David Moth

Who exactly uses connected TV?

At the beginning of 2012 we saw a burst of excitement around the predicted rise in the use of connected TV, however consumer reaction appears to have been somewhat muted.

Data we published in May showed that that 17% of British adults own an internet ready TV set but just 7% have used a it to go online.

More than a third (36%) of respondents said they did not see the point in going online through a TV set.

A new report from Parks Associates and Rovi seeks to identify which audience segments are actually adopting connected TV, with the results showing that owners in the UK are typically young, affluent males.

Nearly 40% are upper-middle class and more than 70% closely follow the latest developments in new technology.

Furthermore, their ownership of other devices such as game consoles and tablets is considerably higher than the national average.

by David Moth 09 November 2012 09:21am 1 comment

How do B2B companies use social media? [infographic]

Social media can be a useful tool for creating brand awareness, but are B2B marketers using it for demand generation as well?

According to a survey of more than 500 B2B marketers conducted by Eloqua, 64% of UK businesses use social media as a marketing tool, with the most popular reasons being for brand awareness (83%), encouraging social sharing (56%) and gaining trust and followers (55%).

Less than a third (32%) said they use social for lead generation and just 16% use social to assess market perception of their brand.

Further results from Eloqua’s survey can be seen below or on this dedicated minisite, and to find out more on this topic come to Econsultancy's B2B marketing conference, FUNNEL, at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday, 13 November.

FUNNEL was created to help bring together sales and marketing teams to define better ways of turning awareness into interest and interest into revenue – while tracking the entire cycle.

by David Moth 08 November 2012 12:46pm 1 comment

Can copywriting really make people prefer Ryanair to British Airways?

Copywriting is an important part of a company’s image, as it helps to define the consumer perception of the brand personality.

For example, Innocent Smoothies uses quirky, light-hearted copy to portray a caring, friendly brand image.

But to what extent can copywriting really impact the consumer perception of a brand when they are already familiar with the business?

Brand language consultancy The Writer investigated this topic by testing people’s reaction to a series of customer scenarios.

2,000 consumers blind-tested writing samples from three airlines and three retailers, as well as an invented sample for each scenario.

by David Moth 08 November 2012 11:22am 14 comments

11 gorgeous examples of responsive design

Responsive design has been a hot topic on the Econsultancy blog lately, and is obviously something that will become more important as we move into 2013.

There was a lively debate on one post about the BBC’s new mobile site as it wrongly claimed to have built it using responsive design, when in fact it appears to be adaptive design.

So to bring some clarity to the issue we asked three industry experts for their opinions on how we should define responsive design and whether website owners really need it.

It turns out that the easiest way to test if a site is responsive or not is to simply resize your desktop browser – if the page realigns itself to fit the new screen size then it is most likely responsive design.

So with that in mind, here are 11 of the most exquisite uses of responsive design that I could find...

by David Moth 08 November 2012 10:49am 26 comments

The top 10 social media fails of 2012

Hurricane Sandy highlighted the fact that brands still struggle with social marketing, as retailers fell over themselves to try and use the disaster to sell more clothes.

The immediacy of social media makes it the perfect way for brands to expose themselves to ridicule by sending out a kneejerk tweet without thinking through the consequences.

But not all of the examples on this list are errant tweets – indeed some obviously had a great deal of thought behind them, which probably makes the ensuing fall out far worse.

So without further ado, here’s the top 10 social media fails of 2012 so far...

by David Moth 07 November 2012 12:47pm 28 comments

Eight best practice tips for using QR codes in marketing

Over the past couple of years, QR codes have cropped up everywhere from billboards to ketchup bottles.

They became the must-have gimmick for marketers, even when they didn’t actually offer consumers any relevant or useful content.

In recent months frivolous uses of QR codes seems to be less prevalent as marketers have realised that people don’t scan them in huge numbers, if at all.

But that doesn’t mean that QR codes are useless. We previously reported studies which show that 19% of UK consumers have scanned a QR code, with 3.3m people doing it in Q2 alone. We’ve also found several examples of QR campaigns that worked well.

So if you’re considering using a QR code in your new ad campaign, here are eight tips that you should consider before you do...

by David Moth 07 November 2012 09:51am 5 comments

Asda updates photo sharing website, but usability issues still persist

Last month I reviewed Asda’s new photo website which the retailer claimed was “the easiest and most convenient to use in the United Kingdom”.

It sells a range of personalised products including canvases, pet beds, mugs and stationery.

I found a number of fairly obvious usability issues that rather undermined Asda’s bold design claims, and in fairness the retailer was quick to respond to my points in the comments section.

Asda’s photo team said to check back at the end of the month to see the final version of the site, so I thought I’d have a look and see if any of my comments have been taken onboard.

by David Moth 06 November 2012 13:05pm 3 comments

23% of top UK businesses don't supply an email address to non-customers

Almost a quarter of the top 100 UK businesses fail to provide an email address to non-customers, according to a new report from Eptica.

The 2012 Eptica UK Multichannel Customer Experience Study analysed the responses of 100 organisations via the web, email and social media channels, replicating research conducted in 2011.

In many cases results have deteriorated since 2011 – more than a quarter (28%) of companies performed worse this year despite being asked exactly the same questions through the same channels.

And the situation appears to be particularly bad for email customer service. As the penetration of smartphones increases email is becoming a more important method of communication.

by David Moth 06 November 2012 11:17am 6 comments

Volkswagen accounts for 25% of car ads shared online

Producing content that consumers want to share is the holy grail for video marketers, as not only is it an endorsement of your ad but it means that person’s friends are also likely to view the video.

And within the automotive industry, nobody produces shareable content quite like Volkswagen.

A new report from Unruly found that the German carmaker accounted for a quarter of all automotive video shares from June 2011 to June 2012, followed by Kia (21.6%) and Chevrolet (15.3%).

The data, which is sourced from the Viral Video Chart of 12,867 autos videos, also shows that VW’s Super Bowl ad The Force is the most shared ad of all time, with more than 5.5m shares and 62.5m views.

by David Moth 06 November 2012 10:11am 1 comment

The Guardian upgrades its Android app. Why won't Sky Sports follow suit?

Last week the Guardian released several new upgrades for its already excellent Android app.

The Guardian said that the focus has been on bringing the app up to the higher standards that you find in modern Android app and to offer users a “better, more consistent user experience.”

I already use The Guardian’s app on a daily basis and find it a joy to use. In contrast, I also use Sky Sports News’ app every day but find the user experience to be quite poor.

As such, I thought I’d take a look at the new updates to The Guardian’s app and compare it to the UX of the Sky Sports News offering.

by David Moth 05 November 2012 12:18pm 1 comment