Branding

A lot has changed in the past 5-10 years, but the endurance of McDonald's as an American fast food icon seems to have stayed firm. According to a new study [download page] from Placed, McDonald's was easily the most popular fast food chain in April of this year, with slightly more than half of Americans visiting one of its restaurants during the month. Back in 2008, McDonald's was rated Americans' favorite quick service restaurant (QSR), and that was for the 5th-year running. In this latest study, Placed finds Subway clearly in the second spot, visited by about 4 in 10 Americans during the month, followed by Starbucks (25%), Burger King (24.7%), and Wendy's (23.8%). A demographic analysis shows large discrepancies in preferences by ethnicity. Read more »

23% of social media users in the UK have researched a product or service as a result of reading something on social media sites, according to a recent report from YouGov, representing a 6% point increase from a year earlier. Additionally, 13% have bought something as a result of reading something on a social media sites, up 7% points from the April 2012 survey. While that suggests that brands are more effectively engaging with social media users, their efforts are also proving to be a turn-off to some. Read more »

Consumers want to reward companies for their positive societal influences, according to the 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study. The vast majority of consumers around the world say that when companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR), they have a more positive image of the company (95%), are more likely to trust the company (94%), and would be more loyal to the company (93%). And given comparable price and quality, 91% of respondents said they would switch brands to one associated with a good cause, indicating that CSR efforts can provide a competitive edge. Read more »

Understanding the customer and improving the customer experience are high on the marketing agenda this year, according to IBM's recently-released "State of Marketing" [download page] report. According to the study, acquiring new customers (42%), retaining existing customers and improving loyalty and satisfaction (36%), and creating consistent, relevant and positive customer experiences across channels (34%) are among the top challenges being faced by marketers today. Certain high-performers, dubbed "leading marketers" by IBM, are going about their business differently from their peers, taking a tech-infused approach and demonstrating a confidence in their organizational excellence. Read more »

Asked their motivation for deal shopping, 36% of "general market women" said that they're on a strict budgets and that deals help them live within their means and stretch their dollars, according to a survey released by Ginger. Fewer respondents cite their motivation as excitement over savings (23%), wanting to get nicer brands for less (16%), or the ubiquity of deals (habit - 14%), suggesting that if their financial situations improve, they may be less deal-driven in their shopping behavior. Read more »

Some consumers are noticing brands' attempts to promote their social presences in advertising, with some media channels more likely to elicit a response than others, according to [pdf] results from a Burst Media survey of more than 2,500 US online adults. Respondents reported being most likely to notice brand-related social accounts in online banner ads (27.2%), but a relatively high number also notice them in TV (24.1%) and print (21.1%) ads. Among those who recall brands promoting their social assets in digital ads, about 6 in 10 say the efforts are very (29.4%) or somewhat (31.6%) effective in prompting social interaction with those brands. A similar percentage (58.7%) feel the same way about social cues in TV ads. Read more »

The top benefits of social media marketing are increased exposure (89%) and increased traffic (75%), finds Social Media Examiner in its annual "Social Media Marketing Industry Report" [download page], which surveyed more than 3,000 marketers on their social media activities. A majority also report benefits such as developing loyal fans (65%), lead generation (61%), and improved search rankings (58%), but only 43% say their efforts have boosted sales. Nevertheless, study results indicate that for those willing to take the time, sales will follow. Read more »

70% of brands and 77% of agencies have employed branded content marketing for advertising purposes in the past year, and about two-thirds of each group say that branded content marketing has become very or most important to their marketing mix, according to a MailOnline survey of more than 600 online marketing and advertising executives. With branded content now perceived by brands as being among their most effective branding tactics, 72% report having increased their spending on it in the past year, and 69% plan to pour more money into branded content in the coming year. Read more »

A global shift in marketing budgets from traditional to digital media has been well documented of late, and new survey results from Martini Media suggest that UK marketers are hopping aboard the digital marketing train. 95% of brand advertisers and agencies responding to the survey said they will increase their digital marketing spending this year, with fully 48% of total budgets going to digital media. In particular, 63% will increase their social media investments, 57% their mobile investments, 40% their video investments, and 36% their rich media investments. Read more »

Music fans not only appreciate artists, but also the brands that sponsor their events, according to [download page] a report from Nielsen. The "US Entertainment Consumer Report" reveals that 43% of music fans notice when a brand or product sponsors an artist or brand. Reaching these fans is an important endeavor: while they represent only 40% of music consumers overall, they account for 75% of spending on music. Separate results suggest that some of these fans will be persuaded to try a product by the brands' promotional activities. Read more »