AIG just launched a new print ad campaign across The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Financial Times, The Straits Times, The Business Times and The South China Morning Post to say that customers can rely on AIG to meet their needs amid global recession.
Marketing magazine covered the news today under the title “AIG says you can rely on us“
The agency didn’t disclose the cost of this campaign but it seems that both the client and the agency are happy about it.
My first reaction after reading this news is to check whether AIG is there for me?
I did a search on Google and Yahoo Singapore today:
Well as you can see, I can’t find any information about what AIG intends to say online!
And it gets worse on Yahoo where some other company is buying AIG brand on Sponsored link…
I am not sure if my reaction is the same with everyone else but i assume people who read WSJ, Financial Times etc… would be quite internet savvy and would like to understand more about what AIG has to say. After seeing the ads on news paper, they probably go online and find more information (well if they even care…)
The fact is that there are a huge number of people, just in Singapore alone who are searching for AIG day in and day out, especially after the bad news broke out a couple of months back…
For those who are new to Google Insights for Search, the graph above basically shows the search volume TREND on terms related to AIG and AIA in Singapore market from Jan 2008 to Nov 2008.
If you want to have a sense of how much search volume out there on Google alone for Singapore market
Dont be too confused by all the jargon, basically from the above graph, there are on average 33,100 searches/month in Singapore for the term “aig” and 27,000 searches/month for the term “aia”. But the search volume trend is not the same over time.
Last month, Nov, there were 110,000 searches for “aig” and 33,100 searches for “aia”. These are people who go out of there way, sit in front of the computer, open a browser, type in www.google.com, then continue to type in “aig” to find more information about the firm…
A massive, hungry for info audience is Neglected completely there!
Well i understand the branding aspect of running a print ads, I can NOT understand why either the client in this case or the agency don’t supplement the offline campaign with a simple Online Paid Search campaign to make sure they have the maximum effect???
Do they think that people will just read the print ad and they understand everything?
With a simple online landing page (even carrying the exact content as the print ads) can be enough for this info-hungry audience Online but Nah, why bother!
It so happens that Yahoo carries a piece of news on the homepage today that says Internet Reliance in Today’s Economy. 46% of Women would rather give up sex for 2 weeks than go without the Internet for the same period.
And what people do when they go online… they Search
Ah well, AIG can afford to have a mediocre PR campaign anyway with all the Free money from tax payers!
Cheers,
Chandler