Tiger Woods Spits on Golf, Google Secrets, How JC Penney Got Their Site To The Top: What your business can learn from the Tiger and JC Penney
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 15, 2011
Befor
e I begin this week, I want to point out one of the funniest clips I have ever seen on the Internet. My friend Simon Feil (http://www.simonfeil.com/index.htm) stars in this clip from the Onion News Network: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NDPX4RYH-g&feature=player_embedded. So the opposite of the various Sunday morning yell at each other what’s your opinion democrat vs. republican BS that is spewed. “Your logic is flawless!” “I couldn’t agree with you more!” Straight out of Leslie Neilsen writing and comedy.
And here is something NOT funny. Tiger Woods spitting on the putting green. Golf has reached an all time low. Ewwwwwwwww. Tiger Woods hocked a lougie and left it near the 12 hole. Come on man. That’s just gross. And irresponsible. I really hope that Tiger can get his act together. Why did OJ kill his wife and then continue to do bad things when cleared of the charge. Burglary in Las Vegas of Sports memorabilia? Michael Vic and dog fighting? Come on guys. You have talent. Raw talent. Talent and skills that you have honed throughout your young lifetimes. To make history, fame and fortune. What the heck is wrong with you? Can’t you just accept your success and live gracefully. Tiger. Get it together and keep your saliva in your mouth or in a tissue. Then throw it in your caddy’s bag and play to win. You are better than that http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Tiger-Woods-spits-on-green-golf-world-splits-in?urn=golf-321079
As for companies who are better than that, a number of people had asked me if I had seen the NY Times article on “The Dirty Little Secrets Of Search” (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp) When you are an individual and famous like Tiger Woods, Brittany Spears or Lindsay Lohan, your face and your name are your brand. Now seriously. Who is going to want to buy a Lindsay Lohan necklace after her latest fiasco in California? One of the most famous books out there is by Mark McCormack, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.” As head of one of the largest sports and celebrity representation companies, he was all about what you do today to make money and glorify your brand so that in the future you can ride those coattails. (See Jerry Maguire – SHOW ME THE MONEY!) Do good on the field and then you can do well after the game is over. Give to charity today and watch them honor you later on in life.
JC Penney is one such company. A good company that makes VERY good money. According to the NY Times article, they made $17.8 Billion dollars in 2010. Not bad! They also spent $2.46 million in paid search ads. Definitely worth it. But they also used a digital marketing and SEO firm to broker some bad black hat practices for them. As a result, they were at the top for many Google searches when they shouldn’t have been. Apparently Google didn’t catch it and only busted them after they probably raked in millions as a result of being at the top of the organic listings. So this stinks for JC Penney, but it also stinks for Google, the world of search and all of the small guys who should have been at the top for various keywords when they were not.
The good news that I glean from all of this is that I am right! I said that Google was going to downplay links coming from 3rd party outside sources and websites and that content was going to reign supreme. They had paid for thousands of non-relevant links and it paid off in the short term. But now they are being punished so that’s too bad. I am guessing a few possibilities.
1) JC Penney might not have known what their search engine firm was doing for them.
2) Some people might not have known. Others who didn’t know didn’t care or weren’t paying attention. After all, online doesn’t compare to offline for them so it probably slipped under the radar.
3) JC Penney did know but didn’t care.
4) JCPenney knew and so did Google. But because they spend so much they were willing to overlook it.
This can be a nasty business sometimes considering click fraud and the amount of money Google and other search engines charge. But supply and demand drives the market.
In conclusion, I believe in testing, reporting and monitoring. Not everything is going to work at first. But if you can find an honest way to market yourself, you are going to benefit in the long run.
Want to know more about the tiger woods or how search engines work? SalemGlobal can help you get more leads than you ever thought possible through the Internet. Call Raphi Salem today at 888-578-6732 or email info@salemglobal.com and we can talk about it.
Super Bowl XLV, Darth Vader and Valentines Day: What your business can learn from Sports, Villains and Love
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 8, 2011
Well who saw
the big game this past Sunday? I didn’t but I did see the commercials on YouTube so don’t worry if you spent three million dollars to try to reach my conscience, inner conscience and spending part of my brain. I only counted 63 commercials though here at http://www.youtube.com/user/adblitz. Did I miss any? Please if you need me to drink your brand of beer or buy your brand of car, you are going to have to get on YouTube right now.
You see. That’s what I have been trying to tell you for the past 14 years. I don’t own a TV but I do pay for Internet access. Soon that won’t matter anyway. I watch super bowl commercials and even the halftime show (which was awesome btw – thanks Black Eyed Peas) on Youtube and if I want to watch Saturday Night Live I go to hulu. Besides that I am not really interested. And if you are an advertiser and want to reach the next generation, of course keep spending millions on the super bowl and everywhere else, but don’t forget about the Internet guys and Google. Remember – Google bought Youtube a few years ago knowing that more people will watch video clips over and over again more than just once on regular TV. Visionary is what I call it.
So most people are saying that they weren’t so impressed with this year’s commercials. I agree. True you had the comedy. The drama. The facts. The sex. (Btw – bad image of an old faced Joan Rivers on someone else’s sexy body. I think that was a mistake mr. godaddy. Stick with Danica Patrick and other young stars and sex symbols. Joan Rivers was a bad move.
As for you Mr. Darth Vader or should I say YOUNG Darth Vader…. funny commercial but I don’t remember what car you are trying to sell to me. When will these advertising executives start calling me. Never? Well then you aren’t going to sell as many cars. I was thinking about the image of Darth Vader and realized it was smart since the demographic of car buyers will get the reference. But in a few years its not going to work.
Timothy Hutton in Tibet. Bad commercial. Bad message. Groupon – you are lucky to sell for billions but your ad agency is fired. Oh and so is your chief marketing officer.
CareerBuilder. Funny commercial with monkeys.
Eminem selling out for brisk iced tea…. The use of celebrity in commercials is usually effective. Especially black eyed peas halftime show coupled with their commercials for chatter or just Will.i.am? – I guess no one told him that no one uses nor will they use chatter.com. On the other hand, salesforce.com is a good company so maybe they will figure it out.
Lastly, this week is Valentine’s Day. Use it to your advantage. That’s right. I am talking about to your Internet Marketing advantage… Send out those emails to your clients that you LOVE and anyone else for that matter. Like – SalemGlobal LOVES its clients. And customers. And people who read this email week after week. It’s just another way of saying thank you. And since I won’t be sending you any flowers or chocolate, buy some yourself. But think about me and SalemGlobal as you are doing it 
Want to know more about the superbowl, Darth Vader, bad commercials, how to make the Internet work for you and what to give your loved one for Valentine’s Day? Call Raphi Salem at 212-993-5828 or email info@salemglobal.com and we can talk about it.
Groundhog Day, Super Bowl 45, Hair Transplant Contest, Quit Facebook, Valentines Day: What your business can learn from oversized rodents and football players
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 4, 2011
Well, its that time of the year again. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell Day. I mean Groundhog Day. I mean one of my all time favorite movies days. The day where if a groundhog leaves its burrow and sees its shadow, it retreats back into its burrow signifying another six weeks of winter. Well guess what folks. Its been raining, snowing, sleeting, freezing, cloudy, overcast and no sign of the sun anywhere except maybe Florida for the snowbirds. So the whole idea of an early spring is just plain insane in the membrane. But according to legend, since it didn’t see its shadow today, expect an early spring. Crazy – right?
Well, the reason why I love that movie and why I write about it year after year (I can’t find my old posts) is because its a movie about hope and perseverance and positive attitude and despair, and love and people and it will make you laugh and cry and feel good and self improvement and 2nd chances and 3rd chances and I could go on but there are lots of other things I want to write about. So my message here is see the movie regardless of your personal or professional life and where you are. You can apply the message to anything, anyone, anywhere, anytime, and anyhow.
Now as I understand it, this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. What’s that you ask? Ha ha. Its only the biggest game in the country. American football rocks this coming Sunday February 6, 2011, at Cowboys Stadium located in North Arlington, Texas. The American Football Conference Champion Pittsburgh Steelers will battle the National Football Conference Champion Green Bay Packers in what promises to be one of the most exciting football match ups in recent years. But as you know, I am all about the commercials. Here is a sneak peak of what I could find so far on Youtube:
<disclaimer> I don’t drink soda. I think its terrible for you, your teeth, your heart, your gums, your stomach – shall I go on? I also think that if it has no calories its even worse for you. But as a self-proclaimed advertising maven, I still can spot the good commercial that is worth spending $3 million dollars at the super bowl.
Doritos Pepsi Max is running the same campaign that everyone should be running. User generated content. Duh! Here you can see people making fun of themselves and having fun: http://www.youtube.com/user/2011DoritoCommercial at Walmart and everywhere else in the world. Here are some finalists:
This one made me laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mjRU6b4ecw as did this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE0KIDZnJ9gBut the funniest of them all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZRdr1PiyPQ and another one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8D3qvQCP0Y . But the smartest guy out there reserved this domain name and put up advertising so I hope he makes some cash from Google AdSense off of it: http://www.superbowlcommercials2011.com/
Lets see what happens this Sunday. I think there are over 110 commercials this year. But the best contest and YouTube, blog, Facebook campaign out there is certainly by former tight end two time Super bowl champion NFL san Francisco 49er Dr. John Frank who actually retired from the NFL and went to medical school to become a plastic surgeon and hair transplant specialist. Dr. Frank is running a contest and sweepstakes to see who comes closest to guessing this Sunday’s final score. Whoever it is will be eligible to receive a free hair transplant. Now with 110 million viewers out there, there have got to be some balding guys that might want to change their appearance a bit. Check it out: http://www.prweb.com/releases/hair-transplant/superbowl/prweb5016224.htm
But wait – Valentines Day is coming up. And what better way for a homeless couple to celebrate by going to the Super Bowl. Huh? Why would people who can’t afford to pay rent go to a game that costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars to see live and in person? And what about getting to the game? If you don’t live in Texas and can’t drive to the game, its going to cost you. Well not if you are this lucky couple who WON their ticket by being in the right place and the right time. Oh – and transportation included! http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Homeless-couples-in-Green-Bay-wins-trip-to-Super?urn=nfl-315407
Hey – did you hear the one about the high school kid that closed his Facebook account because he was being harassed by recruiters and colleges because of his stellar football skills. Read about it here… Basically, every high school and college kid has a Facebook page. But when you get unsolicited advice from the world about what to do with your life and then people comment about your mother, its time to go offline.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Top-recruit-quits-Facebook-following-living-nig?urn=highschool-313954 This is very similar and related to our reputation management services. Some people get into trouble every now and then. Sometime lawyers and doctors like to go out for a drink and someone takes a not-so-flattering picture and posts it on Flickr or Facebook. Sometimes Charlie Sheen likes to party with drugs and hookers. So if your business hasn’t woken up to the fact that word of mouth media is here to stay and is the best way for bad news to travel fast, you better get online with a positive message and combat the negative. If you are in high school though, play sports and watch TV a little more. There will always be time in the future to get online. Plenty of time for you to do something a little off color and have your friends document it on their blogs and on YouTube.
And on the opposite side of the Facebook track, billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided that fellow billionaire Marc Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of FB might be able to help the city of New York with its own social media. Come on Mike, I am right here on 45th street. Did you really have to hire a billionaire to help with the city’s social media strategy? Tell you what, I know you want to hire an in-house person for $110,000 annual salary but my firm will do it for half. Click on http://www.SalemGlobal.com for my resume. I look forward to your call.
Ok – just one last thing. Did you all see that Jesse Eisenberg the actor that hosted Saturday Night Live last week? The opening was brilliant. Andy Samberg dressed up in the famous Zuckerberg hoodie sweatshirt and matted down his hair. And behind the scenes the real Marc Zuckerberg was talking to Lorne Michaels about the fact that he didn’t love Eisenberg in the movie the Social Network. How they got the Z man on SNL we will probably never know but clearly someone knew someone.
One final final thing. My local bowling alley called itself the super BOWL in an email blast to local fans. Great play on words. Great message. Funny and to the point. Want to know more about social media and how you can take advantage of the super bowl to help your business? Call Raphi Salem at 212-993-5828 or email info@salemglobal.com and we can talk about it. Its February 2011. You need to change your marketing plan to get with the times. Help me help you