David Moth

MIG identifies m-commerce and mobile marketing as top trends for 2012

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) has released the results of a study into trends and expectations of the mobile industry for 2012.

Nearly a quarter of the brands, agencies and technology providers surveyed (23%) identified m-commerce and mobile marketing as the most important areas of growth for the next year.

MIG spoke to more than 500 clients across multiple sectors including automotive, retail, FMCG, handset manufacturers and mobile network operators.

by David Moth 14 March 2012 10:15am 1 comment

US paid search and display ad spend drops 6.2% in Q4

Paid search budgets among US advertisers were 6.4% lower in Q4 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, according to a new report from Kantar Media.

The drop was driven by a decrease in spending among financial, insurance and local service advertisers.

Display investments also decreased 5.9% in Q4, largely thanks to smaller budgets from automotive companies, telecom providers and travel companies.

by David Moth 13 March 2012 14:39pm 1 comment

Twitter agrees to help Locog prevent Olympic 'ambush marketing'

Twitter has agreed to prevent brands from using the social network for Olympic 'ambush marketing' attempts.

Games organiser Locog says that it is keen to prevent non-sponsors from using the event as a marketing opportunity at the expense of official Olympic brands.

Sponsorship deals for the event have raked in £670m for Locog, so it's no wonder that it wants to protect its official advertisers.

This issue was recently highlighted by digital agency Jam, which found that non-Olympic sponsor Nike is the brand most associated with the 2012 Games and is far out-performing official sponsor Adidas in terms of recognition.

by David Moth 13 March 2012 12:22pm 0 comments

Email census finds 44% of client-side marketers aren't prepared for security breaches

Almost half of client-side email marketers surveyed for the Adestra/Econsultancy Email Marketing Industry Census 2012 said that they do not have policies or processes in place to guard against breaches of data security.

As well as this, a quarter of agency-side email marketers weren't aware of which processes were in place, if any.

Over 800 respondents took part in the report via an online survey throughout January and February 2012.

by David Moth 13 March 2012 11:27am 1 comment

Topman relaunches music platform CTRL with focus on sharing

British retailer Topman has relaunched its music and lifestyle platform Topman CTRL with a renewed focus on social media and sharing.

The site will be curated by Radio One’s Huw Stephens, with additional input from special guests, and aims to attract new customers by driving readers back to the clothing retailer’s e-commerce site.

Topman says it will “bridge the gap between social media content and traditional music and cultural media platforms.”

by David Moth 13 March 2012 10:20am 0 comments

Nielsen finds 33% of US mobile users deem location-based ads useful

A third of mobile users in the US find adverts that offer custom information based on their location useful, according to a new report from Nielsen.

The study also found that 26% are more likely to look at ads if they have an ‘interesting’ video included and 20% enjoy ads with interactive features.

Nielsen’s US Digital Consumer Report for Q3-Q4 2011 examines how the digital landscape is evolving by tracking various categories such as smartphone usage, connected TV and social networking.

by David Moth 12 March 2012 14:25pm 1 comment

Social TV app Zeebox adds 22,000 users during Dancing On Ice

Social TV app Zeebox added 22,000 UK users last night during ITV's Dancing On Ice, with host Phillip Schofield tweeting several times about the app during the show.

Schofield tweeted a link to the app four times during the broadcast and encouraged his followers to watch the show “together with Zeebox.”

Zeebox CEO Ernesto Schmitt denied that the presenter had been paid to plug the app and suggested that he was doing it to engage with his audience.

by David Moth 12 March 2012 14:13pm 0 comments

Gap serves 2.5m location-triggered ad impressions with Zynga

Clothing retailer Gap delivered 2.5m mobile ad impressions in just over two weeks through a campaign that combined traditional display advertising with geo-fencing technology.

Display ads were placed at transport locations, including bus stops, in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

Ad agency Titan then created a geo-fence around these, which served an ad through Zynga’s Words With Friends app that included a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase.

by David Moth 12 March 2012 11:43am 2 comments

Social gifting app Wrapp launches in UK

Social gifting app Wrapp launches in the UK today, allowing users to send digital gift cards through Facebook.

The service is extremely popular in its home country of Sweden, and is now expanding into other markets to prempt similar moves by copycat apps.

The company's founders, which include veterans of Spotify and Groupon, are aware that Germany’s Samwer brothers are currently trying to copy Wrapp’s business model - so rapid expansion is now on the cards.

The UK has been highlighted as a prime target since its gift cards industry is worth over £4.5bn.

by David Moth 12 March 2012 10:03am 1 comment

Taco Bell builds on Doritos Locos Tacos launch with AR and QR codes

Taco Bell is using augmented reality (AR) and QR codes to build on its social marketing campaign for the launch of Doritos Locos Tacos.

The new taco, which comes in a nacho cheese Doritos shell, was launched yesterday after several weeks of promotional activity on Twitter and Facebook.

This included a Twitter competition last month, which asked people to retweet the name of the product and drummed up a serious amount of buzz in the process.

by David Moth 09 March 2012 13:34pm 1 comment