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31 Insightful Facts about Australians Internet Usage

July 21, 2012 No Comments

It’s been a long time between drinks but I have finally found the time to collate my latest stats compilation for the Australian digital market. So to make up for it I have compiled over 30 insightful statistics into the digital market down under.

General Statistics

1. Australia’s internet audience reached 16.2 million in May 2012 – Nielsen Australian Online Landscape Review

2. Six in ten online Australians have used the internet while watching TV; more than one third do it on a daily basis – Nielsen, Australian Online Consumer Report

Mobile & Tablets

3. An estimated 18% (up from 8%) of Australian households now own at least one tablet device. Tablet devices are forecast to reach 39% of homes by 2013 – Nielsen, Australian Online Consumer Report

4. An estimated 48% of Australians aged 16+ years own a smartphone (35% in Q1 2011) – Nielsen Australian Multi-Screen Report

5. Time spent accessing mobile internet continues its upward trend: 4.2 hours per week, up 20% from 3.5 hours in 2010 – Nielsen, Australian Online Consumer Report

6. 71% of Australians have access to the internet from their phones, but only five per cent use their phone to make a purchase – MasterCard Online Shopper Survey

7. 17 per cent of Australians were willing to use a mobile service to pay for goods in-store – MasterCard Online Shopper Survey

8. A recent IPSOS Research / Google survey revealed of those who owned a smartphone, 49% had purchased an iOS device, 25% used Android, 8% had a Symbian and 4% had a Windows Phone – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

9. 24% of Australian smartphone users take their phones with them when shopping to research products, and 22% of them change their minds while in-store about a purchase after completing a mobile search – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

10. 57% of smartphone users actively searched on their mobile device after seeing an ad on TV – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

11. 61% of mobile users are unlikely to return to a site that they had trouble accessing from their phone – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

12. Australia has the second highest smartphone usage by population density, second only to Singapore – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

13. 51% of smartphone users access internet via their mobile multiple times a day – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

14. On average Australians have downloaded 28 apps on their smartphone, however only 10 of those apps have been accessed in the past 30 days – Our mobile planet: Australia – understanding the mobile consumer’ report

Social Media

15. 62% of Australian internet users, use social media sites, of those users 36% access social networking sites at least once a day – AIMIA Yellow Social Media Report

16. 97% of those using social media sites – use Facebook. Year on year usage of LinkedIn grew from 9% to 16%, whilst Twitter usage grew from 8% to 14% – AIMIA Yellow Social Media Report

17. Australian social media users have, 227 friends and followers on average, however they have seen less than half of them face-to-face in the past year – AIMIA Yellow Social Media Report

18. More than half of social media users are accessing social media sites through their smartphone. – AIMIA Yellow Social Media Report

19. 33% of social media users, discuss TV programs on social media whilst watching the show – AIMIA Yellow Social Media Report

20. 71% of Australian internet users have read other consumers’ opinions and discussions about brands online and 59% watch online videos to help inform their purchase choices – Nielsen Australian Online Consumer Report 2011‐2012

21. 71 per cent of Australian internet users check their email at the beginning of the day while only 17 per cent will check Facebook – ExactTarget Digital Down Under Report

22. The last thing 47% of the Australian consumers do before going to bed is check email; 27% check Facebook – ExactTarget Digital Down Under Report

23. Facebook users visit the site on average 16 times a week – ExactTarget Digital Down Under Report

24. Australians spent an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes per month watching any online video (not just television broadcast related content) in Q1 2012, up from 2 hours and 7 minutes in Q1 2011 – Nielsen Multi-Screen Report

Online Purchasing Behaviour
25. Australian businesses received online orders worth $189 billion in the 12 months to 2010-11. This figure is up from $143 billion in 2009-10. – Smart UpStart (ABS Statistics)

26. More than one in five online Australians shop/browse between 6pm and 10pm – Nielsen Australian Online Consumer Report 2011‐2012

27. Older generations prefer to purchase from Australian sites with those aged 50 to 64 years old making online purchases from retailers located onshore 71% of the time – MasterCard Online Shopper Survey

28 Gen Y are more likely to shop overseas with 42% of all online purchases made by 18-24 year old shoppers made through international retail sites – MasterCard Online Shopper Survey

29. 44% of Australian shoppers said they would move on if a page takes more than 15 seconds to load – Roy Morgan Research

Online Advertising

30. 15.6 billion display ad impressions were delivered online in Australia, reaching 15.1 million Internet users in January 2012 – comScore

31. Facebook accounts for nearly 1 in every 4 (23%) display ad impressions in Australia – comScore

Watch this Video on Social Media Marketing Strategy:

References

AIMIA / Yellow Social Media Report – http://www.aimia.com.au/social-media-report
Australian Multi-Screen Report – http://www.nielsen.com/au/en/news-insights/press-room/2012/australia_s-multi-screen-report-for-q1–2012-shows-television-vi.html
Australian Online Consumer Report – http://www.nielsen.com/au/en/news-insights/press-room/2012/new-online-activities-services-and-devices-bringing-australians-.html
ComScore Ad Metrix –
www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/3/comScore_Launches_Ad_Metrix_in_Australia/
Nielsen Australian Online Landscape Review www.iabaustralia.com.au/images/uploads/Nielsen_Online_Landscape_Review_May_2012_Media_Pack.pdf
ABS Statistics – http://www.startupsmart.com.au/internet/mobile-web-searches-surge-as-online-orders-hit-$189-billion-a-year/201206276742.html
Herald Sun – MasterCard Survey Results –http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/in-store-shoppers-pay-by-smartphone/story-e6frf7jo-1226410642276
Google Mobile Planet – http://mumbrella.com.au/australian-mobile-users-more-sophisticated-than-us-or-uk-counterparts-says-google-australia-92082
Google Mobile Planet – http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet
ExactTarget Digital Down Under Report Findings – http://www.mtmag.com.au/australians-online-around-the-clock-survey/
ExactTarget Digital Down Under Report Findings – http://anthillonline.com/1824-94100-maximum-internet-down-under/
Mastercard Online Shopper Survey – http://www.mastercard.com.au/media-releases/03222012.html
Roy Morgan Research – http://www.powerretail.com.au/insights/selfish-impatient-australian-shoppers/

Digital News & Trends, Social Media

Australian Brand Interest in PINterest

March 14, 2012 No Comments

Whilst Facebook is anticipated to reach its billionth member in 2012, it seems Pinterest is stealing the limelight. And despite the fact that Pinterest usage is unlikely to rival Facebook visitation at least in the foreseeable future, its growth cannot be ignored.

A social media fairytale

According to ComScore, Pinterest traffic reached a high of 11.7 million unique visitors in January 2012 – up from 400,000 less than 12 months ago – making it the fastest growing website to reach 10 million visitors in history. What is however most extraordinary about this growth however is that Pinterest is still at the “invitation only” phase.

But the darling networks success doesn’t end there. According to Shareaholic, in February 2012, it was announced that Pinterest drove more traffic to retail sites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined, and Pinterest also drives more traffic to blogs than Twitter.

But whilst the Pinterest phenomenon has caught on globally, are Aussies showing the same enthusiasm towards Pinterest? The answer is definitely a resounding YES, with Nielsen reporting a surge in Pinterest’s unique audience numbers in Australia, from 140,000 in December to 360,000 in January.

What is of PINterest?

With up to 80% of Pinterest users female – there is little surprise that the most popular content being pinned is related to all things girly. According to analysis from RJMetrics globally, the most popular broad categories of content being pinned are;
• Home (17.9%)
• Arts & Crafts (12.4%)
• Style & fashion (11.7%)

However the analysis also revealed the content category achieving the highest levels of repins is Food.

Brand Interest

Globally the number of brands flocking to Pinterest over the past few months has begun to snowball and it seems Australian brands are beginning to dip their toes in the water.

Tourism Australia

In recent years Tourism Australia (TA), has been one of the first brands to experiment and successful leverage key digital channels – particularly within the social sphere. Thus it would come as little surprise that TA is one of the first brands to trial Pinterest in Australia.

According to an article published on Mumbrella, TA’s strategy is “the same as our wider social media strategy – to inspire people to share their experiences and advocate Australia, with the ultimate aim of encouraging more people to visit.”
At the time of preparing this article, TA has 31 pinboards and 840 pins as well as over 400 followers.

Kikki.K

Kikki.K has also shown interest in the new virtual pinboard site and as a result has integrated the “follow” and “pin it” badges within its site to encourage people to share / pin its latest stationary. A quick search on Pinterest shows that the brand is definitely doing something right with many Kikki.k products already pinned by users. In addition to date Kikki.K has established a following of over 750 followers and boasts 22 pinboards and 581 items pinned.

Other Australian brands which seem to be experimenting with Pinterest at the time of writing include Amnesty Australia, and Triple J – Obviously it is early days when it comes to Pinterest thus it will take some time for brands to master Pinterest. But based on referral data and the sheer growth – it is probably safe to say that brands may need to start to consider if Pinterest is relevant to their social strategy as first mover advantage is key.

Video: Pinterest Marketing Tips for Brands

Digital News & Trends

2012 – 2015 Digital Predictions & Trends

January 29, 2012 No Comments

If you thought digital has evolved rapidly over the past few years, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Over the next 4 – 5 years, digital innovation as well as spend is expected to sky-rocket. After reading countless prediction articles, this is a compilation of 22 forecasts and emerging trends which no major brand can afford to ignore. In particular more half of these are related to mobile – which demonstrates the impact it will have on the industry in the years to come.

Mobile & Tablet – Current Usage, Forecasts & Trends

1. Smartphone Penetration; In 2015 nearly 90% of all Australian mobile phone users will have a smartphone, up from just under 50% in 2011.
2. Tablet Usage; Gartner predicts tablet shipments worldwide will grow from 17.6 million in 2011 to an astounding 326.3 million in 2015. According to PWC one in every four Australian consumers will own a table computer by 2015 – which is higher than the global average which is anticipated to reach 15 – 20%.
3. Mobile Internet Overtakes Desktop Usage; Telsyte forecasts online publishers in Australia will have a larger smartphone audience than the computer-based online audience by 2015. The inflection point will occur sometime during 2014.
4. Mobile Gamification: By 2015, 70 per cent of global 2000 companies will have at least 1 gamified app.
5. App Downloads: IDC forecasts the number of annual mobile app downloads to increase from 10.7 billion in 2010 to nearly 183 billion by 2015.
6. Windows Marketshare; Windows Phone is forecast to reach 20% market share globally by 2015. Gartner/IDC said the big loser would be iOS and Android will only continue to grow reaching as high as 49% by 2015.

7. Mobile Payments; By 2015, Gartner predicts mobile payments will account for 5 per cent of all consumer electronic transactions worldwide.
8. Second Screen Usage; According to data from Yahoo/Nielsen, 86% of web users now use a mobile device while watching TV.
9. Mobile Gaming; Mobile gaming in the US is anticipated to be worth $591.5 million by 2015 up from $181 million.

On the basis of the above, there is little doubt that mobile will be the device of choice to access the internet in years to come. How marketers leverage mobile to connect and engage with consumers however is still in its infancy – and over the next few years marketers will need to focus on new trends to remain relevant. Some of which include;

10. Context Aware Experiences; Context-aware services and applications will provide improved user experiences by using personal information i.e. interests, intentions, history, environment and preferences to anticipate consumer needs and proactively serve up the most appropriate content, product or service.
11. Object Recognition; Object Recognition (OR) apps are penned as a hot trend to watch in 2012 and beyond. OR recognises a user’s surroundings including specific objects of interest. OR is anticipated to open up a world of new opportunities for marketers to engage and connect.
12. Near Field Communications (NFC); Near field communication can quickly swap information between devices when they’re touched together – and is tipped to become a popular mobile payment method in years to come – however near field communication (NFC) payment is not anticipated to become mainstream before 2015.

Video & Social Media Usage, Forecasts & Trends

13. Social Commerce; Gartner Research recently predicted that 50 percent of all digital sales will flow through social and mobile platforms by 2015. In addition $30 billion in global purchases expected to occur on social networking sites in 2015.
14. Personal Information Lock-Down; Gartner predicts in 2012, we will see the start of a negative backlash against social media, with 20 per cent of consumers reducing the amount of information they share online.
15. Shift from UGC to professional video content; In 2012, there will be shift toward professionally created video content. YouTube will launch at least 90 new original channels featuring celebrities, professional creators and more. This new trend, will drive consumer demand for more professional content.
16. Photo / Multimedia Networks Emerge; Growth in Instagram and Pinterest, demonstrates the rise of photo / multimedia social platforms. Instagram reached 15 million users by the end of 2011, whilst Pinterest received over 31 million visits and this is anticipated to accelerate over the coming years.

Online Advertising (Paid Search, Display & Video)

17. Online Video Advertising Growth; Forrester Research predicts digital video advertising (US) will reach at least $5.4 billion by 2016; in 2011 digital video ads pulled in $2 billion. Whilst eMarketer predicts video ads will overtake rich media advertising spend, growing to over $7 billion in 2015.
18. Mobile Advertising Growth; eMarketer predicts $1.07 billion to be spent on mobile advertising in 2015 of which $213.6 million will be spent on mobile video advertising.
19. Shift away from paid search; By 2016, Forrester predicts a shift away from paid search towards display advertising. Forrester predicts search share of online media spend will decline by 11% as paid search costs continue to rise and ROI is eroded.
20. Online Ad Spend Surpasses TV; According to Forrester, Interactive marketing spend is set to dethrone TV globally (this includes search marketing, display advertising, email marketing, mobile marketing, and social media) and represent 26% of all advertising.

Other Digital Forecasts

21. Connected TV Growth; It is predicted that 65% of TVs sold in 2012, will be connected TVs – rising to as many as 80% by 2015. Whilst a few brands have began investing in the space, 2013 is likely to see investment in TV apps and content accelerate – which will be partly driven by the introduction of Apple TV in 18 months time.
22. Connected Cars; In the same way TVs of the future are internet enabled, so too will cars – with an estimated 55 million global consumers able to access internet via their vehicle by 2016.

References:

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/slideshows/show.aspx?c=87261&slide=12
http://www.telsyte.com.au/?p=1140
http://www.kansan.com/news/2012/jan/26/site-pinterest/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/30-social-media-predictions-for-2012-from-the-pros/
http://www.zdnet.com.au/2012-mega-predictions-round-up_print-339329368.htm
http://www.thestrategyweb.com/facebook-commerce-prediction-of-30-billion-by-2015
http://mashable.com/2011/12/08/media-ad-trends-2012/
http://www.isuppli.com/automotive-infotainment-and-telematics/marketwatch/pages/the-next-internet-boom-connected-cars.aspx
http://www.zdnet.com.au/2012-mega-predictions-round-up_print-339329368.htm
http://www.thestrategyweb.com/facebook-commerce-prediction-of-30-billion-by-2015
http://socialtimes.com/7-predictions-for-online-video-in-2012_b87078
http://mashable.com/2011/12/08/media-ad-trends-2012/

Digital News & Trends, Social Media

2011 Social Media Compendium

November 11, 2011 No Comments

One of the most popular posts published on my blog has been the social media compendium I compiled back in March 2010. Given these stats are now a little out of date I have compiled some of the latest info to provide my digital peeps with a central source of data to pull out of the bag in times of emergency (for pitches / selling in concepts to Senior Exec’s yada yada yada) Enjoy!

Australian Social Media Usage Statistics

• People of all ages are using social media: According to a recent Sensis eBusiness report 82% of people in their 30s, 47% of people in their 40s, and 45% of people in their 50s-to-60s are connected on social media sites in Australia.

• More Australians’ are logging in more frequently: 4 in 10 Australians log on to social networking sites several times per day, up from less than three in 10 last year

• Social Media fix during work hours: Almost one in four Australians access social networking sites from their workplace.

• Majority of Australians are logging on: 59 percent of Australians have used a social network in the past 12 months

• Females are more obsessed with social networking than male counterparts: In the past 12 months – 61 per cent of Australian females have used a social network vs. 56 per cent of males.

• Blogging remains relevant to Australians: 44 percent of Australians have read a blog over the past 12 months

• Video uploads on the rise: 21 percent uploaded a video to the Internet up from 14 percent 2 years ago.

• A third of time spent online is spent interacting with social media: According to Nielsen research, Australian Internet users spend 7 hours and 17 minutes a month visiting social networks and blogs.

A Closer Look at Video Usage

According to a recent report by a third of Australians watched video content downloaded from the Internet.

Demographic breakdown: 68% of Australians aged 18-29 viewed online video content
50% of those aged 30-44 viewed online video content
34% of those aged 45-54 viewed online video content
22% aged 55 and over viewed online video content

Prediction: Watch this space (literally)! Online video usage is anticipated to continue to grow exponentially here and abroad in the coming years – thus it is not unreasonable to expect 50 – 60% of online users downloading / consuming video content via the web in the coming year to 2 years.

A Closer Look at Facebook Usage

According to Internal Facebook Data in September Australia has 10.5 million active Facebook users.

Australian Facebook Users By Age:

13 – 17 – 13 percent
18 – 24 – 24 percent
25 – 35 – 25 percent
36 – 44 – 17 percent
45 – 54 – 11 percent
55+ – 9 percent

Average Time Spent on Facebook: According to Nielsen the average time spent on Facebook by Australians is 6 hrs and 46 mins in August this year

Average Monthly User Frequency: In Australia, the average user visits Facebook 26 times per month!

Prediction: Expect Facebook usage to level out or decline (although I had predicted this in the past which may have been a bit premature). Facebook usage in markets like UK has begun to show fatigue which has led to small declines in the active number of monthly users. Facebook is definitely not going away any time soon but time on site / frequency of usage may start to retreat and new users are also becoming increasingly harder to attract.

A Closer Look At LinkedIn Usage

More and more professionals are subscribing to LinkedIn; 2 million plus subscribers in Australia as of October 2011.

Majority of professionals yet to sign up: According to market research firm Telsyte approx 40% of professionals in Australia use LinkedIn

Small businesses not embracing power of professional networking tools: Only 10.7 percent of LinkedIn subscribers in Australia are small business owners

Prediction: Whilst LinkedIn has gained momentum, growth has not been as rapid / steep as the likes of Facebook. I anticipate members will continue to grow in the coming year to 2 years as I don’t believe the product has reached saturation point in the market.

References
http://www.socialmediamarketing.com.au/social-media-marketing/linkedin-now-has-2-million-users-in-australia-but-new-competitor-is-gaining-fast.php

http://searcheverywhere.net/facebook-australia-statistics-august-2011/

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/technology/online-use-among-older-people-continues-to-soar/201110214267.html

http://about.sensis.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/2011%20Sensis%20e-Business%20Report%20FINAL.pdf

http://zo-au.com/nielsen-report-on-social-media-q3-2011

Advertising, Digital News & Trends

The Changing Face of Online Advertising

April 30, 2011 No Comments

Over the next few years the online advertising landscape will change dramatically. Consumer consumption of video, mobile and social are all starting to play a role in the way we plan and buy media however by 2015 our online media schedules will look very different to how they look today.

Video Advertising

Video advertising is one of the fastest growing segments in the online advertising market. In fact it is growing so fast Google predicts by 2015, 50% of ad campaigns will include video ads bought on a cost-per-view basis (that means that user will have choice whether to watch it or not).

Video advertising is still however in its infancy despite the fact that consumption of video by Australian consumers is significant. According to the IAB, Australians are now watching almost 1 billion videos online each month which provides a lot of opportunity for advertisers. And even though video based advertising grew by 83% year on year in Australia, total video spend by advertisers equated to 5.3% ($33.4m) of total digital advertising spend. This demonstrates just how far the industry will come in 4 short years if Google’s predictions are correct.

Whilst video advertising provides a significant opportunity for marketers it is not without its challenges. As some video channels / networks allow viewers to skip advertisements, marketers will need to provide more than a traditional TV style commercial– engagement and entertainment will be far more important in the video ad space.

Mobile Advertising

By 2015 it is anticipated that mobile internet will surpass desktop internet usage – and with that mobile advertising is expected to undergo rapid growth. In fact according to Gartner, global mobile advertising spend will total $3.3 billion in 2011 and this figure will balloon to $20.6 billion by 2015.

Like video, mobile too will bring several challenges. Small screens / ad formats will make it more difficult for marketers to communicate their message. The power of mobile combined with local however will also provide new opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers when and where it is relevant. We have already seen the power of mobile and local via Foursquare which has enabled retail brands to connect with consumers however this is the tip of the iceberg. Over the next 4 years will see significant investment from Google, Facebook and start ups in the mobile / local space, which will also result in new ad formats and opportunities for brands to target new and existing customers.

Social Advertising

In 2011, US marketers are expected to spend $3.08 billion on social network advertising, which is roughly 10% of total ad spend online and an increase of 55% from 2010. Whilst we are behind the US when it comes to digital, marketers take up of social media in Australia is on the rise so there is no doubt that social advertising will make up a larger slice of the advertising pie in the future.

Social advertising doesn’t just refer to display ads on Facebook. Whilst Facebook is one of the key social channels that marketers are advertising on, the social phenomenon is giving rise to new advertising opportunities. One of the growing trends in the social space is that of social gaming. As a result we are seeing social gaming organizations like Zynga building branded experiences into games. This includes McDonalds use of Farmville to provide virtual McCafe to players so they can work at double the speed as well as Honda’s virtual billboard in CarTown to name a few.

Social games aren’t however the only trend in the social advertising space. Social behaviour will also have an impact on how ads are consumed in years to come. According to Google just like most news articles on the web today can be commented on, shared, discussed, subscribed to and recommended, by 2015, 75% of ads on the web will be “social” in nature—across dozens of formats, sites and social communities.

Like mobile and video these social advertising trends will also present several challenges for marketers. Consumer’s ability to comment, share and rate advertising will change the fundamentals of advertising. Consumer’s will have a right of reply to a brand message and this is going to provide all sorts of challenges to marketers. Whilst new social advertising opportunities like those within social gaming platforms and across social networks will mean marketers need to become more creative, to deliver more than just their message.

What other trends do you think will impact online advertising in the coming years? Share your thoughts below.

Learn more about social and digital strategy by attending the iStrategy conference in Melbourne. With digitalmarketinglab you can save 10% off the cost of your ticket by entering this code: DML10.

Digital News & Trends, Digital Strategy, Digital Trends

Online & Offline Marketing – The Perfect Couple… For A Break Up

March 14, 2011 No Comments

As organizations are beefing up their digital strategies, one of the most challenging issues they will face it integration. As many marketing teams are divided by specialization delivering 1 consistent message can be difficult – particularly in larger organizations.

The importance of channel integration

Integration of your online and offline marketing is critical to maximize results. People no longer consider where a brand message is sourced. To them, they live their lives both online and offline without separation – it’s all just part of their everyday lives now, interwoven into one cohesive experience.

So if they online and offline activities are aligned and well coordinated effectiveness of each channel can deliver maximum impact.

A case study on integration

The recent NAB break up campaign, is one great example of integration across online and offline channels.
Whether you like the campaign or not it does seem to be having the desired effect for the bank by getting consumers to switch. According to NAB, in the three-and-a-half weeks since launch the bank experienced a 20 per cent increase in new transaction account openings; a 50 per cent increase in credit card applications; a 45 per cent increase in home loan refinancing, and a 35 per cent increase in home loan inquiries. And whilst the promotional spend has been significant, campaign effectiveness is being maximized through a well planned and executed combination of online and offline activities.
Let’s take a closer look at how online and offline tactics are being utilized in combination to achieve campaign goals and to deliver a consistent message to the market.

A blended launch approach got tongues wagging

The campaign started on Twitter, carried over to print then involved a number of guerrilla marketing stunts, and subsequent release of online videos all in a matter of the first few days of the campaign. By combining engagement channels with those of reach and frequency for the initial launch, NAB captured the attention of audiences which fuelled conversation and buzz within the first few days. If social was used in isolation I doubt that NAB would have been able to gain momentum as quickly as they had by utilizing the integrated approach.

Maximising offline investment online

NAB has invested a significant amount of spend in offline advertising to reach the masses. The campaign has leveraged an array of media from billboards and outdoor, to TVC, radio and in-store promotion to gets its break up message into the market. Investment like this of course delivers strong brand awareness and hopefully some change in brand perception. However aside from this it also drives many consumers to act and this could occur offline in a branch or online.

As graph 1 suggests, Google trends depicts a significant increase in brand related search since NAB launched its campaign. And the bank is ensuring that the effort and value derived from its offline activity is not experiencing online leakage to other brands. Searches for NAB break up reveal paid search ads, which drive users directly to the branded content on a dedicated landing page. NAB has also added “break up” site links within its more general paid search campaigns to ensure consumers looking for campaign content can find it easily. Whilst this may sound obvious many brands fail to do this and a lot of the hard work and spend can be lost.

TVC & Online Video Combo

Traditional TVCs, which deliver good entertainment value, thrive in the online environment. As consumers discuss campaigns offline or even in social space users will migrate to platforms like YouTube to see what all of the fuss is about. Last year ANZ showed how additional reach and frequency can be had through leveraging TVC assets in the video space but with this campaign NAB went one better. NAB not only released TVCs on YouTube, they also created 50 break up videos for the campaign.

Combining these 2 mediums would deliver far more reach and frequency than adoption of 1 channel. TVCs with good entertainment value can create a pull effect for users to re-engage with the content online and as NAB has created additional branded content – this provides consumers with other digital assets to view and share with their network. In addition by providing access to TVCs and other video content online, NAB is also able to reach audiences who predominantly spend their time consuming media online.

Aside from the benefits detailed above, NAB has also adopted the same rationale to video based search as it has to text based search. Its unique campaign idea and media strategy has driven many to seek out the branded content on YouTube and to ensure brand leakage does not occur NAB has sponsored video’s on YouTube to appear when “break up” searches are conducted.

Watch: Online and Offline Marketing Integration

Digital News & Trends

The Group Buying Craze Down Under

February 6, 2011 No Comments

The group buying space in Australia is really starting to heat up. In late January Yahoo!7 announced the acquisition of Spreets, GroupOn began its Australian assault with StarDeals and a number of brands have launched aggressive marketing campaigns to win market share. This article takes a closer look at the industry and what is in store for 2011.

The Market & Who Is Buying

According to Cudo CEO Billy Tucker the coupon market has grown from zero to a $150-200 million industry in just 10 months,” and expectations are for substantial growth in 2011 and beyond. Some of the biggest fans are working women aged 20s to 40s however it seems that these aren’t the only people buying. According to Cudo – 15% of its audience are retirees with spare cash and a willingness to try new things.

The competitor set

The substantial growth of the industry has attracted many players who are vying for a slice of the market (both local and global). As a result over a short period of time the market has become quite saturated, with more than 12 sites competing in the industry. Below is a summary of stats for some of the key industry players based on internet research:

Despite industry growth this year will no doubt sort the men from the boys. It will be a gruelling year for those in the industry – with most brands pulling out all stops to cement their position as the industry’s largest group buying site. There are some fairly big obstacles however that those in the market will need to overcome. The first is surviving in a saturated market. With over 12 players in the market the number of competitors is unsustainable. Therefore 2011 will see some of the smaller sites either acquired by those bigger sites to further grow market share or they will simply fall by the wayside. Another big obstacle is differentiation in product offering to gain a distinct competitive advantage. Whilst Cudo claims it differentiates through only providing discounts which are more than 50% off the standard retail price– the reality is that there is little differentiation that I have seen amongst the industry players. Product exclusivity will be important as will be retaining a steady flow of good quality deals and offers over an extended period of time to keep users engaged. What we may see in 2011 is that some sites may become more specialised and focus their product offering on 1 or 2 verticals ie health and beauty or dining and entertainment to differentiate amongst competitors – however time will tell.

Will Facebook & Google Spoil The Party

When any significant internet trend emerges you can guarantee that Google and Facebook won’t be too far away. Facebook Deals is Facebook’s answer to the coupon phenomenon. Launched in Europe at the start of February, Facebook deals requires consumers to check-in to locations to receive discounts. In the UK a number of big name companies have already signed up to provide deals with more on the way. Apart from the location element there are a few differences between group buying sites and Facebook deals. The first is that discounts can relate to the simplest of products like coffee and advertising an offer to consumers is free. On the face of it, it therefore seems that Facebook Deals is more likely to kill foursquare than Group Buying sites however it also depends on how this product develops over time.

Similar to Facebook, Google too is set to launch its answer to the growing trend known as Google offers. Like Facebook Deals, Google Offers will provide consumers with the ability to access deals via check-in however offers will also be accessible via Google Place pages online. So will this be a “deal breaker” for the industry? Google’s recent track record with vertical strategies hasn’t been good and unless there is a dedicated team behind it encouraging brands to get onboard and ensuring that deal content is being refreshed and updated Google Offers may fall away as so many of Google’s vertical projects have.

More about Daily Deals and Group Buying sites:

References
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/women-harness-discount-power/story-e6frf7l6-1225997072065
http://mumbrella.com.au/forgot-cudo-or-spreets-were-number-one-for-social-38641
http://mumbrella.com.au/cudo-claims-audience-lead-over-spreets-is-battle-of-the-group-buying-sites-38467
http://www.newswire.net/newsroom/permalink/6241.html

Advertising, Digital News & Trends, Mobile Marketing, Social Media

Latest Digital Statistics Compilation Australia

January 18, 2011 No Comments

Since it has been a good 6 months since I have compiled a summary of Australian digital statistics, I felt it’s a good time for us to reflect on the second half of 2010. Enjoy!

Social – Facebook Usage

1. In December 2010 there were 9,361,520 Australia’s actively using Facebook.
2. In December 2010 – users by age group were as follows – 35% or roughly 3.2 million subscribers fell into the 20 to 29-year-old category. At 21% or nearly two million users each are the 30 to 39 and 13 to 19 age bands. More than 1.2 million users are in the 40 to 49-year-old band that makes up 13% of the total. And about 732,000 people between the ages of 50 and 59 form 8% of the total. The remaining 210,000 are aged 60 and above.
3. Facebook represents almost 1 in every 5 pages viewed on the web by Australians during September 2010. Facebook’s 19.3% share swamps Google.com.au’s 7.4% share of page views.
4. The average session time for a user visiting Facebook during September 2010 was 28 minutes and 58 seconds.

Sources
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/email-is-so-passe-for-facebook-generation/story-e6frg6z6-1225981885878
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/alan-long/2010/10/12_things_you_need_to_know_abo.html

Video

5. More than three quarters of online Australians (77%) watched video content on their computer at least once in September and a further 26% watched video on their mobile phone.
6. In October 2010, Australian video viewers consumed an average of nearly 8 hours of video.
7. Males spend a significantly longer amount of time viewing online video than females. On average, males watched just over 10 hours of online video in October, while females averaged 5.2 hours. Males also consumed a higher number of videos on average at 113 videos per viewer, compared to females at 72 videos per viewer.

Sources:
http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/OCR_GOS-oct10.pdf
http://www.comscore.com/

Mobile

8. According to the AIMIA mobile survey, the proportion of respondents who own a Nokia or Motorola handset has declined over the last few years, while those owning an Apple handset has increased. The top handset brands of respondents this year were Nokia (41%), Apple (21%), Samsung (12%), Sony Ericsson (9%), LG (6%), Motorola (3%) and Blackberry (3%).
9. 24% of respondents used their mobile phone for banking at least on a monthly basis, compared to 19% last year.
10. 12% of respondents used their mobile phone to buy things for their mobile phone at least once on a monthly basis, compared to 10% last year.
11. 9% of respondents used their mobile phone to buy things not for their mobile phone, at least on a monthly basis, compared to 8% last year.
12. In September 2010, one third of Australians (36%) accessed the Internet via their mobile phone in the past 30 days and 13 percent accessed the Internet via a handheld media device other than a mobile.

Sources;
http://www.aimia.com.au/home/news/member-news/aimia-releases-sixth-annual-australian-mobile-phone-lifestyle-index
http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/OCR_GOS-oct10.pdf

Online Shopping

13. In the past year, shoppers have spent $10 to $12 billion online, about 5 per cent of total retail sales of $250 billion.
14. Market researchers Frost & Sullivan predict that online spend will grow to $18 billion by 2014.
15. Online spending grew 12% in Australia in 2010

Sources;
http://www.smh.com.au/business/switchedon-consumers-signal-sea-change-in-retail-20110107-19iq7.html

Online Advertising

16. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Media and Entertainment Outlook 2010 – 2014 report, online advertising in Australia is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.4% every year for the next four years. While the same forecast for print growth is 1.9% and for free TV is 3.9%.
17. In Q3 2010, general display and classifieds advertising accounted for 26.5% and 24.6% respectively, of total advertising expenditure, while search & directories advertising comprised of the remaining 48.9%.
18. CPM based pricing continued as the dominant expenditure type with 75% of advertising expenditure allocated to CPM buys whilst 25% was on a direct response basis.
19. Finance, motor vehicles and computers & communications continue to be the dominant industries using general display advertising, comprising 44.3% of the general display spending. Motor vehicle (manufacturers) was the largest subcategory at 10.5% of general display spending for the quarter, marginally down from 10.7% in Q2 2010.

Source;
http://www.iabaustralia.com.au

Video: Digital Media In Australia – Facts & Figures

Digital News & Trends, Mobile Marketing

Mobile Mania in Australia – Mobile Internet Usage Statistics

October 23, 2010 No Comments

Last week I attended a mobile marketing breakfast held by Citrus in Melbourne. This was timely as AIMIA had also released their latest mobile study. With so many facts, figures and trends circulating it is therefore time to review and interpret just what this means for marketers.

Fact 1) AIMIA stated iPhone now represents 21% marketshare in Australia whilst a Telstra survey indicated ownership of iPhone was approx 10%.

Handset manufacturers globally and locally are very coy about releasing statistics related to handsets shipped to individual markets. As a result it is difficult to gain actual figures on handset ownership. What is however obvious from the above statistics is handset ownership of iPhone sits somewhere in the realm of 10 – 20% share in Australia. So what other manufacturers are dominating the landscape? Nokia still retains a high level of share with ownership above 40% but does seem to be slightly diminishing, whilst what is on the rise is the share of Android phones.
What this means is we have 3 to 4 dominant players which are battling for share and to quote the GM of Technology of Citrus “When creating mobile strategies don’t think handset think mobile capability”

Fact 2: 40% of smart-phone users in Australia are over the age of 40 (Source: AIMIA)

Like with social media locally and globally usage of smart-phones is becoming less generational. When mobilising your site it is therefore important to consider that it may be utilised by people of all ages thus how can you best cater for an array of individuals from different age groups.

However despite greater uptake by the older generations, it seems heavier usage still exists for younger demographics as well as for males – according to the Telstra Smartphone Index.

Fact 3: 41 per cent of consumers have installed a mobile application and of those 43% have installed less than 5 apps (Source: AIMIA)

When many organizations think mobile strategy they think apps. However these statistics show that whilst many consumers are using smartphone they are not all downloading applications. And those that are, many do so in small quantities. Therefore if your budget is small you need to decide where it will be best spent. I believe these statistics really crystallize 2 things;

1) Mobilise your existing site and build an app second
2) As app development can be expensive – do your research and your numbers and ensure that if you go down the application path that you build something unique otherwise your return may be minimal.

Fact 4: Mobile eCommence has grown in some areas and has been fairly static in others.

Statistics from AIMIA showed;
• 24% of respondents used their mobile phone for banking at least on a monthly basis, compared to 19% last year.
• 17% of respondents used their mobile phone to make payments at least on a monthly basis, compared to 12% last year.
• 12% of respondents used their mobile phone to buy things for their mobile phone at least on a monthly basis, compared to 10% last year.
• 9% of respondents used their mobile phone to buy things not for their mobile phone, at least on a monthly basis, compared to 8% last year.

What these statistics show us is that more convenience type transactions like banking and mobile payments are increasingly becoming important to mobile users. Whilst transacting for general goods seems to have remained rather static year on year. This could be because of the lack of m-commerce sites in Australia as many retailers still struggle to establish an eCommerce presence.

Fact 5: One in five use mobile search sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing daily. (Source; Telstra Smartphone Index)

In addition to the above trends, statistics from Google suggest mobile search has tripled in the past year. Trends such as these reveal the importance of creating a mobile search strategy and in particular optimising for local search.

Fact 6: Mobile advertising expenditure will reach $76m by 2015, growing at 46% a year (Frost & Sullivan)

Mobile advertising in Australia has reached $9.1 million in 2010, small compared to the projection of the next 5 years. As it is projected that mobile internet usage will surpass desktop by 2013, organisations need to ensure they are investing their marketing budget in channels where their audiences are spending their time. In Australia we have witnessed slow uptake of shifting spend from the offline to the online space and therefore organisations who exploit the trend early will benefit from low advertising rates and higher cut-through.

Related Video: Australian Mobile Marketing

Digital News & Trends, Digital Trends, Social Media

On The Digital Politics Campaign Trail With Some Clever Little Lemons

August 8, 2010 No Comments

Since my previous post it seems that both political parties have really taken their online marketing efforts up a notch. Julia Gillard’s Twitter following has ballooned in a short few months – growing to 36,000 followers, and both parties are adopting paid search to educate the Australian public about their stance on the big issues.

What however initially struck me about the marketing efforts (both online and offline marketing) of both political parties, is that political marketing hasn’t really changed over the past decade. We see the same ads on TV ridiculing the opposition and the same brash push marketing tactics that attempt to scare us into choosing 1 party over another. Well so I thought anyway.

Labour Lemons YouTube Video’s

It is refreshing to see that at least 1 party is leveraging the online channel in a way that is engaging the Australian public. The Liberal Party has decided to use YouTube as 1 of the channels in the marketing mix to market itself and they are doing so in a unique way. Liberalparty.tv has released a series of humorous and entertaining videos – featuring what they term the “Labour Lemons”.

With 3 videos released so far – the Labour Lemon video series seem to be making a few waves on YouTube. Together the 3 videos have received over 130,000 views and with the 3rd released as late as last Friday the 5th of August, this is sure to increase. These videos have outperformed the standard propaganda style marketing video content so often seen in politics and I no doubt believe given the success so far that we will probably see 1 more released before election day.

To view all of the videos in the series click here – http://www.youtube.com/user/LiberalPartyTV

Getting the most out of video

YouTube if leveraged in the right way can provide political marketers with a valuable channel to get their message to the masses. YouTube receives over 12 million unique Australian visitors per month and is obviously one of the ideal mediums for political parties to communicate their message. In this instance the “Labour Lemons” video series lends itself well to the social space – as content that is interesting or entertaining enough moves virally through popular social networks.

However I do feel there is more that the Liberal Party could be doing to gain maximum reach for their video content in the run up to the election. The first is utilising YouTube’s promotional opportunities to increase awareness and eyeballs to the content. Just last month we saw Cadbury trial a 1 day homepage buy out on YouTube – an opportunity which provides a brand with exposure to millions of Australians visiting YouTube daily. In addition the Labour Party is using sponsored video links in YouTube search results to promote its video’s on YouTube – an opportunity that the Liberal Party is yet to explore. Through greater awareness of these video’s, the Liberal Party would most likely see the viral effect treble.

Aside from online activity – it would be great to see the Liberal Party using these video’s as part of their TVCs to adopt a more integrated approach. Earlier this year we saw ANZ very successfully extend the reach of their offline “bank world” TVCs through YouTube.

With that said, I applaud the Liberal Party for trying something a little bit different and breaking the political marketing mould.

Have you seen some interesting and unique ways that either political party is leveraging the online channel? If so please share them below.

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