Jiffy Lube Search Engine Marketing Evaluation

I have assemled a list of over 50 strategic
initiatives that would greatly improve Jiffy Lube’s visibility online
and fast-track their marketing and business development efforts.  

This Jiffy Lube evaluation is based upon our Brand Command methodology. We invite you to download the Brand Command white paper now. Below is my assessment, emphasizing some of the tenets of Brand Command: Mastering Brand Marketing in the Search Engines, and Brand Protection Online. The information provided is by no means comprehensive in scope or depth.

Brand Protection Online

A. Brand Abuse ~ This includes illegal actions such as trademark infringement in all forms (words, symbols, scents, devices, etc), copyright violations, competitors advertising on trademarks, as well as defamatory or malicious claims made against your brand.

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search "Jiffy Lube" on Google. I have highlighted two instances of Brand Abuse. The first instance, on the upper right section of the illustration, displays a Jiffy Lube competitor advertising on the Jiffy Lube name.

I feel this is particularly egregious because of the fact that the trademark being searched here is not part of a a phrase that includes generic terms, such as "Jiffy Lube oil change" or "Jiffy Lube franchise information," where inexperienced competitors may show up on Jiffy Lube queries using "broad match" searches. An example of a broad match search would be to place an ad to come up for every search that contains the phrase "oil change" or the term "franchise information."

In the second instance of Brand Abuse, a third party complaint site, entitled "Jiffy Lube Problems," displays negative content about Jiffy Lube related to customer service issues. This is the third result in the natural results of Google. A court of law may or may not rule this domain, www.jiffylubeproblems.com, as trademark infringement. One of the hurdles for a complaint site to clear in order to be considered "Fair Use," is for the site to be free from engaging in commerce. Just the opposite, this site leverages the Jiffy Lube trademark to generate ad revenue.

The examples of Brand Abuse are quite damaging to the Jiffy Lube brand. Potential Jiffy Lube franchisees perform due diligence online, using the search engines, and are influenced by what they see, particularly on the first page of search results. Every effort should be made to address Brand Abuse as instances appear.

Brand Abuse - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube"

B. Brand Erosion ~ This includes consumer complaints, customer service issues, disgruntled clients, and additional Brand Reputation issues.

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube” on Google. I have highlighted three instances of Brand Erosion. The first instance, as cited in the Brand Abuse assessment, displays the website Jiffylubeproblems.com, a clear example of a customer complaint site.

The second occurrence, highlighted on the ninth result of Google, discusses an investigative report by NBC News, which found five out of nine L.A. area Jiffy Lube locations charging the customer without doing any work.

The last example, higlighted on the tenth result of Google, links to the actual NBC News video on You Tube. Incidentally, at the time of this research, this video was also the first result on YouTube.com for the search "Jiffy Lube."

The Jiffylubeproblems.com website sticks out to prospective customers like a Vegas billboard. Jiffy Lube loses a share of business because prospective customers read the negative visibility on Jiffy Lube's Brand Real Estate in the search engines and think, I wonder if they are really going to do the work on my car? Am I getting scammed? Am I wasting time and paying them for nothing?

What's worse is these prospective customers share this information with their sphere of influence--relatives, friends, co-workers; many of whom may be current Jiffy Lube customers. Every effort should be made to address Brand Erosion as instances appear.

Brand Erosion - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube"

C. Brand Dilution ~ This is the weakening of a brand though its overuse. In the search engines, multiple, simultaneous marketing/advertising communiqués, which are inconsistent in message and/or look and feel, flood searches for many prominent brands.

Note: In 2005, Google changed it's trademark policy to disallow third parties from using the trademarks of other companies in the title or text of trademark-triggered ads (U.S. & Canada). This was brought about by a court decision against Google in it's trademark infringement case versus Geico. The Court held that the use of Geico's trademarks in the heading or text of advertisements that appear when a user searches "Geico" does violate the Lanham Act, part of the Trademark Code. The opportunity for frequently searched brands, is to implement the optional Google Adwords Trademark policy, to eliminate trademark infringement and trademark dilution. The leadership/ad agency of Shell Oil Company/Jiffy Lube International is not taking advantage of this policy and suffers from dilution.

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube” on Google. I have highlighted three instances of Brand Dilution. The websites leveraging the Jiffy Lube brand include Onlinediscountcoupons.org, eBayexpress.com, and Shopping.yahoo.com.

Jiffy Lube needs to take back control of their brand and implement the Google trademark policy. The examples of Brand Dilution confuse prospective customers and franchisees, and weaken the stength of the brand.

Incidentally, Jiffy Lube misses the opportunity to leverage it's own brand--see the third result of the paid ads. They don't use "Jiffy Lube" in the title of the ad. I will expound on this in the Paid Search section.

Brand Dilution - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube"

D. Traffic Diversion ~ This occurs when direct and indirect competitors place ads for your trademarks on the search engines. These ads dilute your brand if they are using your trademarks, as mentioned above.

The goal of these advertisers is to divert (steal) traffic away from your web assets by advertising on your trademarks.

There are three steps we take to effectively overcome Traffic Diversion issues.

Traffic Diversion - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube"

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your web pages to rank at the top of natural results in the search engines for targeted keywords. For the purpose of our evaluation, there are two categories of SEO, Branded SEO, and Non-branded SEO.

A. Branded SEO ~ This is the process of optimizing your web pages to rank at the top of natural results in the search engines for frequently searched branded keywords (company name, trademarked product names, etc.), and variations thereof.

A major premise of Brand Command methodology is to dominate the natural results of your Brand Real Estate on the search engines. Is Jiffy Lube dominating their Brand Real Estate?

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube” on Google. I have highlighted the results where Jiffy Lube web assets have first page visibilty.

Jiffy Lube ranks above average with a total of five web assets visible out of a possible ten available positions on the first page of Google results! Can they do better? Yes! Our proven strategies would allow Jiffy Lube to dominate their Brand Real Estate and push down the instances of Brand Abuse and Brand Erosion.

Branded SEO - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube"

Branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube coupons” on Google. Once again, Jiffy Lube performs above average.

The first result provides the searcher exactly what they are looking for, a Jiffy Lube coupon. The second result expands on the topic searched by providing the searcher information about Jiffy Lube's summer promotion.

Because such a large number of "Jiffy Lube" searches relate to coupons, the brand should not stray from this strategy in the future.

Branded SEO - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube coupons"

Branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “San Diego Jiffy Lube locations” on Google. This is one of the times where Jiffy Lube misses the boat. When they made the changes to the site last year they removed static pages/URL's for Jiffy Lube location pages.

This branded search musters zero results for Jiffy Lube web assets on the first page of Google. Furthermore, the very negative NBC News report is visible on this page.

Branded SEO - Google search results for "San Diego Jiffy Lube locations"

Branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube San Diego” on Google. Notice the insertion of results for "Google Maps." We need to applaud Google, and now Yahoo, for inserting local results into these types of searches.

It is obvious what the searcher is looking for, and the search engines are now acommodating this. The only request I have is that Google & Yahoo expand these results a full half-page.

Back to the natural results. Again, the changes to the site last year removed static pages/URL's for Jiffy Lube location pages, now yielding no Jiffy Lube web assets on the first page of Google.

Branded SEO - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube San Diego"

Branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “Jiffy Lube coupons San Diego” on Google. Here is another instance where there is no first page visibility for a branded search.

In addition, the title of the first result displayed is less than ideal.

Branded SEO - Google search results for "Jiffy Lube coupons San Diego"

B. Non-branded SEO ~ This is the process of optimizing your web pages to rank at the top of natural results in the search engines for frequently searched, generic keywords, related to your type of company, products and services, geographic location, etc.

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “oil change” on Google. Jiffy Lube flexes it's strength as a Brand Leader, ranking above all other brands.

First page visibilty for your brand's products or services sends the message that your company is a leader of the industry.

Incidentally, for you budding SEO pro's, Jiffy Lube ranks #1 for "all in anchor" on the search term "oil change." See below:

Non-branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “oil change San Diego” on Google. Once again, Google Maps provides Jiffy Lube visibilty for local results. This isn't the case for every city Jiffy Lube has locations, however. In some cities, competitors of Jiffy Lube appear.

Jiffy Lube does not have first page visibilty here. They should optimize pages to rank for "oil change + insert city."

Non-branded SEO - Continued

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the results for the search “oil change coupons” on Google. Because Jiffy Lube has positioned itself well to benefit from coupon marketing, this is a search phrase they want prominent visibilty on.

Jiffy Lube features three results with first page visibilty, which is excellent. The goal now is to review page optimization and build links to raise their positions further.

Paid Search (Search Engine Advertising)

Paid Search, also known as Pay-per-click (PPC) or Search Engine Advertising, is the practice of placing ads on the major search engines for relevant keyword searches.

When it comes to Paid Search management for branded searches, there are some high-impact best practices to protect your brand.

By implementing the Google Adwords trademark policy, discussed above, Jiffy Lube would accomplish four things:

1. Jiffy Lube would control the Brand Messaging on Paid Search results

2. Jiffy Lube would increase conversions

3. Some third parties currently advertising would drop their ads

4. Jiffy Lube would pay a lower cost-per-click, thereby reducing their monthly spend

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “Jiffy Lube” on Google. I have highlighted the result where Jiffy Lube has visibilty.

As I mentioned in the Brand Dilution section above, Jiffy Lube misses the opportunity here to leverage it’s own brand. Notice that the words "Jiffy Lube" are emboldened in the title of every ad featuring the words "Jiffy Lube" in their ad title. Also notice that none of these ads are the actual Jiffy Lube company ad.

The point is, instead of the company's ad being titled, "Free Oil Change Offer," it should be titled "Free Jiffy Lube Offer," then elaborate about the "Free Oil Change" in the ad text. This strategy, combined with implementing Google's trademark policy, would be ideal moving forward.

Furthermore, I would recommend sending Cease & Desist letters to competitors like Meineke.

Paid Search - Branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “Jiffy Lube coupons” on Google. While Jiffy Lube dominates the natural results for this search, experience informs us that they would increase conversions by placing placing ads on branded searches as well.

In addition, implementing the Google trademark policy would reduce the conversions to third parties using the Jiffy Lube trademark in the titles of their ads.

Paid Search - Branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “San Diego Jiffy Lube locations” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube does right by advertising on this branded search, and by including the Jiffy Lube tradmark in the title of the ad.

Jiffy Lube could optimize this ad by using the title "San Diego Jiffy Lube," like the third party does in the first paid result.

In addition, implementing the Google trademark policy would reduce the conversions to third parties using the Jiffy Lube trademark in the titles of their ads.

Paid Search - Branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “Jiffy Lube San Diego” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube could increase conversions by advertising on this branded search, using "San Diego Jiffy Lube" in the title of the ad.

In addition, implementing the Google trademark policy would reduce the conversions to third parties using the Jiffy Lube trademark in the titles of their ads.

Paid Search - Branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “Jiffy Lube coupons San Diego” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube could increase conversions by advertising on this branded search, using the title "Jiffy Lube Coupon."

In addition, implementing the Google trademark policy would reduce the conversions to third parties using the Jiffy Lube trademark in the titles of their ads.

Paid Search - Non-branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “oil change” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube could gain conversions and further brand the company by advertising on this non-branded search, using the title "Quick Oil Change," "Oil Change Coupon," or "Oil Change Promotion."

Paid Search - Non-branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “oil change San Diego” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube could gain conversions and further brand the company by advertising on this non-branded search, using the title "Oil Change San Diego," like their competitor AC Delco is doing.

There is also an opportunity to get the conversion by referring to the "Free Oil Change" promotion in the ad text.

Paid Search - Non-branded Search Terms

In the screenshot below, we take a look at the Paid Search results for the search “oil change coupons” on Google. In this example, Jiffy Lube could gain conversions and further brand the company by advertising on this non-branded search, using the title "Oil Change Coupons."

Online PR

Starting with their own website, Jiffy Lube features both a “Press Room” page and a “Community Involvement” page for PR content. Jiffy Lube has some impressive local programs that benefit causes such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and more.

The dynamic, query-heavy URL’s for these pages are less than search engine friendly and not ideal for content you really want to be prominently visible for multiple searches. Below is a screenshot of one of the Press Room pages. Also note the absence of a title tag.

Online PR - Jiffy Lube Press Releases

Jiffy Lube increases visibility online by utilizing PR Newswire for press/news releases. I have found these releases to get picked up by several automotive-themed websites and news organizations online. The problem with their strategy is that they are not optimizing the releases.

Online press/news releases can serve multiple functions. First, to leverage the web to distribute company news. Second, to generate new business by including clear calls-to-action. Third, and very important for SEO, to build links to specific pages, using optimized anchor text, and thereby contributing to increase the search engine rankings for desired keyword sets.

Jiffy Lube doesn't always use the types of releases that allow links. The releases they use that do contain links are only directed to the home page. In the screenshot below we take a look at a release distributed by PRNewswire.com.

The opportunity here is to create an additional one-to-three links within this release to Jiffy Lube web assets. The links should make navigational sense to the reader, and link to specific pages rather than just the home page.

For example, I would take the text "Jiffy Lube Signature Service Oil Change," located in the first paragraph, and link it to this page: http://www.jiffylube.com/autoservices/signatureservice.aspx.

~~~Strategy~~~

I'm going to touch on strategy because mastering Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Brand Protection Online has more to do with strategic planning than just executing best SEO practices and running paid search ads and feeds.

SEO Strategy

As a franchisor, Jiffy Lube has allowed franchisees to create their own web presence using branded domains. The various franchisee websites feature different messaging and "look and feel," which is inconsistent.

From a Search Engine Marketing standpoint, there is an opportunity to leverage the different franchisors' web presence to dominate Brand Real Estate in the natural results of brandes searches on Google--effectively "pushing down" the Jiffylubeproblems.com site and the other visible Google results harmful to the Jiffy Lube brand.

I'll get to that in a moment. First, take a look at the home pages of various franchisee websites below:

Jiffylubehawaii.com

Jiffylubesoutheast.com

Myjiffy.com

Pcjl.com

Jiflube.com

Myjiffylube.com

In addition to the websites displayed, there are more Jiffy Lube websites, including Jiffylubedc.com, Jiffylubeutah.com, Jiffylubela.com, and Jiffylubeoregon.com.

Back to the "dominating Brand Real Estate" strategy for natural results.

Number one, Jiffy Lube needs to "clean up" these websites to make them uniform and current. When I say "uniform," I mean the same look and feel, and featuring the same messaging and calls-to-action. It is important to point out here that the text (content) needs to be unique on each site, as not to incur duplicate content penalties, which is something I work with quite often for location-targeted SEO initiatives.

Number two, these sites need more content, they need to be optimized for search engines, and also promoted properly to generate links. The end result would be domination of search engine results featuring the multiple Jiffy Lube websites.

If I had control, I would scrap the individual domains and create a sub-domain for each franchisee and use a content management system (CMS) for indivudal franchisees to add approved content if they wish. It would look more like this:

Hawaii.jiffylube.com

Southeast.jiffylube.com

Southwest.jiffylube.com

Pacificcoast.jiffylube.com

Indiana.jiffylube.com

If that wouldn't make everyone happy, I'd recomend the name of the franchisee as the sub-domain, like this:

Southlubes.jiffylube.com

Ostlergroup.jiffylube.com

Jiffylubeofindiana.jiffylube.com

With a properly executed SEO campaign, the results in Google for Jiffy Lube would eventually appear like these results for Yahoo in Google:

Paid Search

As the screenshot in the Paid Search section for "San Diego Jiffy Lube locations" illustrates, a Jiffy Lube franchisee is running an ad using the web page http://www.myjiffylube.com/cm/Home.html for the landing page. A screenshot for that page is here:

While this landing page is relevant, it simply is not ideal. An improved landing page would feature the San Diego locations, including addresses and contact information. Furthermore, to increase the probability of a desired action, the page should prominently display calls-to-action, including calls to take advantage of the current Jiffy Lube promotion or coupon, and the value of ordering a Jiffy Lube Signature Service Oil Change today.

Customer Service/Public Relations Strategy

There are literally hundreds of blogs and websites that feature articles about negative experiences at Jiffy Lube. This is a serious problem and Jiffy Lube made an effort to address this last year. They created a website called Jiffy Lube Cares, which informs the visitor of operational changes introduced to better serve the Jiffy Lube customer. This includes a Technical Mystery-Shopping Program, and the Store-Audit Group, designed to measure the quality of service at each store.

This is very positive and I also recommend nipping the issues in the bud moving forward with a corporate blog. You see, what is lacking the most, is an outlet, or valve for disgruntled customers to vent rather than running off to post their experience on a damaging third party site. The Wall Street Journal descibes business blogs as a "Digital Handshake."

Feedback forms are impersonal, and Jiffy Lube would make great strides by creating an "ombudsman/liaison" type of section on a blog to field customer service comments and questions. I know this seems scary to implement from a brand leadership position, but nothing could instill trust more to current and prospective customers. This is one of the many ways to build a Brand Relationship.

Not only would a Jiffy Lube Blog keep open the lines of communication between company and customer, but there is also an unparalleled Public Relations opportunity here. Blogs are the perfect platform to share information about community involvement programs, corporate responsibilty issues, media relations, products and services, promotions, an employee/franchisee spotlight section, automotive education, tips and advice, new store openings, recruitment, and more.

Blogs boost morale and productivity, and present a company as the authority in their industry. Blogs also play a key role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which I will not go into detail about today.

Let's take a look at some prominent corporate blogs. The screenshot below features the McDonalds Restaurants blog. McDonalds is in a much riskier business than Jiffy Lube because many of their products are actually unhealthy, thus open to constant attack. This particularly disturbing post, or so you would think, is written by what appears to be a high school student:

"McDonald's was listed on the news as third most fattiest fast food restaurant (channel seven news) first was hungry jacks and i think second was Kentucky fried chicken (KFC) as most people know it. Anyways, i was doing an experiment in my science class last year and the teacher got a blender and McDonald's meal. she put all of the meal into the blender and started it going. when she stopped it, it was a disgusting light brown color. she then put it in a container over night and the next day all the fat was floating at the top. so if anyone wants to see how much there really is in a McDonald's meal then just do what my teacher did."

Pretty disturbing thought, right? The corporate response is even better:

"Thanks for your comment. If you have been in one of our restaurants lately, you know that we have more balance and variety on our menu board than ever before-chicken, salads, fruit, and yes, burgers and fries. And if you want to know how much, fat, salt, protein or carbs are in one of our food items, you can look on much of the packaging it comes in. No blender required."

-Bob

Corporate Bob indirectly points out the inescapable truth: Ordering McDonalds products is the choice of the consumer. McDonalds goes to respectable lengths to inform the customer about the dietary values for each product, and also provides the customer with food options that are healthy.

After reading this, I came away reminding myself that McDonalds, for me, is an occasional "guilty pleasure" that I enjoy periodically. And for those times I may have found myself in a business or relative (double entendre) setting and was forced to eat at McDonalds, I have the option to get the Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken and under 10 grams of fat.

Now lets look at a GM blog. Blogwise, GM gets it, and has capitalized on their forward thinking to influence the media and Auto Industry luminaries.

In the "FastLane" blog, GM Vice Chair, Bob Lutz, comments on the auto news of the day and interesting tidbits someone in his position is aware of. If the Vice Chair of GM is willing to invest his time in a busines blog, surely a corporate leader of any other company can see the value.

The final point I want to make about blogs is this. The proprietor of the blog has control of what is and isn't published in the comments section. If a comment is offensive, abusive, or close to it, the blog owner can moderate comments before they appear online.

There are several more strategies I would recommend to increase the visibilty of Jiffy Lube's content in the search engines, convert prospects, and build a Brand Relationship with customers to inspire Brand Loyalty.

~~~Wrap Up~~~

It is challenging for franchisors such as Jiffy Lube to execute a comprehensive online marketing plan that is consistent in strategy, message, and look and feel, but it must be done to protect the integrity of the brand.

Another area of difficulty lies within the ability to fund geo-targeted Paid Search campaigns online. You can't just mandate that all franchisees must invest in an online marketing budget, but you can deploy the strategy on the corporate level, perfect it for company owned locations, and offer it to willing participants.

The markedly improved aesthetics, presentation, and navigation of the new website builds trust and has increased site usability. But currently, the Jiffy Lube web assets serve as little more than an online business card, not a marketing tool.

The biggest red flag is the prominent, negative visibilty in Google for branded searches which is making me physically squirm every time I see it.

As I mentioned above, I have a list of over 50 strategic initiatives, some big, some small, that would greatly improve Jiffy Lube's visibility online and fast-track their marketing efforts. For example, while the dynamically generated URL's for Jiffy Lube locations are query heavy, they are still very much index-able by the search engines. Jiffy Lube should serve up a site map specifically for these pages and ensure visibility by building some strategic links.

In conclusion, I am going to share seven basic areas of opportunity for Jiffy Lube:

1. Identify, and create a plan to address all the negative sites with prominent visibility (first three pages of results) in Google for Jiffy Lube branded searches.

2. Implement the Google Adwords trademark policy to take better control of Brand Real Estate in the Paid Search results, and to mitigate trademark infringement and trademark dilution.

3. Utilize a value added web page structure to increase visibilty in the natural results of Google for the frequent and precious geo-targeted searches like "San Diego Jiffy Lube locations." This also applies to the "Press Room" and "Community Involvement" sections.

4. Design and execute a plan to dominate Brand Real Estate in the natural results of Google for branded searches, thus "pushing out" the first page visibility of very harmful, negative web pages.

5. Create content, perhaps on a sub-domain or another branded domain (Jiffylubecoupons.com), that optimizes pages for locations + coupons, another frequently searched keyword set. This serves two purposes--a unique domain or sub-domain will help dominate the Brand Real Estate of natural results, and this strategy will provide frequent searchers with the Jiffy Lube content they are looking for, adding to the bottom line.

6. Create and execute a comprehensive Online PR campaign to capture the attention of prospects on automotive-related websites, engage prospects on local-centric websites, and utilize the Pull Marketing tips and advice content on Jiffylube.com to build a Brand Relationship with car owners who have no automotive knowledge, or limited experience.

7. Launch a corporate blog to isolate and address customer service issues, and share information about Jiffy Lube community involvement programs, products and services, promotions, an employee/franchisee spotlight section, automotive education, tips and advice, new store openings, recruitment, and more.