Google Attacks!

Here's a story from INC. on the plight of a family business that almost was put out of business by Google. The son, Ryan Abood, had used the "search-engine optimization" (SEO) services of companies that promised to increase the ranking of his business in Google searches. This practice involved increasing the number of webpages linked to Abood's business webpages, but one of the companies he contracted paid for these links. Google considers the practice of paying for links unethical, and so they began excluding the company from searches. This penalty cost this company millions of dollars.

Unbranding

Here is an article on a supposed new marketing strategy called “unbranding.” Unbranding takes the celebrity endorsement and turns it on its head. The idea is to send your competitor’s products to undesirable celebrities in order to undermine your competitor’s brand. I’m not sure if this will become a common strategy, but it begs the question: Who sent John Gosselin all those Ed Hardy shirts?

Fear appeal

Fear is a strong motivator, and it certainly can be evoked to market products. Here is an excellent example of how fear is still used today.

Recall ad

This ad perfectly illustrates the concept of recall in advertising. In fact, the ad seems purposefully annoying. It is easy to remember the product name, however, and that is the purpose of recall.