Did Google Hack Target?!

What else could explain this, other than a rogue AdSense sales team at Google breaking into Target.com and sabotaging loyal Target customers?

Target.com allows other advertisers to compete with Target within the Target website via Google AdSense.

HUH?

I am shopping patio furniture at Target.com, and right there in my results are Ads by Google, promoting patio furniture from Lowe's, Home Depot, an interesting looking domain name called "DirectPatioFurniture.com" and 3 other competitors.

Is Target so smart that they know their online customers will shop other sites, so they might as well make revenue with their own traffic through Google AdSense?

This is a very courageous strategy if it is working, and an outrageous one if it is not.

Because some person is in charge of Target.com, and I am not, I must assume they know much more than I do and are very good at marketing. Target is a brand that knows how to brand. They are a market that knows how to market. But this time, I think someone went nuts.

May this bold and/or nutty decision-maker find this post through Google Alerts, and respond with a, "Kirk, you're wrong. We're achieving more goals, profits and customers by adding Google AdSense in our website. We're going to get you as our customer anyway, you're going to shop around anyway... we love taking $5 from Home Depot every time you click their link. We love taking $6 from "LoveMyPatio.com." Because we know you are going to come back to us, in our store in your town, to purchase your new patio furniture."

If I were king of target.com, I'd probably rather keep my customers on my site. Allowing competitors to advertise on your website through Google AdSense is -- to me -- exactly like allowing Home Depot and Lowe's to put uniformed employees in your patio furniture section to guide customers away from Target for the purchase.

God knows I've been wrong a couple times before, and this may be Target pulling off some of their pure marketing genius.

You Never Know What's Next

The first time I used Google was during a visit with a client in San Francisco. It was January of 2000, and while Google had already been a hometown hit in Silicon Valley, it was not even on the same field - or in the same universe - with the likes of AOL and Yahoo!. I've been a fan of their online services since that day, and they have grown to dominate their game.

But you never know when the next thing is going to hit, and you can bet that no one will ever dominate forever. My guess is that a visual engine will take the next turn at the top. It could be an existing player, such as Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Apple or Adobe, but it could be a newbie too.

I have a really good feeling this is what the next evolution of search engines will look like: http://www.searchme.com/.

Chick-Fil-A... one model from which anyone can learn.

No one can dispute this company as a pure success. If you want to get better, follow the best.

(Read this article in the AJC)

Even in a Recession Depression, Google's Kicking A(d)s

I have several clients who are thrilled with Google AdWords, and some who still fear it.

If you have something to sell, and your potential customers cannot find you in Google, you're missing the boat.

Read the Bloomberg article here...

Cheap, Fast, or Good: Pick 2

This one's apparently been out there for a while, but I came across it in a Tom Wait's interview of himself.

Anyway, the point in "Cheap, Fast, or Good... pick 2" is:

If it's Cheap and Fast, it's not going to be Good.
If it's Cheap and Good, it's not going to be Fast.
If it's Fast and Good, it's not going to be Cheap.

Right now, I consider myself Cheap and Good. I'll strive for Fast and Good.

Which 2 describe your products or services?

Personal $ecurity

I've been saying home security / personal security is going to explode. Here's a perfect example of what's to come... a woman's Mac is stolen, she logs in remotely and takes photos of the thieves with the Mac's camera.

Someone's going to make the right technological solutions to protect all your private property... or at least let you know who stole it, when, and where it is now.

Read the article about the Mac lady here.

Death of a Salesman?

My wife found a pair of these shoes at a local boutique. She was ready to buy, but they didn't have the color she wanted (yellow, as shown).

Now that she knew she liked the style and the comfort of the shoe, she was able to get online that afternoon, order the shoes from Zappos.com, and they were delivered overnight. And it cost a few dollars less than at the boutique because she was not charged local sales tax.

She may have asked the boutique to order the shoes for her through their distributor, but I bet they would not have been delivered overnight. The salesman would have had to make an effort to say "Oh, if you want a pair of the yellow, I can have them here by Friday." But that effort was not made.

Sounds good for Zappos, bad for salesmen and local independent retailers.

PS. Here's my affiliate link to Zappos. Shop away!

Why Jeff Tweedy's Business Should Be Important to You

Jeff Tweedy is a musician who has been carving his own path through the music business for years. He embraces the internet as a medium to get more people to hear his band's music, even if the listener doesn't pay for the song. I won't put any links here... simply Google him and music business, and you'll see his views in detail.

Here's the path he took to make me become a really good customer. This is a great example of how long it might take to make a customer a "lifetime" customer.

1. In the early to mid 90's I hear of a band called Uncle Tupelo that's good, but I don't check them out. I really don't like their name. This was Jeff Tweedy's band.

2. Mid to Late 90s ... I hear of Wilco and the term "alt country." It's supposed to be good. But I don't hear it. It's not on the radio.

3. 2004 ... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot comes out. It's a great, great album. A friend gives me a burnt copy on CD. I love it. I watch a borrowed copy of their DVD documentary of making Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

4. Same friend gives copy of next album, "A Ghost is Born." It came at a time when I had another band on heavy rotation, and I didn't have time to give it a chance. A few listens told me it was no YHT, as expected.

5. 2007: Another friend asks me to turn him on to some cool music. I turn him on to Wilco, thinking it's a good fit with other music he likes. He loves it.

6. 2008: Wilco comes to second friend's town. He insists on buying me a ticket. We see show. I'm blown away, and am taken to a new level of "customer satisfaction." I get home, buy all their albums at iTunes, and even gift it to friend #3 because they had just seen them on Saturday Night Live

Motive: If you sell something you care about, don't ever give up, and use any avenue possible to let people know you and your product/service exist.

Pioneers of Something, Always

some people just aren't happy unless they're blazing trails.

When the next Boom comes...

You'll see:

The next Starbucks: A healthy/affordable/fresh take-out concept
The next iPod: 24-7 personal security monitor and GPS
The next HDTV: automated, affordable home security and neighborhood monitoring

It's Good to Self-Google

I've been Googling myself for several years. It's good because with so much info out there, it's good to know what info might be out there about you. You can bet your future boss or spouse will Google your name. If there is any negative information, you might have to do some work to fix it.

You can counter it by doing your own AdWords Campaign, in which you can ensure your chosen information about yourself is at or near the very top of the results page. I've been running mine for over 4 years. Google "Kirk Lancaster" and you'll see my little ad.

Often you'll have people and companies with the same name show up in the results, and you actually have to advertise and optimize your site in order to have someone find you quickly.

The point is you have to make sure your name and your company's name is fairly clean in the results of internet searches. Google yourself. It's good for you to know what's out there.

Here's a good article at Wired.com about it.

Perfect Example of Getting Customers Involved

Can't write it up any better than this. And this will work for small companies too. Example: A landscaping company could have a "Worse Lawn in Town" contest and give away a lawn makeover. Not a bad way to get people to talk about your company. Think locally!

I'll probably even pick HD over Lowe's on my next trip.

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/12/12/depot_1213.html

Ahhh, the Joys of Christmas 2007

Ahhh, the joys of Christmas 2007... a huge variety of Christmas songs old and new downloaded from iTunes, shopping online from our favorite e-tailers, and avoiding the inconsistent service of local retail.

Yes! THIS is the future of marketing revealed!

Radiohead, one of the world's most popular rock bands, is selling their new album in various formats directly from their site. But for just the download of the music, fans have the option of what to pay beyond the small processing fee. It's like an honor system. Common sense says that most of the downloaders will pay nothing, but the beauty is that they must provide their detailed contact information, so Radiohead will definitely get to market to their listeners directly with tour info, merchandise sales and new releases. Brilliant!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/01/bcnradio101.xml

Make sure you know what you want your website to do

There are only so many reasons for your business to have a website. Make sure you know what you want your website to accomplish, and once you pick your reasons, make sure you're fulfilling each one as simply and user-friendly as possible.

• Tell people about your business, service and/or products


• Tell them enough about your business to get them to contact a sales person


• Sell your items/service, 24-7 online


• Promote your company 24-7 online in search engines (the new "phone book")


• Enable two-way communication between company and customers, employees and partners (blogs, instant chat, email, form data... etc.)


• Learn more about your customers and what they value; what they're looking for

Chik-Fil-Yay!

I always love going to Chick-Fil-A. They seem to be one of the few "every day" brands that manages to be consistent in product and service.

Tonight I realized for the umpteenth time that when I eat Chick-fil-A, there's never anywhere to put ketchup for the fries. Every time I ask for ketchup, and every time I remember that my only option seems to be ripping open the paper/foil bag that holds the sandwhich. There's a ketchup problem at Chick-fil-A!

Sell a "ketchup bucket." Like a small version of pudding cup, with removable foil top. Buy it for a dime and sell it for a quarter... I'd buy it. And I would enjoy my fries more too!

(like this, but ketchup)

If you have to lead people...

check this guy out. If you manage any kind of team, I'd study everything you can find about this guy. He's the best coach alive for people who have to be prodded to do their best, and at making something work out of what you have to work with.

Want to understand a viral ad?

Hopefully you don't have to get hurt to do it, but your ad really does need to be remarkable to be viral. http://www.break.com/index/top-gun-motors.html

(Even before the "remarkable" part, this guy's pretty funny. It's so crazy that after all these years, local automobile dealers still scream at you. I guess that means it still works...)

Even though it's easier, it ain't that easy...

Blogging. Digital photos. Advertising in Search Engines. Updating your website...

Everything is so much easier now when it comes to communicating with your customers, employees and other business associates.

But that doesn't mean communicating is any easier. Coming up with a message that is relevant and interesting to your audience is still not easy, especially when your audience has more communication to deal with than ever before.

While it's very inexpensive to set up a blog and website to communicate openly, that doesn't make it easier to write several small articles a month or get your brand properly identified.

While it's amazing that you can be advertising your product to the world within minutes in Google, you still have to have a great product, enticing message and effective call to action. And you have to know to manage keywords or you can waste A LOT of money.

While it's much easier to measure results of online marketing compared to older channels, it's still not that easy to understand what all the data means for your future marketing plan.

You have to stay on top of marketing trends and tools like never before, you have to apply just as much to your marketing budget as ever before, and you have to work just as hard to communicate properly as before.

But here is one thing that is easier in today's marketing world... you do not have to spend so much money TESTING an idea on physical media, such as printing and mailing newsletters, business collateral and traditional media in broadcast and print. You can launch a message and get fairly immediate response from your audience, which allows you to adjust your marketing on the fly. And once you have nailed it in the online world, you can safely launch it in traditional media too.

Does this Work?

Cathy and Kirk "Simpson"

I am a Simpson's fan, so I will see the movie. Putting out a website that lets me Simpsonize myself is simply as cool as it gets, but by now you shouldn't be shocked getting that from the Simpsons' franchise.

So I would say this is brilliant, except I'm still not going to patronize the sponsor because of this ad. I don't have anything against Burger King, I just know I don't eat there, and a cool online app isn't going to change my mind.

But BK has been kickin' it, so I guess they know what they're doing. Here's one thing I'll bet... that this "Simpsonizer" becomes one of the most popular things ever on the web. I just can't wait to find out if it really sells burgers.