I am

I've noticed that a few advertisers are starting to display search terms on their TV adverts rather than a URL.  Two examples are 'navy jobs' for Navy Jobs(!) and 'I am' for Orange mobile!!  Orange then in turn use SEM to ensure they are at the top of the search page.

Of course you then land on a swanky looking site.

All well and good but apart from the basic onpage SEO being missing (page title tags should have been simplified) Three have been very quick to get in on the act!

So, is this a clever or risky approach and should Orange have at least tried to get their page title tags to work in their favour considering the amount of traffic they will be generating?  SEO may be a little hard with such a generic term but the cost of doing this is zero so yes, they should.

Is it risky?  Of course as it has left it wide open to the competition to jump onboard at very little cost and virtually no risk; and they could easily annoy Orange big time by outbidding them for the search phrase; Three (for example) may not get many clicks but they'd be hitting Orange in the pocket either way.

But could you use this approach for recruitment or employer branding?  Google of course think you should.  For example, if your employer branding is about 'great career opportunities' Google would say you should sponsor this phrase as well as 'graduate jobs'.  I think there is some merit in this approach but only if you are a big employer (Tesco, Boots, IBM etc) and have a well integrated online recruitment strategy and pretty deep pockets.  In the meantime, you'd be best to focus on direct keyword phrases, decent landing pages and a slick application process, sending applications into recruiters who know how to respond quickly and efficiently.

Don't think it's possible?  Believe me, it is - we have the evidence!!