Facebook ad budgets grew 109% month-over-month in Q4 2011, according to February 2012 data from Kenshoo, which analyzed 100 billion ads delivered on Facebook worldwide by its customers through Kenshoo Social. And while the company notes that some of the growth can be attributed to seasonality, the increase in global Facebook ad budgets compared well to search channels like Google, Bing, and Yahoo which, in aggregate, saw paid search ad budget growth of 27% globally on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
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The average US consumer celebrating Valentine’s Day this year will shell out $126.03 on traditional merchandise, up 8.5% from last year’s $116.21, and marking the highest average in the NRF Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey’s 10-year history, according to the February 2012 survey, conducted by BIGinsight.

Total spending for the day is expected to reach $17.6 billion, up 12% from $15.7 billion last year.
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73% of Super Bowl viewers say they look at Super Bowl TV commercials as entertainment, by far the leading opinion cited by respondents to an NRF survey conducted by BIGinsight, released in January 2012. The proportion of viewers who say that advertisers should save their money and pass the savings on to them (18.5%) is roughly matched by those who say the ads make them aware of advertiser brands (16.9%). Similarly, although 8.9% complain that the commercials make the game last too long, a similar proportion report that they influence them to buy products from the advertisers (8.4%). Read More »

The top medium of choice for clients in Q4 2011 was spot TV (broadcast and cable), reported by 51% of agencies, according to a survey released in January 2012 by STRATA. Digital was second, cited by 31% of agencies, down 9% from Q3, followed by spot radio (8%). Spot TV (broadcast) continues to be an area of interest, with 28% of those surveyed saying they are more focused on it than a year ago, up 12% from Q4 2010. Read More »

The vast majority (89%) of retailers with comparable store/channel sales growth of over 4% (”winners”) agree that their e-commerce platform will ultimately serve as the central point of all digital activity across channels, and 94% agree that the future of online commerce lies more with cross-channel or merged channel capabilities, according to [download page] a report released in January 2012 by RSR Research. Those with comparable store/channel sales growth of less than 4% (”laggards”) also agree, but to a lesser extent: 62% see their e-commerce platform as ultimately becoming their digital platform across all channels, and 70% agree that the future of online lies more with cross-channel. Read More »

The quadrennial boost provided this year by political advertising, and to a lesser extent, the Summer Olympic broadcasts, will help generate year-over-year US ad revenue growth of 3.7%, according to an updated forecast released in January 2012 by MagnaGlobal. Without the influence of political advertising and the Olympics (”P&O”), core media advertising revenues would grow by 2% in 2012 to $149.8 billion, a slowdown compared to 2011’s like-for-like growth of 4.5%. However, the company forecasts P&O to add an extra 1.7% points, meaning that those two influences alone will drive more than 45% of this year’s ad revenue growth.
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The amount of ad spending on digital-out-of-home (DOOH) networks reported in Q3 2011 was 10.6% higher than in Q2, while the estimate of ad spending on DOOH networks over the next 3-6 months is projected to be 9.89% above Q3 levels, according to a January 2012 report from the Platt Retail Institute (PRI) in partnership with the Digital Signage Federation (DSF). The DOOH ad spend index, a composite measure of changes in the reported level of business activity, was 130 in Q3 2011, its highest level since Q4 2010 (137.5).

An index score of over 100 indicates an improving or positive industry outlook.
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By 2015, the dollar volume of goods sold through social media should rise sixfold, to $30 billion from $5 billion in 2011, according to [pdf] a Booz & Company estimate released in January 2012, which limited its estimate to hard goods such as electronics, apparel, and movie tickets. The company forecasts the market to almost double this year to $9 billion, of which the US will account for $3 billion, up from $1 billion in 2011. Indeed, while Booz & Company expects rest of the world revenues to increase by 400% between 2011 and 2015, its projections are even more aggressive for the US market, forecast to grow from $1 billion last year to $14 billion in 2015. Read More »

44% of mobile application users who made an in-app purchase did not make it until they had interacted with the app at least 10 times, while one-third made their first purchase some time between their second and ninth session, according to a study released in January 2012 by Localytics. Just 22% of users in the study who made an in-app purchase did so during their first session. On average, a user who made an in-app purchase was found to do so 12 days after first launching the app. Read More »

64% of brand marketers plan to increase their online brand advertising spending this year, compared to 49% who plan to increase their direct response budgets, according to [download page] a survey released in January 2012 by Digiday, sponsored by Vizu. In fact, 44% of brand respondents project their interactive brand ad spending to increase by more than 10%, and 22% put their planned increase at more than 20%. By contrast, just 20% plan a direct response advertising budget increase of more than 10%, and only 13% of more than 20%. Read More »