Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: Privacy Concerns Run HighConcerns with privacy have grown and Facebook is less trusted than other platforms. But will usage suffer?April 20, 2018

Facebook daily visits seem to have been largely unaffected in the wake of the Cambridge Analytics scandal that broke in mid-March, but some users are reporting deleting their accounts and privacy concerns are high, according to several pieces of... READ MORE

Troubles Organizing Data Prevent Advertisers From Using Preferred KPIsAdvertisers are still using last-touch over multi-touch attribution. Somewhat surprisingly, they also believe that's the most useful ordering.

Advertisers believe that sales metrics are the most effective in evaluating a campaign’s success, but instead tend to use traffic metrics more often, according to a study [pdf] from Bazaarvoice and Digiday that surveyed almost 250 brands, agencies and... READ MORE

Teens Estimate Spending Just 20% of Their Daily Video Time With Cable TVTeens estimate spending more than two-thirds of their daily video time with Netflix and YouTube.April 19, 2018

Cable TV’s share of teen video consumption continues to decline at the expense of Netflix, YouTube and other streaming video platforms, according to the latest semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey from Piper Jaffray. In fact, this latest edition... READ MORE

Global Box Office Revenues Exceed $40B in 2017, Up 5% Year-Over-YearDespite its growth last year, the global box office accounted for a smaller share of combined theatrical and home entertainment consumer spending than in 2016.

The total amount of box office revenues for all films released in countries around the world grew to $40.6 billion last year, representing a 5% increase over 2016’s total of $36.6 billion. That’s according to the Motion Picture Association of... READ MORE

Here’s What the Most Influential B2B Vendors Are Doing to Win BusinessInsights into buyer interactions, the most influential and trustworthy information sources, and the most important factors for buyers.April 18, 2018

The most trustworthy information sources for B2B buyers are also their most influential, details TrustRadius in its second annual B2B Buying Disconnect study [download page]. And that link between trust and influence seems to extend to vendors themselves:... READ MORE

Owner Demographics Change As Smart Speaker Penetration Climbs to 1 in 5 Wi-Fi HouseholdsAdoption rises among older adults and lower-income households.

One in every 5 Wi-Fi households in the US owned at least a single Smart Speaker as of February, reveals comScore in a new examination of the devices, meaning that Smart Speaker penetration doubled in just 6 months. The biggest jump in household penetration... READ MORE

These Were the Top Radio Advertisers in 2017Nine of the top 10 advertisers on music-based stations were also among the top 20 advertisers on spoken word radio.April 17, 2018

AM/FM radio continues to be the medium with the broadest reach among US adults, details Nielsen in its Audio Today 2018 report [download page]. In fact, AM/FM radio’s monthly reach of 243.4 million US adults outpaces even search sites (197.5 million)... READ MORE

AI for Email? Marketers Enthused, but Not Without ConcernsTwo-thirds are worried about giving up some editorial control to machine learning technologies.

Virtually all (96%) marketers are confident that machine learning can personalize email content down to an individual’s specific interests and improve the customer experience, according to a survey [download page] of more than 400 US marketers from The... READ MORE

Snapchat Remains Teens’ Favorite Social Platform, Instagram Their Top Marketing ChannelFacebook usage among teens has dropped from a year ago, and the platform barely registers among their favorites.April 16, 2018

Snapchat and Instagram are virtually tied in terms of overall usage by teens, according to Piper Jaffray’s latest semi-annual Taking Stock with Teens survey. But each can boast one victory over the other: Snapchat is overwhelmingly teens’... READ MORE

So Informative Content Helps. But What Kind of Information?Aside from providing value-added information, consumers say they also want brands to advocate for causes they believe in.

There’s been plenty of research of late indicating that people value informative brand content, and a new report from Meyocks [download page] backs that up: 9 in 10 consumers surveyed for the report agree that brands should provide value-added... READ MORE

Shoppers: Transparency About Data Use Would Encourage More SharingTwo-thirds of shoppers in North America are more comfortable sharing data with brands when proactively told how it will be used.

Almost two-thirds of online shoppers in the US and Canada are much more comfortable sharing information about themselves when brands proactively tell them what their information will be used to do, according to a study from Vision Critical. The survey,... READ MORE

Majority of US Consumers Say They Prefer to Shop on Amazon Over Other Retailers, StoresWhat about Chinese consumers? It seems they prefer Alibaba, but other online retailers are also popular.

Fully 88% of 18-34-year-olds in the US prefer to shop on Amazon over other online retailers, finds JWT Intelligence in a survey conducted as part of its recently-released Amazon Everything report [download page]. Gen Xers are largely in agreement – 83%... READ MORE

US Companies With the Best and Worst Customer Experience Ratings in 2018The aggregate ratings declined slightly this year as customers felt less satisfied with their interactions with companies.April 13, 2018

Supermarkets once again lead the way in customer experience, while TV/Internet Services collectively represent the worst-rated industry, according to the 8th annual customer experience ratings [download page] from the Temkin Group. Indeed, of the 318... READ MORE

The Retail Apocalypse: Which Store Categories Have Been Hit the Hardest?Not all retail store segments are suffering. In fact, some are thriving.

E-commerce – which was a $437 billion retail market in 2017 – has certainly upended the US retail landscape. But not all retail segments are surrendering to the so-called “retail apocalypse.” In fact, some are thriving, as seen in a... READ MORE

How Are Marketers Using Social Analytics Data?Relatively few are tracking crises in real-time, although they recognize the importance of responding to negative comments in real-time.April 12, 2018

Social analytics data is most commonly used for community management and engagement, reports NetBase [download page] in a survey of more than 700 marketers in the US and Canada, half of whom are from companies with at least $100 million in annual revenues.... READ MORE

Which Emerging Technologies Do Consumers Feel Will Impact Their Lives?About half of US adults own at least one Smart Home product or device.

Technology is evolving at a rapid rate, and new developments have the potential to upend industries. But which new trends do consumers feel will impact them the most? As it turns out, the broadest consensus is for the Smart Home, which 58% of respondents... READ MORE

How B2B Buyers Engage With Content: 4 InsightsBuyers are prioritizing content trustworthiness and want to see more packaged content that references research and data.April 11, 2018

Half of B2B buyers say they now rely more on content to research and make purchase decisions, and most are placing a higher emphasis on the trustworthiness of the source of the content, according to the 2018 Content Preferences Survey Report [download page]... READ MORE

Youth See Social As A More Relevant Advertising Channel Than TVYouth are also the most likely to see ads' relevance as improving.

Both Gen Z (18-19) and Millennials (20-36) are more likely to see social media as a relevant advertising channel than TV, banner ads and streaming video, according to the State of Digital Advertising 2018 report from Adobe Digital Insights (ADI). That stands... READ MORE

Enterprises Say Cost is the Top Challenge Experienced with External Marketing AgenciesMany large companies see smaller agencies and individual consultants playing an important role in the years to come.April 10, 2018

Cost is far and away the leading challenge faced by enterprises when working with external marketing agencies, and it may be leading them to look at smaller outfits, according to a study [download page] from Globality, conducted by the Economist Intelligence... READ MORE

Retargeting Seen Effective For Improving Search & Social Ad PerformanceData-driven personalization is a challenging tactic for search and social advertising performance.

Increasing conversions ranks as one of the top priorities for an integrated search and social advertising strategy, according to a new report [download page] from Ascend2 and its Research Partners. Unfortunately it’s also considered to be the most... READ MORE

Influencer Content Sways Youth Who Engage With It: 4 InsightsYoung people who have interacted with influencer content believe it to be authentic, but are more skeptical about influencers' transparency.April 9, 2018

Influencer content is likely to find a trusting youth audience, per results from a study by Fullscreen and Shareablee. In fact, almost 4 in 10 18-34-year-olds are more likely to trust what an influencer says about a brand than what the brand says about... READ MORE

Which Demographic Groups Are Marketers Prioritizing With Budget Increases?Brands may be missing out on opportunities to connect with the LGBTQ community.

Recent research has shown that retail marketers are increasing their spending on younger generations – and a new study indicates that it isn’t just retail marketers prioritizing youth over older adults. A survey [download page] of almost 300... READ MORE

Agencies Say Research Can Improve the Pitch ProcessAccess to research and data is seen as a key element to winning a pitch.

Only 1 in 4 ad agency professionals are satisfied with the pitch process, per results from a Provoke Insights survey [download page]. Client-side marketers surveyed as part of the report feel that creativity and a true understanding of the company’s... READ MORE

Majority of Online Video Service Providers Believe Quality Will Soon Match Traditional TVStart-up time is rated the most important quality parameter, but would viewers agree?

As online video services proliferate, a key consideration is their quality and the resulting user experience. As it stands, most service providers believe they’ll soon achieve the same or better quality as traditional pay-TV, according to an Akamai... READ MORE

This Forecast Shows that Mobile is the Engine of Worldwide Ad Spending GrowthMobile is expected to contribute more than 10 times as many new global ad spending dollars as TV from 2017 to 2020. April 6, 2018

Global ad spending will increase by 4.6% this year to reach US $579 billion, predicts Zenith in its latest forecast [pdf], with this representing an upward revision from the previous forecast of 4.1% that marks the largest quarterly upgrade in 7 years. One... READ MORE

Video Ad Engagement Benchmarks in 2017Although click rates dropped, there was some improvement in the viewable completion rate.

Video ad click-through rates fell last year, but completion and viewability rates both improved, as did the fraud rate, per Extreme Reach data. The firm analyzed billions of video ad impressions across desktop, mobile, and connected TV from 2015 through 2017... READ MORE

US Recorded Music Revenues Grow Again As Paid Streaming Subscriptions JumpThe number of paid music streaming subscriptions increased by about 56% year-over-year.April 5, 2018

Retail revenues from recorded music in the US saw an impressive 16.5% rise last year, far outdoing 2016’s rise of 11.4%, which at the time had been the biggest gain in almost 20 years (since 1998). That’s according to annual revenue statistics... READ MORE

Majority of Consumers Frustrated by Inaccurate Local Business ListingsConsumers are more likely to blame the business than the directory for inaccuracies.

Most US consumers would lost trust in a business that had incorrect or inconsistent contact details online, reports BrightLocal. And the problem appears to be quite extensive: 71% of the survey’s respondents reported having felt the effect of... READ MORE

How Frequently Do People Use Social Platforms?Facebook boasts the heaviest usage, but few trust it to obey privacy laws.April 4, 2018

About 7 in 10 American adults report being online “almost constantly” (26%) or “several times a day” (43%), according to recent data from the Pew Research Center. Many of those are likely spending their online time visiting social... READ MORE

Google Shopping in 2017: 4 InsightsGoogle Shopping data indicates that mobile phone users are becoming more comfortable completing purchases on their devices.

US retailers are prioritizing Google Shopping ads over text ads, according to the 2018 Google Shopping Benchmarks Report [registration page] from Sidecar. Based on an analysis of more than 300 US retailers’ activity in 2017, the report notes that ad... READ MORE

US Out-of-Home Ad Spend Grows Again in 2017; Big Tech Among Top AdvertisersGoogle more than doubled its investment in out-of-home last year, making it the 5th-largest advertiser by OOH spending.April 3, 2018

US out-of-home advertising revenues increased by 1.2% last year to reach $7.7 billion, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). While the growth rate for 2017 didn’t match the 2016 figure of 3.1% or the 2015 figure of 4.6%,... READ MORE

Media Quality Report Shows Brand Safety Risk on the Rise: Here Are US & Global BenchmarksBrand risk benchmarks for H2 2017 covering mobile and desktop display and video.

The overall level of brand risk in the US jumped by 22.2% between H1 and H2 2017 across publisher direct and programmatic buys, reveals Integral Ad Science (IAS) in its Media Quality Report H2 2017 [download page]. While hate speech remains a small part of... READ MORE

The Socioeconomic Characteristics of Young Adults: Millennials Today vs. Boomers ThenHow do Millennials today compare with Boomers when they were young adults?April 2, 2018

Marketers today spend plenty of time and budget focusing on Millennials, despite Boomers presenting a more attractive financial picture. But how is that financial picture – along with other socioeconomic characteristics – different for... READ MORE

More Adults Listen to Podcasts on Smartphones Than On All Other Devices, CombinedThe podcast audience skews towards iPhone over Android owners.

Podcast awareness and popularity are both on the rise, with a recent study suggesting that 64% of respondents ages 12 and older are familiar with the term “podcasting,” up from 49% three years ago. A new report from Nielsen [download page]... READ MORE

These Ad Units Proved to be Most Viewable in H2 2017Vertically-oriented ad units tended to have the strongest viewability rates last year.

The average viewability rate for desktop display ads in the US was 54.7% during the second half of 2017, on par with the first half of the year, reports Integral Ad Science (IAS). The Media Quality Report H2 2017 [download page] indicates that viewability... READ MORE

Consumers Still Prefer Print Over Digital CouponsUsage of paper coupons is not only high, but growing too.

About half (48%) of adults in the US agree that they prefer to get coupons in the mail, a figure that has risen in each of the past 2 years, according to Valassis’s latest annual survey [download page] of coupon usage. There’s also been upward... READ MORE

Half of Subscribers Strongly Value Video Streaming Services’ Original ContentAs many as a quarter of Amazon Prime's new signups can be attributed to Prime Originals, according to leaked documents and accompanying estimates.March 30, 2018

There’s a reason the top subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services are in an arms race of sorts to produce original content: it brings in subscribers. In fact more than half (54%) of streaming video subscribers surveyed last year said they had... READ MORE

These Brands Have Made the Strongest Impression on WomenNetflix is gaining steam, cracking the top 10 for the first time.

Given women’s purchasing power in the US, brands want to make a good impression. So which brands do best? YouGov released its latest BrandIndex rankings, finding that Band-Aid has the best perception among women. To arrive at its conclusion YouGov... READ MORE

What’s the Latest With the Video Ad Experience?Ad frequency rates improved in 2017 for full-episode content.March 29, 2018

Media buying decision-makers view the consumer experience as the biggest challenge facing video advertising today. So what’s the state of the ad experience – as measured by ad loads and repetition? The latest quarterly Video Monetization report... READ MORE

Consumers’ Retail Spending Surrounding Easter Expected to Remain HighAbout 8 in 10 adults intend to celebrate Easter, and they plan to spend $150 each on gifts and celebrations.

Total consumer spending on Easter is forecast to total $18.2 billion this year, just below last year’s record projection of $18.4 billion, according to the NRF. Some 81% of adults plan to celebrate Easter, on par with last year, but they’ll spend... READ MORE

Brand Marketing: What Are 2018’s Goals, Priorities, and Challenges?With personalization and CX being top priorities, it's surprising to see few saying they're having difficulty deriving actionable insights from data.March 28, 2018

Brand marketers are prioritizing the customer experience this year and are excited about further exploring personalization, finds the 2018 State of Branding report [download page] from OnBrand and Bynder. But in order to reach their objectives, brand... READ MORE

Consumers Spend More Time on Amazon Than on the Rest of the Top 10 Retailers, CombinedAmazon accounted for about two-thirds of transactions in Q4 2017 in the two biggest e-commerce categories.

It’s no secret that Amazon has an enormous influence on e-commerce. Here’s another amazing statistic to drive that point home, courtesy of a new comScore study [download page]: Americans spent 22.6 billion minutes on Amazon during December 2017,... READ MORE

Here Are the Universal Search Integrations You See Most on MobileThe Knowledge Graph appears in 1 in 3 Google searches' first-page results.March 27, 2018

Google shows an average of only 8.5 organic results on the first page of its US mobile searches, and just 8.7 on desktop searches, according to a study from Searchmetrics [download page]. The firm argues that marketers have a big opportunity to be featured... READ MORE

The Number of High-Net-Worth Households in the US Continues to GrowThe number of households with net worth of $1-5 million had its biggest year-over-year jump since 2009.

There were an estimated 42.5 million households in the US with a net worth of at least $100k in 2017, according to the latest annual Market Insights Report from the Spectrem Group. While the vast majority of those had net worth in the $100k-$1 million range,... READ MORE

Free Download: The Benefits of Direct MailA look at the key benefits of print direct mail marketing.March 26, 2018

Spending trends suggest that direct mail is experiencing a resurgence, as both B2B and B2C marketers tout its effectiveness. In this new deck [download page], sponsored by Gunderson Direct, discover 10 key charts and data points highlighting the benefits of... READ MORE

Only 3 in 10 Consumers Are “Resolute Loyalists.” Here Are 6 Insights on Loyalty Programs.Two new studies delve into brand loyalty and program membership behavior.

Just 29% of US consumers can be classified as “resolute loyalists” in that they describe themselves as very loyal, buying only their favorite brands. While virtually no consumers say they’re not loyal at all, most (68%) instead describe... READ MORE

Shoppers Around the Globe Turn to Social Media For Purchase InspirationA study from PwC examines how trust applies to retail.

Social networks are the most influential online media used by shoppers around the world when finding inspiration for their purchases, according to a study from PwC [pdf]. The survey, conducted among 22,000 consumers in 27 territories, also found many turning... READ MORE

Apple’s Ranked the Most “Intimate” Brand in the USSecond-ranked Amazon is so far behind it's closer to 19th than to top-rated Apple.

Move over Amazon. The retail giant might be the most reputable company in the US, but Apple is the brand that inspires the strongest emotional bond with US adults, according to a new study from MBLM. The ranking is derived from a survey of 3,000 US adults,... READ MORE

Few Tech Companies Figure Among America’s Most ReputableAmazon leads the list again, though.March 23, 2018

Tech companies might dominate the list of America’s most valuable brands, but they don’t have quite the same impact when it comes to reputation factors. In fact, only one of the top 10 most reputable companies in the US is a tech brand, according... READ MORE

Smart Speaker Owners Are Becoming More Comfortable Making PurchasesThree in 10 Smart Speaker owners have ordered an item online using their device. What implications does this have for brands?

Shopping may not yet be a mainstream Smart Speaker activity, but there are indications that it’s becoming more widespread. In a new presentation [download page], comScore reveals that 30% of Smart Speaker owners have purchased an item online using... READ MORE