March 13, 2013
The retail industry spent the most on advertising again last year, according to new figures from Kantar Media. At roughly $16.3 billion - up 3% from $15.9 billion in 2011 - the retail sector accounted for more than 11% of total US ad spend (excluding FSI/PSA). Given that Kantar Media only measures display advertising for its online figures, and that the retail industry is the biggest spender in overall online advertising, it's possible that the Kantar figures actually underestimate retail's contribution to US advertising. Read more »
March 8, 2013
An analysis of more than 100 billion visits to more than 1,000 websites across 8 major markets worldwide by Adobe Digital Index reveals that for the first time, tablet traffic exceeded smartphone traffic in February 2013 (8% and 7% of page views, respectively). Adobe attributes the result to higher engagement from tablet users, who view 70% more pages per visit than smartphone users, and notes that each country analyzed saw its share of tablet traffic double during 2012. Read more »
March 6, 2013
A majority of American adults believe that it is important to "buy American" across a variety of product types, according to results from a Harris Interactive survey, even if the definition of what constitutes an "American" product is not universally shared by respondents. Interestingly, while there were few gaps in the importance placed on "buying American" among Republicans and Democrats responding to the survey, women were more likely than men to feel it more important for each product category identified. Read more »
February 18, 2013
Radio revenues edged up 1% in 2012, finishing the year at $16.5 billion, and marking the 3rd consecutive year of growth, according to [pdf] a report from the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). The overall result was buoyed by a 4% year-over-year rise in Q4, the highest growth in the past 8 quarters. Digital continued to record the most rapid growth (11% in Q4; 4% full-year), while spot revenues were up 4% for the quarter and 1% for the year. Read more »
February 14, 2013
79% of Americans believe that the technology industry has a positive reputation, per results [pdf] from the latest Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ) study. The tech industry continues to get stronger in this area, climbing from 76% rating it positive last year and 75% in 2011. Next on the list, the travel and tourism sector, which follows tech's upward trend, up from 55% rating it as having a positive reputation in 2011 to 61% this year. Read more »
February 7, 2013
Recent research from Simply Measured has examined how the world's top 100 brands use Twitter as a customer service channel, and new data from Socialbakers shows that most brands' efforts leave a lot to be desired when it comes to answering questions posted to their Twitter profiles. In Q4 2012, just 32% of questions posted to brands' Twitter profiles were answered, on average, and that didn't mark much of an improvement from Q3 (31%). Read more »
February 6, 2013
A new study from Verve Mobile [pdf] looks at trends across 2,500 mobile campaigns run on its location-based mobile ad platform in 2012, examining the different strategies taken by advertisers. The study notes that 36% of the campaigns leveraged geo-aware (14%) or geo-fenced (22%) strategies in 2012, more than double the proportion from 2011 (17%). While that indicates a greater level of expertise in targeting approaches, the primary strategies remained DMA (30%) and audience (24%) targeting. Read more »
February 1, 2013
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector accounted for 25.1% of global ad spend in Q3 2012, according to [download page] new data from Nielsen, which previously reported 4.3% year-over-year growth in spending for the quarter. FMCG was by the far the largest sector by ad spend share, trailed by entertainment (11.7%), industry and services (11.2%), and healthcare (9.9%). Nielsen notes that FMCG spend grew by 9.6% in Q3 on the back of increases in food and drink advertising. Read more »
January 31, 2013
Brands are getting better at responding to questions posed to them on Facebook, although they still have room to improve, according to new data from Socialbakers. As the volume of questions posted to Facebook brands grew by 26% between Q2 and Q4 2012, Socialbakers finds that 55% of those questions were answered, a healthy rise from 48% in Q3 and just 30% in Q2. Still, that means that brands are leaving an average of 45% of questions posed on Facebook to them unanswered. Read more »
January 29, 2013
18% of affluents (adults 18+ with household income of at least $100k) plan to increase their luxury spending in the next 12 months, compared to 15% who expect to rein in such spending, finds Ipsos MediaCT in its latest Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer, conducted in December 2012. That's a significant reversal from October 2012, when just 13% anticipated spending more over the coming year, compared to 18% who anticipated a contraction in spending. Ultra affluents - with household income of at least $250k - have an even more buoyant outlook. Read more »
