Archive for May, 2009
eBrand Media Research Brief: Advertise or die on the vine!
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
According to a new Ad-ology Research study, “Advertising’s Impact in a Soft Economy,” more than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling. Conversely, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.
C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research, says “It is critical to advertise in the current economic climate, to maintain long-term positive consumer perception of your brand… advertising… assures consumers of a business’ reliability… ”
Other key findings include:
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising on May 29th, 2009
The problem with planning social media (no problem)
By Cory Treffiletti
If you were engaged with digital media planning early in the continuum, say from 1995-2000, you regularly heard the phrase, “building the plane while flying it.” That cliché was used commonly to describe the exhilaration and similarly the frustration of media planning in an environment that was un-tested, un-standardized and extremely fluid when compared to its traditional brethren.
The same thing can be said for social media planning right now, because social media is somewhat tested, infinitely un-standardized and extremely fluid. What adds even more difficulty is, it is more about the platform than any of the individual players — which adds a level of complexity that can easily overwhelm an unseasoned planner.
When planning display in digital media, it’s easy to focus on the publisher as the location for placement, and each publisher has a forecasted, finite volume of inventory that can be planned. In social media, publishers are increasingly shifting their focus away from their sites and more to a distributed model that relies on third-party programmer development to create access points.
In a recent article in the Sunday New York Times, Facebook proclaimed its desire for a third party to developers to create new interfaces for accessing the social network rather than driving users to the host .com site. They are not as concerned with site traffic as they are with accessibility to the platform. Twitter is leaps and bounds ahead of the pack when it comes to this concept, with most people accessing Twitter through mobile apps such as Twitterific or desktop apps like TweetDeck.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter on May 22nd, 2009
Cross-national corporate social responsibility programs can be effective
By Charles R. Taylor
A research study my colleague, Ronald Hill, and I are working on in conjunction with lead research Karen Becker Olsen of the College of New Jersey demonstrates that corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that are run cross-nationally can be effective for a company in terms of consumer perceptions. The study examined the reactions of consumers in both the U.S. and Mexico to Nokia’s global CSR initiative called “Make a Connection.”
Run in cooperation with the International Youth Foundation and supported by a $6 million annual donation from Nokia, the program has supported more than 140 projects in 20 countries. Its primary purpose is to promote positive youth development by improving educational opportunities and focusing on the development of life skills.
The study involved an experiment in which the source of the message (company vs. non-profit organization) and the reach of the message (global impact vs. local impact) were varied in the context of a press release of about the CSR program. Data was collected from 480 consumers in New York City and Mexico.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising, Marketing to Hispanics on May 21st, 2009
eBrand Media Research Brief: E-commerce grows using SEM to acquire and e-mail to retain
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
According to the first installment of of Retailing Online 2009: Marketing Report from Forrester Research and Shop.org, e-commerce sales, including event and movie tickets, will grow about 11% to $156.1 billion this year from $141.3 billion in 2008. Online sales will account for 6% of total retail sales this year, up from 5% last year. Retailers report that their conversion rates continue to hover between 3% and 3.5%.
While Internet sales growth continues to outpace traditional retail sales, 54% of online retailers expect overall retail growth to slow during the next 12 months, and 57% acknowledge the economy is hurting their bottom line, according to the survey.
Although many retailers expect lower sales, however, four out of five surveyed online retailers think the web is better suited than other channels to withstand the recession and one-third say the downturn has helped them capture greater market share, the study found
Scott Silverman, Shop.org Executive Director, says “… Online retailers are trying to weather this economic storm by doing more with less, making smart spending decisions, and leveraging effective, affordable tactics like e-mail to grow their businesses.”
Posted by Tom Polanski in E-mail marketing, SEM, eBrand Media on May 19th, 2009
eBrand Media Research Brief: Relevant, useful, incentivized advertising appeal confirmed again
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
A survey by Lightspeed Research and the Internet Advertising Bureau concludes that the Online audience relates most to advertising that is relevant, useful and incentified with special offers, but there are key differences by age group when developing creative executions.
The survey found that money-off particularly appeals to 18-35 year olds who are more interested in special offers, the entertainment factor, and exclusive information. For 45-54 year olds however, ads need to be more relevant and useful to make an impact. And, in all age groups, there is an appeal to advertisers to better understand their needs.
Every age group surveyed chose sponsored links in a search result, and advertising within a page as the top two ad formats for sparking their interest to click through to the advertisers’ website. Newer forms of online advertising are gaining ground, says the report, with ads using sound and video, widgets, in-game advertising and free gifts.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising on May 18th, 2009