Google’s Chrome Positioning for Growth by Kevin Dwinnell

Today, Laurie Sullivan over at MediaPost’s Online Media Daily discusses how Google is educating the world about Chrome. It’s a small step in a much bigger effort.

Whatbrowser.org is a simple site defining the most important application on the computer. It generously makes the major browsers available from the site, and has links to tests that I’m not sure really further the knowledge of browsers.

This is all nice, but the rest of the story is the overall push that Chrome is making to gain market share. Google is proceeding in a systematic way as hey are also buying the default placement on PC-OEM machines and offering customization via themes.

Switching is a fairly high barrier, so the default placement on the PC-OEMs will provide a big lift for Chrome. Customization has proven to be another tool that overcomes satisfaction with the norm. We’ve seen Firefox penetration double on our partner sites after they’ve launched a branded browser Boom!. That’s despite the requirement of going off to Mozilla to download Firefox first.

Given these steps, is Brand Thunder releasing a Chrome Boom!? Not yet. For a small company, efforts have to be focused. That focus has been on refining the custom browser experience on Firefox and extending the product to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (see our IE beta story here). The market share of Chrome doesn’t warrant our full attention.

Does this put Chrome on the product road map? You bet. Google is taking the necessary steps to ensure Chrome has a meaningful presence, and that has ensured companies like ours are moving from interest to action.

Posted in News | Tags: brand thunder, Branded Browser, browser boom, custom browser, firefox, Google, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, MediaPost, Microsoft, Mozilla Firefox | No Comments »

Measuring Engagement – Maintaining Engagement by Kevin Dwinnell

MediaPost’s Online Spin had another interesting article yesterday titled “The Three Rs Of Engagement” by Cory Treffiletti. Cory discusses how there is no standard for defining engagement because engagement depends on the objectives of the marketer. But he proposes three unifying themes necessary to define engagement — and they are Recency, Resonance and Relevance.

I like the structure of the three Rs. The classic dictum of reach and frequency can be rolled under recency. They are the elements to help with recall. You could argue Resonance and Relevance also aid recall, but I’d put the burden of meeting those two Rs with creative execution and strategy. Creative will help you Resonate and getting that message to the right audience will ensure your Relevancy.

The three Rs also identify the keys to success when you’re dealing with a branded application like our Booms!. With an app, especially one used regularly, you are ensured Recency and since an app typically requires user action to download and use Relevancy is also virtually guaranteed. Now if you can provide the value that Resonates with that user, you’ve got a truly powerful tool to drive a lot of usage from your end user.

While you do this, you have to maintain Trust. This is implied in most marketing efforts, but essential in something like an application where the user extends a lot of faith from the moment they decide to download or install, and is committing themselves to hours of connection at a time. If you abuse the relationship you sought through the engagement capabilities of an app, you undermine more than any single marketing effort. In our world, that threshold can be pretty low if we disrupt the user’s experience. So if we don’t manage Trust very well, our three Rs quickly turns into ARRRG.

Posted in News | Tags: brand thunder, Branded Browser, browser boom, custom browser, internet application, internet apps, marketing engagement, MediaPost | No Comments »

The Digital Marketing Mix – The Why’s the Limit by Kevin Dwinnell

Last week, Kendall Allen discussed remaining innovative with marketing in tough economic times. See her post “Relationships And The Progressive Digital Mix” on MediaPost’s Online Spin. Andrew Chen, who supplies supporting analysis with most of his posts, covered part one of his thoughts on “How desktop apps beat websites at building large active userbases” in his post yesterday. I think they’ve both made some important points and their posts are worth the read.

While I love to see others endorse the marketplace where Brand Thunder plays, however, it’s not been the value proposition that’s been the most consistent objection. It’s the perceived limitations of how much a company can do and can offer their customers at one time. The most consistent objection we hear is “I’m already doing this. Why would we need that as well?” Because when you can meet your consumer where they want with little expense and time, you should do it. Doing only one thing this year is leaving too much opportunity on the table.

I’m wagering that most companies and customers can handle more than one digital media initiative a year. I understand the issue of resource constraints (believe me! I understand) but there are a lot of low cost options for you to release a bonanza of new media programs without a significant drain on your time or resources. In most cases, if you have your logo digitized and have initiated a handful of common practices, like RSS feeds for your news, you can launch a number of these programs within weeks — and that’s whether you use one of the self-serve wizards available for a number of digital media tools, or a low-cost, low-touch option like Brand Thunder brings. You can bring several tools to your audience in a reasonable amount of time.

If you’re launching one, you may as well launch more. The promotional and hosting commitment is going to be the same. This is where I see potential upside for companies. With the influx of advertising networks, it’s easier to be in a “sold out” position for promotional real estate and house promotions are the general casualty. Leveraging promotions to drive users to a single download destination on your site will make better use of the limited inventory and you can offer them a robust range of applications.

So, as you look at your digital marketing road map, I encourage you to reshape the questions being asked. Instead of why your customer would want it. Ask why you wouldn’t give them what they want. The difference can mean a lot in terms of how often you’re connecting with your audience.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: advertising, brand thunder, custom browsers, Customer value proposition, desktop widgets, Digital media, marketing, MediaPost, toolbars, web apps, widgets | No Comments »