At an Advertising Week event on Wednesday morning, JWT North America president Rosemarie Ryan reflected on the challenges inherent in taking on the "700-pound bunny rabbit" known as Google. Speaking at an Advertising Women of New York function, Ryan said that Google, with 96 percent brand awareness and a dominant share of the Internet-search market, could be perceived as a gorilla whose sheer size might be an Achilles' heel. But when JWT researched this potential opening for Microsoft's Bing, the agency found no such negative sentiments. Rather, consumers love the Google brand, describing it as honest, reliable, friendly and trustworthy, Ryan said. So, instead of taking a David vs. Goliath approach in its successful pitch to handle creative duties for Bing, JWT focused on the information overload associated with online searches. Research showed that despite pages and pages of "hits," the majority of Web searches aren't successful, and a significant percentage require a second stab at search terms, Ryan said. Those insights became the foundation for Bing's eventual positioning as a "decision engine" that helps consumers find what they're looking for sooner.
In its winning pitch, JWT presented the concept of "decision-making versus just searching," Ryan said. "They all kind of looked at each other in the room when we presented it. Ironically, I think a week before, they had come to a kind of similar" insight internally. "Search overload syndrome," the "condition" featured in June's launch TV spots, "tapped into a real truth, and it has been very, very powerful," Ryan said. "We didn't know how long, obviously, we would go out there with that particular work. But it's still resonating. People want to see more of it. And given that we're trying to break a habit, I think you'll see that work for some time to come."
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This whole "decision engine" position reminds me of Bud Light's "drinkability" position. Both strategies rely on creating a "problem" that doesn't really exist (I can't say that I've ever heard anyone voice this complaint about Google). There's also something a little "big brother" about this decision engine thing. What, you don't think I can make my own decision based on search results Google comes back with? This appears to be one of those ideas that's been focused grouped to death and while it looks great in a presentation, in the real world, it generates a collective "Meh."
If she didn't have a British accent, she'd be working at Pike Place Market in Seattle throwing salmon. What a shallow, worthless article.
Posted by: Son of Mook | Sep 24, 2009 1:43:58 PM
I have fond memories of my time at JWT, but I don't buy the "insight" expressed in these ads. The vast majority of people just don't have the problems that the TVCs portray.
The real solution here would be a deep focus on the work done by people who understand the internet.
Posted by: Hudson | Sep 24, 2009 2:30:52 PM
As a former JWTer I love their work but I think this positioning is irrelevant and as such is no positoning at all.What is needed is a relevant point of differentiation.
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