Alibaba looks forward to 618

After growing 19% in the financial year to end-March, revenues at Alibaba have declined in recent weeks as cities across China locked down, but the tech giant is hoping to recover lost ground during the upcoming 618 shopping festival. 

Lockdown impact

Compared to the previous year, there was “a low single-digit decline in revenue growth in April” while GMV declined in the “low teens”, CEO Daniel Zhang told an earnings call, adding that “cities with new COVID cases in April represented more than half of our China retail marketplaces’ GMV”. Those cities included merchant hubs like Shanghai and Shenzhen and their hinterlands, with all that entailed for supply chains and logistics. 

During this time, user traffic and engagement on Alibaba platforms have remained resilient, he said, but patterns of consumption across categories have shifted: less demand for fashion and electronics (and more price sensitivity), increased demand for essential supplies, such as food and FMCG products (and less price sensitivity). 

Average order values in location-based commerce businesses have increased significantly as consumers in COVID-hit areas stocked up. Diversified retail formats and fulfilment networks will be needed in future. 

Key numbers  

• The China commerce segment of Alibaba’s business claimed 903 million annual active customers for the year ended March 31. Domestic commerce was up 18% year-over-year to RMB592,705 million, or US$93,497 million.
• Value-for-money platform Taobao Deals helped drive more first-time shoppers into Alibaba’s e-commerce ecosystem; there are now 300 million consumers using it. 
• Sales and marketing expenses increased from 11% of revenue in FY 2021 to 14% in FY 2022.

618

Alibaba reports “a lot of enthusiasm” and a strong trend this year compared to last in terms of merchant enrollment and product offering. Taobao is reported to be launching a metaverse shopping experience in time for the 618 festival.

Sourced from Alibaba, Pandaily [Image: 2021 618 festival from Alibaba]

Inflation drives consumer "bifurcation" for Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, the retail holding company, has seen a “bifurcation” in consumer habits due to inflation, with younger shoppers at its namesake chain reacting differently to older, more affluent shoppers at its other banners.

Why it matters

Inflation does not impact everybody in the same way: more youthful cohorts, for instance, may not have the same levels of earnings and financial security as older customer segments. As such, brands need to understand the particular needs of these distinct groups.

Younger consumers feel the pinch

• “We do believe that there is a sort of bifurcation that has happened as a result of the inflation,” Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters’ CEO, said on an earnings call with investors.
• Its eponymous brand is frequented by younger people who are often “on their first job, or maybe a second job, and they're making a little bit less money,” he added.
• The income boost provided by stimulus payments from the US government last year has not been replicated, he noted, hurting the disposable income of these shoppers.
• “This customer is the most sensitive to inflation … Inflation is really hitting them much harder” than the core audience for its higher-end Anthropologie and Free People retail stores, said Hayne.

Events drive spending for higher-income shoppers

• Among the “higher-income bracket [customers] of those two brands, we don't see any signs right now of inflation impacting their buying decisions,” he continued.
• More specifically, these shoppers want to be “out and about”, and are attending weddings and other events. “She's going to spend her money to prepare for those events, so she looks good during the events. That's what's driving her,” Hayne said.
• “These customers are excited for a return to normal. They’re shopping in stores again and are out and about with family and friends, traveling, dining-out, and going to many, many events,” he added.

Sourced from Seeking Alpha

How effective is email really?

Marketing campaigns that include email are more effective than the average campaign, generating 2.8 effects per campaign overall (2.7 effects without), according to a new report* from the DMA (Data and Marketing Association).

Why it matters

Email campaigns are above average performers in generating response and business effects, but below average at generating brand-building effects, giving a useful indication of where the channel’s strengths lie.

Takeaways

• The average campaign including email generates 2.0 response effects and 0.5 business effects. 

• Email marketing underperforms for generating brand effects, but still accumulated 0.3 brand effects per campaign on average. 

• Growth in customer retention activity worked well in 2020, but by 2021 it was clear that there was only so much incremental demand that can be stimulated from existing customers.
• Email generates the largest number of effects (3.1 effects per campaign) when used to target new customer acquisitions – compared with 2.6 effects in retention campaigns.
• A 29% uplift in the total number of effects is recorded for multi-channel vs solus email campaigns. Double the number of brand effects are also recorded – an important consideration for a channel that generally under-performs in this space.
• A combination of email and ad mail is most effective at generating a response. Email and offline (TV, radio, out-of-home and print) is the best combination for shifting the dial on brand metrics.

Key quote

“Although primarily used as a direct response platform, email can also have a significant brand impact for organisations – shifting the dial on the attitudinal metrics that are so important in stimulating future demand” – Tim Bond, director of insight at the DMA. 

*The Meaningful Marketing Measurement: Email Focus report draws on data from over 300 email campaigns, and beyond that over 1,000 cross-channel campaigns overall, while the DMA’s Intelligent Marketing Databank provides insight into the effectiveness of the email channel, as well as how marketers are measuring email effectiveness.

Sourced from DMA [Image: Getty images]

European digital adspend soars

The European digital advertising market grew 30.5% in 2021 to €92 billion, according to the latest figures from IAB Europe*, the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem.

Why it matters

This “exponential” growth shows that the digital advertising market has truly bounced back from the challenges and impact of COVID-19, says IAB Europe (although rising inflation – especially in Eastern Europe and Turkey – where inflation hit 19.6% in 2021 – means some data needs to be interpreted with caution).

Key statistics

• All markets experienced double-digit year-on-year growth; Turkey was the most dynamic market posting an exceptional growth of 99.7% (with the caveat noted above). 
• The top three markets – UK, Germany and France – accounted for over half of all European digital ad spend.
• Display grew by 34.5% to €45.6 billion, with social media accounting for half of that total.
• Search saw a 29.9% increase to €39.5 billion. 
• Video grew by 46.2% to €18.5 billion, audio is growing fast from a low base, up 50.2% in 2021. 

*The AdEx Benchmark 2021 study covered 28 markets

Sourced from IAB Europe [Image: Getty images]

New WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition launched

WARC, in association with LIONS, is today launching the WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition, built on the best-in-class effectiveness framework, which will award the best in North American marketing across six categories – here’s what you need to know.

How the awards work

The Awards are built around the benchmarks of the WARC/LIONS Creative Effectiveness Ladder and B2B Effectiveness Ladder, which provide universal frameworks of the six main approaches for using strategy and creativity to drive specific B2C and B2B marketing outcomes. Find out how to enter here.

Six categories

• B2B
• Customer Experience
• Cultural Impact
• Instant Impact
• Sustained Growth
• Brand Purpose

The judges and how they will examine the work

Cheryl Guerin, EVP, Global Brand Strategy & Innovation at MasterCard will chair three categories: B2B, Customer Experience and Cultural Impact.

Pam Forbus, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer of Pernod Ricard, USA, has been appointed Jury Chair of the Instant Impact, Sustained Growth and Brand Purpose categories.

The juries will score papers according to campaign objectives, insight and strategic thinking, implementation, business effects and lessons learned.

They will then be benchmarked against the Creative Effectiveness or B2B Effectiveness Ladders providing entrants with a clear idea about where their work fits on the six rungs of the relevant ladder.

For each category, the juries will award a Grand Prix as well as Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades. 

How to enter

The Awards are free to enter and open to all agencies and brands from the North America region. Papers will be accepted until 21 September. 

More information on the new WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition, and how to enter is available here. 

The newly launched WARC Awards for Effectiveness North America are part of a suite of WARC Awards, which also include the global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, and two other regional competitions – the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy and the WARC Awards for MENA Strategy.

What brands must do for their customers in cost of living crisis

Household costs are rocketing as energy costs spiral and the prices of essential products keep increasing – new research from the IPA suggests that consumer demands on brands are changing: here’s what you need to know.

Why it matters

In serious, costly times, in which people are aware that cost increases are being passed onto consumers, light entertainment matters less than maintaining fair prices, absorbing costs on value ranges.

The data

Based on an Opinium poll of 2,000 UK-based respondents, commissioned by advertising agency trade body the IPA, the most commonly cited ways in which brands could help consumers through the cost of living crisis are to:

• Keep prices fair (57%)
• Freeze price on value-range products or services (36%)
• Offer more value for money promotions (33%)
• Reward existing customers’ loyalty (30%)
• Increase the number of promotions they offer (28%)

The least popular actions, meanwhile:

• Entertain and make customers laugh/smile (5%)
• Engage directly with customers to develop new solutions and ideas (8%)
• Offer affordable customer finance (10%)

Some demographic differences

Women were slightly more likely than men to express a preference for fair prices (62% versus 52%), as were older (55+) respondents at 72%. Older respondents were also much less likely to mention entertainment at just 2%.

Key quote

“The cost of living crisis is a serious issue especially for those at the older end of the spectrum, so it is understandable that consumers aren’t looking to brands to provide the fun but to provide help where it hits hardest – their finances” – Paul Bainsfair, director general, IPA.

Sourced from the IPA

WARC Awards for MENA Strategy 2022 launched

The WARC Awards for MENA Strategy are now open. The competition for the region’s best strategic marketing is now in its sixth year, and the jury will be chaired by Lianne Braganza, CMO, MEA at Cigna – here’s what you need to know.

The competition, which is free to enter, is open to agencies, brand owners and specialists in any marketing discipline from across MENA.

“The WARC Awards for MENA Strategy are a powerful means to give brands in the MENA region an opportunity to demonstrate how they're making a difference as they respond to the unique challenges they are facing”, says Lianne Braganza.

The jury will award a Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades. With a straightforward process, entries can be submitted until 21 September 2022. More information about the Awards and how to enter is available here.

The WARC Awards for MENA Strategy are part of a suite of WARC Awards, which also include the global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, and two other regional competitions – the newly launched WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition and the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy. 

WARC Awards for Asian Strategy 2022 launched

The WARC Awards for Asian Strategy are now open for entries. The competition for the region’s best strategic marketing is now in its twelfth year, and the jury will be chaired by Dhiren Amin, CMO of NTUC Income – here’s what you need to know.

The competition, which is free to enter, is open to agencies, brand owners and specialists in any marketing discipline from across Asia.

“The WARC Awards for Asian Strategy provide us with an external benchmark to aspire to as marketers”, said Amin, who leads marketing across the board for the Singapore-based insurance company. He has featured on Campaign Asia’s Power List for Marketers for three years.

“We are in the business of commercial crafting and these Awards are a legitimate and solid benchmark of measuring that as a profession.”

The jury will award a Grand Prix as well as Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades. With a straightforward process, entries can be submitted until 21 September 2022. More information about the Awards and how to enter is available here.

The WARC Awards for Asian Strategy are part of a suite of WARC Awards, which also include the global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, and two other regional competitions – the newly launched WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition, and the WARC Awards for MENA Strategy.

E-commerce growth inverts the 60:40 rule

Multinational brand-owners are increasingly focused on e-commerce and are shifting their media spend away from brand towards performance.

That’s the conclusion of new research* from the World Federation of Advertisers and global marketing and ad agency network dentsu international.

Why it matters

The rapid growth in e-commerce (59% of WFA members claimed double-digit growth in e-commerce share of sales compared to 2019) is challenging many aspects of corporate behaviour and structure. One of those is that organisations attaching the highest importance to e-commerce are ditching the 60:40 ratio of brand to performance spending recommended in studies by marketing effectiveness experts Binet and Field.

Takeaways 

• Seventy-one percent of major multinationals say e-commerce is either ‘critical’ (51%) or ‘very important’ (20%) now, but the figure rises to 93% over the next two years.
• Brands that are most exposed to e-commerce are spending 59% of their media budgets on driving short-term sales. 
• Brands that regard e-commerce as important (or growing in importance) allocate just 37% on driving immediate sales. 
• Another consequence of growing e-commerce activity is the nature of KPIs used here, which are moving from activity and volume to commercial contribution.
• There are also structural challenges to be addressed as e-commerce is often managed in siloed teams. 
• Delivering integrated media planning that meets the needs of both short and long-term planning is one of the barriers to success (42%). 

*Developing a Successful Strategy for Global eCommerce and Marketing is based on responses from 41 major multinationals, across 13 sectors, with 46% in media roles and 48% in sales/e-commerce roles. Total combined global ad spending of respondent companies represents in excess of $50 billion.

Sourced from WFA [Image: Getty images]

Brand in action: How Lenovo sees the need for sustainability

Lenovo is the world’s top PC brand and the electronics giant’s senior manager brand strategy WW marketing, Abhishek Shah, speaks to WARC about the importance of sustainability to its consumers, as well as for its marketing and products.

Key insights

• Consumers have a high awareness of environmental issues, with high levels of purchase intent for a more sustainable product and the willingness to pay a premium for it.
• India is a price-sensitive and feature-driven market but there are opportunities for brands to own the space by making green marketing core to their business and communication.
• If marketers sensitise and create awareness of sustainability across their brands’ touchpoints, and if marketing strategy aligns with corporate strategy, customer success will follow.

Ongoing lockdowns cut online sales in China

Amid strict lockdowns as China seeks to keep coronavirus infections down to an absolute minimum, consumers are cutting even their e-commerce spending.

What’s driving it

Lockdowns have hit brands’ abilities to make, distribute, and deliver goods – a new piece in the South China Morning Post (which is owned by Alibaba) puts numbers to the trend.

Ultimately, consumers are wary of spending on non-essentials and luxury items. But by the same token, they are finding that they simply can’t spend money even if they wanted to. While this will look grim on e-commerce firms’ earnings calls, it doesn’t point to poor fundamentals.

The data

Sales of major brands on e-commerce platforms have plunged in April:

• Uniqlo on Alibaba’s Tmall is down 33% year-on year.
• Zara sales on the same platform are down 56%.
• Lancome, the luxury brand, sees sales dip 33%.
• Samsung has seen e-commerce sales drop 23%.
• Bulgari sales are down more than 90%.
• Hermes sales are down 53%.

Meanwhile total retail sales nationally have dropped 11% versus April 2021.

Sourced from SCMP

SEA sees strongest Ramadan retail sales boost in three years: survey

As community measures and travel restrictions eased, and more consumers in Southeast Asia hosted larger gatherings or planned trips to celebrate the Ramadan festive period, 2022 saw retailers enjoying their biggest sales lift in two years, according to adtech company Criteo.

Why it matters

Strong consumer appetite offers more opportunities for brands and retailers to encourage spending during the festive period through more targeted and differentiated sales campaigns.

Key insights

• This year’s 14% jump in retail sales compares with performance in the first two weeks of Ramadan each year, with 2020 as the baseline.
• Sales were at their peak since the very beginning of Ramadan this year, specifically on the month’s double day – 4th April 2022.
• In the region, this double date effect is most apparent in app sales (+76%), desktop sales (+36%) and mobile (+12%).
• Online retail sales in the region surged 73% in early April 2022 compared with the first four weeks of March this year.
• The top three product categories with sales surge on 5th May were health & beauty (+199%), furniture (+119%) and electronics (+107%).
• Travel bookings were up 28% year-on-year in SEA in March 2022 as border restrictions continue to loosen in the region

Background

Technology company Criteo analysed data from over 200 retailers in SEA, including around 664 million transactions over the period detailed, and surveyed 11,161 respondents across nine countries – Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the US – with organic data from its 815 travel partners in over 20 countries.

Idea to know: Stagflation

The news is starting to mention a frightening economic term: stagflation – while marketers likely won’t have to grapple with the problem itself, it will be critical for the discipline to understand its effects.

Why it matters

The threat of stagflation is back in economies across the western world, with UK and US markets increasingly spooked. Bank of America Global Research finds that around 77% of investment fund managers are now expecting “below-trend growth and above-trend inflation” as the likeliest outcome for the next year.

The post-Covid economic recovery is stalling and, in some cases, dipping, at the same time as consumer prices are rising, mostly down to ongoing supply chain problems that have heavily restricted supply. Meanwhile, the price of oil, which has rocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, has hit household spending on non-essential products.

A short explanation

The first time economists noticed such a phenomenon was during another oil crisis, this time an embargo on the sale of oil from Middle Eastern exporters against nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War during the 1970s. The effect on the economies involved was a surge in the price of oil, which triggered a period of high inflation that coincided with high unemployment, meaning that economic output declined or stagnated. 

Stagflation, otherwise known as recession-inflation, means a period of high inflation (i.e. rising prices) along with stagnation or decline in GDP, either through high unemployment or through stagnant GDP growth thanks to low productivity.

Both are contradictions in terms that spooked the economists that first observed the effect, as economic stagnation or unemployment shouldn’t, theoretically, lead to rises in prices.

A problem with no antidote

But the big trouble is that there is no definitive antidote for central banks to administer. In many ways, the tools they would use to combat inflation (raising interest rates) tend to raise unemployment while the tools to combat unemployment (fiscal stimulus or spending to boost growth) tend to spur inflation.

The problem is, therefore, very serious and difficult to solve without causing huge amounts of pain. In the 80s, inflation was brought to heel through extremely high interest rates (of around 20%), which triggered a recession and extensive unemployment. But external factors were also critical to ending stagflation, with the normalisation of oil prices coinciding with a normalisation in western economies.

Modern economists suggest a better path is to aim to raise productivity to spur more growth without causing inflation. Some even suggest that a way to fix the problem is to get people working less through four day work weeks or more public holidays, and spending more on sectors with lower-inflation such as culture and hospitality services and less on inflation-prone goods. 

What it means for marketing

These are big issues, far beyond most marketers’ (and even beyond most central bankers’) control but the big worry is that the perception of crisis, especially as companies start to worry about their profitability, causes firms to respond by cutting jobs.

At a time when fuel and therefore transportation costs remain high, a hit to employment means a hit to demand not only in high-inflation sectors like automobiles but across the economy. Ongoing problems with supply chains and the price of oil can’t be solved by cutting jobs alone.

This is a big issue, but it will eventually end as oil prices (hopefully) normalise or alternative sources of renewable energy are found or developed. Protecting the fundamentals of the business will be crucial for all brands in the meantime; investor jitters are a problem, but high unemployment is a far far bigger one.

Recessions are critical times for marketing where brands must adapt to reflect consumer necessities, as buyers need to be able to justify their purchases. Smart marketers also use them as opportunities to build brands more cheaply as competitors scale back their marketing to save money. Similarly, this is in many ways an oil crisis – it’s an obvious time for brands to press for sustainability, and to press for less reliance on oil across our societies at large.

Times of major economic trouble require collective solutions, which is a problem when our system values each individual and company looking out for themselves and their own profit. Marketers should care about pricing, not only to maximise profit but to keep customers onside at a time of fuel-induced poverty. For both humanitarian and macroeconomic reasons, brands should hope and strive for an end to Russian hostilities against Ukraine.

Sourced from the FT, Fox Business, New Statesman, WARC

Unilever’s marketing challenges in personal care

A shift in focus from hygiene to wellness, the need to address sustainability issues and the threat of strong local players are among the challenges outlined by Unilever's new Global Personal Care CMO.

Why it matters

Earlier this year, Unilever announced a re-organisation around five distinct business groups, one of which is Personal Care where Samir Singh took up the reins as global CMO at the start of this month. His assessment of the challenges he faces, given in an interview with Campaign Asia, and his response are indicative of how the broader market is likely to develop over the next couple of years.

Takeaways

• Behaviours are not the same across all markets: some, such as the US, are returning to pre-COVID patterns; others, such as APAC, are sticking with the new habits of the past two years. 
• Post-COVID, consumer focus is shifting from basic hand washing and sanitising to what Unilever calls “skinification” – taking specific facial care ingredients and adding them to general body care products.
• Innovation will drive sustainability initiatives and these will filter down from premium brands while not adding to the price of everyday brands.
• D2C brands are not as big a threat as strong local brands – especially in larger markets (think China, India, Indonesia) – that are able to compete on price, innovation, distribution and brand recall. 

Key quote

“I think going forward, what you will see is an evolution of the trends that started with hygiene, but will now get more into skin health, and actually evolve, finally, into wellness. And all three things will happen at the same time” – Samir Singh, CMO global personal care at Unilever.

Sourced from Campaign Asia [Image: Unilever]