Kris Oser reporting in AdAge writes: In its quest to be close to consumers wherever they are online, HP has bought the rights to tens of thousands of search engine keywords, according to the company’s interactive global brand marketing chief.
Speaking yesterday at the AdTech Conference at the New York Hilton, Mary Bermel said HP has recognized there has been a marketplace revolution and that consumers now control advertising content. She said the company has made sweeping changes to address that new reality and she warned that other marketers ultimately had no choice but to do the same or be left behind.
The intense focus on owning search engine terms is only one part of the tech giant’s overall new marketing strategy for consumers who expect the marketing message to be always available when they want it and always as personal as possible, she said.
Online, HP increasingly spends time listening and talking to people on Web journals, or blogs, and chat rooms, she added. Bloggers are influencers, she noted, and HP pays close attention to the “neighborhood affect” they have on the community of people who visit blogs.
Microsoft understands the power of blogs very well, she said, referring to a brand-enhancing blog Microsoft’s engineers operate to casually discuss products with customers. HP supports its own engineers and tech staffers running their own blogs, Ms. Bermel said.
