Monster brands Coca Cola and Domino’s come out in force to lead the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) movement by example.

Since the beginning of Google rankings, every digital savvy business has known the importance of SEO rankings to gain unique browsers and customer growth.

As a result the market has become increasingly competitive, with each business vying for the most researched key words and phrases associated with the prime positions on the search engine.

Google have understandably kept secret much of their SEO algorithm, although have provided small clues into the direction and future of the Google algorithm ranking system.

Google have openly commented on their three-phase SEO ranking strategy called, “Panda”, “Penguin” and more recently “Hummingbird”.

The overall objective has been to provide a more accurate search engine for users to organically find websites based on‘white hat’ digital marketing strategies and SEO techniques, and to decrease the ranking of companies that have used ‘black hat’ SEO strategies.

The difference between ‘white hat’ and ‘black hat’ is the first refers to the usage of SEO strategies, techniques and tactics that focus on a human audience whereas the later refers to the use of aggressive SEO strategies, techniques and tactics that focus on search engines and not a human audience.

Thus, the website may not be what the user is looking for, resulting in frustration for the user and high bounce rates but limited exposure for the company.

“Panda” the first stage of the Google ranking role out phase focussed on content of websites, keywords used, proper execution and professionism of the site including grammar and regular updating of content which added to the manipulation of a company’s SEO rankings.

The second stage called “Penguin” focussed on discounting ‘black hat’ links put into place by companies used as a fast and quick method for virally spreading their website link onto illegitimate and unpopular blogs and websites which saw the dramatic ranking decline of many companies within a matter of months.

The final stage called “Hummingbird” has recently seen the finessing of the linking strategy, giving a higher ranking to websites with quality “white hat” links to news worthy websites and blogs with relevancy. The release of Hummingbird is also focussing on websites with fresh, new and updated content to stay relevant and keep their high SEO ranking in the Google search engine.

The last week has provided perfect examples of the future direction for optimal digital marketing with Coca Cola and Dominos being receptive to these changes and proactive as to how this will affect their digital presence.

They are leading the way with Coca Cola openly declaring, “the corporate website is dead…” and launching their new look content marketing website, focused on engaging the user with appealing news, articles, great stories and information related to their product and designed to encourage engagement, utilising word of mouth of its’ fans and prominent bloggers to help spread word of their business hence organically increasing their Google rankings. Coca Cola commented their new content marketing lead digital marketing website is based on their “Content 2020 plan”.

Likewise, with over 63% of Domino’s sales driven from online, their new content focused marketing website is intended to integrate interesting news about the brand to the consumer, with hopes it’s organic search past rivals.

The digital marketing SEO strategy similarities are evident with both big brands focusing on news worthy, inspiring brand-based stories that generate interest to ensure that their content is compelling and share-worthy.

Alas, the future of Google SEO rankings will result in the fast decline of high ranking for businesses that may not necessarily be the best fit for key words and phrases.

Of course with any market leader treading new ground, Google’s ranking strategy will have gaps which no doubt will continuously be refined into their algorithm.

A common echo in the industry, is the concern of “minimalist” websites that utilise imagery and clean, copy light websites as part of their overall design layout, their website purposefully not content led (think fashion, design and photographywebsites).

How will this affect their ranking? Of course other digital marketing strategies will come into play to increase their SEO ranking; customer engagement and social media strategy will be key for them.

Thus there is a whole other area we haven’t even touched upon in this article – it’s that of a company’s social media strategy and the absolute importance of this to a company’s digital marketing strategy and Google SEO rankings.

What will social media mean for your business and it’s impact on your organic search rankings? Stay tuned and we’ll let you know.

Here at underscore we are big advocates for creating innovative digital marketing campaigns. We think Dove has done a great job at redefining advertising standards with their ‘Real Beauty’ campaign putting forth a new direction on the unrealistic ideals of how a woman ’should’ look; altogether redefining advertising standards and the way brands use advertising to engage us using real world attainable ideals.

Do women see themselves negatively and less accurately than strangers? According to this Dove campaign, yes they do. In the three-minute advert, an FBI trained forensic artist creates composite sketches based solely on the descriptions of their facial features provided by themselves. In the video for the campaign, the woman use phrases such as, “I have a pretty big forehead” or “(my chin) kind of protrudes a little bit”.

Earlier in the day, the woman spent time with a group of strangers although no one was told why. Later, these same strangers were brought into the room and the same FBI artist was asked to describe the woman who they had previously met and he had previously sketched. The end result and comparison of the profile sketches hung side by side forcomparison is profound. There is a definite correlation between what one might perceive as “negative sketches” produced from the women’s self description versus the final more accurate result of the sketches when a stranger described the women’s facial features, who used positive descriptions like, “she had a beautiful friendly smile”, resulting in much more accurate and positive facial features. This positive self-image campaign is an all to familiar echo that has become synonymous with the power woman’s beauty brand.

It highlights what we ourselves point out as negative attributes are actually simply negative interpretation which in other people’s eye’s are beautiful  qualities that we overlook. The campaign also points out individuality and being happy within own’s own skin is key and it’s unrealistic to look like an airbrushed billboard like we see in the London underground on the way to work.

Dove have done a great job at integrating their commercial intentions with exposing the shame that exists for woman through their beauty campaign which has been really successfully integrated into all digital marketing elements including social media, websites, Google ads, online workshops, television, You Tube and enewsletter elements. Additionally, social media has provided a platform for viewers of Dove’s real beauty campaign to discuss their like or dislike for the underlying premise of the campaign and express their thoughts in heated discussions.

The ‘Real Beauty’ campaign is the perfect example of an execution of a fantastic brand campaign idea, altogether successfully integrated and shared through social media and the online world generating virility and real time talk from fans across the globe, which is an outcome that we at underscore would have been proud of ourselves.

Henrie Haldane is a prolific painter of global repute who has been compared to both the great landscape artist Turner & in complete contrast, to the abstract symbolist painter, Klimpt.

Having successfully exhibited throughout the world and for well over a decade, she is recognised for her unique style, capturing a passion and energy in her paintings which continually evolves a constant exploration of colour, texture, depth and light.

Underscore was commissioned to create a personal brand that could capture the essence of Henrie Haladane the artist, and a website that could showcase the depth and range of the Haladane collection, which clearly creates a complex and lasting emotional experience for her many private and commercial collectors.

Our design solution was an elsegant yet timeless brand set within a minimal and clutter free gallery space in which the pensive and inspired can take refuge from the monotony of life.

For a closer look why not visit http://henriehaldane.com and it looks like we’ve made an emotional connection with the client here as we received a glowing testimonial at its launch!

“Please pass on a big thank you to the team here. You have captured all the elements I requested, paid attention to detail, responded to my brief and delivered a brand and website that really lets my artwork shine even on my mobile phone! I am incredibly happy with the end result.”

Flowers petals, volcanoes and stunning landscapes, at Underscore we love Sony’s explosive new advertising campaign.

In the past Sony has blasted buildings with paint, sent millions of rubbers balls cascading down a street, and even unleashed a small army of Play-Doh bunnies. Their most recent advertising campaign by Gozmodo UK launched at the beginning of this month featuring the scattering of 8 millions flowers onto a small town and into a volcano to promote the release of their new 4K TV screens.

The Irazu Volcano in the Costa Rica is the scenic back drop for the ad, although the volcano is inactive, Sony relied on air cannons, giant fans, and good old elbow grease to stage a volcanic explosion of flower petals.

The Volcanic eruption may not be genuine, but everything else shot in the ad is authentic in camera footage, without the use of CGI or computer graphics. Not convinced? The campaigns images are accompanied with an insight to the making of the beautiful piece of advertising.

With the strapline “Four times the detail” the advert promotes its new ground breaking 4K Ultra HD TV quality, all shot with a camera with a whopping 8 millions pixel display.

We know what will be on our Christmas list this year.

Check out the behind the scenes footage here:

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/11/sony-made-a-volcano-spew-eight-million-flowers-for-this-stunning-4k-ad/

Underscore love original advertising concepts, but is this modern day technology taking advertising a step too far?

European digital media network Amscreen, founded and owned by Lord Sugar, announced earlier this month the launch of its new advertising platform software OptimEyes – an innovative yet controversial change in modern day advertising.

OptimEyes has been compared to Minority Report, referred to as a snide device and contributed to a change in advertising.

The launch of OptimEyes, a revolutionary software that has the ability to detect its audiences will be installed in 6,000 of Amscreen’s already existing screens across the globe, including Germany, Poland and Switzerland.

The UK will be home to over half of the screens; Hospitals, doctors surgeries, convenience stores, train stations, airports and banks are few of the destinations to have installed over 3,651 of the screens, 450 of which are situated in Tesco petrol stations, collectively targeting over 5 million Brit’s every week.

Similar to the 2002 film Minority Report, in which Tom Cruise is surrounded by adverts that are tailored just for him, the OptimEyes system works in a similar manner. An inbuilt camera in each screen detects individuals in the audience in the proximity of the advertising screen, without the viewers even having to look at the screen.

The innovative software has the technological ability to identify age, sex, location and time, collecting a live stream of the locations constant change in target markets. A configuration of the data collected is then used to select an appropriate advert for the audience, changing the way target market research is collected, and adverts are delivered.

However, the ingenious piece of technology has not been welcomed by all. Many believe the filming of consumers is an invasion of personal information, and an act of encroaching on public privacy.

Simon Sugar, CEO of Amscreen and son of Lord Sugar, has defended the software in a statement claiming brands “deserve to know” who their audience is, “It is time for a step change in advertising – brands deserve to know not just an estimation of how many eyeballs are viewing their adverts, but who they are too.”

Changing the face of British advertising and retail, or changing our right for personal privacy? The jury is still out.

For more on Amscreen and its OptimEyes launch: