March 21, 2013
Budget conditions continue to improve this month, details Warc [pdf] in its latest Global Marketing Index. The budget component of the index improved to a reading of 52.4 this month from 51.7 in February, as Europeans recorded budget growth (50.5) for the first time since the index's beginning in October 2011. (A score above 50 indicates a generally improving environment, while a score below 50 indicates a generally declining environment.) Read more »
March 20, 2013
DG MediaMind has released its latest report benchmarking performance metrics for several online ad types and formats across dozens of countries and verticals. The study finds that in the US, the average click-through rate (CTR) for in-stream video ads was 1.11% in 2012, up from 1.03% in the previous study (covering Q2 2011 - Q1 2012). That topped the benchmark rates for mobile banners (0.88%, inching up from 0.87%), rich media (down slightly from 0.15% to 0.14%), and standard banners (unchanged at 0.1%). Read more »
March 15, 2013
Almost three-quarters of multi-screen consumers across 5 major markets agree that advertising can be helpful in telling them about new products or brands that might interest them, according to [download page] results from a Microsoft Advertising survey conducted with Flamingo Research and Ipsos OTX. But while these consumers are open to advertising, they're more welcoming of ad content on some screens than others. The study finds that the 76% are open to advertising on TV, compared to 57% on computers and 51% on tablets. Read more »
February 19, 2013
The US and China are by far the largest markets for smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android), details Flurry in a new study. Measured by active smart device installed base, the US (222 million) and China (221 million) were neck and neck in January. But given China's rapid growth curve, Flurry projects that China became the largest market this month, surpassing the US for the first time. Beyond these giant markets, though, no other country comes close: the UK was 3rd in January with an installed base of only 43 million. Read more »
February 6, 2013
Global B2C e-commerce sales cracked the $1 trillion mark last year, and should reach almost $1.3 trillion this year, per new estimates from eMarketer. And while the US is forecast to remain the dominant market this year ($384.8 billion in sales), the Asia-Pacific region will grow to command one-third share of global sales, surpassing North America's share (31.5%) for the first time. The largest contributor to APAC's total will be China, with online sales predicted to jump by 65% this year to $181.6 billion. Read more »
February 1, 2013
44% of Americans agree that social networking keeps them in the know about brands and products, according to the latest survey data released by Ipsos OTX. Still, Americans are 20% less likely on average to use social networks to keep updated than consumers in other countries: across the 24 markets tracked, 55% of respondents said they use social networks in this way. Within the US, some of the usual demographic trends seen in other social networking behavior apply. Read more »
January 25, 2013
35% of Americans agree that they regularly check out brands' social networking pages, according to the latest survey results from Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange. Interestingly, that means that more Americans follow or engage with brands on social networks than regularly check out those brands' pages. Predictably, among age groups, 18-34-year-olds are most likely to regularly visit brand pages, with 48% of respondents doing so. That compares with 35% of 35-49-year-olds and 21% of 50-64-year-olds. Read more »
January 17, 2013
47% of Americans agree that they follow or engage with at least one brand on a social networking site, according to survey results from Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange, putting the US slightly above the 24-country average (44%) in brand engagement. Within the US, women are 21% more likely than men to say they engage with brands on social networks, and 18-34-year-olds are more than twice as likely as those 50 and up to do so (63% vs. 29%). Read more »
January 17, 2013
Global ad spending grew by 4.3% year-over-year in Q3 2012, picking up steam after a 2.7% gain in the first half of the year, according to the latest figures from Nielsen. For the year-to-date (Q1-Q3), ad spend was up by 3.3%, with solid growth seen in the Middle East and Africa (18.9%), Latin America (5%), and North America (5%). While the Asia-Pacific region also saw ad spending growth, of 3.5% in Q3 and 2.7% for the year-to-date through September, Western Europe continued to see cuts. Read more »
January 9, 2013
Americans aged 18-64 who use social networks say they spend an average of 3.2 hours per day doing so, according to new research released by Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (OTX). Factoring in survey respondents who don't use social networks, the survey finds that the average online American spends 2 hours a day social networking from a computer, tablet and/or mobile phone. Unsurprisingly, American social networkers aged 18-34 self-report spending more time than their older counterparts, and women outpace men in consumption, also. Read more »
