Catherine "Cat" Seda

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Dove Evolution Video and Mashups

Online video is powerful.

Have you seen the “Dove Evolution” video yet? If you haven’t, check out the 60-second clip here: http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp?id=6909

This video has been viewed by over a million people on the web! And not only are people talking about it on social sites like YouTube, creative consumers have created mashup parodies of the video. By lifting elements of Dove’s video, consumers have produced the evolution of a pumpkin, slob or zombie. To watch these, go to YouTube and type “Dove Evolution” in the search field.

What do you think of the Dove Evolution video? How do you feel about consumers mashing up a company’s content? What’s your favorite video (published by a company, not a consumer), and why do you believe it is effective marketing?

Friday, March 02, 2007

Trademark Infringement and Trademark Marketing on PPC

Are you a manufacturer, reseller or affiliate of a big brand? Want to be? If so, then pay close attention to this:

Bidding on trademarks through pay-per-click is amazingly profitable. That’s because if people like a brand, they buy it. You don’t have to convince them that the product (or service) is good—they know it is. Simply show up in a top search engine position for your trademark terms and customers will come.

But are your competitors bidding on your trademarks? They could try to steal your customers by leeching off your brand recognition. Even if they’re not bidding on your trademarks today, they could tomorrow. So keep this month’s Q&A close by.

QUESTION:

I understand that if you type “Ford car” you’ll see pay-per-click ads for Ford. But can Joe’s Auto Sales bid on “Ford car” then do a bait-and-switch, redirecting people who click on the ad to a web page about Honda instead? And what if a Honda dealer’s ad appears when you type in “Ford car?” Is that legal?

What if an advertiser doesn’t even sell the keywords he’s bidding on? When I complained to an advertiser who was doing this, he removed his ad. But others are mostly fly-by-night scams. Does it do any good to complain? And who do you complain to?

~ Dr. Murray Grossan, http://www.DrGrossan.com


CAT’S ANSWER:

Ah…I get asked this question a lot. The search engines have changed their trademark marketing policy since my first book “Search Engine Advertising” was published. To keep things simple, I’ll focus on their current policies.

A “bait-and-switch” is not allowed. Someone can’t bid on his competitor’s trademarks then redirect people to his site to instead. This creates “consumer confusion” which can constitute trademark infringement.

Yes, you can fight back. Here’s what you can do:

Hire an attorney to write a “cease and desist” letter for you to send to competitors. A scary letter from a lawyer can immediately stop this pesky problem.

Complain to the search engines. Unfortunately, like you said, some competitors hide their contact info so you can’t reach them. And some will ignore your legal letter anyway. Do what you can to contact your competitors though because the search engines want you to resolve this on your own. (Including the status of your communication with competitors in your trademark complaint can also help persuade the search engines to help you.) Follow the search engines’ trademark complaint guidelines, which I’ve included here:

Google’s Trademark Policy
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6118

Yahoo!’s Trademark Policy
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/legal/trademarks.php

Microsoft’s Trademark Policy
http://advertising.microsoft.com/Home/Article.aspx?pageid=708&Adv_Articleid=3216

BONUS TIP: In your trademark infringement complaint letter, argue that your competitor is creating “consumer confusion.” I know this works because I’ve used it for clients.

In a nutshell, here are the trademark marketing policies of the big dogs:

Google (for AdWords) will allow a competitor to bid on trademark terms not owned by him. However, if the trademark owner files a complaint, the competitor will be forced to remove these trademark terms from his ad text.

Yahoo! (for Sponsored Search) will allow an authorized reseller or information site publisher to bid on trademark terms, but not a direct competitor unless he fits in either one of these categories.

Microsoft (for MSN Live Search) will allow an authorized reseller or information site publisher to bid on trademark terms, but not a direct competitor unless he fits in either one of these categories.

You don’t need a government-registered trademark to file a trademark infringement complaint, although that can help. If you’re doing business in the U.S., you may find the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web site helpful: http://www.uspto.gov

In closing, I am not a lawyer. For legal advice, get thee to an attorney. J

Got an Internet marketing question for me? Once a month, I answer a subscriber’s question and feature the company’s URL in my newsletter. You may be next! Send your question, and URL, to my assistant at info[@]CatherineSeda.com