September, 2008 Archive

This morning I was asked for a quote about “The Power of Search.”

Someone wanted some grandiose verbatim to illustrate the huge impact search engine marketing has has on marketing and the advertising industry.

I couldn’t think of anyone in particular so I came up with this:

“No other marketing channel but Search has ever provided such accessibility to consumers during the consideration phase or at the point of purchase.

No other marketing channel but Search has ever provided the accountability that budget owners have been crying out for.

In short – Search is what Marketing has been looking for!”

Anyone got any better ideas?

Earlier this week I talked about lots of Microsoft Jobs being up for grabs!

I’m in Dublin right now and have just met with the adCenter Analytics folks in their office pictured above.

The offices are impressive and it’s not a bad part of town. Easy access from the centre of Dublin and there’s loads of new offices and facilities being built in the surrounding areas.

If you’re a software developer and want to work for the best I’d give it a whirl!

What have you got to lose?

My colleague and friend Kelley Myers has been hard at work drawing up plans and managing a huge project in order to bring you the adCenter Learning Center. 

The website is designed to help you access all manner of information about adCenter and will include videos and podcasts. 

In a post on the adCenter Blog she says:

“Bottom line: I want to make it easy for you to advertise with Microsoft. I’m ready for your feedback, comments, and suggestions.” 

It probably sounds odd but our team thrives on feedback – no matter how negative. That’s why our team got set up. One of our commitments is to harness the power of social media, blogs and forums to collate all the feedback from advertisers and use that data to help our product teams prioritise new adCenter features and improvements.

So check out the new site and let Kelley know what you think in the adCenter Forum – it’s your chance to help us make a difference! 🙂

This was the queue in front of me to get in at 10.30am!

This was the queue behind me!

Luckily I was speaking in 30 mins so I called Karen, our marketing manager, who smuggled me in under a blanket…..which was nice!

It was a bit of daft organization though with so many people trying to get in out of the rain! Hope they fix that for next year…

Me speaking at the show about adExcellence! Are those Andrew’s teeth behind me?

ad:tech did have a different feel about it this year.

Maybe it was our stand, which I thought was awesome, and the fact that it was a real coming together of the folks from search, display, mobile, Atlas and drive PM under the big happy family brand we now call Microsoft Advertising!

Having been in the online advertising game for 8 years it was great to meet up and natter with so many old faces and friends.

I promise to set up and Looksmart and 24/7 Search reunion soon!

Heard of it? No nor had I!
This guy was asked by NASA to record this video………….very interesting stuff!

I’ll be in Earls Court for the next couple of days at ad:tech London so drop by Stand 293 where Microsoft Live Search and adCenter will be giving some demos and other stuff.

Catch me speaking on adExcellence.com and adCenter at 12.30pm on both days in the free seminars as well!

Microsoft Europe is hiring!

“Microsoft’s Global Product Development team are hiring top-notch developers, testers, and program managers to work for Microsoft in Dublin, Ireland, and across Europe.”

Check out: http://www.joinmicrosofteurope.com

There are jobs for developers on our experimentation platform, mobile and adCenter.

Contact me via this blog or email eurojobs@microsoft.com and mention you heard about the jobs from me 🙂

This is the Windows 95 TV Ad that ran all those years ago – quite different from last week’s I’m A PC Ads

It’s a lot more “in-yer-face-does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin” type stuff but you can’t beat a bit of Jagger to get the blood pumping and the imagination racing.

That was 10 years ago though, and I reckon we’ve moved on and are more sophisticated in our message expectations.

There’s more device choice in the market place and more of a variety in HOW we communicate and connect.

Some commenters in the blogosphere have said they like it that the new commercials are not aggressive and finger-pointing in nature.

Others like the fact that they don’t exude an elitist attitude.

Personally I like them because they show real people, in real environments, doing real things.

How refreshing!?

If you are, stick this logo on your site somewhere and link to the new Windows TV Ads!

You know you want to! 🙂

Thanks to Microsoft I’ve not worn a suit in THREE years!