Who else wants better search rankings?
Let’s face it, Google is the new Yellow Pages.
While phone books now prop up badly designed PC monitors, Google has become the default method for finding businesses and services. Its a phenomenon that has spawned several massive industries (SEO and SEM) and is the largest contributor to the enormous figures associated with online advertising.
As Sticky has evolved from a traditional media agency to a digital and social media agency we have become more fascinated and excited by the possibilities of Search Engine Optimisation. Eighteen months of research and testing has resulted in the development of an SEO approach that is remarkably effective.
How effective? Well this very website has been live for less than a month and already it ranks at the top or near the top of Google searches for every category we targeted. Most SEO ‘experts’ would tell you that result wouldn’t be possible for 3 to 4 months.
Posted by Craig on July 23rd, 2008 filed in SEO, Sticky Advertising
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Help Taglines Regain Lost Glory
For some time now I have been observing the advertising world move away from the effective use of slogans or taglines. It seems that, along with jingles, slogans have become “uncool” within an industry that prides itself on being “current” and “cutting edge”. Perhaps it has something to do with our current generation of marketers not wanting to do what their predecessors did. Maybe slogans and jingles are considered “old-fashioned” marketing devices.
I couldn’t disagree more (a quick look at our agency show reel displays my appreciation for slogans and jingles). I think “cool” is to blame for the blandness of most campaigns today, and why few current campaigns will ever stack up against the legendary Australian campaigns of yesteryear such as “feel like a Tooheys”, “Meadow Lea, you oughta be congratulated”, “Woolworths, the fresh food people”, “Its time” for Gough Whitlam’s election campaign and “C’mon Aussie C’mon” for World Series Cricket. Mo & Jo would be shaking their heads in disbelief.
I still believe that well-conceived slogans attached to a memorable device, such as a jingle, are extremely effective and should be part of every marketing campaign. Recently I found an excellent article in AdAge (USA) extolling the virtues of the marketing slogan. It is wonderful advice:
Posted by Craig on July 16th, 2008 filed in Strategy, branding
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Clutter
Today’s real competition doesn’t come from other companies but from the extreme clutter of the marketplace. You can’t fight clutter with clutter and expect better results because the human mind deals with clutter by blocking most of it out. Only the most interesting or useful stuff is retained.
In order for your brand to stand out in all this clutter it needs to be RADICALLY DIFFERENT.
Posted by Craig on July 16th, 2008 filed in Strategy, Zag Theory, branding
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The Future of Media Summit
Gordon and I headed down to Sydney yesterday for the Future of Media Summit 2008 hosted by Ross Dawson and his Future Exploration Network. Firstly, congratulations to Ross and his hard-working team for putting on such a professional and informative event. It went off without a a hitch and everyone was extremely accommodating.
Officially the #FOM08 event was held in two parts: the conference session with live simulcast between Sydney and Silicon Valley, and the “Unconference” sessions allowing for debate and open forum conversation on various topics.
However, like last month’s PubCamp events in Sydney and Melbourne, there was a third aspect to the event that only half the attendees were aware of - the Twitter back channel and live commentary being conducted by many of the audience. For me, this was at least as informative and stimulating as the conference itself.
Posted by Craig on July 15th, 2008 filed in Digital, social media, traditional media
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The (R)evolution has begun
Welcome to Sticky Advertising 2.0, Newcastle’s first Digital, Social & Traditional media agency
We are proud to launch a new direction for Sticky Advertising. A commitment to DIGITAL media. A commitment to offering DIFFERENT and highly innovative creative work.
Our new call-to-arms is DIGITAL + DIFFERENT .
We have embraced an exciting new website platform that provides unparalleled flexibility, adaptability and search-ability. It can offer your business wonderful new online marketing opportunities. The Sticky site is the first example of the platform and what it can do.
One of the biggest issues we have begun tackling is Search Engine Optimisation. So many websites have been poorly designed and do not perform well (or at all) in Google, Yahoo and other searches.
What is the point of a website that nobody sees?
We believe that your website shouldn’t just be a destination, but an active part of your marketing campaign. It should be introducing new customers to your business. That’s why we have developed a unique new Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) service to allow your site to be found easily and often. No need to pay for Adwords. No reason why you can’t be on the first page of all the relevant searches. Sticky has the tools to have your site performing better in online searches immediately.
In fact, we believe so strongly in the benefits of good SEO that we now bundle it into all new website designs. We refuse to create sites that aren’t fully optimised.
Finally, the DIFFERENT part. We are totally committed to creating advertising that really stands out from the clutter. Entertaining. BOLD. Left-field. We will do what it takes to give your marketing more impact. It might be a creative production or a creative use of media. Whatever it is, it won’t be bland.
Viva la (R)EVOLUTION,
Posted by Craig on July 6th, 2008 filed in Digital, Featured, SEO, Sticky Advertising
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27 Web Design Mistakes to Avoid
There are so many ways to do web design and so many theories about what is good web design. Unfortunately a lot of well-intentioned designers make fundamental mistakes that can reduce the effectiveness of your site. Here in Newcastle we come across poor web design every day. Many clients ask us to try to fix sites that other designers have created or to improve the SEO of their sites. In many cases it is necessary to start from scratch because these sites cannot be saved.
Of course, if you are looking for good web design for your business we think you should talk to Sticky, however if you are shopping around make sure that you look out for these common web design mistakes:
1. The user must know what the site is about in seconds: attention is one the most valuable currencies on the Internet. If a visitor can not figure what your site is about in a couple of seconds, he will probably just go somewhere else. Your site must communicate why I should spend my time there, and FAST!
2. Make the content scannable: this is the Internet, not a book, so forget large blocks of text. Bullet points, headers, subheaders, lists. Anything that will help the reader filter what he is looking for.
3. Do not use fancy fonts that are unreadable: sure there are some fonts that will give a sophisticated look to your website. But are they readable? If your main objective is to deliver a message and get the visitors reading your stuff, then you should make the process comfortable for them.
4. Do not use tiny fonts: the previous point applies here, you want to make sure that readers are comfortable reading your content.
5. Do not open new browser windows: Let the user control where he wants the links to open. There is a reason why browsers have a huge “Back” button. Do not worry about sending the visitor to another website, he will get back if he wants to.
Posted by Craig on July 5th, 2008 filed in Digital, SEO
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Zag Theory
Let’s face it, the game has changed forever. Now it’s customers, not companies, who decide which brands live and die.
Today’s real competition doesn’t come from other companies but from the extreme clutter of the marketplace. You can’t fight clutter with more clutter.
In order to stand out you need a brand and advertising that is different. Radically different. When the others ZIG, you must ZAG.
At Sticky, we believe that a radical ZAG strategy comes first. Build a good ZAG and the rest will follow. Your team will have something to believe in. Your potential customers will know what you stand for. Your opposition will be nervously looking over their shoulders at you.
The result should be a brand that delights customers so that more people buy more things for more years at higher price.
Sticky applies Zag Theory to each level of the advertising process.
- Branding
- Positioning
- Creative
- Media Placement
- Digital
We ask how treating each of these aspects differently will help our clients stand out from the crowd and make quantum leaps in marketing effectiveness.
The cliche is that you should look out of the square for your advertising and media ideas. We suggest you get as far away from the square as possible. Create totally new geometry. ZAG.
Posted by Craig on June 28th, 2008 filed in Strategy, Uncategorized, Zag Theory
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Television’s generation & gender gaps
Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs
If men and women could only unite, Australia might get some stimulating television in the second half of this year. But they can’t, so we’re stuck with the programming preferred by viewers aged over 55 — the time of life when, apparently, the sexes are most similar.
Last week this column pointed out that the seniors are the biggest consumers of TV, while the groovers watch the least (37 per cent of prime time viewing is by people over 55, up from 32 per cent in 2003; 28 per cent is by people 16-39, down from 30 per cent in 2003).
So the network that wins the year will be the one with the geriatric appeal. Off the back of a truck has fallen some fascinating research about the age of viewers for each station’s most popular shows this year. The median age of Australians is 37, which is to say that half the population is older than 37 and half is younger. But the median age of viewers for most top programs is well above the national figure. Half the people who regularly watch Today Tonight, for example, are over 54. What you’re about to read suggests that TV is, to put it politely, a mature medium.
Posted by Craig on June 27th, 2008 filed in Demographics, Television
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Let us comfort you
Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs
Australians are crawling back into their cocoons. The age of adventure is over. You can tell from the way they’re watching TV. Don’t try to show them anything edgy, surprising or demanding. They want slow, reassuring, and predictable.
The programs that symbolise the national mindset right now are Domestic Blitz and Better Homes and Gardens. We demonstrated enough bravery by watching The Chaser boys and electing Kevin Rudd. Now we’re pulling up the drawbridge.
This behaviour pattern seems to go in three year cycles. From 2002 to 2004, as we retreated from September 11 and the Bali bombings, the top shows reassured us that every problem had a solution. Messy garden? A team of fairies will fly in for a weekend and redecorate it. Messy crime? A team of scientists will shine a blue light on it and find the culprit within an hour. Our favourite sitcoms came with cues to tell us when to laugh.
In 2005, we started to take a few risks, tolerating and then embracing shows that kept us in suspense from week to week.
Posted by Craig on June 25th, 2008 filed in Demographics, Television
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The Social Media Adoption Process
Yesterday, I received numerous invitations to join a new Web 2.0 site called - Plurk.
My first thoughts were “No…not another one.” But I joined and spent most of my productive day inviting or accepting people as my friend.
But, what excited me wasn’t Plurk itself, it was seeing for the first time social media Thought Leaders taking up and interacting with a new technology.
People like Robert Scoble, Ann Handley, Darren Rowse and Gavin Heaton.
I felt like a young David Attenborough viewing animals interacting in their natural habitat. No…I’m not saying these Thought Leaders were animals…it’s the only analogy I could come up with.
Posted by gordon on June 20th, 2008 filed in social media
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