WPP has launched a research project designed to qualify the relationship between search engine marketing and brand building. The company’s agencies will work on the project in conjunction with Microsoft Advertising.
“Today, marketers are spending billions on search engine marketing, primarily as a direct response mechanism,” said David Sable, vice chairman & COO of Wunderman, a WPP agency, in a statement. “We think it’s time to better understand how search builds brands differently than traditional media. The connection between brand building and search marketing is at best, spotty and the research we will conduct may help shed light on how brands can tap into search as a brand and market share builder.”
WPP agencies Wunderman, BrandAsset Consulting, and ZAAZ will be the primary drivers on the research initiative, which will delve into the developing interplay between brands and search engine efficacy.
Microsoft and WPP will focus their efforts around the following areas: The correlation between brand awareness and search efficacy; how search engines are changing consumer behavior; how social marketing impacts the search for brands; and the connections between paid search and brand development.
Research will be designed to uncover new findings on where and how search is working best: at what stage of brand development it generates the greatest impact and how the intersection of categories and consumer preference and purchase intent comes into play.
This investigation will culminate in a report by WPP agencies on how the newly invigorated competition in search marketing is impacting consumers’ level of brand recognition, as well as the future direction of search. Initial findings are expected to be shared during Advertising Week in New York, in late September 2009.