A great tool for brainstorming
May 10, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
We’ve been looking for something like Trello for a long time. Trello Is promoted as a project management system. As a digital marketing agency we’ve got that down. What was really missing was a global collaborative space to share ideas and brainstorm. At the core of Trello are cards that are used to share and organize ideas. People can collaborate using tablets, smart phones and traditional browsers. This is ideal when trying to brainstorm with folks in different locations and time zones. People can also vote and share ideas outside of the group. As more of the best creative’s in the business ditch their commute and learn how to work from home apps like Trello become very valuable. Think of it as a digital whiteboard that doesn’t end up a scribbled mess, or have the words “do not erase”, scrawled above it. I’ll let you know how it goes.
More here https://trello.com/
Mobile web use among teens rises significantly
April 9, 2013 Mobile, News Leave a comment
Washington DC : A recent PEW Internet study among US teens regarding their preferred method of getting online found that 78% of US teens use a mobile phone. Around three quarters of that group accesses the Internet on smart phones and tablets. 25% of that group uses a mobile device as their primary access to the Internet.
This presents an opportunity for marketers to utilize the mobile web in unique and innovative ways. The latest HTML 5 technology allows marketers to deliver an app like experience on a variety of mobile devices not just iOS and Android. Teens are interested in the go anywhere mobile experience. Companies should be looking to provide a unique mobile experience for products and promotions. In many cases the mobile web is superior to utilizing apps as access has gotten easier, no app download required, no long waits for App Store approvals and most importantly no managing expensive multiplatform app updates and launches.
Think about utilizing the mobile web for branded contests and promotions that can be updated regularly, new product launches and experiential events that may not necessitate the cost of a full-blown mobile app. The goal should be to provide an app like experience for all smartphone and tablet users.
We can take this one step further utilizing responsive web design whereby the site automatically adapts to the screen size of the device. With new smaller and mid-size tablets capturing more market share this type of responsive design will continue to gain traction. Find out more - view our recent presentation on mobile web promotion opportunities
Digital media leads in emerging markets
March 6, 2013 News, Social Leave a comment
Looking to promote your product in emerging markets? A recent study shows that mobile and social media are far more influential in these markets than in North America or the UK.
LONDON: The digital channels are more important for marketers than traditional media when it comes to connecting with consumers in emerging markets, new analysis shows.
The Discovery Brand Index of GlobalWebIndex, is based on the results of more than 150,000 Internet users in 31 countries, creating a single measure of the ease with which consumers can find brand messages.
It found, for example, that social media are six times more important for brands in markets such as Indonesia and Thailand than in Japan or the UK.
To highlight the difference in attitudes, consumers in the Netherlands are seven times more likely to learn about new brands and products that social media ads.
Another important digital channel is mobile, and campaigns in countries like Thailand and Vietnam are about four times more efficient than in developed markets such as the UK and the Netherlands.
Developed Internet markets, however, have different characteristics. In Japan and the United Kingdom, for example, the search is twice as important for brands in consumer buying trip digital.
Established brands also exert more power in these markets. In Japan, the brand loyal consumers outnumber those “adventurous brand” by two to one: a bit of stick from 58% to a brand once they find one they like, while 27% always like to try new products.
By contrast, consumers in emerging markets are much less fixed in selecting brand: 73% of Filipino Internet users like to try new products.
“With brands increasingly investing in digital and social media, it is critical to understand how all channels to work together, with individual metrics that cover all communications, whether they are online or not,” said Tom Smith, GlobalWebIndex founder.
Among other findings of the study are that consumers in Hong Kong are more likely to trust the price comparison and consumer review sites in the search for online information products.
And Sweden produced the lowest score online BDI, indicating that the Swedes are the least likely of any nationality to use the Internet to interact with brands or product search.
The data comes from GlobalWebIndex, additional content by WARC staff, March 6, 2013
More Americans are dual screening
March 5, 2013 Mobile Leave a comment
Recent studies indicate that more and more Americans are dual screening, primarily using their tablet or smart phone while watching TV. More viewers we are engaged with content in multiple ways. This could include the sports fan checking out-of-town scores on his smart phone while watching the game on TV. The couple checking IMDb on a tablet to settle a bet over what year a movie was released. And sadly, more often than not workers clearing out some old emails on their laptop while watching Modern Family. Advertisers should explore more opportunities to reach dual screeners. Interacting with televised content by uploading photos sharing tweets or Facebook posts is growing in popularity especially among affluent consumers as the study here suggests.
SAN FRANCISCO: Most wealthy Americans use laptops, smartphones and tablets at the same time as watching television, research has found
The latest Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer surveyed 1,055 affluent adults, defined as those who claim an income of at least $ 100,000, and included 192 high net worth consumers with an income of at least $ 250,000.
The Barometer established that 64% of Americans were dual screening on a regular basis. Most preferred to use his laptop (63%), but nearly as many smartphones used (58%) and tablets (53%).
“The technology is truly integrated into [consumers] lives to the point they find it difficult to stop using a device, even when they are engaged with one or two others,” said Steve Kraus, chief research and insights officer for Ipsos MediaCT, luxury Daily.
Just over half the sample used social media platforms while watching TV, with Facebook twice as likely to be used as any other network.
“The widespread media multitasking puts a higher premium on the involvement of consumers,” said Kraus. That means that “really reach them with messages that attract attention of consumers and talk to important consumer values.”
When asked what media channel that would be hard to live without, fully 70% of respondents said they would be your laptop.
Two-thirds could not live without your smart phone, but only one-third described their tablet.
The survey also found that affluent consumers are more optimistic about the state of the economy and their personal perspectives from which the merely affluent.
As a result, luxury marketers must “continue to focus on higher-end, ultra-rich consumers,” said Kraus.
“Luxury projections for growth are modest to affluent as a whole, and we currently see no signs of a return to widespread aspirational luxury shopping behavior that characterized pre-recession America,” he added.
Data supplied by Luxury Daily, additional content by WARC staff, March 5, 2013
57% Facebook users go mobile. Now how to reach them.
January 21, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
Excellent info-graphic courtesy of QWAYA via Social Media Today.
Facebook’s growth on mobile devices is a good indicator of how rapidly smart phone subscriptions are growing globally. Out of Facebook’s nearly 1,000,000,000 active monthly users 57% are accessing via mobile phone. If you’ve developed a great mobile website or mobile promotion, The Facebook Newsfeed is a fantastic way to drive traffic there.
Things are tough for Greece but great for Greek yogurt. Read this post for a free PinkBerry yogurt
October 25, 2012 Mobile Leave a comment
New Loyalty App for PinkBerry Yogurt. Customers can download the PinkBerry App and get a FREE yogurt with unlimited toppings. The app includes several unique features including:
- Facebook gifting
- Rewards – replacing their old Pink card punchcard program
- In app payment options
- Flavor finder
- And some of the standard store locator social sharing options
Consumers can also instantly share ideas and comments with a promise from PinkBerry to respond in 24 hours.
Scan for the APP.
Smartphones influence 160bn in store sales in US. Is your website mobile commerce ready?
July 2, 2012 Mobile Leave a comment
via Warc.com
According to the advisory firm, smartphones are due to impact 5.1% of all retail store sales in the US in 2012, equivalent to $159bn in revenues. Such a total can be compared with an anticipated $12bn in pure m-commerce returns.
The influence of these devices should also grow “exponentially” between now and 2016, shaping 17% to 21% of sales, or $628bn to $752bn, by 2016, when mobile commerce attains a value of $30bn.
Based on a survey of 1,071 nationally representative consumers and 1,557 smartphone users, Deloitte reported 48% of people own a smartphone.
Some 58% of this group use their mobile for “store-related” shopping, climbing to 68% for 25–34 year olds.
The analysis also stated uptake of this activity rose 40% after the first six months of device ownership, and people using phones in this way are 14% more likely to convert in store.
Similarly, 49% of smartphone users had engaged in this pastime when buying electronics and appliances, doing so on 60.9% of shopping trips. This gave mobile an “influence factor” of 8.3% over category purchases.
A further 46% of this audience used these gadgets in general merchandise outlets, department stores and warehouses, typically on 52.5% of visits, yielding an “influence factor” of 6.7%.
Elsewhere, 38% of smartphone users employed their handsets while making acquisitions in the clothing and footwear segment, with a 56.2% frequency. Wireless devices thus impacted 5.9% of sales in all.
Additionally, 35% of this audience turned to smartphones in the food and beverage category, generally on 58.2% of shopping occasions, results meaning they played a role in 5.7% of decisions.
Overall, 61% of people participating in this kind of activity accessed their handset in store, while 52% did so on the way to these outlets, 45% on the night before, 17% two days earlier, and 10% a week prior to attending a bricks and mortar vendor.
Alison Paul, Deloitte’s retail and distribution sector leader, said: “Mobile is an important tool for retailers to incrementally drive traditional in-store sales, strengthening the relationship between retailer and consumer to increase engagement and loyalty.”
Data sourced from Deloitte; additional content by Warc staff, 29 June 2012
Access to social networks via mobile devices booming in US.
October 24, 2011 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
Latest Comscore data shows rapid growth of consumers accessing social networks via their mobile devices. This is important for companies that want to share offers or drive traffic to their mobile website utilizing Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, Linked in, Google and a variety of other social networks popular on mobile devices. Reach out to ApolloBravo for a mobile readiness evaluation and creative solutions for integrating Mobile + Social.
via WARC NEW YORK: Over 70m consumers in the US now access social networking sites through their mobile phones, a study from comScore, the research firm, has revealed. According to the company’s estimates, 72.2m people – a third of the entire mobile audience – logged on to these platforms via a handset in August 2011, a 37% increase on an annual basis.
More specifically, 39.9m individuals engaged in this pastime “almost every day”, a total which had expanded by 58% during the last 12 months.
Facebook led the field in terms of usage, reflecting its dominant position in the market as a whole. Some 57.3m of its members signed in from a wireless handset in August, a 50% lift year on year.
Twitter was in second place having attracted 13.4m mobile subscribers across August 2010, equating to 75% growth on August 2010. LinkedIn attracted 5.5m visitors in the same way, a 69% surge.
At present, the most popular activities undertaken by the mobile social networking audience are viewing comments from their friends on 80.3%, and posting status updates, on 69.5%.
Elsewhere, 53.2% of people had followed links to websites, and 52.9% read posts from brands and organisations.
This was ahead of the 44.8% that looked at material from celebrities and other public figures. Another 34.8% of netizens posted links to websites.
Turning to more commercial matters, 33.3% of consumers had received coupons and offers on these web properties, and 27.7% clicked on ads.
When considering the means via which mobile subscribers access social networks, comScore reported 42.3m did so through a browser, up 24% year on year, and 38.5m utilised an app, a 126% annual improvement.
Some 60% of smartphone owners logged on to social networks on these gadgets, nearly double the overall average, Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president for mobile, said.
“Knowing that fans and followers engage with branded content on mobile devices opens the door to a world of opportunity for location-based services,” he added.
Data sourced from comScore; additional content by Warc staff, 24 October 2011
Are apps replacing bookmarks?
October 10, 2011 Mobile Leave a comment
If you use an iPhone, iPad, or Android device you probably rely heavily on apps to get to some of the companies you used to visit via your web browser. Think about it, Facebook on your iPhone, banking app on your Android phone, Twitter app on your iPad. Consumers are beginning to expect companies to provide access via apps and mobile websites linked via web apps (ESPN On the iPhone combines both). That’s why the growth in Apps is looking more like growth of websites in general. In addition QR codes, and links to apps and web apps delivered via SMS in many cases make it easier than navigating to a companies traditional website and bookmarking it. Need more info,see research below or reach out to ApolloBravo for a mobile readiness evaluation.
Read More Via Warc
GOTHENBURG: App downloads are set to increase rapidly around the world in the next five years, fueling growth in the subscription and advertising revenues generated through this channel.
Berg Insight, the research firm, estimated the number of apps installed by consumers on wireless devices will grow by 56.6% annually between 2010 and 2015, reaching 98bn a year by the end of this period.
More specifically, the company reported the revenues resulting from individuals paying for these tools, alongside in-app purchases and related subscriptions, hit €1.6bn in 2010.
It predicted the amount delivered by these combined activities should stand at €8.8bn in 2015, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of 40.7%.
Apple is currently the leading source of income where mobile applications are concerned, with the firm’s App Store supplying some €1.3bn last year, a total anticipated to come in at €4.4bn in 2015.
During the same period, Google’s Android platform contributed a relatively modest €80m, but is projected to yield €1.5bn by the end of the forecast period.
The Windows Phone operating system manufactured by Microsoft is likely to assume third position in this area by 2015, although the company still has work to do if it is to catch up with Apple and Google.
Elsewhere, Berg Insight reported that in-app advertising was worth €300m last year, or 16% of all application revenues. Ad sales through this channel should be €750m in 2011 and €3.5bn in 2015.
As advertising is expected to be more of a “volume game”, Google Android is anticipated to assume a leading role, as the number of handsets utilising this operating system may be more prevalent, while Apple’s subscribers remain of higher value.
Overall, Berg Insight argued that Android would provide €1.2bn in ad revenues by 2015, versus only €39m in 2010. Apple’s comparative returns are pegged to rise from €230m to €1bn in this period.
Johan Svanberg, a senior analyst at Berg Insight, said: “Most apps are free to download and app monetisation will be a challenge for developers. Free to download monetisation strategies such as in-app advertising and in-app purchasing will be increasingly important.”
Geographically, Asia Pacific, which houses the key mobile markets of India and China, is pegged to account for 40% of all app downloads by 2015.
Data sourced from Berg Insight; additional content by Warc staff, 10 October 2011
Tablet ownership booming globally
September 28, 2011 Mobile, News Leave a comment
The rise in tablet ownership is growing faster than most industry analysts predicted. This includes smaller tablets like the galaxy tab and the new smaller Kindle from Amazon. Companies need to re-examine how their websites, micro-sites and product specific landing pages will appear on these devices as well as smartphones. Reach out to ApolloBravo for a free mobile readiness evaluation.
via WARC
NEW YORK: Nearly a fifth of consumers in China, the UK and US now own a tablet, up from less than 5% late last year, according to a new report.
Citigroup, the financial services provider, surveyed 1,800 people in these three nations, and found the proportion of respondents possessing slate devices had grown from 3% to 18% since November 2010.
Penetration has reached 21% in China, ahead of 17% for Britain and America. Similarly, 26% of the Chinese sample were “very likely” to purchase a tablet, falling to 12% for both the UK and US.
Citigroup’s analysis revealed 31% of its panel were at least somewhat keen to buy such a gadget, versus 14% late last year. In all, 77% of this group would like to obtain an iPad, climbing from 73% in the same period.
Alternatives powered by Microsoft Windows witnessed a slide from 52% to 40%, and equivalents utilising Google’s Android operating system enjoyed a two-percentage point gain, to 38%.
Price remained the “primary inhibitor” to greater uptake, mentioned by 39% of adults questioned, although a “lack of functionality” when compared with PCs was another common factor.
A 62% share of tablet owners saw it as a “toy/gadget”, growing from 44% in 2010. Meanwhile, 18% had acquired one for work, a lift from 13%, while giving someone the device as a gift logged 18%, down from 27%.
Overall, 94% of iPad owners have downloaded apps, with 63% accessing 11 or more such tools, totals standing at 79% and 37% in turn for individuals using competing products.
Thus far, 81% of the iPad population have paid for applications, measured against just 43% of customers for rival brands. Equally, iPad users had paid for 39% of apps, declining to 22% for users of other slates.
Data from the US and UK showed 67% of the tablet audience surf the web via this route, with 55% sending email and instant messages, 31% reading ebooks, 33% social networking and 17% playing games.
Looking forward, the number of people expecting to log on to social networks in this way fell to 29%, with gaming also sliding to 14%, but both pastimes are likely to see rising interest.
Elsewhere, the study reported that laptop ownership rates had climbed from 62% to 81% since November 2010, figures hitting 28% and 59% respectively for smartphones.
Data sourced from PC Mag, Barron’s, AllThingsD; additional content b Warc staff, 28 September 2011
