 2005 survey, which contained 53 American, 37 European, 7 Japanese, and 3 South Korean brands, are listed below.

The European breakdown is as follows: 9 German, 8 French, 5 Swiss, 4.5 British, 4 Italian, 3.5 Dutch, 1 Finnish, 1 Spanish, and 1 Swedish

United States Of America

American Express (credit card)
Apple (computer)
Citi (banking)
Coca-Cola (soft drink)
Disney (entertainment)
Ford Motor Company (automobiles)
GE (household appliances)
Global Gillette (shaving accessories)
Google (internet)
Harley Davidson (motorcycles)
Heinz (food)
IBM (computer)
Intel (computer)
KFC (fast food restaurant)
Levi’s (clothing retailer)
Marlboro (tobacco)
McDonald’s (fast food restaurant)
Microsoft (software)
Nike (footwear)
Pepsi (soft drink)
Starbucks (coffee)

Europe

BMW (automobile—Germany)
Volkswagen (automobile—Germany)
Mercedes-Benz (automobile—Germany)
UBS (banking—Switzerland)
HSBC (banking—UK)
Philips (electronics—Netherlands)
Nestlé (food—Switzerland)
Alessi (Home Accessories—Italy)
IKEA (furniture—Sweden)
Louis Vuitton (leather goods and luxury apparel—France)
Chanel (luxury apparel—France)
Gucci (luxury apparel—Italy)
Nokia (mobile phones—Finland)
BP (petrol—UK)
SAP (software—Germany)
Diesel (Apparel—Italy)
Giorgio Armani (luxury apparel—Italy)
Barilla (food—Italy)

Japan

Canon (photography)
Honda (automobiles)
Nintendo (video games)
Nissan (automobiles)
Sony (electronics)
Toyota (automobiles)

South Korea

Hyundai (automobiles)
LG (electronics)
Samsung (electronics and mobile phones)

Brands in the field of marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels used, which is where the term comes from.

These factories, generating mass-produced goods, needed to sell their products to a wider market, to a customer base familiar only with local goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. The packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product.

Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding.

Many brands of that era, such as Uncle Ben’s rice and Kellogg’s breakfast cereal furnish illustrations of the problem. The manufacturers wanted their products to appear and feel as familiar as the local farmers’ produce. From there, with the help of advertising, manufacturers quickly learned to associate other kinds of brand values, such as youthfulness, fun or luxury, with their products. This kickstarted the practice we now know as branding.

Modern branding practices are studied and analyzed at research institutes such as the Zyman Institute of Brand Science at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Some marketers distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service. The unicist approach to brand building considers the conceptual structure of brands, businesses and people.

Marketers seek to develop or align the expectations comprising the brand experience through branding, so that a brand carries the “promise” that a product or service has a certain quality or characteristic which make it special or unique. A brand image may be developed by attributing a “personality” to or associating an “image” with a product or service, whereby the personality or image is “branded” into the consciousness of consumers. A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management. You’re creating the story.

A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. Where brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the identification of a brand without the name of the company present. Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally Walt Disney’s signature, but later translated to go.com).

Brand equity measures the total value of the brand to the brand owner, and reflects the extent of brand franchise. The term brand name is often used interchangeably with “brand”, although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of a brand. In this context a “brand name” constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand name through trademark registration.

The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer clothes. In non-commercial contexts, the marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than product and services (eg. political parties or religious organizations) may also be known as “branding”.

Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic. From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner.

Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg’s.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

McDonald’s, represented by the Golden Arches, is one of the world’s most famous brands

In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a company, product or service. A brand typically includes a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, fonts, color schemes, or symbols. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typically arise in the minds of people. Such people include employees of the brand owner, people involved with distribution, sale or supply of the product or service, and ultimately consumers.

In other contexts the term “brand” may be used where the legal term trademark is more appropriate.

Bibliography

• Miller & Muir (2004) The Business of Brands, ISBN 0470862599 – Examines how brands can create value for businesses
• Olins, W (2003) On Brand, London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0500511454
• Schmidt, Klaus; Ludlow,Chris (2002) “Inclusive Branding: The why and how of a holistic approach to brands”, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0333980794
• Wernick, Andrew (1991) “Promotional Culture: Advertising, Ideology and Symbolic Expression (Theory, Culture & Society S.)”, London: Sage Publications Ltd, ISBN 0803983905

External links

• BusinessWeek 2002 Global Brands Scorecard
• What Makes A Great Logo – Commentary on various logos and brands.
• Brandmarker – The art group monochrom’s attempt to evaluate the actual power of commercial brands by making people draw famous logos from memory.
• Trade Names in Webster’s Online Dictionary – the Rosetta Edition
• Who’s wearing the trousers? – The Economist’s defence of brands
• Branding Greece – Branding a country: Greece
• Transnational brands – Information Brands
• Leading Consumer Brands from the Muslim World
• Financial Times 2006 Global Brand Ranking by Millward Brown Optimor (reg. req’d to see full tables)
• Brands That Don’t Travel (Language Pitfalls)

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

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