Your roundup includes news about brand value, Snapchat downloads, unethical marketing, and much much more. Be sure to check out the Internet Statistics Database while you’re here too.

On we go.

Amazon overtakes Apple and Google to become the world’s ‘most valuable brand’

BrandZ’s ‘Top 100 Most Valuable Brands’ ranking has named Amazon as the world’s number one most valuable brand, overtaking Apple and Google for the first time in 12 years.

Amazon is now worth $315.5 billion, as the brand saw its value grow 52% between 2018 and 2019. In comparison, Apple grew 3% to $309.1 billion, and Google grew 2% to $309 billion.

Meanwhile, five technology companies are among the top 10 brands. Microsoft comes in at fourth place with a value of $251.2 billion, Facebook in sixth place at $158.9 billion, and Chinese media brand, Tencent, in eighth place at $130.8 billion.

Amazon profits

Snapchat’s new filters double the amount of weekly app downloads

According to data from OneZero, the launch of new gender-swap and baby filters have resulted in double the amount of app downloads for Snapchat per week.

OneZero suggests that weekly app downloads were around three and five million before the filters launched on the 8th May. Upon release, downloads increased to over six million, continuing to rise to over 12 million the following week. Overall, Snapchat was downloaded an estimated 41.5 million times worldwide in May, increasing from 16.8 million the previous month, and 17.6 million in May 2018.

Snapchat, Facebook, Whatsapp and other phone Apps on iPhone screen

Read Econsultancy’s Social Media Best Practice Guide

68% of consumers would not buy from a brand that uses negative emotions in marketing

A new study by Phrasee – involving a survey of 4,000 consumers and 400 marketers across the UK and US – has revealed the damaging effect of unethical marketing.

Of the consumers surveyed, 68% of respondents said they would not buy from a brand that used negative emotions in their marketing. In contrast to this, 69% said they would buy more from a brand that used positive marketing.

As well as damaging brand reputation, customer loyalty, and sales – the study also suggests that unethical marketing can harm well-being. Fifty percent of UK consumers highlighted anger as an emotion they felt from negative marketing, while 39% said inadequacy, and 38% said depression/sadness.

Seventy-six percent of respondents also said that they are turned off by brands that use high-pressure selling tactics, proving that swapping pressure for positivity can be much more beneficial.

phrasee stat

One in three marketers don’t know what to do with the data they’re collecting

A new report from Clicktale explores the current state of digital experience, with input from 200 marketing and CX professionals across the UK and the US.

From the professionals surveyed, 53% claimed ‘you can never have too much data’ on customers. Alarmingly, however, one in three also said that they don’t know what to do with the data they’re collecting. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they don’t turn the in-page data they collect into meaningful insights, while 32% don’t convert their on-site search and navigational data into insight.

Only 46% of respondents said they believe they have a strong understanding of their customers’ behaviours across their digital channels. When it comes to the type of data they’d like to collect, 47% said they would like data to learn more about customers’ visit intent, and 34% said to learn about in-page behaviour.

Clicktale stat

Read Econsultancy’s Working Effectively with Data Teams report

61% of commerce companies describe their business model as being under “significant” or “extreme” pressure to adapt to changing conditions

A new report by Econsultancy and Sitecore – based on a study of over 1,200 merchandising, ecommerce, and marketing executives in retail – has revealed that marketers are finding it difficult to adapt to market disruption. So much so that 61% of global commerce companies describe their business model as being under “significant” or “extreme” pressure to adapt to changing conditions.

This is even more critical for some, with 34% saying that “market pressures are such that our model has to change or we may go out of business in the next 36 months.”

The report states that changes in customer behaviour are a primary cause of market disruption, but two-thirds of global respondents say that they do not have enough customer data to fully understand the customer journey, ranging from a low of 55% in Germany to over 75% in Japan.

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Nearly a third of UK consumers find UGC useful for purchasing decisions

The clamp down on ‘serial returners’ has been in the spotlight lately, due to an increase in the volume of goods being returned over the last two years.

However, new research from Fresh Relevance has revealed that using more user-generated content could help to combat high return volumes. In a survey, 29% of UK consumers said that they find product photos from other customers useful when making online purchase decisions. The tactic also seems to particularly resonate with younger consumers, with 40% of Generation Z and 41% of millennials finding photos from other customers valuable when making a purchase decision.

Despite this news, just 16% of retailers are incorporating USG. Fresh Relevance also states that adoption varies by retail sector, with 0% of jewellery and accessories brands adopting UGC within marketing strategies, 10% of footwear brands, and 20% of fashion retailers incorporating this type of content. Beauty and electronics were found to be the best performing sectors for using UGC, with 30% of brands making use of customer photos.

USG stat

Six new and creative examples of user-generated content