We are proud to share news that Marketing Genius from Maple Creative is now ranked among the top advertising and media blogs in the world, according to Advertising Age. We are presently ranked #393 out of 600 total blogs. Not bad ... even if you do have to scroll several times to find us on the list.
The Power 150 is a ranking of the top English-language media and marketing blogs in the world, as developed by marketing executive and blogger, Todd Andrlik. It's really as simple as that, except that the name isn't strictly accurate: It currently ranks more than 500 blogs written about all types of media and pretty much every imaginable marketing discipline. It's now housed on Ad Age, partly because we thought it'd draw some traffic and links for us, but also because both Todd and Ad Age figured it was a useful service to rank and showcase all these sources of information in one place, where thousands of readers could discover them. With more than 700,000 registered users on our site and a host of daily and weekly products, we also hope we can grow the traffic to Todd's creation and some of the blogs it highlights.
Methodology
What Todd came up with is a largely objective ranking, which is probably why it's already gained such popularity among marketing and media bloggers. It uses a basic multimetric algorithm to obtain a final ranking based on the sum of eight sources, seven of which come from Google, Bloglines, Alexa, Yahoo! and Technorati. The last is Todd's own personal subjective measure. In the case of a tie, individual scores for a blog are weighted in the following order (from highest to lowest):
Todd Points (1 to 15): As the only subjective measure in the Power 150 algorithm, 1 to 15 opinion points were assigned to each blog. Todd Andrlik values frequent, relevant, creative and high-quality content. The use of audio, video and graphics is also heavily weighted in the Todd Points.
Yahoo InLinks (1 to 30): Much like Technorati's InLinks count, Yahoo uses its Site Explorer to tabulate the number of links to a particular blog. We then scale this number down to a 30-point scale.
Technorati Ranking (1 to 20): Technorati ranking analyzes the number of sites pointing to a particular blog. The more link sources referencing your blog, the higher the Technorati ranking. Similar to the Bloglines Subscribers value, Technorati ranking ranges were determined (i.e., top 9,000, top 10,000, top 20,000, etc.) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 20) that was used in the Power 150 algorithm.
Technorati Authority (1 to 20): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blogs (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. This number is then scale down to a 20-point scale.
Technorati InLinks (1 to 20): Technorati tallies the number of links to a particular blog, and we then scale that number down to a 20-point scale.
Alexa Points (1 to 15): Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). For the Power 150, we take that rank and assign it a proportional score between 1 and 15 and factor it into a blog's total score.
Bloglines Subscribers (1 to 10): Bloglines displays the number of feed subscribers. Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., more than 20, more than 30, etc.) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 15) that was used in the Power 150 algorithm.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. High-quality sites receive a higher PageRank. The actual PageRank number was used in the Power 150 ranking algorithm.
Collective Intellect (0 to 10): Collective Intellect is a social media analytics company that works with brands to evaluate consumer opinion, measure buzz, identify customer sentiment and manage corporate reputations at the industry, company, brand, campaign and messaging levels. For the Power 150, Collective Intellect's authority ranking uses a patent-pending algorithm to calculate an author's authority on a topic, including such measures as link-analysis between on-topic posts, topic density, author's percent of contribution to the topic, number of comments and post quality.
This honor is to be shared by all of you, our entire community of marketing geniuses. It goes to show how important all of you are who comment, contribute, link to, recommend, tag and 'favorite' this and other blogs. Thanks! We couldn't have done it without you.
You've heard of open-source software in which "volunteer" programmers around the world collaborate on a piece of software code and release it to the community free. The "open source" model is also influencing other industries from bio-tech to marketing and product innovation. It's sort of a "Wisdom of Crowds " approach to business.
Consider for a moment how most advertising or marketing campaigns get developed. A marketing decision-maker in a firm has a goal to increase revenue. Using all her best training, she (if she's one of the better marketers...how many campaigns get launched without any research or feedback?) holds a few focus groups, interviews salespeople, and consults with market data to develop the message, the reach plan, the "offer", etc. She most likely works with an agency to build the creative and launch.
Continue reading 'Open Source Marketing and Product Innovation'Unfortunately we’ve had to cancel the Martinsburg leg of the Next Generation Marketing tour.
For anybody already signed up, somebody will be in touch over the coming days about your refund.
We apologize for any inconvenience and ask you to keep your eyes peeled for any additional Next Generation Marketing dates in the future.
Now there's a snippet of advice you will rarely hear from an ad agency or marketing consultant. However, that's just what Gap, that historically ubiquitous purveyor or tragically hip TV advertising (here's a fun spoof ), has done.
Few brands invested as heavily in television and print advertising as Gap. According to Ad Age , "Marketing expenditure at Gap Inc. was trimmed 18% during the quarter, driven by the absence of TV ads for the Gap brand, company executives said. That contributed to a 40% jump in profits at Gap Inc., compared to the same period a year ago."
What's behind this shift? For one thing, the economy. In these shaky times, Gap found that aggressive brand advertising was not driving as much foot traffic. Instead, they shifted their marketing focus on capturing revenue in-store via merchandising to the folks who were already moving through their aisles.
"It's a waste of money [for the Gap brand to advertise right now]," said retail analyst Jennifer Black. "In this kind of an economic environment, traffic is slow anyway, and there's so much competition with advertising. ... If there was a time for them to do this, it's not that bad of a time. You really want to yell and shout and scream about the product when it's really fantastic."
Which leads us to the second reason Gap pulled back: their brand is well-known, but suffering. Fashion brands are notoriously fickle, and the Gap has been limping for a while now. Why blow tons of advertising dollars until the brand is fixed?
Note that during this time, Gap's revenue has declined while profits went up. There is a clear trade-off. Gap is not building for the future with this strategy, it is simply watching the bottom line. Is this smart for any company in difficult economic times, or for those facing financial pressure?
Not necessarily, but it is worth summarizing the lessons from Gap's experience:
- If you drop advertising, prepare to face a drop in new customers and overall revenue.
- Cutting advertising will boost profit, but probably only in the short-term.
- Don't burn advertising dollars if your brand and value proposition are not effective; you'll only be adding to the noise in the marketplace and will most likely not drive a healthy return on investment. (Note the retail consultant's reference to "...there's so much competition with advertising." If you're brand can't break through, you're probably wasting major dollars.
Right. Now we look round a few sites in order to pound them into the mud for their marketing folly. (Not overly follysome you’ll notice)
Question about video placement and click through rates - getting stuff noticed etc.
Call to action buttons. Put the video in a prominent position. Build in a way to gather testimonials. RSS Feed to news section. More choices for interaction
New Media 2.0 blogs and whatnot for the banking industry.
Well it’s regulated and staid. Dull and stuffy. MSN money - use tools/widgets and such.
Show a younger demographic a bit more openess and visibility - especially a credit union. Alignment.
Public Sector Blogging.
People are going to complain no matter what. Political transparency people. These problems don’t go away but it’s also an avenue to plant more positive stuff and develop a more positive conversation. Rather than anonymous detractors tackle them head on. A valid point for all businesses and folks wanting to blog. Pull your head out of the sand. Don’t be an ostrich.
Goodwill advocacy ambassadors. Remember to be proactive. It doesn’t have to be a singular effort, the more the merrier.
Now if there’s one thing I’m taking from today, or has become apparent in this really good little end session, and it’s that the morning’s initial negative comments / general ambivalence to blogs and blogging seems to have been turned around. Not only do more people seem more accepting but the room seems to get it more than they did.
Perhaps I’m wrong and hopefully you’ll set me right.
So an exceptional job, gentlemen. It’s been an absolute pleasure from my point of view.
All your comments are gratefully received.
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