Brand Be Nimble, Brand be Quick

As we move en masse toward life on the web, one crucial question has to do with reaction time.  If an event takes place in the real world, how quickly can you capitalize on it online?  It doesn’t even have to be your event.  When a huge section of the San Francisco Bay Bridge was removed by a construction crew and replaced with a detour section, the two enormous slabs were slid on rails coated with – wait for it – Dove dishwashing liquid.  Competitor Dawn quickly bought a pay-per-click ad for search terms regarding the bridge renovation.  In other words, if someone searched for the story, they saw an ad for Dawn.  Which product do you think they were likely to recall?  The lesson?  Always look for opportunities to insert your brand into news stories, even (maybe especially) local ones.