News: 7 Day Round Up
February 2 - 8
February 2 - 8
| P&G, COKE LAUNCH MOST POPULAR NEW PRODUCTS NEW YORK: Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola were among the companies US shoppers regarded as having launched some of the most innovative new products of last year. The annual Product of the Year Awards, which aim to recognise the most successful introductions in 14 categories, was based on a survey of 60,000 people conducted by TNS, the research firm. Procter & Gamble took the honours in the haircare contest, for a "natural" version of Pantene Pro-V which promises to "make fragile hair strong against damage in just 14 days." The Cincinnati-based firm also came out on top in the hair color competition for Nice 'n Easy Perfect 10, and, in the personal care sector, for Secret Clinical Strength Waterproof, an anti-perspirant targeted at athletes. Moreover, Tide Stain Release, a high-end extension to its detergent brand, was named as the best introduction among laundry lines last year. Bob McDonald, P&G's ceo, has recently argued that innovation will be integral to the organisation's future plans, where offerings such as the Swiffer have previously helped it drive up revenues. "Our innovation program is happening all over the world. We're spending behind the innovation program to get the awareness and trial objectives we need to grow market share profitably," he said. Coca-Cola, the soft drinks specialist, was pre-eminent in the beverage segment, for Sprite Green, which contains a zero-calorie natural sweetener, Truvia, which Coke developed in partnership with Cargill. SC Johnson's Glade Sense & Spray, a motion-activated air freshener, and Pledge Multi-Surface spray took the corresponding positions in the household and home cleaning products divisions in turn. The number of goods launched in the US food and beverage market making "economy claims" rose by 72%, according to figures published by Mintel. Moser Roth, a chocolate range with six different variants, and which is produced by Aldi, the German discounter, made the biggest impact in the value area with shoppers, according to the poll by TNS. Reckitt Benckiser's Resolve Deep Clean Powder was lauded in the carpet care sector, as was Nescafé Dolce Gusto, made by Nestlé, for coffee systems, and Colgate Wisp, a disposable toothbrush, in the oral care vote. A separate study from TNS found that 41% of Americans are looking for new products which provide better value for money, while recommendation is also playing a more important role in shaping purchase behaviour. Herb Sorensen, scientific advisor for global retail and shopper practice at TNS, said "shoppers are faced with a blizzard of choices in the store, and anything that helps them cut through the clutter is good for the shopper ... and good for the retailer and brand." Colin Watts, chief innovation office for Walgreens, added "with consumers watching their wallets more closely and the increase in new products, today's brands and retailers are constantly looking for ways to help shoppers deal with 'aisle overload'." "Successful companies are the ones who bring new product innovations that are based on what consumers need during these challenging economic times and consumers are rewarding them with their purchases." Data sourced from Product of the Year; additional content by Warc staff, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesDatamonitor - Feb 10, 10 Big brands show how to use augmented reality - Feb 5, 10 Unilever plans marketing and innovation push - Feb 5, 10  OGILVY, MINDSHARE TOP ASIAN AGENCIES HONG KONG: Ogilvy & Mather and Mindshare are the agencies which are held in the highest regard among advertisers in Asia Pacific. Media, the industry title, produced its Agency Image Survey in partnership with Harris Interactive, the research firm, based on a poll of marketing executives throughout the region. Ogilvy took first position in the rankings among creative networks, having been placed among the area's top three agencies by 54% of participants. The WPP-owned company came in ahead of its global rivals Leo Burnett, on 35%, Saatchi & Saatchi, on 27%, and JWT, on 24%. Ogilvy won new accounts with an estimated value of $263 million (€191m; £168m) in Asia Pacific last year, a figure that stood at $180m for DDB, $168m for EuroRSCG, $150m for Publicis, and $57m for Leo Burnett. Agencies based primarily in Japan found conditions considerably more challenging, with Asatu-DK seeing revenues tumble by 15%, Dentsu down by 17%, and Hakuhodo off by a similar amount. Mindshare was pre-eminent among the media specialists, on a score of 59%, with OMD on 38%, ZenithOptimedia delivering a total of 34%, and Universal McCann recording a rating of 33%. Among the accounts secured last year by Mindshare, which has offices in countries including China, Hong Kong and India, was media chores for Starhub, the Singapore-based communications firm. OMD enjoyed growth of 30% in Asia Pacific in 2009, with a client retention rate of over 90%, although it did lose some duties from Unilever, the FMCG giant, and PepsiCo, the food and beverage titan. ZenithOptimedia – which has forecast that adspend will jump by 8.4% in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) in 2010 – acquired $266m of new business over the last 12 months, taking more than 100 accounts in all. Universal McCann won billings valued at $55m in the same period, while Carat was in fifth in the survey of clients, having performed particularly well in China. Some 77% of respondents said the work agencies had produced for other brands was the key factor in shaping their overall perceptions, with presentations and pitches from the shops concerned on 70%. A further 61% cited the "the reputation of the people who work at the agencies", with 58% having formed their views based on what they believed was the consensus in the industry as a whole. This total stood at 50% for relevant content featured in the national and trade press, and just 22% for conferences and award shows. Data sourced from Asia; additional content by Warc staf, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesSorrell tips social media, branded content - Jan 7, 10 Lévy predicts ad industry will see "consolidation" - Jan 4, 10 Digital agencies best placed for future growth - Dec 15, 09 US MARKETERS PLANNING FURTHER SPENDING CUTS NEW YORK: A majority of marketers in the US are planning to make further reductions to their media budgets, according to a study by the Association of National Advertisers. The industry body surveyed more than 140 client-side marketers in January this year, and found that 83% of respondents are currently attempting to identify areas where cost savings can be made. While this marks a decrease compared with the total of 87% recorded in a similar poll six months ago, the ANA suggested a "new normal" may have emerged that could remain in place even when the recession has ended. Overall, 41% of the organisation's panel plan to trim their marketing budgets by between 1% and 5%, with 70% pegging this figure in the 1% to 10% range, and 7% slashing their spending by more than a fifth. Three-quarters of the sample were challenging their agencies to reduce internal expenses or find other ways to lower costs, with the same number providing less in-house funding for travel and expenses. Some 53% were directing fewer resources to formal advertising and media activities, with 50% placing tighter restrictions on the finance made available for the production process. A further 35% of clients were hoping to secure more favourable remuneration terms with their agencies, while 24% were investing less in research. Over the last six months, 46% of this group had seen their budgets decrease, while 17% enjoyed an increase, and the situation remained unchanged for 34% of contributors. Looking forward the same period of time, 59% of participants believed their expenditure would stay constant, with 22% predicting a drop, and 19% were optimistic that they would see an improvement. "The recession may be officially over, but it appears that marketers have reset their expectations and a greater degree of frugality has set in," the ANA argued. "However, the deepest cuts are likely to have already been made." Data sourced from ANA; additional content by Warc staff, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesAdvertising rates set to rise in BRIC markets - Feb 9, 10 Online retail sales set to rise in Europe - Feb 2, 10 Sponsorship spending set to rise in US - Feb 1, 10 STRONG BRANDS AND INNOVATION BOOST LVMH PARIS: Strong brands and a focus on innovation have helped strengthen LVMH, the luxury goods group, in the economic downturn, Bernard Arnault, its ceo, has argued. The French conglomerate posted a 1% decrease in revenues, to €17 billion (€23.2bn; £14.8bn), over the course of 2009 as a whole, with net profits falling by 13%, to €1.75bn. More positively, figures improved by 1% in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2008, the first such uptick enjoyed by the Paris-based firm since the third quarter of 2008. Arnault suggested LVMH's annual results demonstrated its "excellent performance given the current global economic crisis." "This performance in 2009 was the result of the strengthening of our star brands, our flagship brands, that have all continued to increase their market share throughout the world," he stated. Louis Vuitton, the company's leading leather goods offering, was one of its major success stories, recording a double-digit uptick in sales in 2009. "This is due to the quality of the products, the quality of the locations, the quality of service that we provide to our customers, the extraordinary capacity for innovation of this brand … it's the only fashion and leather goods brand that doesn't offer sales," Arnault said. Tag Heuer, its premium watch line, Hennessy cognac and Christian Dior, its fragrance and beauty unit, were also in demand, especially in key emerging economies, helping "offset" declines in business elsewhere. By region, totals in the US, which provided a quarter of the company's sales in 2009, fell by 7% in local currency terms, but this included growth of 3% in the three months from October to December. Europe, which is responsible for 21% of revenues, was off by a more modest 4%, while Japan, its third biggest area of operation overall, was down by 19%. By contrast, Asia, excluding Japan, was up by a similar amount, a process largely driven by China, which is expected to become the biggest premium goods market in the world in the next five to seven years. Looking forward, LVMH intends to launch a number of new goods in a variety of countries, including additions to its Louis Vuitton and Dior ranges, in 2010. "This year we're of course going continue to enhance still further innovation. There's a whole slew of products in the pipeline," Arnault said. "The business climate is rather difficult to predict," he added. "We're emerging from a strong deep crisis. Will it turn in to a strong recovery? It's difficult to state that with certainty." Data sourced from LVMH; additional content by Warc staff, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesLuxury watches lure Chinese - Sep 18, 09 Luxury brands need strong support - Jun 10, 09 Recession watch: luxury brands - Jun 1, 09 GOOGLE, CADBURY MOST "ENGAGING" BRANDS IN UK LONDON: Google and Cadbury are the most "engaging" brands in the UK, research from Hall & Partners, the global communications and research agency, has revealed. The company surveyed more than 3,000 people to discover their opinions about 75 leading brands, and conducted more in-depth research to understand their emotional associations with these products. As part of this process, it attempted to assess the importance of "sensing" – similar to "herd" behaviour – in shaping shopper preferences, as well as the role of a variety of other issues, such as a brand's "integrity." H&P then combined these results with data related to past and future purchase intent, and financial metrics like corporate profits and stock market expectations, to produce an overall index. Google, the online search giant, was in first position overall, having also been named the world's most valuable brand in Millward Brown's annual BrandZ study last year. Cadbury, the confectionary specialist recently acquired by Kraft, the US food group, was in second place, a result at least in part of its successful communications campaigns, such as its viral "Gorilla" ad. Vanella Jackson, worldwide ceo of Hall & Partners, said "it is no surprise that Cadbury is one of the UK's most engaging brands." "Our research has shown that their highly engaging campaigns ... have helped reinforce a very strong emotional connection and build one of Britain's best-loved brands." Amazon, the online retailer, was in third, followed by the BBC, the broadcaster, in fourth, and Facebook, the social network, in fifth. Marks & Spencer, the high-street chain, Sony, the electronics firm, Microsoft, the IT giant, the Olympics, and Dove, Unilever's beauty brand, closed out the top ten. "It is interesting to note how well technology brands performed – by their very nature they facilitate greater participation, which is key to building strong, longer lasting, brand relationships," Jackson argued. Data sourced from Hall & Partners; additional content by Warc staff, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesKraft takes "holistic" approach - Feb 9, 10 Cadbury is top Australian grocery brand - Feb 3, 10 Mobile advertising attracts Best Buy, Volkswagen - Feb 1, 10 INDIA IN "STRONG SHAPE", SAYS SORRELL NEW DELHI: The Indian advertising market is in "strong shape" with regard to both the trading climate and the creative talent available, Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP Group, has said. GroupM, part of WPP, has previously predicted that India, along with China, will be among the few major nations to see a meaningful improvement in adspend in 2010, a sentiment shared by Sorrell. "India is in a strong shape as far as WPP is concerned, and as far as the industry is concerned. It is definitely much stronger than it was even a few months ago," he said. "We'd love to have the growth we've achieved in India everywhere." Ogilvy and JWT, both owned by the UK-based holding group, are among the networks that have established a strong presence in the country. As a whole, WPP currently employs around 8,500 people in India, and Sorrell praised the "very strong" creative talent that is on its books in the fast-growing economy. "We have certain individuals – I don't want to name them – who are outstanding. I think there is a bit of ire against them in the West," he said. Given the size of the Indian population, currently estimated to stand at over 1.1 billion people, "the odds are you are going to have better talent than a population of 60 million or even 300 million," he added. Data sourced from Indian Express; additional content by Warc staff, 08 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesUse of celebrities has mixed results in India - Feb 4, 10 Social media gaining ground in India - Feb 3, 10 Mobile advertising set to grow in India - Feb 2, 10 UNILEVER PLANS MARKETING AND INNOVATION PUSH LONDON: Unilever, the FMCG giant, plans to heighten its investment in marketing and innovation this year, having seen this strategy start to pay off in 2009. The Anglo-Dutch corporation recorded underlying volume growth of 2.3% over the last 12 months, posting three quarters of successive gains after experiencing a decline from January to March. Western Europe was the only region to deliver a contraction over the whole of last year, down in both volume and value terms, the owner of Knorr and Hellmann's said in a statement. "I am convinced that the environment is going to stay competitive as it's by no means clear that life will get any easier for our consumers and customers in the coming year," Paul Polman, its ceo, argued. "Building brand equity is a cornerstone of the long-term success of consumer goods companies. This is very important to me and the way I think about the business," he added. The overall volume trend was mirrored by Unilever's advertising and promotional spending, which fell by 110 basis points in Q1, and rose by 50 basis points in Q2, 130 basis points in Q3, and 240 basis points in Q4. James Allison, its head of investor relations, said "advertising and promotional expenditure increased substantially in the second half of the year as we supported innovation strongly and continued to build brand equities." The consumer goods firm registered a 15% uptick in its media impressions last year, partly due to "incremental expenditure", and also because of lower media rates, according to Allison. "We substantially increased our expenditure on digital support, leading the expansion in to this media across a number of our brands," he continued. As previously reported, the company launched a digital marketing effort for Dove Men+Care in the US, encompassing mobile, as well as social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, this month. Polman suggested that Evolution, the acclaimed viral campaign produced for Dove, demonstrated Unilever's prowess in the field of communications, an area where it will continue to set high standards. "During 2009, we have significantly stepped up the quantity and effectiveness of brand support. Our share of voice is improving," he said. "At the same time we have been improving the quality of our communication, and increased product quality. So it's not just about more advertising, it's more and better advertising behind better quality products." Even though the London-based organisation is argued to have out-performed major rivals such as Procter & Gamble and Nestlé, its chief executive believes further progress is required. "Brand equities are strengthening but not yet everywhere. Our internal survey results indicate that, that we are not yet as consumer focused as I like and that we can be faster still," Polman said. "So there is much still to do and much improvement still to make. But as the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day. We've made a good start." Innovation will play a key part in this process, with recent initiatives including the roll out of Dove Fresh in 64 markets, Axe Temptation in 56 markets, and the "pyramid bag" variant of Lipton in 44 markets. Pond's was also introduced into the Middle East, with Ben & Jerry's expanding into Norway, Cif into India and Sunlight into Nigeria, supporting Polman's prior claim that "all markets matter." "We will continue to improve our products spending upwards of €100 million (€138m; £87m) on product quality in 2010 alone," he said. "We expect to significantly increase the incremental turnover from key innovations in 2010, and the incremental turnover expected from projects launched in the next three to five years has doubled." Unilever's strength in emerging markets was demonstrated by the fact that, in the home and personal care categories, it reaches 96% of the 1.9 billion consumers in Asia and South Africa. Data sourced from Unilever; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesDatamonitor - Feb 10, 10 P&G, Coke launch most popular new products - Feb 8, 10 Ford, Unilever among advertisers going mobile - Feb 4, 10 BIG BRANDS SHOW HOW TO USE AUGMENTED REALITY NEW YORK: Samsung, Home Depot and Coca-Cola are among the brands which have made the most effective use of augmented reality. Devora Rogers, associate director of Interpublic Group's Emerging Media Lab, which focuses on emerging technology, identified these companies as having successfully utilised this new platform. Rogers argued that it was vital for this kind of activity to move beyond being simply a "gimmick", and provide something of genuine value to consumers. Samsung, the Korean electronics firm, has developed a tool allowing shoppers to see what one of its flat-screen TV sets would look like hanging on a wall in their home. Consumers are required to visit a dedicated website, print out a "3D icon sheet," attach it to the area where they are thinking of placing the television, and take a picture of this space using a webcam. This photograph is then streamed on to their PC screen, with a scaled down representation of the TV set overlaid, so they can ascertain what it would look like when it is put in place. According to Rogers, "this is the 'magic' element of AR: being able to see digital imagery layered onto the physical world to help you make better choices." Home Depot, the home improvement chain, employed augmented reality to enhance the cross-channel credentials of its loyalty card programme. Members of this scheme who visit homedepot.com/3d and "snap" their card with a webcam are then directed to the "3D Project Starter", where they are able to view and buy products and plan their own designs. As previously reported, Coca-Cola, LG and McDonald's all used AR in promoting their respective tie-ups with Avatar, the pioneering 3D movie. The soft drinks firm added tags to 140 million cans of its trademark brand, enabling shoppers to access a range of original online content, while the fast-food chain created a game tied to its "virtual world." "What is important in the Avatar AR executions is the ability to deepen engagement with the Avatar story and brand across multiple channels and partners," said Rogers. "The more coordinated these efforts, the better the experience will be for consumers." Data sourced from IMediaConnection; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesP&G, Coke launch most popular new products - Feb 8, 10 Cadbury is top Australian grocery brand - Feb 3, 10 PepsiCo, Coca-Cola turn to social media - Feb 2, 10 YOUNG CHINESE CONSUMERS MORE OPTIMISTIC BEIJING: Young consumers in China are growing more optimistic about their personal prospects, but many are still opting to save rather than increase their spending levels. Big Research, the consultancy, surveyed 15,000 people aged 18–54 years old in the Asian nation during the final quarter of 2009, with a particular focus on shoppers under 34 years old. Some 19.7% of this latter group said they were "very confident" about the development of the country's economy in the next six months, with a further 45.1% agreeing they were "confident". By contrast, only 26.5% reported that they had "little confidence" in the national financial outlook, with 8.8% stating they had "no confidence". Perceptions of the job market declined slightly, as a growing number of 18–34 year olds expected redundancies to mount going forward. This was in spite of the fact that 37.3% of this cohort were "better off" than was the case 12 months ago, with only 15.8% having seen a deterioration in their circumstances. Just 18.3% of contributors believed they were saving enough to meet their future needs, with 52.5% taking the opposite view. However, Big Research said that the savings rate in China remains one of the highest worldwide, a trend encouraged by widespread income inequality, a weak social safety net and a lack of easy access to credit. “The number of … consumers indicating sales are not important to them when buying clothing declined slightly, illustrating hesitation when it comes to letting spending return to pre-recession levels," Big Research's report said. Among its other findings were that Wal-Mart and Carrefour currently "dominate" the grocery sector, with 18-34 year olds shopping at these two chains most frequently. Data sourced from Big Research; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesChina set for consumer spending boom - Feb 9, 10 Chinese energy giant to sponsor World Cup - Feb 4, 10 McDonald's plans to keep spending in China - Feb 2, 10 US MARKETERS TO BOOST SOCIAL MEDIA SPENDING NEW YORK: A majority of US companies will boost their investment in social media in 2010, a survey by Marketing Sherpa has found. The company polled 2,300 communications specialists, and reported that 79% of participants in the retail and e-commerce segment expect to heighten their social media outlay this year. This figure fell to 63% for the publishing and media category, 55% for IT specialists, 54% for the services sector, 53% for packaged goods firms, and 52% for travel and leisure operators. Some 60% of expenditure will pay for costs like staff salaries for blogging, content development and data monitoring, with just 20% going to external partners like agencies and consultancies. "Social media is generally funded by either increasing the overall budget or, more often than not in the current economic climate, by shifting funds from other marketing line items to social media," Marketing Sherpa's study argued. Nearly 60% of the organisation's panel stated that improved website traffic was both the primary aim and most widely-used form of measurement during the "trial phase" of using this emerging medium. Better search engine rankings and higher sales revenues were cited by around 40% of respondents, with lead generation on 32%. These areas remained pre-eminent in the "transition" stage, with totals rising by between 12% and 21%, while a third of marketers also looked to enhanced customer service and public relations at this point. Similarly, the number of goals mentioned by over half of those polled climbed to six for the "strategic" stage, with web traffic on 88%, lead generation on 75%, and search engine rankings on 69%. Upticks in brand awareness and product reputation delivered figures of 54%, with reduced customer acquisition costs and superior public relations also posting scores of over 40% each. Building relationships with influential bloggers was regarded as the most effective strategy, but also the tactic which required the greatest amount of effort. By contrast, establishing a presence on properties like Facebook, and "microblogging" on portals like Twitter, was seen as being the most simple method, but also recorded lower levels of efficacy. A survey of over 1,300 consumers also revealed that 61% of "Max Connecters", or netizens with at least 500 social media "connections", chose to "follow" brands to learn about new products and features. By contrast, 64% of more "typical" web users said their main reason for doing so was to learn about special offers and deals, with 62% hoping to discover information about innovations and introductions. "Max connectors" also demonstrated a greater concern with issues relating to company culture, environmental responsibility and employment policies. However, fewer than 40% of people in both groups became "fans" of a brand because the content it provided was entertaining, funny or insightful. Data sourced froM Marketing Sherpa; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesBig brands see mixed results on Twitter - Feb 9, 10 UK marketers mixed on social media - Feb 3, 10 Clear goals key for brands using Twitter - Feb 3, 10 JAPANESE ADSPEND SET FOR FURTHER DECLINE TOKYO: Advertising expenditure levels will continue to decline in Japan, according to a new forecast from the Nikkei Advertising Research Institute. The organisation has predicted that adspend in the Asian nation will plummet by 14.3% for the financial year starting in April 2009, following on from a dip of 9.9% recorded over the previous 12 months. Within this, TV is expected to experience a decrease of 10.6%, a total that will rise to 15.3% for radio, 18.9% for newspapers, and 26.6% for magazines. Internet, outdoor and transport will also register a combined drop of 14.8% over this period, according to NARI. The rate of contraction will moderate to 4% over the fiscal year beginning in 2010, as the broader economic climate begins to improve. Despite this, traditional media revenues will fall by 4.3%, while out-of-home, transport and the web will see returns slide by a further 3.7% on an annual basis. NARI partnered with the Japan Center for Economic Research to produce its forecast, which is based on figures from the country's government as well as data from a range of industry bodies. To view its full analysis of the prospects for the Japanese advertising market, please click here. Data sourced from NARI; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesMajor Japanese brands decline in value - Feb 1, 10 Advertising rates decline by 6% in Japan - Jan 28, 10 Supermarkets suffer in more frugal Japan - Jan 26, 10 MARKETERS MUST STRENGTHEN BRANDS IN RUSSIA MOSCOW: Marketers in Russia must continue to focus on strengthening their brands, despite the impact of the financial crisis on this emerging market. The Russian economy contracted by 7.9% last year, with retail sales also declining by 5.5%, and while both of these measures are expected to improve in 2010, the situation remains unclear. Richard Smyth, Mars' president for Europe and the CIS, said "I remember sitting in my office 18 months ago, with oil prices at $150 (€108; £95) per barrel and the ruble feeling historically strong against the dollar." "We had a ninth year of consecutive growth, and I could never believe things would go as wrong as they did." However, Stefan de Loecker, Nestlé's chief executive for Russia and Eurasia, suggested that the recession was not the only reason why many companies have found trading conditions challenging. "Many businessmen blamed the crisis for the sales drops, but it was not always the case," he said. "The crisis showed weakness of some brands and products. It revealed that some goods don't offer enough value for money to the consumer and made businessmen improve their assortment." Nestle and Mars were both among the top ten biggest advertisers in Russia in 2008, a list headed by Procter & Gamble, L'Oréal and Unilever. However, Warc's most recent Consensus Forecast estimated that adspend levels fell by more than 30% in the country in 2009, although it is predicted that the market will return to growth in 2010. The Federal Statistics Service also reported last month that consumer confidence levels reached their highest level for a year in Q4 2009, but its barometer of popular opinion still stood at –20 points. Mikhail Kusnirovich, chairman of Bosco di Ciliegi, the sportswear specialist, argued "in this country, people have a sane consumer mentality, and their consumption depends on the overall mood." The key for manufacturers, he continued, is to "make the consumer fall in love with you" by delivering items of superior quality, and which appeal to the aspirational ambitions of shoppers. "Those who could buy a jacket for full price want to feel they can afford it at 100%, and not at a 70% discount," he said. "Consumers who only can afford quality clothes at 70% to 80% discounts will think 'look how much these retailers overpriced their stuff during good times – even with these discounts they make fair margins'." Alexander Mechetin, chairman of Synergy, a vodka producer, similarly stated that low-cost lines have suffered the most heavily, while more expensive offerings have been able to improve their position. "Sales of cheaper vodka brands fell most significantly, as more low-income consumers preferred to buy counterfeit vodka and save money," he said. "As for premium-priced vodkas, our company had a surprise sales upturn of 20% for our Beluga premium brand." "A man stays a man, and a consumer stays a consumer. People will keep on buying premium-priced goods and going to restaurants," he concluded. Data sourced from Moscow Times; additional content by Warc staff, 05 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesRussian consumers becoming more optimistic - Jan 18, 10 Mobile services take-up rises in the BRICs - Dec 21, 09 BRICs well-placed for recovery - Jul 28, 09 PROMOTIONS MAY NOT BENEFIT BRANDS, IPA WARNS LONDON: Many brands in the UK are using promotions to try and attract shoppers in the downturn, but this activity could have negative consequences in the long term, the IPA has warned. The advertisingindustry body, has published a new study, Pricing for the upturn: how can brands fight back?, which is based on a recent conference it organised focusing specifically on this area. Its latest research builds on a report from last year, Price promotion during the downturn: shrewd or crude?, which found that the growth of discounting and similar approaches was eroding brand loyalty. According to Colin Harper, from the Institute of Sales Promotion, the proportion of goods sold "on deal" rose by 25% in 2009, reaching a value of £14 billion ($22.3bn; €16.0bn) in November alone. The organisation also discovered that 70% of sales directors expect this trend to continue going forward, with expenditure in this area thus likely to surpass that budgeted for advertising in the near future. As retailers also now believe that brand owners should fund around 90% of this kind of activity, such a tactic is becoming increasingly unprofitable for brand owners. Giles Quick, from TNS, the market research firm, added that 30% of consumer spending was directed to goods running special offers in the third quarter of last year. However, the number of people trading down has also decreased, with shoppers using promotions to buy more products, control their expenditure, and even to "trade up". In the July to September period, budget and "standard" offerings saw sales fell by 0.3% and 6.2% in turn, while "median-priced" lines enjoyed an uptick of 5.7%. This improvement stood at 5% for the premium category, and 7.4% for "super-premium" offerings, suggesting that discounters could "stagnate" as the broader economic climate improves. John Noble, of the British Brands Group, argued many retailers are attempting to drive customers to their own-label ranges by adopting pricing strategies working to the detriment of branded goods. However, the launch of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice this week should help at least partially reassert the balance in this area, he continued. This new regulatory framework will aim to ensure that supply agreements between retailers and their providers are adhered to, and that payments to suppliers are made in timely fashion. Moreover, it will require that manufacturers are not "forced" to contribute to retailers' marketing costs and other expenses, and will also cap the amount brand owners are required to pay for promotions. Data sourced from IPA; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesUK ad market to return to growth in Q3 - Feb 9, 10 Marketers still relying on financial metrics - Feb 3, 10 Multimedia campaigns most effective, study finds - Feb 1, 10 FORD, UNILEVER AMONG ADVERTISERS GOING MOBILE NEW YORK: Major advertisers such as Ford, the automaker, and Unilever, the FMCG giant, are making more use of mobile marketing to promote their products. Ford partnered with Mobile Posse, the specialist agency, to develop a communications platform in support of the Taurus, a new model which was launched in the US in August last year. In November and December 2009, the Detroit-based firm ran a campaign using Mobile Posse's MobiAd, an opt-in service which delivers ads on the "idle" mobile phone screens of 1 million registered consumers. The aims of this scheme were to drive up awareness of, and interest in, its latest sedan, with full-screen executions showcasing both the inside and the outside of the car. Ads also featured a "click-to-mobile web" option, whereby consumers were able to access a dedicated mobile website providing more information, and find local dealers, at the touch of a button. The average clickthrough rate was 20%, with almost half of the unique users who consumed ads choosing to view further information as a result. Lew Echlin, Ford's national marketing communications manager, said "the rapid growth of smartphone customers provided the perfect opportunity to unite innovation with the innovative." This approach also offered a "wide stage to provide our customers with demonstrations and a call to action," he added. Brian Bos, convergence director for Team Detroit, Ford's lead agency, described the campaign as an "engaging and interactive mobile experience that connected with consumers outside of the mobile browser." Other organisations like Procter & Gamble, Gatorade and Ace Hardware have run their own "idle screen" programmes with MetroPCS, which operates a similar package to Mobile Posse. Unilever, the FMCG giant, has also recently teamed up with Food Lion, the grocery store chain, to try and encourage uptake of its recently-launched Dove Men+Care range. Shoppers holding the retailer's loyalty card will receive $4 (€2.85; £2.51) of discount vouchers if they send a text message to a specific number. This initiative forms part of a wider digital effort that will include Facebook and Twitter, with netizens asked to send in photos, videos and messages about meeting "their own definition of success." Kathy O'Brien, vice president of Unilever Skin, said it was "celebrating the journey men take to become comfortable with themselves." In the UK, Marks & Spencer, the apparel chain, has experimented with "QR codes" on some of its juice offerings, which shoppers can scan with their handset to view offers, jokes and other content. Mark Caul, senior packaging technologist at the company, "the QR codes are a fantastic opportunity to communicate to the customer, without increasing packaging size or label space." "Using the mobile phone technology, it is possible to link to provenance stories about the product, or, indeed, stories behind the packaging, to far greater depth - including the use of video footage – all tailored to the mobile phone screen." PepsiCo added these devices to 400 million cans and bottles of Pepsi Max in the UK last year, giving customers the chance to stream free music, win concert tickets and download games. The use of QR Codes is much more widespread in Japan, where brands ranging from Coca-Cola to Louis Vuitton have worked with SET, an agency with established expertise in this area. Greg McMaster, a creative planner at SET, said "in Japan now it is rare to find a product, flyer, poster, billboard, magazine or newspaper without a QR code on it." "They provide a direct link for the consumer to the product or company and marketers here love them because of the specific data they can return on a campaign's effectiveness." Data sourced from Mobile Posse, Mobile Marketer, Supermarket News; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesDatamonitor - Feb 10, 10 Unilever plans marketing and innovation push - Feb 5, 10 TV will survive change in habits, says report - Feb 2, 10 MARKETERS TURN TO THE POSITIVE IN THE US NEW YORK: Hyundai, Allstate and Bank of America are all using more positive messages in their advertising in the US, as they seek to prepare for the start of the economic recovery. Hyundai has previously been lauded for the success of its Assurance Program, which promised that anyone buying or leasing one of its vehicles could return it if they lost their major source of income Its latest commercial for this on-going initiative emphasises that the financial crisis will only be over when the situation improves for everyone. Joel Ewanick, vice president, marketing, at the automaker, said "we're saying 'things are better, but not great, so we're going to hold onto this [the Assurance programme] until it's over.'" Rather than "ignoring the big elephant in the room – there are people still out of work, 10% of Americans are still out of work – we're going to acknowledge it," he added. The financial sector has found conditions particularly tough in recent times, but "The Great Recovery", a new spot from Allstate, poses the question of how consumers will look back on the recession. "People are ready to stop being miserable," Mark LaNeve, the Northbrook-based firm's chief marketing officer, suggested. Having reduced its expenditure on advertising last year, the insurance provider is plotting an "aggressive" push in 2010, particularly in support of its special offers. Bank of America has similarly begun promoting the services of advisors from Merrill Lynch, in a $20 million (€14.3m; £12.5m) communications drive aimed at high earners. Meredith Verdone, its svp, brand, advertising and research said "at the height of the crisis there was a lot of press and some consumer questions about stability. Now they're less worried about that and wondering more how they can move ahead." General Electric and Levi's are among the other organisations that have adopted this kind of approach, in an effort to differentiate their brands during the recession. Macy's, the department store chain, has also placed a greater emphasis on its online operations, and tailoring the offerings in its brick-and-mortar stores to the needs of local communities, in the recession. Martine Reardon, its executive vice president, marketing, said "we are working to more clearly define Macy's value to our customers in a way that isn't focused only on price." Data sourced from AdAge; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesAdvertisers look to the positive in US - Oct 14, 09 Korean giants grow market share - Aug 20, 09 Korean Automaker Targets 15% Increase in Global Sales - Jan 3, 06 USE OF CELEBRITIES HAS MIXED RESULTS IN INDIA NEW DELHI: A majority of TV ads in India currently feature at least one celebrity, but this strategy does not appear to be delivering the results hoped for by marketers. A well-known "endorser" appeared in 25% of all spots broadcast on television in the Asian nation in 2001, a share that had increased to 62% by 2008. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, two of India's leading cricketers, were among the figures most regularly playing such a role last year. Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra, all Bollywood stars, joined these sportsmen in the top five "brand ambassadors" for 2009, with this group promoting more than 70 products overall. Dhoni had the most individual deals, on 26, including agreements with Pepsi and Dabur in the FMCG sector, with Khan in second, on 21, according to AdEx India, the research firm. However, a study from MEC MediaLab suggested that the near-saturation of the market means this tactic may not actually have the impact intended by brands. The company surveyed 1,000 people in the fast-growing economy, and discovered that 66% of respondents found it difficult to identify which goods were linked to different celebrities. Moreover, just 35% of participants agreed that the presence of a familiar face would lead them to trust a product more than was previously the case. A further 32% of contributors said it would heighten their expectations that a brand would work well, while 31% were more likely to recommend the offering concerned to someone else. VS Sitaram, coo of Dabur, warned that using popular spokespeople in advertising would only be effective if the overall approach was sound. "It helps in creating top-of-the-mind recall, but celebrity endorsements are a means to an end and not an end in itself," he stated. "What's most important is how a brand uses a celebrity. It's only then that the connect happens better.” Anand Singh, director of marketing at Coca-Cola's Indian arm, similarly thought the overall idea behind a campaign must take precedence. "It really depends on the creative and the message one is trying to communicate. For example, a creative in line with the brand values of optimism and connections may work better with multiple celebrities," he said. Coke was one of the ten brands that made the most use of celebrities in 2009, a list that also included Lux, the personal care brand owned by Unilever, AdEx India reported. Data sourced froM Economic Times; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesIndia in "strong shape", says Sorrell - Feb 8, 10 Social media gaining ground in India - Feb 3, 10 Mobile advertising set to grow in India - Feb 2, 10 CHINESE ENERGY GIANT TO SPONSOR WORLD CUP BEIJING: Yingli Green Energy, the Chinese energy firm, has signed up as a worldwide sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, another sign of the growing global role of brands based in the country. The renewable and solar power specialist currently operates two offices in the US – in New York and San Francisco – alongside five outposts in Europe, and its corporate headquarters in Hubei. It said in a statement that one of the main aims of its sponsorship of the World Cup, which will begin in South Africa in June, was to "further its strategic marketing initiatives worldwide." Under the terms of the deal, it will receive a variety of advertising and media rights, as well as "extensive on-site opportunities at FIFA World Cup stadiums for marketing and promotion purposes." Another element of the tie-up will see Yingli fit solar panels to the 20 Centres for 2010, which have been built by FIFA across Africa, and are intended to provide a lasting heritage for the region. Coca-Cola, Adidas and Emirates are among FIFA's long-term "partners", meaning they are permitted to use its emblem in their ad campaigns, and have access to a broad range of other benefits. Hyundai/Kia, Sony and Visa also hold such a status, while a number of other brands have reached agreements specifically for this year's event. Yingli will join Budweiser, Castrol, Continental, McDonald's, MTN and Satyam in this latter group, and is the first company from China to have become involved in the competition in such a way. Liansheng Miao, its chairman/ceo, said "we are excited to be joining other world-class brands as an international sponsor of the FIFA World Cup." "This sponsorship links Yingli Green Energy to the world's most popular and passionately followed sport." FIFA generated $253 million (€181m; £159m) from its marketing-related activities in 2008, when it last published figures for this area of its operations. Thierry Weil, the governing body's marketing director, said "China is a given, China is one of the powerhouses of the world." "This is a massive sport, it is a sport liked in China ... FIFA cannot do without China and that is why we are extremely proud today to welcome the first Chinese company to be part of the World Cup." Data sourced from Yingli/Reuters; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesChina set for consumer spending boom - Feb 9, 10 Young Chinese consumers more optimistic - Feb 5, 10 McDonald's plans to keep spending in China - Feb 2, 10 ITALY PLANS ONLINE VIDEO SHAKE-UP ROME: Online video services such as YouTube could soon be subject to similar regulations as television broadcasters in Italy, if new proposals are passed by the country's government. The authorities are currently considering a decree, the exact details of which are yet to be finalised, which would extend the kind of rules in place for TV companies to web-based video providers. Paolo Romani, the European nation's deputy minister of communications, said the aim was to "establish a principle" regarding how these properties used content. "If you use copyrighted material, your site becomes an editorial product, a broadcaster that is placed at the same level as other broadcasters," he added. According to Romani, this move follows on from a directive from the European Commission intended to ensure national regulations throughout the EU are standardised, making it easier to sell ads and rights. Under the revised rules, which could be implemented later this month, website owners would be required to acquire permission to host copyrighted material uploaded by internet users. Moreover, these services will have to apply for a formal broadcast licence, and be considered liable for anything libellous that is added to their pages. Romani continued, however, that "individual bloggers" would not fall under the rubric of the new framework. Despite this, Stefan Krawczyk, of the Digital Media Association – which has members like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft – said this would be the first time a portal's parent company would be held responsible for user-generated content in this way. "This is really serious, because it sets a precedent. Today it's Italy, and tomorrow it may be Latvia or Greece or Denmark," he argued. Marco Pancini, Google's senior policy counsel in Italy, added "any kind of legal framework which is trying to apply the same rules of traditional media to subjects like us would make it almost impossible to invest to develop this kind of technology." Google and Yahoo have already formally raised their concerns regarding these proposals. Data sourced from Wall Street Journal; additional content by Warc staff, 04 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesMore Europeans have a "connected lifestyle" - Feb 9, 10 UK ad market to return to growth in Q3 - Feb 9, 10 Advertising rates set to rise in BRIC markets - Feb 9, 10 CLEAR GOALS KEY FOR BRANDS USING TWITTER SAN FRANCISCO: Brands hoping to make an impact on Twitter must establish clear goals and decide whether marketing departments should manage their overall activity, according to Forrester. The research firm recently analysed the performance of 30 major corporations on the San Francisco-based portal, in order to establish the emerging best practices in this area. Nate Elliot, principal analyst at Forrester, argued that a nuanced approach is required when utilising this fast-growing growing channel, with the exact strategy depending on certain, specific needs. "Do companies want to get the message out and talk directly to consumers and fans? Or do they want to get new ideas to improve their business? These are so many things you can do as a business," he said. "As a company you have to ask yourself: what are our objectives and would Twitter help us? Who is the right person to manage our Twitter account?" Honda, the automaker, has failed to achieve this objective, Elliot suggested, as it has several dealers communicating separately, but no centralised unit responsible for co-ordinating these efforts. "Honda Motor has several dealerships tweeting locally, but no easy way for consumers to find specific streams for their areas – and no obvious objective for what each local dealership should be tweeting," Elliot stated. A spokesman for Honda said it was currently developing a "system" to manage this process, but added that its dealers could write "within reason, whatever they want." Forrester reported that retailers often prove highly popular on Twitter, with Topshop, the UK-based apparel chain owned by Arcadia, one of the most successful, with 45,000 "followers" overall. One piece of advice it offered to marketers was to ensure that people are easily able to locate their official Twitter accounts. Dell, the computer manufacturer, has a dedicated section of its website, www.dell.com/twitter, providing details of the name and purpose of its more than 30 different feeds. This was said to be particularly useful when the name of a specific stream does not feature the word "Dell", such as @Digital_Nomads, which is aimed at global travellers. Providing such a list also serves to reassure web users that the organisation concerned has not been the victim of "brand-jacking", as has occurred on a number of high-profile occasions. In 2008, for example, a university student set up a fake offering from Burger King, the fast food chain, and soon built up a reasonable fan-base. Similarly, Exxon Mobil was forced to contact Twitter to ask it block a user of the site operating under the title "ExxonMobilCorp" despite having no relation to the energy giant. Personalisation is another area where many brands under-perform, Forrester said, although Toyota, the Japanese auto firm, is one successful example, as it identifies each of the four employees responsible for running its @Toyota platform. Similarly, providing regular updates can prove highly effective, and Forrester found that of the 30 businesses it reviewed, some 80% uploaded "tweets" on at least a daily basis. Within this, 40% did so between four and ten times a day, with 13% posting comments at least ten times in a given 24-hour period. However, Nike is one operator that has failed to maintain its Twitter presence, having not made any additions to @nikeplus since April last year, despite the fact it has more than 5,000 "followers". Similarly, Opel, the German automaker owned by General Motors, last provided fresh news in September 2009, and has been silent at a time when it has been very much in the public eye. In contrast, Ford, Southwest Airlines and State Farm Mutual Automotive Insurance have moved beyond simple promotion, and offer a range of interesting content and targeted deals to their fans on Twitter. According to Elliot, one of the main challenges lies in ensuring that the correct department takes control of a brand's activity on the Web 2.0 service. "In many companies, marketing owns the entire organisation's Twitter activity. But many of the objectives you can pursue through Twitter are better suited to other parts of the organisation," he said. Data sourced from Wall Street Journal; additional content by Warc staff, 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesBig brands see mixed results on Twitter - Feb 9, 10 US marketers to boost social media spending - Feb 5, 10 UK marketers mixed on social media - Feb 3, 10 CADBURY IS TOP AUSTRALIAN GROCERY BRAND SYDNEY: Cadbury and Coca-Cola are the most popular grocery brands in Australia, a new study from The Nielsen Company has revealed. The research firm surveyed a panel of 1,500 people in the country, in order to establish which goods they "love", "trust" and would be willing to recommend. It then combined this information with data sourced from its Homescan panel, which is made up of 10,000 households, to ascertain product penetration rates and average expenditure levels. According to Nielsen's findings, Cadbury, which took pole position, boosted its adspend by 20%, to A$23.6 million ($20.7m; €14.9m; £13.0bn), over the course of the last 12 months. Coca-Cola, the soft drinks giant, came in second, having increased its outlay in this area by 19%, to A$13.7m. Bega, the cheese company, was in third, and ran its first formal communications campaigns in 2009, with an estimated budget of A$3.7m. Smith's Snackfoods, in fourth, reined in its marketing investment by 16%, to A$2.9bn, with Kleenex, in fifth, cutting back by an even more substantial 70%, to A$1.1bn. Overall, 17 of the top 25 brands featured in Nielsen's poll directed more resources to advertising last year than in 2008, with Colgate and Schweppes both up by 18%, to A$11.3bn and A$7.2bn respectively. Vegemite, the yeast spread owned by Kraft, similarly recorded a year-on-year improvement of 34%, to A$3.4bn. By contrast, Birds Eye, the frozen goods firm, was off by 30%, to A$2.2bn, but still came inside the top ten, as did Sorbent, the tissue specialist, which was down by 80%, to A$440m. Chris Percy, managing director, Nielsen Consumer Pacific, said "Cadbury and Coca-Cola have secured the top positions in the report as they scored very highly in all of the key consumer dimensions." "While average annual spend and the degree of affinity to a brand varied significantly ... clearly it is the brands that we identify with, find most relevant to our lifestyles, and kept top of mind, which perform better than most." According to the company, 80% of the top 25 grocery offerings were from the food sector, with the same number being classed as "heritage" brands. Data sourced from Nielsen; additional content by Warc staff, 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesKraft takes "holistic" approach - Feb 9, 10 Google, Cadbury most "engaging" brands in UK - Feb 8, 10 P&G, Coke launch most popular new products - Feb 8, 10 MARKETERS STILL RELYING ON FINANCIAL METRICS CHICAGO: Marketers are still looking to financial metrics when assessing their campaigns, despite the advance of digital media and the development of more sophisticated measurement tools. Paul Farris, professor of business at the Darden School of Business, spoke at a recent "webinar" organised by the American Marketing Association and MarketingNPV, and covered by Geoffrey Precourt, Warc's US Editor, here. He was one of the authors of the book Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master, a revised edition of which will be released later this month, carrying a new subtitle: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance. According to Farris, this change was motivated by the fact that "people wanted the five most effective metrics, the ten most effective. We kept responding, 'It depends on the type of business you're running.'" In updating the book, its authors polled 194 marketing executives in the US and Western Europe, with more than half of this group holding job titles like "director", "manager", "head" or "vice president" of marketing. This panel was drawn from a broad range of industry sectors, including firms in the banking, consumer goods, consultancy, government, healthcare and retail categories. "The goal of survey was to determine what metrics are considered the most important in monitoring and managing their business," said Farris. "I'm sorry to say that marketing metrics barely made it into the top ten. When we asked our sample of managers to rate usefulness, the highest scoring metrics were the most that had to do with finance." Some 91% of participants regarded net profit as being a "very useful" barometer, with return on investment on 71%, and customer satisfaction and target revenues both on 71%. Data related to sales and annual growth occupied much of the rest of the top ten, with only loyalty joining customer satisfaction among the widely-used analytic tools that were grounded in marketing. However, these two measures are among the "least refined metrics we have," Farris observed. More broadly, this shows that efforts by researchers to prove the value of marketing beyond earnings and revenue, and the opportunity to use digital media to gain real-time insights, still need to gain ground. "Much work still needs to be done to market marketing metrics. There are undoubtedly some useful metrics that are currently undervalued by senior managers," Farris argued. "Our research suggests that the message of the value of metrics such as customer lifetime value or return on marketing budgets still needs to be communicated more vigorously to end users." To read Geoffrey Precourt's coverage of this AMA?MarketingNPV webinar in full, click here. Data sourced from Warc; additional content by Warc staff, 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesPromotions may not benefit brands, IPA warns - Feb 4, 10 Pre-testing fails to identify most effective ads - Jan 27, 10 UK ad industry staffing levels decline - Jan 25, 10 SOCIAL MEDIA GAINING GROUND IN INDIA NEW DELHI: Major advertisers including Frito-Lay and Nokia are looking to use social media to connect with their target audience in India. According to Technopak, the consultancy, the web took a 2.9% share of adspend in the fast-growing economy last year, up from a total of 1.3% in 2008. Some 25 million consumers in the Asian nation regularly use social media portals at present, and this figure is expected to increase by between 20% and 30% a year going forward. Technopak reported that Frito-Lay, part of PepsiCo, is one company that is heightening its activity in this area at present. Dell, the computer maker, HLL, the healthcare group, TCS, the business solutions provider, and Naukri, the recruitment service, have also adopted such an approach. Nokia, the telecoms giant, has similarly employed this emerging channel to boost its position in India, which has been a key growth market for the Finnish firm during the downturn. Viral Oza, the head of its activation, media, online sales and marketing operations, said "social media are an inherent part of our digital marketing strategy. We use various touchpoints on them to influence active online users." Noel Swain, vice president of marketing at Cleartrip, an online travel site, added "our digital spend has gone up from 2% to 70%. The social networking space is seeing more allocation." Orkut, owned by Google, is one of the most popular social networks in India, and Parminder Singh, business head of the search titan's local arm, was optimistic about its future prospects. "Social media networks have gained importance with big and small advertisers. In the last one year, it has extensively picked up with small advertisers who've ramped up their budgets," he said. "Social media are increasingly becoming an integral part of marketing strategies. They offer advertisers micro-targeting opportunities and the means to engage the user through communities and other applications." BigAdda, a rival to Orkut aimed at 18–35 year olds, has previously run campaigns for a number of telecoms brands, and for Axe, the deodorant range made by Hindustan Unilever. Shivanandan Pare, BigAdda's coo, said "with high engagement and increasing use of social networking sites, more advertisers are coming back to us." "Progressive advertisers are increasing their media spends on social networking websites." Data sourced from Business Standard/Hindustan Times; additional content by Warc staff, 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesIndia in "strong shape", says Sorrell - Feb 8, 10 Use of celebrities has mixed results in India - Feb 4, 10 Mobile advertising set to grow in India - Feb 2, 10 AD BAN BOOSTS SPANISH PUBLIC TV STATIONS MADRID: The two Spanish public TV stations which stopped broadcasting ads at the start of this year were the only free-to-air channels which saw ratings improve in January. Last year, the country's government decided to begin phasing out spots on TVE1 and TVE2, while also considering extending the amount of minutage permitted on advertiser-funded stations. Figures released by Barlovento, the consultancy, show that TVE1 took an 18.6% audience share in the first month of 2010, up by 2% on December. Its sister station, TVE2, posted a more modest uptick of 0.1%, to 3.6% overall, but this compared with contractions recorded by all of its private rivals. Telecinco, owned by Mediaset, the Italian conglomerate, registered a fall of 0.3%, to 14.8%, with Antena3 down by 0.9%, to 13.7%. Similarly, Cuatro, operated by Prisa, experienced a drop from 7.6% to 7.3% month-on-month, with LaSexta witnessing a slide from 6.4% to 6.1%. Telecino and Cuatro recently agreed to a merger, and while their channels will continue to operate separately, it is hoped the combined weight of this new entity will give them stronger bargaining power. According to Warc's most recent Consensus Forecast, Spanish adspend tumbled by more than 20% in 2009, with a further decrease of around 2% expected this year. Data sourced from Associated Press/Wall Street Journal; additional content by Warc staff , 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesSpain slimming and beauty ads face TV watershed - Jan 19, 10 EU Rattles Legal Sabre At Spanish Ad Excesses - May 8, 08 New Spanish Daily Hits the Streets - Sep 26, 07 UK MARKETERS MIXED ON SOCIAL MEDIA LONDON: A majority of marketers in the UK think social media is "important" to their business, but less than a quarter see it as being vital to campaigns, the Internet Advertising Bureau has found. The organisation partnered with Opinion Matters, the research firm, to assess whether industry specialists viewed platforms like Facebook and Twitter as being essential to their activities. A survey of 80 senior marketers, including panellists from Coca-Cola and the Royal Bank of Scotland, reported that a third of respondents will spend between 6% and 20% of their digital budgets on social media in 2010. In all, 88% of the sample saw these Web 2.0 properties as being "important" to their operations, but only 22% had made them "a core part of their communications strategy," the IAB said. A fifth of brands found a role for this emerging channel in "most campaigns", with 23.5% employing it on a more ad hoc basis. Some 27% had "tested it with a view to using again", while only 7% had not engaged in any activity via these increasingly popular online tools as yet. Over half of participants with a presence on Twitter believed it was "very important", with 47% saying the same for Facebook, and 39% for branded communities. This total fell to 37% for "blogger outreach" and user-generated content, 36% for using this channel for CRM purposes, and 35% for people who saw social networks as a good outlet for display ads. With regard to assuming overall responsibility for devising and running initiatives in this area, more than seven in ten communications experts agreed marketers should take the lead. This figure decreased to 33% for PR departments, 16% for customer services, 12% for researchers, and 7% for IT teams. Three-quarters of contributors utilised these sites to encourage engagement and advocacy, with 60% doing so for research purposes, and 47% to drive sales. A similar number argued the main obstacle facing these platforms was proving that they offered a meaningful payback for brands. Nearly two-thirds also regarded challenges relating to measurement as one key reason why they did not heighten their investment in this medium. Data sourced from IAB; additional content by Warc staff, 03 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesBig brands see mixed results on Twitter - Feb 9, 10 US marketers to boost social media spending - Feb 5, 10 Clear goals key for brands using Twitter - Feb 3, 10 PEPSICO, COCA-COLA TURN TO SOCIAL MEDIA NEW YORK: PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, the soft drinks rivals, are both making heightened use of social media to promote their latest corporate social responsibility initiatives. As previously reported, Pepsi announced in December that it will not be advertising its trademark cola brand during the Super Bowl for the first time in almost a quarter of a decade. The company is instead focusing on a digital marketing campaign, using its own website and a variety of other online properties, in an effort raise awareness of the Pepsi Refresh Project. As part of this CSR scheme, the Purchase-based firm will give donations, ranging in value from $5,000 (€3,592; £3,140) to $250,000, to good causes in the US, with a budget of $20 million in all. Seth Kaufman, director for media strategy at PepsiCo's North American beverages arm, said "this is a fundamentally different programme that required us to engage with our consumers in a different way." Web users will be able to vote for the individuals, groups and organisations which they consider worthy of receiving this funding, with up to 32 grants being awarded every month. Ralph Santana, vice president of marketing at PepsiCo North America, added "we're living in a new age with consumers." "They are looking for more of a two-way dialogue, story-telling and word of mouth. Mediums like the digital space are much more conducive towards that." AOL, MTV, NBCU Universal and Yahoo are among the media partners for this communications drive, while Pepsi will also sponsor a reality series, If I Can Dream, on Hulu, the video-on-demand platform. Facebook and Twitter will be among the other services the owner of Gatorade and Mountain Dew will employ in spreading its message. Mike Murphy, vp of global sales at Facebook, said "they're looking at this as a way to create longer-term value, and to help their customers better understand what Pepsi stands for." "The experimentation phase is over. Companies, brands and marketers are feeling more comfortable about [using Facebook] as a core part of their strategy." Coca-Cola will run two spots during the Super Bowl, using these ads to direct people to social media sites linked to its charitable activities. Visitors to a dedicated page on Facebook will be able to view a sneak preview of one of these ads if they send a branded "virtual gift" to one of their friends on the service before the Super Bowl. Each time such a "gift" is delivered over duration of the month-long scheme, the beverage maker will award $1 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, with a total budget of $500,000. Some 2,500 of these "gifts" had been sent by late last week, with this latest effort forming part of the organisation's longer-term commitment to the Boys & Girls Clubs, to which it has donated nearly $60m. Katie Bayne, cmo of Coca-Cola North America, said "by using our Super Bowl ads to invite people to join us in supporting Boys & Girls Clubs, we're going beyond simply airing great commercials on a terrific live television event." "It's exciting to see when you let go of the brand and let other people play with it what can happen. It's doing good on the way to doing great advertising. And that's a great place to be," she added. "As far as our competitor choosing to go somewhere else, we'll miss them. At the same time, I know they have other things planned. We have been planning on the Super Bowl for a long time." The TV commercials form part of the company's global Open Happiness platform, another core element of which is Livepositively.com, which contains information on a range of Coke's philanthropic projects. This portal also allows the 14 million members of MyCokeRewards, Coke's four million "fans" on Facebook and 1.5 million "fans" on MySpace to offer financial support to various causes. Data sourced from New York Times/AdAge/Financial Times; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesP&G, Coke launch most popular new products - Feb 8, 10 Big brands show how to use augmented reality - Feb 5, 10 Cadbury is top Australian grocery brand - Feb 3, 10 MOBILE ADVERTISING SET TO GROW IN INDIA NEW DELHI: Mobile advertising revenues could almost treble in value in India over the next three years, as more brands take advantage of the opportunities for targeting offered by this channel. It is estimated that there are over 500 million wireless subscribers in the Asian nation at present, with this figure expanding at a rapid rate. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, the medium currently generates 125 crore rupees ($26.9m; €19.4m; £16.9m) in adspend, a total that will rise to 350 crore rupees in the next three years. Rohit Dadwal, managing director of the MMA, said "we have seen brands and agencies alike come up the value chain over the past several years." This has meant that marketers are increasingly moving beyond basic tools like text messages, looking to the mobile web and producing branded content specifically for this outlet. Alongside allowing companies to engage consumers in hard-to-reach rural markets, this approach also enables firms to communicate with current and potential customers in different languages. Hewlett-Packard, the IT giant, ran a mobile campaign based around the tagline "Your notebook tells your story" last year, and a separate initiative aimed specifically at students. Shubhodip Pal, head of the organisation's marketing and consumer personal systems group, said "mobile marketing is the most responsive medium ever so far. We get a unique identity of the customer." "Because of the options we give to our customers, they give us responses and thus it is very interactive and personal," Pal added. "From the data that we get, we can find out the preferences of our customers and we can also check who is responding and who is not. This is typically for both promos and new launches." CellStrat, the consultancy, recently conducted a survey of 5,000 people aged between 18 and 40 years old in India, and found that 42% of this group regularly accessed the mobile internet. Around 40% of this audience did so for reasons linked to entertainment, with 35% using search engines and social networks, 30% looking at news content, and 20% accessing banking services. Some 37% of CellStrat's panel agreed they would be interested in receiving targeted mobile ads, while 39% did not want to view this sort of material. A further 63% of contributors had a preference for "opting-in" to mobile marketing schemes, while 71% of participants stated they were willing to consume ads in exchange for benefits like free calls and texts. Data sourced from Telecom Yatra; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesIndia in "strong shape", says Sorrell - Feb 8, 10 Use of celebrities has mixed results in India - Feb 4, 10 Social media gaining ground in India - Feb 3, 10 TV WILL SURVIVE CHANGE IN HABITS, SAYS REPORT NEW YORK: Media consumption habits will continue to change in the next five years, but traditional mediums like TV are still likely to have a key role to play, according to a new report. ESPN, the sports broadcaster, teamed up with Mindshare, the WPP-owned network, and Unilever, the FMCG giant, to produce Media 2015: The Future of Media. This study sketched four possible futures for the industry, based on potential consumption habits, and the information providers that are likely to prove most important half way through this decade. One outcome could be that social media portals like Twitter, the microblogging service, will be pre-eminent, leading to a highly fragmented market where time is of premium value. In such a climate, the challenges for agencies will include ensuring that communications are tailored to a number of specific platforms and managing large amounts of data drawn from various sources. Mark Potts, Mindshare's managing director for consumer insights in North America, argued "in a sense, we're living in the future now, minus the flying cars." "It's an 'always-on' world, but at the same time, there's a parallel world where consumers don't always want to be plugged in. This is a way for us to flesh out and organise our thinking." An alternative representation, given the title the "Portal of Me", suggested that media access would be fairly flexible, but people will look to trusted outlets for information. Under this scenario, consumers will use third-party services which allow them to select the content they want to receive, depending on their individual preferences. This means that successful brands must demonstrate that they can provide material that is of interest to their audience, meaning they are granted to act as filters on their customers' behalf. Rob Master, media director of Unilever's North American arm, said "it's less about the platform than how consumer behavior will change, because in four years we'll be talking about a company that doesn't exist today." "We're setting a new course in terms of how we think about connecting with consumers," he added. By contrast with these possibilities, the final two outcomes assumed that the media environment is rather more stable, with behaviour being shaped more by factors such as age and education. According to Potts, "the future will probably look like a combination of each scenario, but TV will stand up in the longer term." "We're not sounding the death knell of traditional advertising. We're just preparing for every contingency," he added. Data sourced from AdWeek; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesDatamonitor - Feb 10, 10 Unilever plans marketing and innovation push - Feb 5, 10 Ford, Unilever among advertisers going mobile - Feb 4, 10 ONLINE RETAIL SALES SET TO RISE IN EUROPE LONDON: Online retail sales are set to increase by almost 20% in Europe this year, although the rate of expansion will slow when compared with 2009. A study by Kelkoo, the price comparison website, and the Centre for Retail Research predicted that e-commerce revenues in the region will climb by 19.6%, to £152.8 billion ($243bn; €178bn), in 2010. This follows on from an improvement of 22% in 2009, and means that 5.5% of retail returns will be attributable to the internet this year, up from 4.7% over the previous 12 months. Bruce Fair, managing director of Kelkoo UK, said "2010 is when we will really start to see online sales achieving a significant share of retail trade in most European countries." Growth rates will reach 36% in Poland, 31% in France, and 25% in Spain, despite the impact of the economic downturn. By contrast, the UK will record an uptick of just 12.4%, although the country will remain the most valuable across the continent in 2010. According to the Kelkoo–CRR report, British shoppers made £38bn of purchases on the net last year, an increase of 12% on 2008. This also equated to some 9.5% of the domestic retail market, with acquisitions undertaken via this route set to stand at £42.7bn in 2010. Germany generated revenues of £29.7bn in 2009, followed by France, on £22bn, with these two countries, along with the UK, being responsible for 70% of regional e-commerce sales in this period. At the other end of the spectrum, Poland delivered just £2.2bn, with Finland on £2.3bn, and Norway on £2.9bn. In terms of the typical expenditure per person, the UK again topped the charts, on £1,102, followed by Denmark, on £1,079, and Norway, on £979, and a regional mean figure of £758. Moreover, shoppers in Britain spent an average of £37 per item, and also bought the most products from online outlets over the course of 2009. Looking forward, the number of people in the country who said they would buy a single object worth more than £1,000 using the web climbed from 12% in 2009 to 25% this year, Kelkoo found. Cristina Rebollo, PR Director of Kelkoo UK, argued that in, the UK at least, chains with both an internet and bricks-and-mortar presence were performing most successfully at present. "It is brands that people know and trust, such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, that have the highest rates of growth online," she said. "The retailers that are performing best are performing across multiple platforms. They are diversifying the ways that people can reach you." Previously, the Centre for Retail Research has forecast that online sales will rise by 10% in the US in 2010, to a share of 7% in all. Data sourced from AP, Reuters, The Herald; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesAdvertising rates set to rise in BRIC markets - Feb 9, 10 US marketers planning further spending cuts - Feb 8, 10 Opinion leaders doubt credibility of advertising - Jan 28, 10 MCDONALD'S PLANS TO KEEP SPENDING IN CHINA BEIJING: McDonald's, the fast food giant, plans to step up its investment in China this year, despite the fact recent trading conditions in the country have proved challenging. The company will boost its expenditure in the world's most populous nation by around a quarter in 2010, with the aim of opening up to 175 new sites in all. It has also recently launched a rebranding campaign, called "Make Room for Happiness", to commemorate the twentieth anniversary since it entered the market in 1990. Kenneth Chan, the corporation's domestic chief executive, said "we expect to increase our capital investment by 25% over last year." "We continue to be extremely bullish about our business in China and will continue to invest in opening new restaurants." The Oak Brook-based organisation reported improved comparable sales in China in December 2009, but James Skinner, its ceo, sounded a note of caution about popular sentiment in the country. "We expect it will still be some time before consumers regain confidence and are willing to spend more," he said in a call with investors. "In the meantime, we're making the right moves to grow our business and strengthen our connection with our Chinese consumers. We remain excited about our potential growth and expansion in this region." Alongside multinational firms like Yum Brands, McDonald's competitors in the rapidly-growing economy include everything from street vendors to local chains, with price playing a key role. "We are not necessarily discounting but what we are doing is getting our price right in relationship to the economic time that we find ourselves in, which is an ongoing pricing relationship as compared to a discounting of our food," Skinner said. "I think the environment in China ... basically fell off a cliff after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We've adjusted accordingly along the way to be relevant with our consumers and it's worked well for us." Data sourced from Reuters/Seeking Alpha; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesChina set for consumer spending boom - Feb 9, 10 Young Chinese consumers more optimistic - Feb 5, 10 Chinese energy giant to sponsor World Cup - Feb 4, 10 HAVAS LAUNCHES GLOBAL DESIGN NETWORK PARIS: Havas, the communications group, has launched a new global design network, which will initially be based in ten cities around the world. The French conglomerate, which owns assets such as EuroRSCG and Carat, will add its new unit, Havas Design+, to its Havas Worldwide division. Offices will be based in outposts including Dubai, Mumbai, New York, Paris and Sao Paulo, and include existing agencies such as W&Cie and the Conran Design Group, employing 400 staff in all. Havas Design+ will "offer the full spectrum of design capabilities from brand management to brand creation and promotion," it said in a statement. However, each agency will retain its original name and clients, with the aim being to foster a "collaborative approach" rather than creating a single unified structure, it continued. Current customers include Peugeot, the automaker, and Tesco, the retail giant, as well as financial services providers like Santander and Credit Agricole. David Jones, ceo, Havas Worldwide, said "design has increasingly become a defining element of the success of some of the world's largest brands." "As business becomes more socially responsible and sustainable design becomes more important, it will unite some of the world's best expertise in socially responsible design in a single global network." Data sourced from Havas; additional content by Warc staff, 02 February 2010 Print | Email | Add to Folder Related News StoriesDigital agencies best placed for future growth - Dec 15, 09 Havas sees revenues fall - Oct 23, 09 Aegis aims to grow in China - Oct 22, 09 | HeadlinesFebruary 8, 2010P&G, Coke launch most popular new products Ogilvy, Mindshare top Asian agencies US marketers planning further spending cuts Strong brands and innovation boost LVMH Google, Cadbury most "engaging" brands in UK India in "strong shape", says Sorrell  February 5, 2010 Unilever plans marketing and innovation push Big brands show how to use augmented reality Young Chinese consumers more optimistic US marketers to boost social media spending Japanese adspend set for further decline Marketers must strengthen brands in Russia February 4, 2010 Promotions may not benefit brands, IPA warns Ford, Unilever among advertisers going mobile Marketers turn to the positive in the US Use of celebrities has mixed results in India Chinese energy giant to sponsor World Cup Italy plans online video shake-up February 3, 2010 Clear goals key for brands using Twitter Cadbury is top Australian grocery brand Marketers still relying on financial metrics Social media gaining ground in India Ad ban boosts Spanish public TV stations UK marketers mixed on social media February 2, 2010 PepsiCo, Coca-Cola turn to social media Mobile advertising set to grow in India TV will survive change in habits, says report Online retail sales set to rise in Europe McDonald's plans to keep spending in China Havas launches global design network |
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