Gain opportunistic traffic without hurting your brand. Here is a case study of the BA strike and 3 rules for a successful ppc keyword hijack.

1. bravenewme.com
Magnus
Nilsson

2. What
is
Keyword
Hijacking?
• The
concept
of
ac4vely
targe4ng
high
volume
keywords
for
which
the
adver:ser
content
is
not
necessarily
directly
relevant
• Typically
keywords
are
seasonal
or
trending
topics
on
hot
current
events
• Benefits
are
high
volume
searches
at
possible
low
cost-­‐per-­‐click
(CPC)
due
to
low
compe::on

3. Tools
of
the
Trade
• Google
Trends
– Hot
Searches
• Real-­‐:me
– search.twiJer.com
– trends.ellerdale.com
(by
categories)
• Trend
spoKng
and
News
*screenshot
from
twiJer.com

4. Meet
the
Hijackers
Arbitragers
Brands
Objec:ves
Cheap
traffic
to
drive
to
“thin”
Generate
brand
awareness
and
sites
consis:ng
mostly
of
new
business
adverts
or
a
simple
redirect
to
another
partner
that
pays
them
for
traffic
Challenges
Technically
achieve
high
volume
Choosing
the
right
opportuni:es
to
at
low
enough
CPC
avoid
damage
to
own
brand

5. Let’s
focus
on
the
Brands!

6. Case
Study:
The
Bri:sh
Airways
Strike
Photo
by
hJp://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/
Photo
by
hJp://www.flickr.com/photos/maJ_hintsa/

7. What
happened
• Bri:sh
Airways
union
planned
strike
ac:on
over
2009
winter
holidays,
which
could
possibly
impact
1.5
million
peoples
travel
plans
• Massive
media
coverage
and
volume
searches
on
terms
such
as
“bri:sh
airways”
and
“ba
strike”
by
concerned
travelers

8. The
Good,
the
Bad,
and
the
Ugly
• ThePerfumeShop.com,
AnnSummers.com
and
easeyJet.com
appeared
against
keywords
such
as
“ba
strike”
• Is
this
a
great
opportunity
for
brand
building
and
sales?
Note.
Easy
jet
screenshot
is
from
Easter
2010
BA
strike,
and
used
for
illustra:ve
purposes
as
easyjet
also
ran
a
similar
advert
in
December
2009
but
no
screenshot
was
taken.

9. The
Good
• While
obviously
opportunis4c
and
an
effort
to
grab
Bri:sh
Airways
business
from
stranded
passengers,
it
s:ll
adds
value
by
offering
a
viable
alterna4ve
to
people
searching
for
informa:on
about
“ba
strike”
Note.
Easy
jet
screenshot
is
from
Easter
2010
BA
strike,
and
used
for
illustra:ve
purposes
as
easyjet
also
ran
a
similar
advert
in
December
2009
but
no
screenshot
was
taken.

10. …The
Bad
(or
at
least
naughty)
• A
brand
with
a
cheeky
and
irreverent
image
• Have
u:lised
similar
hijacks
in
the
past
to
gain
aJen:on
and
press
coverage
• Possibly
riskier
than
past
hijacks
considering
the
amount
of
people
impacted
and
stress
levels
due
to
possibility
of
not
seeing
friends
and
families
for
the
holidays

11. …and
the
Ugly
• The
wording
“strikes
s:nk”
shows
insensi:vity
with
the
worker’s
struggle
for
a
fairer
deal
• The
flogging
of
cheap
perfume
as
a
subs:tute
to
a
Christmas
with
friends
and
family
is
highly
contrived
and
shows
insensi:vity
towards
the
would-­‐be
passengers

12. Conclusion
The
Challenge:
• Avoid
damage
to
the
brand
equity
that
has
been
carefully
built
up
over
many
years,
for
the
opportunis:c
chance
of
a
laugh,
eyeballs
or
short-­‐term
sales
• The
decision
typically
need
to
be
made
within
minutes
or
hours
to
maximise
its
impact

13. The
Thee
Rules
of
PPC
Hijacking
Always
be:
• Sensi:ve
– Show
respect
for
the
situa:on
and
anyone
impacted
• Relevant
– Provide
something
of
genuine
use
to
the
audience
• On
Brand
– Don’t
try
to
be
something
you’re
not

14. This
slide
show
iDbased
on
arke:ng
Iosted
on
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Magnus
Nilsson