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It is not news that marketers are under constant pressure to keep finding newer, cheaper and more interesting ways to reach their target audiences. With the introduction of seemingly hourly media choices, the marketers’ tasks are substantial.

A recent article spoke of marketers nearly overstepping their bounds to put ads anywhere where there is available “white space.” This may be a sound strategy, but only to a point. Targeted social media ads are good.  Advertising on the back of a bathroom stall in a bar restroom, maybe not so good.

Yes, it’s true that advertising is showing up in places that are surprising and walking the fine line of obtrusiveness. From stopping us in our tracks in public restrooms, to looking up at all the pretty lights in busy intersections, people can find themselves distracted by all the advertising.  But thanks largely in part to technology, we are also able to serve up advertising messages to individuals that they actually want to see, and often at precisely the time they are open to receiving them.

Advertising has an exciting future. And that future is in behavioral targeting via the social graph and mobile marketing. Instead of trying to merely find available white space to brand with messaging, advertisers can pinpoint advertising based on consumption behavior. Behavioral targeting is not new, but the technology that enables it has gotten better and more sophisticated.  

Click through to the Washington Times website for the full article

The ultimate in “free advertising” comes when your brand is synonymous with your product.  This can be considered the Holy Grail of marketing or achievement of brand enlightenment.

When this happens, that brand/product/service can be called a “noun” brand, which occurs when it has gone from being a proper noun to being a common noun.  Here are a few examples:

• Kleenex = facial tissue
• Band-Aid = adhesive bandage
• Xerox = photo copy
• Vasoline = petroleum jelly

In today’s world common nouns are, well, common.  It’s all about action these days.  Customers/consumers are demanding more from everything they consume.  CEOs are demanding more ROI out of their marketing and advertising.  With that we’ve gone from creating nouns to creating action, or verbs, with brands.  At the very root of the word “verb” is action itself.  Here are modern examples of common verb brands:

• Google = online searching (“I’m going to Google that”)
• Digg/Stumble = bookmarking/liking/sharing (“I’m going to Digg/Stumble that”)
• Yelp = providing your opinion/review (“Yelp it!”)
• Mapquest = getting directions (“Mapquest it”)
• Tweet = microblogging (“I’ll Tweet that”)
• Facebook = become my friend (“I’ll Facebook you”)
• Pinterest = liking/recommending (“I’ll Pin that”)

You may be asking yourself, “How does one reach verb brand enlightenment?”  The answer to that question is not an easy one.  Click through to the article to continue reading…