Avinash Kaushik

One month and counting for this years MIMA Summit – hope you are as excited as we are!  This week we are featuring thoughts from our morning keynote Avinash Kaushik is the co-Founder of Market Motive Inc and the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google.  For those that have not had the pleasure of attending one of his presentations, get ready on October 12^th to become an analytics evangelist and much more.

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This year’s summit is focused on the embracing the digital decade, what would you say was the greatest achievement in the last ten years of marketing?

Our ability to have deeper, more meaningful, relationships with our current and potential customers.

In the past most companies were a few steps removed from the consumer. Partly due to a lack of connectivity platforms. Partly because of intermediaries. Partly because of, frankly, a lack of interest.

The web changes all that. I can be P&G and I can have an existence were I can have a direct relationship with consumers. Speak to them. Listen to them. Engage them in marketing / experimentation / everything. I can learn and react and grow so much faster, and be more relevant.

This brings about very disruptive change to our marketing, people, processes, everything. But all of it, I think, for good. And I’m excited about the possibilities.

Oh and I love that the digital decade’s brought with is tons of cool gadgets. I love ‘em all!

You’ve been blogging for over five years, do you have any inspirational words for the next generation of bloggers?

Do it. Put yourself out there. Forget your resume, do the work and show that you know what you are taking about.

I recently wrote a blog post on the impact of five years of blogging on me. You’ll find it here: An Incredible Analytics Experience: 5 Years of Occam’s Razor (link: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/incredible-analytics-experience-5-years-occams-razor/ ). It outlines my learnings and surprises.

The biggest surprise was the ability to manage one’s brand. Checkout the two tag clouds in that post.

A bit of practical advice I would share with any new blogger (or Social Media participant in a professional capacity) would be this: Quality wins over quantity. Every time. Never hit Submit (or Post or Tweet or +1) unless what you are about to share meets this simple rule: It is something incredible, relevant, of value?

You are the co-founder of Market Motive, how do you think traditional education will change in the next ten years?

The core reason for starting Market Motive was that at the moment the traditional education path does not prepare a student to be successful in the digital ecosystem. Be it in fields like Web Analytics and Search Engine Marketing or evolved fields such as Online PR and Social Media. We bring together the best of the best in the world and create a curriculum that can help jump start anyone’s digital career.

That is the problem our traditional education paths will have to solve. How to teach when books become stale as soon as they are published (not classical mathematical technique books – wonderful, still relevant, must learn stuff, rather for our digital eco system)? How to teach kids emerging programming techniques being requested in bleeding edge jobs – well before they become mainstream and “cool”? How to complement tenured faculty with Subject Matter Experts who have zero “teacher training” or credentials?  How to ensure that a student’s education delivers a balanced mix of traditional and bleeding edge skills?

Hard problems to solve. Universities and colleges are going to have to evolve, perhaps faster and more radically than they might be comfortable with.

In your consulting practice, what are the biggest analytic mistakes you see over and over?

Two.

First, believe that data collection will magically make companies data driven. Almost all of the resources in the filed of digital analytics currently are focused on javascript / website tagging magic, collecting ever more copious amounts of (usually irrelevant short lived) data, and subsequently puking it out. Very rarely do companies invest analysis of the data they already have and in people who are smart enough to know the difference between reporting analysis. [link: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/difference-web-reporting-web-analysis/]

Second, more painful mistake, a lack of any connection between data analysis and business strategy. I am a rabid advocate of using processes like the Web Analytics Measurement Model and having a crystal clear understanding of what one is solving for, before touching the data. If you know where you are going, it is much easier to get there and everybody is happy!

This week, I was at dinner with some top notch experienced digital marketers and the topic of attribution reporting came up; many want this nirvana of reporting but feel it is unattainable without a great resource investment.  With your ability to simplify complex analytics can you offer a line of hope?

We have an ever growing number of media channels to reach our consumers and bring success to our business. So the desire to understand which activity is productive, and which parts stink, is super important.

There are a number of ways to skin this cat.

One path people take is to try and look at the end of a transaction, figure out all the prior media touch points, and then use some logical reasoning to attach some value to each media touch point (a banner ad, a search query, a direct visit etc). The challenge with this path is that there is no right answer, and it is very hard to figure out when one is wrong (!).

An alternative path is to use the glorious path of controlled experiments. Media Mix Modeling, for example, does not require the almost futile quest to “attribute credit.” Rather it says regardless of the last touch point prior to a transaction, what’s the optimal mix of media that delivers the highest possible number of transactions at the lowest possible cost. I believe solutions like this are the best way to solve our problem.

It is a harder way to solve the problem (hence few will attempt it – all the more reason you should do it!), but it delivers delightfully yummy results.

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Learn more about Avinash Kaushik and analytics by visiting his blog Occam’s Razor.  Avinash will be kicking off  the MIMA summit with his morning keynote, if you want to see him register for this year’s event.

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A special thanks to Jill Gutterman, a MIMA board member, for hosting this interview. Jill, is a Director of Interactive Marketing at Rasmussen College and a MIMA Board Director. Jill Gutterman’s philosophy in life is simple: Have passion for what you do and keep learning. It’s this philosophy that has been a driving force behind Jill’s forward-thinking 12 year professional career in digital marketing. Jill graduated magna cum laude from Wright State University, in Dayton, OH with a degree in psychology.

What better way to celebrate the digital Millennium—the technological and Internet boom between 2000 and today—than to attend the biggest annual marketing and technology conference in the Midwest. Here’s a little glimpse into what the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) is toasting:

Celebrate 2000 where computer users feared their personal computer would blow up as midnight on New Year’s struck, the Microsoft™ Windows 2000 released, and the dot com era booms.

Celebrate 2001 where AOL and Napster reigned king, Linux source code first appeared; and where mobile computing gear, USBs, MacAfee computer security software, and the first Apple iPod™ surfaced.

Celebrate 2002 where e-commerce spiked for the first time and Apple introduced Mac OS X 10.2.

Celebrate 2003 where internet privacy becomes a hot topic in courtrooms and newsrooms; and where Mozilla, MySpace, Microsoft™ Windows and Spybots come to life.

Celebrate 2004 where Google gives birth to the now most popular email system in the world, Gmail.

Celebrate 2005 where YouTube™ came into the world, beginning what is now the fastest growing online marketing tool in the world; and where Skype and other videoconferencing systems are incepted for personal and professional communication.

Celebrate 2006 where GIF images become free to the public, Intel introduces the duo processors, and blu-ray and HD change the way we view television.

Celebrate 2007 where the iPhone and Droid start dueling and Smartphones get more pocket play than wallets.

Celebrate 2008 where Apple introduces iMac; and where corporations start to invest in social media marketing to reach the gaggle of consumers.

Celebrate 2009 where Microsoft releases Windows 7, where the economy is gloomy but interactive marketing shines.

Celebrate 2010 where content marketing and mobile marketing reigns king, more that 750 million in 2011 worldwide enjoy Facebook.

Celebrate 2011 by attending the 10th annual MIMA Summit

Here’s when we are doing it:
Join keynote speaker and web analytic evangelist, Avinash Kaushik, over 750 information-hungry attendees, and 40+ riveting speakers and Internet pros on October 11-12, 2011 at the Minneapolis Hilton.

More information and online registration here: MIMA Summit

Here’s the value:
Pricing starts at $45. MIMA members can enjoy savings around $100 with the full-conference, early registration. (Hint, hint: Is this impetus enough to become a MIMA member?)

MIMA Summit

Early-bird registration ends Friday, so either register NOW or tie a string around your finger to help you remember to sign up before the clock strikes midnight on the 1st.

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A special thanks to Allie Gray Freeland a MIMA volunteer, for hosting this post. Allie serves as the Interactive Communication Specialist at Rasmussen College. She is a five-year veteran of online marketing world and received her degree in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Check out her credentials

For ten years, MIMA has gathered the industry’s finest talent to speak at the annual MIMA Summit. 2011 will be no different. This year’s MIMA Summit speakers include Rand Fishkin, CEO and Co-Founder of SEOMoz, a leading provider of software tools and industry knowledge to professionals in the search engine optimization (SEO) industry. Rand took some time to share his thoughts about where the SEO industry has been and where it’s going.

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Josh Braaten: As a speaker and leader of a well-known SEO software company, you’ve watched the SEO industry grow and mature. What are the biggest mistakes companies have made with SEO and what mistakes do companies continue to make?

Rand Fishkin: There’s a lot of folks who underinvest or fail to invest in SEO at all, either because they’re unaware of the practice or believe it won’t work. That lack of investment leads to a less discoverable website and means they don’t reap the rewards of their branding and marketing efforts on or offline.

For those who do invest, but make mistakes, I see a lot of unfortunate moves, but I think the biggest is a general attitude of pursuing shortcuts and low-value tactics rather than building a solid brand on the web. I was speaking at an affiliate conference in New York City this past weekend and was asked by an audience member whether she could stop writing “all-unique” content when submitting pieces to article directories and article “spinner” sites and could simply make the first and last paragraph unique… There’s just so many problems with that entire approach and attitude, it was hard to even know how to begin answering.

You’ve been active in the SEO industry for coming up on ten years now. How has your understanding of SEO changed over the years? How has your way of explaining the value of SEO to non-believers changed?

I used to start explaining SEO by diving into the tactics of the practice – how you need to do keyword research and build and accessible site and make good content – all that. It wasn’t untrue, but it also didn’t tell a compelling narrative.

Today, if I’m explaining SEO, I start where searchers start – with a need. People want to know things. And they don’t just want to find low quality junk that’s been manipulated to the top of the results — they want amazing resources that answer their every question and more. They want depth, detail, social proof, and content that’s worth sharing.

We all have that primal need for information, and search is the best, fastest way to discover it. Google gets more than 3 billion searches each day! But unless someone is creating great stuff and marketing it well on the web, search becomes a fruitless, frustrating activity. That’s why I love SEO – it’s about making great stuff and getting it in front of the people who need it. What’s not to love?!

Just as interactive marketing has changed dramatically over the last ten years, it will continue to do so over the next ten. If you had to guess, what are some of the biggest changes on the horizon for SEO?

I think we’re going to see a lot more authenticity and passion from marketers in the work they create and in how they market it. The past decade gave us a lot of shortcuts to ranking content, but the last few years have fundamentally changed what it takes to build a successful business on the web. The growth of vertical search (videos, local, images, etc), the rise and subsequent fragmentation of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, FourSquare, etc) and the growing sophistication of the search engines (Google’s Panda update, Bing’s improvements on webspam, user/usage data in SERPs, social proof through social media connections, etc) are all changing the game.

Along with these shifts come a huge need for greater responsbility among SEOs themselves. You can’t just work on keywords and links anymore and be successful. You’ve got to embrace social and analytics and vertical search and content marketing and conversion rate optimization and… Well, you get the idea.

What’s the most common misconception people have about SEO? How might your session at the 2011 MIMA Summit help to clear up those misconceptions and help people advance their own SEO strategy?

People think SEO is a process. It’s not – it’s become a strategy. It’s bigger than the building blocks of good rankings – SEO today involves nearly everything about building a great business on the web, and that means SEOs need to take a broader view. I’m planning to talk about this strange death and rebirth of SEO, and why I love the new way of doing SEO and inbound marketing as a whole so much more. I think folks will really enjoy it, and I’ll have plenty of very specific, actionable recommendations mixed in there, too.
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Learn more about Rand Fishkin and SEO by visiting the SEOmoz blog. If you want to see Rand Fishkin present live and in person, visit MIMA Summit 2011 and register for this year’s event. Rand joins keynote speakers Avinash Kaushik and Chris Anderson in this year’s special 10-year anniversary MIMA Summit.
Rand at the MIMA Summit
Rand on the SEOmoz Blog
Get your tickets for the Summit
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A special thanks to Josh Braaten, a MIMA volunteer, for hosting this interview. Josh is an Online Marketing Manager at Rasmussen College. He has worked in marketing and on websites for over five years. Josh also has a B.A. in Economics from St. John’s University. Josh loves Internet marketing and blogs about SEO, web analytics and related topics on his Internet marketing blog. Connect with Josh on Twitter, LinkedIn, and +Josh Braaten.

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We begin this series today by featuring, Jason Grigsby (@grigs).  Jason lives and breathes mobile, much to the chagrin of his family and co-workers. He believes mobile may be the most important technology since the printing press.

1)  What is it that got you interested in working in Mobile Web Strategy?

Back in 2000, I purchased my first mobile phone (a low-end feature phone) and first PDA (a Handspring Visor) at nearly same time. It was clear to me that these two devices would eventually become one.

I became consumed with the idea of what could happen if people had information at the finger tips no matter where they were in the world. Could we make capitalism work better if we had informed consumers shopping with the world’s knowledge in their hands?
The walls of my apartment were covered with poster-sized sticky notes with grand schemes for barcode scanners and mobile data. It is still a surprise that the woman who I met at that time didn’t think I was a madman and eventually became my wife.

I soon realized that mobile technology wasn’t anywhere near ready for prime time. I went to work for a company building web applications until 2007 when the iPhone came out and it was clear the technology was finally ready.

2)  What are a few takeaways a MIMA summit attendee can plan to learn from your presentation:Get Me a Mobile Strategy or You’re Fired: Learn the Do’s and Don’ts of a Successful Mobile Strategy?

I’m focused on is what are the attributes that make mobile unique and how companies that understand those attributes make better decisions about mobile.  We’re going to take a look at what works and what doesn’t work in mobile strategy. I guarantee two things: you’ll learn something and you’ll be entertained.

3)      What is next in the digital decade?

I’m going to take some liberties here and answer the question slightly differently than it was posed. There are two factors that I think are a big deal for the coming decade.

The first is the one that many people are already aware of: the upcoming zombie apocalypse of devices. That’s the way Scott Jenson, formerly of Google Mobile and now with Frog Design, described the fact that it is no longer just mobile phones, but tablets, televisions, automobile systems, and many other devices. This transformation is accelerating.

The second is one that many people haven’t considered. Much of our infrastructure is ill-suited for our multiple device, multiple environment future. Many companies have multiple systems built on desktop web assumptions that are duct-taped together. We have massive work ahead of us to update systems to support the new device diversity.

4)     What would you say is the most unexpected developments in the last 10 years?

The success of the iPhone App Store. I always thought it would be successful, but I didn’t expect it to be as big as it has turned out to be.
First, the App Store’s approach is almost entirely the opposite of Web 2.0—the trend immediately preceding it. Web 2.0 featured:

• Web-based apps were challenging native apps (Google Docs usurping MS Office)
• Services and mashups were the hot trend
• The recurring revenue of software as a service was preferable to traditional software sales
• Cloud computing meant more and more data was moved from local clients to servers

The App Store flipped these trends on their head by emphasizing:

• Native apps are presumed to be superior to web apps
• Few if any APIs between apps. In fact, apps are more isolated due to iOS sandbox.
• No recurring revenue nor even traditional models like charging for upgrades.
• Priority on client-side storage, not on cloud systems.

And despite all of that, the App Store accomplished something else no one thought possible which is to make purchasing apps a common, discretionary expense for a significant number of people.

We take it for granted now but the iPhone App Store was truly revolutionary.

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Stay tuned for next week’s thought leader and check out more on Jason’s session at this year’s MIMA Summit.

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A special thanks to Abbey Tosic, a MIMA volunteer, for hosting this interview.  Abbey, is the eHub Design & Usability Lead at 3M. She has worked in design and online marketing for over 7 years. Abbey graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with a BFA degree in Graphic Design.  You can view Abbey’s recent work at www.abbeytosic.com or read her Interactive marketing blog at www.thedotcomgirls.com.

With all that in mind, what might occur after the tenth annual MIMA Summit has passed us by? Here are some random prognostications for the next decade, 2011-2021:

Video Ubiquity

Data storage and transfer costs have been near or at zero for some time now. Camera, screen and encoding technologies get less and less expensive and video capture and editing software gets easier and easier to use. My first prediction is ever-present video, for every computing device and display surface. We will come to prefer our content in motion, often created and always controlled by ourselves. We will walk away from static, inflexible materials and towards moving surfaces and ambient sound. This shift will change the biology of how we interact with each other and with our knowledge. It will often overload us, and stillness will stand out.

Every Surface A Display

Due to innovation in microelectronics, bonding and paint, and fabrication technologies, every wall, tabletop, ceiling, floor, containment material and vehicle exterior will have the capabilities to display digital information. It will be horrible and wonderful all at once. You won’t pick a color for a wall because it can be any color, anytime. Or it can be a video. So, on the one hand, we might not need to carry anything with a screen because everything could be our screen. It also seems possible this technology could capture input as well as display data, meaning you might not need to carry a keyboard or trackpad either.

The New Facebook, By And For The People

I think one of two scenarios might happen with our current most popular network: The first is some form of government presence in the network that is demanded by the people. This might be a reaction to a perceived rise in corporate power, a policy gaffe on Facebook’s part, or a desire to insure rights and protections. Consider this scenario similar to government regulation of broadcast frequencies or air travel. As networks grow more prominent in public life, we will ask where and how they ought to be accessible to all, all the time.

The New Facebook, Isn’t Facebook

Or, if we take the last ten years as any kind of indicator, our society will soon—despite massive, rising adoption—walk away from accounts on facebook.com. We just will, because of what it has become, has not become and because of what isn’t, which is new. This natural evolution is one of any network’s biggest threats. It will spur constant acquisition of perceived threats to leadership. It will someday inspire an actual marketing campaign for Facebook. And yet, another idea might simply take root and do to Facebook as it has done to networks before it.

The New Education

Perhaps the biggest change I see occurring in the next ten years is the beginning of the end of education, as we know it. Too many empowering technologies, the ever-increasing globalization of DIY groups, and the growing sense education should and must change will drive profound effects. Grading will be based on interests, not age. Point systems common to gaming will replace grades. Education will be supplied more and more by a global network of those who are willing to teach versus a mandate of state and local government. Education will not occur in centralized buildings and, perhaps most important, education will not be confined to specific age segments. Graduation day is forever.

I hope you’ll join us this October 11-12 at the tenth annual MIMA Summit when Wired’s Chris Anderson and Google’s Avinash Kaushik keynote along with over 50 session speakers. I’m sure you’ll hear even more (and better) prognostications that inspire useful conversations in the days that follow.

— Tim Brunelle

Ten years ago, way back before government officials were tweeting their private parts or anyone could plus one their Google, an intrepid group of Minnesotans inaugurated the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association’s annual Summit. This was a very complex, new conference from a three-year old association with less than 500 members. This was a dare, a risk, a mammoth outpouring of volunteering love. And it took place right before the first dot-com explosion.

In other words—a brilliant beginning. Because ten years later, the MIMA Summit is the largest annual marketing and technology conference in the Midwest, hosted by the oldest interactive marketing association in the country. A testament, if you will, to the pioneering intent of MIMA’s founders, early sponsors and supporters, and most important—the amazing marketing and interactive talent living and working in Minnesota.

We Made Something Incredible

We – the community of developers, technicians, producers, writers, designers, UXers, content strategists, project managers, film directors, account managers, brand leaders, media planners, investors, lawyers and even the Master Social Media Guru Pundit experts – have created and nurtured an awesome marketplace. The talent in Minnesota that defines, funds, creates and sustains game-changing business ideas is second to none. And throughout this past decade, the MIMA Summit has come around each year to remind us of the strength and vitality of our community.

I’m lucky to be involved in this association at this point in time. I am inspired by our association’s abilities over the past decade to continuously build an annual event now serving over 1,200 people. An event with national appeal, that celebrates the story of Minnesota’s powerful and growing interactive marketing industry.

A Continuing Mission

The tenth annual MIMA Summit, on Tuesday October 11 and Wednesday October 12, promises to continue MIMA’s overarching mission—to elevate talent—by providing an incredible roster of useful insights, focused passion and spirited dialogue. You’ll walk in with an incredible array of over 50 speakers, panels and session to learn from, including keynotes by Wired’s Chris Anderson and Google’s Avinash Kaushik.

You’ll walk out inspired—and not just by the talent elevating your talent. Ticket prices for the 2011 MIMA Summit are still being sold at 2009 prices, easily the best value for any conference of this size and scope. I hope you will spread the word and plan to join us as we celebrate the digital decade: what happened, what’s next and why it matters.

— Tim Brunelle

“There’s too much competition between women. We need more collaboration.”
— Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker, Wired Women

“Digital is a mindset, not a medium.”
—Andrian Ho and Christian Erickson, Creativity: Bridging Traditional to Digital

“The challenge has always been getting signoff on an artifact you can’t deliver.”
—Jill Hewitt and Chris Bernard, Schematic and Microsoft: All Access Olympics

“Web properties today: 1) stagnant content 2) no interaction 3) about the company, not the customer”
—Valeria Maltoni, Corporate Blogger: Angel or Demon?

“The future is already here. It’s just unevenly distributed.”
—William Gibson, quoted by Chris Bernard, Schematic and Microsoft: All Access Olympics

“This is the best market for interactive in the country today.”
—Matt Wilson, MIMA President, Welcome Remarks

“Dance like an idiot and don’t sell anything.”
— Ze Frank, What Conversation?

What did you hear? Please share.

It seems obvious that a company’s online content should speak to their target audience’s needs, but think about most corporate websites.  They have stagnant content and are about the company, not the consumer.  A blog is a great way for companies to start responding to what their audience really wants to hear.

There is an increasing demand for businesses to start leveraging social media.  According to Maltoni, 85% of people believe that companies should have a social media presence online and 53% of people say they would interact with companies with that presence.  A corporate blog is a way for companies to turn the tables on the traditional one-way marketing model by providing refreshed content and creating interaction.

Corporate blogging is a good opportunity to listen and become more in tune with the ongoing needs of customers.  The result is the creation of an online brand identity for your company that puts you in control of the conversation.  As consumers start to recognize your company’s persona/voice (reputation building), there’s also an increase in trust.  The more people feel they know you, the more affinity they will feel for your brand.

Creating a corporate blog is not an easy task though.  Corporate bloggers need to possess very specific qualities and characteristics because they are, in essence, the face of your brand.  They need to be communicators (editors), facilitators (community builders) and negotiators (marketers), as well as being active listeners, advocates and ambassadors.  These qualities all promote trust between company and consumer.

There is, of course, a great sense of responsibility associated with becoming a corporate blogger, especially within heavily regulated companies.  Everything you say is associated with the company.  There’s no such thing as being “just an employee”.  Corporate bloggers are the company.  Maltoni’s advice is to be open, truthful and sure of what you want to communicate because “once you open the door, there is no turning back.”

The following panelists were asked to share their thoughts on an appropriate marketing mix for launching a new yoghurt-based sports drink (Edgy-Y) in one market over a three month period.

• Luba Smulka, General Mills
• Eric Boyles, Medtronic
• Ron Corbisier, Cadria
• Patty Henderson, Colle+McVoy

The panelists agreed that point of purchase is key, that is, reaching the target audience at the moment of most relevance.  So what are those key moments? 

• First thing in the morning while eating breakfast.  Smulka suggested leveraging newspaper wraps and print coupons. 
• In the grocery store. Boyle and Henderson recommended offering free trials of the product to shoppers.
• Online.  Contextual placements and paid search can all be leveraged to reach consumers that are performing relevant searches.

Couponing was a recurring suggestion from the panelists because of the importance of trial.  You have to prove the viability of the product and trial is the best way to do it.  In addition to in-store promotion, the panelists suggested providing e-coupons on the product’s micro site for consumers to print and take into the store.  Linked to couponing is providing other incentives.  You have to find a way to engage consumers and provide them with a real reason to try the product.

With product viability and transparency being key to this product launch, there has to be a PR element to the marketing mix.  What is the value proposition?  Why is this yoghurt sports drink different?

Many of the panelists recommended leveraging social media, which in essence ties together the tactics listed above.  There are many opportunities for exposure via social media sites which, coupled with e-couponing and links to the product micro site, can be very effective from a viral marketing standpoint.  Henderson had a long list of ways to use social media for this product launch: Twitter, blog posts with details of how to obtain the e-coupon, collecting testimonials on the micro site and asking consumers to vote for their favorite flavor.  The opportunities are endless.�

“Once upon a time, advertising was an exchange of content for time spent and exposure to advertiser messages.”  This is no longer the case.  Today, consumers create content and advertisers can too.  Advertising agencies are now switching to a more marketing-focused model that depends upon viral content.

Lieb provided an excellent example of an advertiser creating content.  The Great Schlep is an advetisement for Barack Obama presented as an extremely entertaining and viral video.  The creator of this content knows how to reach her target audience; she presents her content in her audience’s voice.  This example fits all three of the content criteria that Lieb focused on during her presentation:

• Educates and informs audience
• Amuses, engages, entertains
• Creates a story that consumers can spread (viral marketing)

Another example of content being used for advertising purposes is Pet Charts, a consumer-focused website that aggregates pet-focused content from other sources and invites consumers to vote for their favorite content (stories, photos, videos, etc).  The beauty about content driven sites, such as this one, is that they also support organic search engine ranking.  Search engines look favorably upon websites that constantly add fresh relevant content and raise rankings accordingly.  

Lieb dubs this approach (advertising with little-to-no significant media buying) as the ”Jerry Seinfeld” school of advertising.  The recent Seinfeld and Gates commercials are successful in humanizing products to create viral momentum.  Consumers are so engaged by these commercials that they voluntarily go online to subscribe to subsequent commercials.  Note that the mention of the product in these ads is minimal.  Instead, the ads focus on entertaining and engaging the audience rather than hitting them over the head with product mentions.

Brands are now dedicating their budget not to media buying, but to creative and spokespeople.  Advertising is no longer about buying media placements that overtly promote products, but about finding a way to engage consumers via compelling content that gets consumers talking and only subtedly promotes a product.  As Lieb concludes, advertisers are becoming “storytellers”.  If you want to sell a product, you need a story.  What’s your story?