Look Who’s On the Web 2.0 Bandwagon

Are there still any search marketers and online commerce entrepreneurs out there who haven’t seen the light on Web 2.0 – developing social media site tools for user input and user-generated content? This should be a tipping point: Even politicians do Web 2.0 now. Politicians! Is nothing sacred?

I just got an email from California Senator Barbara Boxer, even though I’m thousands of miles away. (I opted in.) Senator Boxer invited me to see just how big the BarbaraBoxer.com community is by interactively plotting myself onto her Supporter Map. I can add a message and photo, if I like, to tell other BB.com members why I joined her community. And the senator will give me Supporter Map code to embed on my own web site, blog or MySpace page to get my friends to “plot on” too.

I was most impressed when Senator Boxer said this supporter map is “just the first of many other new Web 2.0 tools that she will be introducing to get me involved and connected with other Boxer supporters.” The senator called them Web 2.0 tools. (Okay, she IS from California.)

You might recall from this blog several weeks ago a post titled Video: The Next Killer App.

It noted a user-directed video mash up tool offered by a collaboration of political web site Huffington Post, online magazine Slate and Yahoo! Video. Salon and Huffington Post deployed user-submitted debate questions and videotaped Democratic Presidential candidates’ lengthy answers. The scannable video clips were stored at Yahoo! Video, which offered its web-based Jumpcut editing tool. Site visitors were invited to select and digitally edit their own personalized debate video mashups. (Blabby pundits, irritating moderators and windbag, rambling replies hit the digital video trashcan.)

Now that is user-generated media writ large.

If even politicos and political activists use social media user-friendly tools to connect their communities, what savvy search marketer would not go Web 2.0?

To Web Or Not To Web?

That is the question…However, the answer would most likely depend on who you ask. Joao Machado, online associate director for Mediaedge, would certainly answer, “TO WEB!” Jaoa along with his team most recently launched a new campaign for the all-new 2008LR2. Machado and his team ran Land Rover’s online segment alongside its traditional advertising methods of television and print ads, and to their success significantly increased visibility of the LR2 amongst targeted Consumers. All ads displayed similar content creating consistency amongst marketing mediums, thus reinforcing one portion of the campaign with another.

The campaign ran online for two months in early spring of this year targeting professional tech enthusiasts and adults with active lifestyles ages 25-54. The Web ads ran on multiple sites including; CitySearch.com, FastCompany.com, Weather.com, and Runner’s World Online, with customized ads relevant to each site. All of the ads allowed the user to access the Land Rover site with just one click and as it turned out, many people did.

The results were nothing less than stellar. “In April there was a 21 percent increase in site traffic from unique visitors,” says Jonathan Renker, associate director at Wunderman- responsible for production of all creative assets for the campaign. Renker also noted a “fairly significant” spike in the Build Your Rover section of the site and a 28 percent increase in traffic to the LR2 section of LandRoverUSA.com. Overall says Machado, “Conversion rates went well beyond any expectations.”

Although on line advertising proved to be a positive addition to Land Rover’s marketing strategies, Web based advertising is certainly not for everyone. If the same question, “TO WEB OR NOT TO WEB” were asked of Rolex, they would definitely answer, “NOT TO WEB.” The company’s refusal to sell its luxury time pieces online is a policy Rolex claims was enforced to protect Consumers from being taken advantage of by deceitful counterfeiters.

“Concerns about fraud and a fear that the Web isn’t a pristine enough environment for their products have kept Rolex from fully embracing the Internet,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. And this trend hasn’t stopped with Rolex, as a matter of fact it seems as though many other luxury marketers are following in their footsteps. But are these companies really out to protect their customers or are they simply to stubborn to evolve their “old money” ways with “new money” times?

A study conducted by JupiterResearch revealed that Internet users with an annual household income of more that $100,000 spent three more hours online daily than their less privileged counterparts. And most recently a study by the Luxury Institute, which bumped the income minimum to $150,000, found that approximately 99 percent of their survey respondents used the Web to research products and services, and about 98 percent shopped online, which leads me to believe that the decision to shun the Web leaves companies such as Rolex at a significant disadvantage. By not utilizing the Internet as a sales channel, luxury companies are missing out on their piece of the marketing pie. Essentially, although luxury brands are hesitant to go online, studies show that their customers evidently are not!