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Business Critical: Anchorman, Land Rover, Bitcoin, Encrypted Search, Books

By Flying Hippo

Business Critical is our weekly collection of what’s new, exciting, and insightful for business leaders from the world of the web, marketing, social media, and more.

Ron Bugundy does the real news (if you can call it that)

It may have been a slow holiday newscast in Bismarck, ND, but it got a lot more attention than usual. Will Ferrell played his Anchorman role as Ron Burgandy in the live news segment, helping tell stories of local happenings and holiday travel.

This is only the latest in a slew of creative and often unexpected promotions for the oft-quoted movie’s upcoming sequel, Anchorman 2. Not only did the appearance grab attention from viewers, but it also made its rounds online — grabbing viral attention from what was probably a fairly modest media spend in such a small market.

The power of the Internet proves that even small splashes — in places like Bismarck, ND — can make big waves.

Bitcoin beats out gold

If you’ve read any news at all lately, then you’ve probably seen people making a fuss about Bitcoin. The virtual currency — which can be “mined” by compute in limited qualities and then exchanged for goods or other currencies anonymously online — has shaken up the financial world. Specifically, news broke right before Thanksgiving that a single coin was worth more than an ounce of gold — roughly $1,250 at the time. What does this mean for businesses? Well, it means that there may be a looming shift in the way people buy things online. For now, Bitcoin remains relegated to a pretty small portion of the Internet population, but its popularity is growing with each successive value increase. Check out CNN Money‘s take on the digital currency taking off.

Bing: We won’t show your search data, either

Another blow for those in the SEO business comes as Microsoft announced that it is considering keeping all of Bing’s search data private. This would almost entirely destroy the keyword-specific traffic data that was once used as a way to measure SEO success after Google encrypted all searches by default a few months ago. After that move, it’s possible only to see how much traffic came from the search engine, but not to segment that traffic by their search query. This means that broad-stroke strategies for brand development online are becoming more important, while micro-marketing based on keyword traffic data is a fad that’s on the way out. The lesson here: Invest in your brand, not in the keywords. Read more about Microsoft’s move to be more bashful with search data.

Young adults prefer… printed books?!

Here’s one for the books. (Ba dum cha.) In a new study of 16 to 24-year-olds, it was recently revealed that 62% of respondents preferred to read printed books rather than the electronic versions. This seems odd, given the high rate of adoption for technology among Millennials, but apparently touchscreens haven’t quite overturned the love for turning pages. So, while brands continue to invest in digital assets, it’s important not to lose sight of physical goods and real-world marketing. We haven’t fallen into the Matrix quite yet. The Guardian weighs in on teens and 20-somethings still checking out books.

Land Rover ponies up for Time, Inc’s new native ad platform

Last week, we discussed the rise of native advertising, and this week brings more news about the attention-getting tactic. Time, Inc recently revealed that it was offering an interactive native ad platform called Watercooler Live. And, now they’ve landed their first major contract. Land Rover has reportedly put up six figures to be the first to use the media giant’s new technology to reach their target audience by, “[pouring] advertiser content, social commentary and Time Inc. editorial content into microsites and ad units.” With a price tag like that, hopefully their efforts generate a nice return. AdWeek specs out the deal between Land Rover and Time, Inc.