Seek and you shall find—and build your brand. WPP and its agencies will work with Microsoft Advertising on a research project intended to explore the dynamics between search engine marketing and brand building.
“Today, marketers are spending billions on search engine marketing, primarily as a direct response mechanism,” said David Sable, vice chairman & COO of Wunderman, a WPP agency. “We think it’s time to better understand how search builds brands differently than traditional media.” The research project seeks the connection between brand building and search marketing to shed light on how brands can tap into search as a brand and market share builder.
WPP agencies Wunderman, BrandAsset Consulting®, and ZAAZ are behind the research initiative which will delve into the developing interplay between brands and search engine efficacy. With Microsoft’s new search engine, the next generation of search engine marketing and the opportunity it presents for consumers to embrace brands is promising to be eye-opening. The study will encompass the impact search is having on WPP’s blue chip clients and consumers around the world.
Of the project, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft, Scott Howe says, “Coming on the heels of our launch of Bing, the opportunity is ripe to re-think preconceived notions about what search decision engines can and cannot do, and how the connections between search and display are becoming increasingly interwoven to drive brand awareness.”
The research projects aims to address, 1. The correlation between brand awareness and search efficacy; 2. How search engines are changing consumer behavior; 3. How social marketing impacts the search for brands; and 4. The connections between paid search and brand development.
Research will be designed to uncover new findings on where and how search is working best: at what stage of brand development it generates the greatest impact and how the intersection of categories and consumer preference and purchase intent comes into play.
Findings will immensely benefit factors for mixed media marketing for both direct response and brand building. The commitment is for better evaluation of brand co-existence in the market. Research findings will culminate in a WPP agencies report on how the newly invigorated competition in search marketing is impacting consumers’ level of brand recognition – as well as the future direction of search, and will be revealed during the Advertising Week in New York, in late-September 2009.
