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247% Increase in UK Mobile Web Search

By Andrew Redfern @ 11th October 2010 5:36 pm Digital Agency

A white paper study by a digital agency has linked an increase of 70% in smartphones sales led by Apple’s iPhone and Android based models to an increase of 247% in mobile web searches. This is also being driven by the increase of superphones and tablets making mobile web browsing even easier.

14% of respondents in the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups said they carried out at least one mobile internet search a day. Contrary to the large increase in mobile search volume, the survey also revealed that mobile traffic accounts for just 3% of all internet use.

With a 15% year on year drop in desktop/ laptop search web designers and brand marketers will need to develop new methods and strategies to gain full potential from the mobile opportunity by optimising their web pages and mobile app SEO/design.

According to Google UK and Ireland CEO Matt Brittin, the company designs everything for mobile first, then for other platforms. The CEO of the same digital agency quotes his view is “If you think the internet revolution is big, the mobile revolution is going to be bigger and much more widespread and faster.”

The report conductied by YouGov surveyed 2100 adults in April 2010.

Improving Digital Advertising Efficiency

By Andrew Redfern @ 5th December 2008 5:57 pm Digital Agency

MediaBank today announced its participation in the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Beta Partner program responsible for defining E-Business standards for interactive media.

The advertising industry has lacked integrated operating technologies for decades, leading to inaccurate data and inconsistencies in information shared among media buyers, advertisers and publishers. Recognizing these problems, the IAB led an initiative to create business standards and define processes for digital advertising.

“MediaBank has been an important partner in our efforts to define integrated workflow standards for interactive advertising,” said Jeremy Fain, vice president of Industry Services at IAB. “The leadership and expertise of MediaBank will not only help advertisers and agencies save time, but also increase their return on investment in digital media.”

In recent months, MediaBank and other interactive media companies have worked with the IAB on the E-Business task force that defines standard definitions and processes to decrease discrepancies and enhance operating efficiencies. MediaBank and other IAB partners are now planning an aggressive development, analysis and user acceptance schedule for the implementation phase.

“MediaBank has worked closely with its publisher partners and clients to prepare beta tests for new E-Business standards for digital media,” said Cordie DePascale, vice president of Project Management and Implementation at MediaBank. “We are excited to be a major participant in the current IAB initiative and look forward to seeing the E-Business standards rolled out so that media buyers and advertisers can reap the benefits of advanced technology.”

DePascale worked closely with IAB to craft the E-Business standards for interactive media and also appeared on the Interactive E-Business Solutions panel at the IAB Ad Operation Summit, held October 30, 2008 in New York City.

Would you like to know about Internet Marketing? If so, contact Hit Search, Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click & Social Space Marketing specialists, on 0845 643 9289. Remember, its a big world out there, make sure you become visible.

Online Spending Up 15% on Cyber Monday “Second Heaviest Spending Day”

By Andrew Redfern @ 5th December 2008 1:22 pm Digital Agency

comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 31 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season.

For the holiday season-to-date, $12.03 billion has been spent online, marking a 2 percent decline versus the corresponding days last year.

However, Cyber Monday saw $846 million in online spending, up 15 percent. The four-day period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday saw e-commerce spending jump 13 percent as both weekend days and Monday all achieved double-digit gains.

2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Holiday Season to Date          2007            2008             Change
November 1 – December 1         $12,217         $12,025           -2%
Pre-Thanksgiving                $10,035          $9,588           -4%
Thanksgiving and Later           $2,182          $2,437           12%
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)     $272            $288            6%
November 28 (“Black Friday”)       $531            $534            1%
November 29-30 (Weekend)           $645            $769           19%
December 1 (“Cyber Monday”)        $733            $846           15%

“Mark Twain might have said: ‘Rumors of the death of online holiday shopping have been greatly exaggerated,’” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Consumers are clearly responding positively to retailers’ aggressive online discounts.

With Cyber Monday promotions beginning in earnest over the Thanksgiving weekend, consumers have finally begun to open their wallets, setting off a streak of four consecutive days of extremely strong growth, and culminating in a Cyber Monday that racked up an impressive $846 million in online spending, up 15 percent over last year and ranking it as the second heaviest online spending day on record.

This is an extremely encouraging development for retailers and we can but hope that their aggressive discounting has still left room for profits.”

Consumers Seeing Less Foot Traffic in Retail Stores

The most recent comScore holiday retail survey, conducted from November 28 – December 1, revealed that some additional insights into consumers’ views of the 2008 holiday shopping season.

Some of the key survey findings include:

** More than half (51 percent) of consumers indicated that the level of promotions and discounts is higher this year than last year, while only 12 percent said that there appeared to be fewer, suggesting that retailers are having to be more aggressive in discounting to spur consumer spending.

** 39 percent of consumers said that there seemed to be fewer people out shopping in retail stores this year than last year, while only 7 percent thought there were more.

Agency.com Appoint New Director of Technology

By Andrew Redfern @ 19th November 2008 2:05 pm Digital Agency

Agency.com announced the appointment of Stuart Hemmings as Director of Technology. Stuart is responsible for driving strategy and execution of client facing technology enabled programs from the Chicago Agency.com office.

Hemmings brings fifteen years of experience with him and a wealth of knowledge on various execution approaches including outsourced, on-shore and off-shore development models in addition to extensive knowledge within the information technology field helping companies drive technology innovation to improve business performance.

He hails to Agency.com from Digitas where he was Vice President, Director of Technology Enablement. There, he managed interactive campaigns and technology enabled marketing initiatives for blue-chip brands, including Miller Brewing, Whirlpool, Philip Morris, Kellogg’s, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Samsung. Stuart’s approach is one of helping clients utilize web-focused technologies to drive their online brand presence.

Kathleen Flynn, President Agency.com Chicago commented: “Stuart’s extensive background in helping some of the world’s major brands improve business performance through innovative technology solutions is a valuable addition to the Agency.com team. I’m delighted to have Stuart join our team.”

Publicis Buys Brazilian Digital Agency

By Andrew Redfern @ 19th November 2008 1:53 pm Digital Agency

Publicis Groupe today announced that it has acquired the Sao Paulo-based leading digital agency Tribal. With nearly one hundred communications specialists, Tribal is one of Brazil’s top independent interactive agencies.

Tribal have experience in strategic brand planning to interactive campaigns and advanced marketing technologies.

The Tribal brand will be kept and the agency will be aligned with the Digitas global network. The team will continue to be led by existing management Pierre Mantovani, CEO and Renato Fabri, Chief Creative Officer. Both will now report to Francois de La Villardiere, CEO of Digitas Latin America.

This strategic transaction marks the next step in the international roll-out of the Digitas global network. Publicis Groupe acquired Digitas at the end of 2006. In 2007, Digitas was launched in the UK, in India and Singapore, in China through Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of CCG, as well as in France through the Groupe’s acquisition of Business Interactif. In addition to expanding the Digitas global footprint, the acquisition of Tribal also illustrates Publicis Groupe’s continued strategy of further investing in emerging economies and increasing its revenue share from digital and high-growth markets.

Since its launch in 1998, Tribal has quickly established itself as a national industry leader. The agency has grown to specialize in range of highly-competitive services including Strategic Brand Planning, Marketing Analytics, Media Planning & Buying, Interactive Marketing, Web & Interactive Development, as well as Marketing Technologies. Major clients include Microsoft, Philips, Chrysler and Whirlpool.

Commenting on the announcement, Laura Lang, Chairman & CEO of Digitas, said, “The acquisition of Tribal is key for strengthening our global operations and expanding the Digitas network into Latin America. Brazil is poised for significant growth as Internet/broadband penetration accelerates in the next two years. From a digital perspective, Brazil is vital for our clients and Tribal gives us a center of excellence to leverage in an important growth market.”

Francois de La Villardiere, CEO of Digitas Latin America, “Pierre and his team at Tribal bring strong leadership and a broad range of creative expertise and global clients, everything we need to provide a solid foundation for our Digitas Latam operations.”

Pierre Mantovani, CEO of Tribal, “As we already have an international dimension, with communication campaigns in 20 different countries, joining Digitas and becoming part of Publicis Groupe is a great opportunity for us to operate on a larger scale, while maintaining our identity and our corporate culture.”

Brazil is one of the most promising advertising markets in the world. According to ZenithOptimedia forecasts, the Brazilian ad market grew by 25.1% in 2007, up from 19.4% in 2006. The ad market has been growing well ahead of the wider economy, which has been growing at about 4% a year for the last few years. ZO forecasts a 15.4% total ad expenditure growth for 2008, and double-digit growth for 2009 and 2010.

Publicis Groupe now has nearly 750 employees in Brazil. The Groupe is present through its brands Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Fallon, and now Digitas.

Would you like to know more about Internet Marketing? If so, contact Hit Search on 0845 643 9289. Remember, its a big world out there, make sure you become visible.

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