Using paid search to market brands is so fundamental that it's self-evident. However, that's not necessarily the case when it comes to building agency brands.
Adweek found that few of the 56 agencies assessed in this year's Report Card evaluation have bought sponsored links tied to their names on Google. In fact, just five-- AKQA, Campbell-Ewald, DraftFCB, iCrossing and JWT -- have sponsored links on Google. The rest have no such links, though their Web addresses generally appeared at or near the top of each search.
Adweek also found evidence of smaller specialty shops "punching up" by piggybacking on the names of larger rivals to gain attention. For example, sponsored links for business-to-business specialists such as Stein Rogan + Partners and PJA Advertising + Marketing popped up after typing the names of better-known players such as Arnold, DDB, Young & Rubicam and OgilvyInteractive.
"Why not put ourselves out there as a viable alternative?" said Tom Stein, president and CEO of Stein Rogan + Partners, a 40-person shop in New York with a dozen clients. "It's a little bit of counter-marketing."
Of course, little guys have to do more to generate buzz, and typically on a shoestring budget. So, not unlike Alltel tweaking Verizon and AT&T in a TV spot, some smaller shops use the glare of bigger agency brands to raise their profiles. Within the sample, however, such a scrappy move was rare compared to a swath of inactivity. It's yet another example of agencies not always practicing what they preach to clients, despite the relatively low cost of buying search terms.
[ Read Entire Article ]
Adweek found that few of the 56 agencies assessed in this year's Report Card evaluation have bought sponsored links tied to their names on Google. In fact, just five-- AKQA, Campbell-Ewald, DraftFCB, iCrossing and JWT -- have sponsored links on Google. The rest have no such links, though their Web addresses generally appeared at or near the top of each search.
Adweek also found evidence of smaller specialty shops "punching up" by piggybacking on the names of larger rivals to gain attention. For example, sponsored links for business-to-business specialists such as Stein Rogan + Partners and PJA Advertising + Marketing popped up after typing the names of better-known players such as Arnold, DDB, Young & Rubicam and OgilvyInteractive.
"Why not put ourselves out there as a viable alternative?" said Tom Stein, president and CEO of Stein Rogan + Partners, a 40-person shop in New York with a dozen clients. "It's a little bit of counter-marketing."
Of course, little guys have to do more to generate buzz, and typically on a shoestring budget. So, not unlike Alltel tweaking Verizon and AT&T in a TV spot, some smaller shops use the glare of bigger agency brands to raise their profiles. Within the sample, however, such a scrappy move was rare compared to a swath of inactivity. It's yet another example of agencies not always practicing what they preach to clients, despite the relatively low cost of buying search terms.
[ Read Entire Article ]
Posts
