Study: In-car internet to become “the norm”

Never will I forget the day some time between 2001 and 2002 when I went to the BMW pavilion exhibition in Munich to get an understanding of what “Connected Drive” means. Those days, even the people in the pavilion could not help us, and it took BMW three days to give us some proper feedback on this term via telephone. Today, the term is clearly defined as driving with internet access which enables all sorts of connected infotainment, and if you want to know more about it, you can get plenty of information here.

Every day today, people are sitting in their cars, grapping their smartphones while waiting at traffic lights – although a great Facebook page tells us not “Text-and-Drive”. The future will be different though…

According to the world’s top car bosses, in-car internet access is close to becoming reality. A recent survey by KPMG called “Global Automotive Executive Survey 2011″ shows that speech recognition and internet connection with Wifi and 3G will become the norm in the future.

The results of the study state that 37% of the 200 responding car executives see “infotainment” to be almost as important as car safety. It makes clear that over the next five years, car buyers will see in-car gadgets provided by the big tech firms like Apple, Google or Microsoft.

Intel already announced some collaboration with Toyota at the end of last year. Intel forecasts that the connected car is the fastest growing technological device following smartphones and tablets.

According to Reuters, Mercedes-Benz USA is bringing Facebook to its cars with the new in-vehicle telematics system that will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It allows drivers to access Facebook on the road. However it is not exactly the same as using the social network on a personal computer or a smartphone. “The version of Facebook offered in Daimler AG’s Mercedes is stripped down to a limited set of features, specially designed for drivers and centered around the locations of friends and businesses.” Audi’s A7 series already offers a built-in 3G wireless which shall be extended to other new models.

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Car manufacturers will look out for cooperation opportunities with IT companies as well as telecoms and the music industry. It will be interesting to see how much the in-car technologies will evolve and develop in combination with the Hybrid technology that will get the main investment according to 53% of the car execs. Apart from that 57% see speech recognition and built-in navigation as important product issues for consumers in the future. Just imagine you can send your tweet, write a blogpost or a Google+ status update without taking your eyes from the streets. If speech recognition performs, a lot of the dangerous texting and driving could end. Although it will take some time for people to adapt to the nex technology.

Study shows: Customers are social, Brands not…!

The IT company IBM were the first to make brands aware of the perception gap between what customers want from brands on Social Media, and what companies see as necessary. Some new studies from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and Lithium make clear that this perception gap widens.

What customers want…
The CMO Council asked 1,300 customers from around the world in a multiple-choice study. They discovered that 67% followed or liked brands to receive discounts and special offers. 65% replied that they connected with brands in order to get access to games or competitions while 60% want to connect with other customers.

What brands see…
The astonishing fact is that when the same survey was held with 120 CMOs (chief marketing officer), the results showed similar figures with the IBM study: Only 33% of the CMOs believed that their Social Media fans and followers were engaging with the brand for some kind of incentive or reward. Even more, just 27% understood that their customers were after exclusivity in terms of experience and savings.

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Social Media is not a top three priority for one in ten CMOs. The reason is not changing for years probably. 67% said a lack of time and resources makes up for their poor efforts. This is even more amazing when we consider that 72% of the customers use Social Media to connect with brands. AND: 80% are more likely to try a product based on a friend’s recommendation on Social Media, which probably means a Social Network. There is no explanation that could make sense for this Social Media ROI (=Risk of Ignorance).

PS: This little infographic illustrates the digital divide between customers and brands.

Study: Mobile and TV – Users beloved combination…

Some weeks ago, I have written about ConnectedTV as the new hype. And we have acknowledged that mobile apps and TV have got TV primt time as the main usage time. Still, we don’t really know how much people use mobile and TV at the same time. A new study sheds some light here…

According to a new survey issued by Yahoo and Razorfish, 80% of web-enabled mobile device owners say they multitask while watching television. They rely on smartphones and tablets to communicate with friends and family. They look up content which is related to the program they’re watching. They might also access information which has no relationship with the TV program.

And the combined usage of mobile and TV is not low. The study shows that 70% of mobile multitaskers use both platforms at least once per week. 49% even report multitasking daily. Over 60% use their mobiles at least once or twice during a TV program. And 15% don’t leave the mobile web for the time of the show they are „watching“.

The main categories for multitaskers are: reality, news, comedy sports, and food. The statement “Using the Internet on my mobile or tablet device while watching TV enhances my viewing experience” was agreed by 38% of the respondents. Nevertheless, another 38% „find using mobile devices while watching TV to be distracting”. Text content leads all channels, beating talking, email, social networking and IM.

“This seems to be an opportunity for content producers and advertisers alike. Some people find multitasking to be a boon, and we have only begun to scratch the surface in terms of providing an engaging dual-screen experience. It’s like the early days of smartphones where it was remarkable that people were making purchases from sites that were not mobile-optimized. If folks were willing to go through that much effort, it stands to reason that making the experience easier and more streamlined will lead to even more passionate participants.” Jeremy Lockhorn, Vice President Emerging Media, Razorfish

Some more findings from the study…
• 94% of multitaskers engage in some kind of mobile communication
• 58% of men “fact-check” information on their mobile browser while attending a live sporting event, with 47% checking out scores of other games and player updates.
• 52% use their mobile device to escape awkward social situations
• 44% seek information unrelated to the current program – 38% searching for data related to it
• Apple’s iPhone 4S leads all mobile phone searches according to Yahoo Shopping data, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Motorola Razr and the Nokia N9

Spot On!
Men seem to be more comfortable with mobile shopping processes. A former Performics study suggests that men are social shoppers and women the “Likers”. This study also finds that 70% of men under the age of 35 have made online purchases on their smartphones, compared to 64% of women in the same age demographic. And obviously the extention of TV to mobile starts to work: 36% say they go looking for more information related to a commercial they just viewed. Marketers need to start thinking multiscreen when planning their campaigns and ideally sync their mobile and TV campaigns immediately…

Innovation study: Is culture or strategy the key to success?

Obviously, the headline question is not easy to answer. Both elements have their impact on business success. At this years IBM JamCamp, we could hear many presentations why “culture eats strategy for breakfast”, and how to turn your business into a social business (i.e. Sandy Carter’s speech) that will drive innovation to new dimensions (and here is some hint how companies might get huge investments for social business realization).

A new study by Booz & Company also shows that spending more on R&D won’t drive results. The results from the study illustrate that the most crucial factors are strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation. The study surveyed almost 600 innovation leaders in companies around the world, large and small, in every major industry sector.

So what makes a truly innovative company? For sure, a focused innovation strategy, a compelling business strategy, deep customer insight, intelligent networking, as well as a splendid set of bright tactics. These are all elements that help giving your company an innovation boost. Still, the study states that corporate culture ties everything together — the organization’s self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing.

Still, the results of this year’s Global Innovation 1000 study make clear that only about half of all companies say their corporate culture robustly supports their innovation strategy. Moreover, about the same proportion say their innovation strategy is inadequately aligned with their overall corporate strategy. And although entire industries, such as pharmaceuticals, continue to devote relatively large shares of their resources to innovation, the results are much less successful than they and their stakeholders might hope for.

What I like about this study is that it supports my assumptions and thoughts of the Community Centric Strategy model. Across the board respondents identified “superior product performance” and “superior product quality” as their top strategic goals. And their two most important cultural attributes were “strong identification with the consumer/customer experience” and a “passion/pride in products”.

Statements like the following from the study could be taken as a proof for the future development towards a more cultural business attitude that puts the consumer in the middle of your innovation efforts…

“Our goal is to include the voice of the customer at the basic research level and throughout the product development cycle, to enable our technical people to actually see how their technologies work in various market conditions.” Fred Palensky, Executive Vice President of R&D and CTO, 3M Company

In my presentation at the IBM JamCamp 2011 I made clear that companies and brands need to close the perception gap between consumer’s demand and company goals. If companies don’t respect the 5 C engines of the Community Centric Strategy these two expectations cannot be aligned. We will continue to talk of target-groups instead of consumers that are grouping together in “community centers”. This is more of a cultural development companies need to go through than definable strategic capabillities by companies to drive innovations. By closing both the strategic alignment and culture gaps, companies and brands will better realize their goals and attributes.

Spot On!
The study results show that companies and brands should rethink the way they drive their innovation strategy. It suggests that the ways R&D managers and corporate decision makers think about their new products and services are critical for success. This includes all aspects how they feel about intangibles such as risk, creativity, openness, and collaboration. When nearly 20% of companies said they didn’t have a well-defined innovation strategy at all, it offers the chance to start anew and with the right approach. The Community Centric Strategy might be one solution for companies to evaluate culture as one of the main drivers to achieve your strategic goals in a modern way of doing business.

1 in 3 of 18-34s will do mobile shopping this christmas

Are you going shopping in stores to find some christmas presents? Or will you be doing your shopping tour via mobile? Well, if you use your mobile you are not alone…

According to a UK survey by marketing community site UTalkMarketing and online survey platform Toluna. 32% of 18-34-year-olds will use their mobile to buy Christmas presents this year.

However, this might sound as if only the young generation is shopping via their mobiles, the study makes clear that also older age groups are purchasing mobile with an increasing amount: 14% of 35-54 year-olds and 9% of over 55s year-olds also plan to get their presents for Christmas by using their mobile.

“The fact that a third of young adults are planning to buy their Christmas gifts via their mobile device is proof that the year of mobile-commerce is finally upon us. The fact that most mobile shoppers will do so directly via a retailer’s app is also strong proof that brands wishing to contend in the mobile-commerce arena must do more than simply provide a mobile optimised website,” says Melanie McKinney, Publisher, UTalkMarketing.

The survey questioned 1,300 UK consumers and found that iPhone users are the most likely to make a Christmas purchase via their device. 42% said they will make a Christmas purchase via their iPhone devices. 31% of those that say they will make a Christmas purchase via their mobile will use a BlackBerry and 27% will do so via an Android phone.

However, the advent of HTML 5 is near, apps are the retail channels of choice for the survey’s respondents. 88% of mobile shoppers will only make a purchase this Christmas if their retailer of choice has a transactional app. Only 12% of mobile shoppers will make a purchase directly from a retailer’s mobile-optimised website.

“The results of this survey are a clear indication that retailers cannot ignore the mobile-commerce wave. They need to adapt to and embrace the changing ways consumers now shop,” states McKinney.

Spot On!
Poor shops on the streets… The study is a good proof that mobile commerce is on it’s way towards mainstream. Also, the tablet movement, especially with the increasing use of iPads these days, will change consumer habits to go shopping in the future. Another YouGov survey released earlier this week suggests that 84% of consumers will buy at least one gift online this year with a third saying they will buy all of their gifts online. However, marketers have to be clear about the fact that more than a quarter of consumers (26%) are concerned about privacy issues when it comes to shopping via mobile according to the uTalkMarketing survey.

European Study – iPad becomes most popular internet device at home

In America, the iPad is the driving more traffic than smartphones already. But how are Europeans using the iPad? Sanoma has carried out a study in six countries in Europe (Netherlands, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Belgium and Germany) and surveyed 3,673 users. The average respondent was 39 years, and has high educational levels, with professional and academic qualifications.

The research illustrates that the iPad is a family device, and in second place used on holiday and when traveling. It replaces the importance of laptops and desktops, and becomes the primary computer at home. 73% of respondents use their laptop or desktop computer less, and 38% even their mobile phones.

People use the iPad predominantly in the evening (83%) and in the mornings (70%). 94% use their iPad several times per day with half of these spending between 30 minutes and 2 hours on it. Around one-third of respondents have downloaded more than 50 apps.

Germany (54%) and Hungary (41%) have the most users with more than 50 apps. Over half the respondents have paid for more than 6 apps. In general, women download fewer apps than men. Surprisingly enough, women play more games than men.

The iPad is a must have in Russia. Some households in Russians even own four devices. Whereas in Finland the iPad is more often used on the move, in Russia and Hungary it becomes the main computer at work twice as much as in other countries. And Germany even makes it to 4 hours usage time or more a day.

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The owner is by no means the only user. More than half (67%) of the iPads are actively used by other persons (over 30% children!). This must be a nightmare message for marketers. Just think about what this means to targeting advertising to an iPad user…

Social Media or/and Website for Lead Generation: What’s the key to success?

How often did we hear this question in the last three years? Marketers, sales(wo)men and many C-Level’s in the B2B space have asked the question many times in seminars. I am quite happy to have found a study that actually gives some insight in a quite complex business topic.

According to a Demandbase National Marketing and Sales Study in cooperation with Focus, the company corporate website is the top source of new sales leads for consumers. The corporate website still is the primary hub to harness customer interest driven by outbound online marketing activities. However, it is only second to personal connections and referrals. Nevertheless, more than seven times more effective than social media which speaks a clear language, right…?  Well, what if referrals lead to websites via Social Media?

Executives see the website as the top online source of sales leads (23%), followed by email (14%), online advertising (7%), and finally… social media (3%). What sounds as a clear message, is more a blur. The most important factor for measuring website effectiveness is the quality of leads generated (34% vs. quantity 9%). However, nearly one-half of executives surveyed do not know where users are most likely to leave their website.

Another interesting thing is that study participants stated that the website still vastly underperforms in terms of lead generation. Although companies think they understand their sales prospects (over 60% respond knowing or understanding their prospects well), driving sales leads is still a big challenge for them. 80% of the respondents said the corporate website is not performing to its maximum lead generation.

Did you ever ask yourself how a consumer found your website? Can a website alone be enough to generate quality sales leads? What is the key to generating more leads from the web? Is it the website only? Well, once your website is ready to attract customers, it needs to get traction.

Often in the last weeks, we came across one of the main effort to get there: content generation. What makes search engines to drive (potential) customers back to your website? Content. And often marketers say: “We have tons of content! Why is no one coming back?” The answers is easy: Content needs some systematic approach, and that can best be achieved with inbound marketing. And that’s were Social Media comes into the game. So, the website alone is not the answer to lead generation.

“Social media may be heralded as the silver bullet to bring B2B marketing up to snuff but, despite its increasing influence, it’s important to keep in mind that no business sale is made without the buyer going to the corporate website first. Regardless of its origin–social media or e-mail, banners or search–traffic driven from online marketing initiatives always intersects at the website. And, while businesses are investing heavily in their sites, the study shows that they are then ignoring the very audience they worked so hard to attract.” Chris Golec, CEO, Demandbase

Spot On!
The study shows that there is a lack of understanding how to optimize and generate new sales leads and demand generation. Analyzing websites and drawing the right conclusions from site performance and the clients’ brand journey experience is what needs to be elaborated on. Obviously, many marketers still have “better things to do” or not the time to verify the back-end. Marketers need to understand that their web strategy should be focusing on connecting website experience and the brand journey towards it. This in the future will be mainly driven through inbound activities that could find a catalyst in referals. Companies just need to elaborate on the interconnection between website and Social Media. That’s where the answer to lead generation is hidden…

Don’t you agree…?

Study: Three mindsets of search categorize peoples’ seach mode

According to a new study conducted by the New York Times Co.’s About.com in collaboration with Latitude there are three kinds of search behavior: “answer me,” “educate me” and “inspire me”. Thus, the study identifies some distinct human behavior search patterns which will help marketers connect and understand the target groups they are heading for.

So, how do these three search pattern types differentiate in the study that surveyed 928 Americans, age 21 to 54 with household incomes of $50,000 or higher?

“Answer me” searches accounted for 46% of all searches, the study found. People searching in this mode simply just want exactly what they ask for. They don’t want any value add. Their typical search is looking for beauty, fashion and entertainment.
Advice for marketers: The option to capitalize on an “Answer me” moment by featuring product benefits front and center, in addition to aligning content that presents quick, easy-to-find answers, offers a massive opportunity to marketers to generate leads.

“Inspire me” searches accounted for 28% of all searches. This is the typical browsing mode. Usually, people in this mode look for travel as well as home and garden.
Advice for marketers: For those consumers in the “Inspire me” mindset, creativity and different inspirational information sources will be wanted by consumers.

“Educate me” searches accounted for 26% of all searches. People searching in this mode expect to find multiple perspectives on a topic. The top categories of most interest are health and finance.
Advice for marketers: In the “Educate me” the contextual search mode marketers offer might help consumers with creating informative, multiple messages.

From a brand marketer’s point of view, the study explains that ads can be relevant to search. When nearly 90% of respondents “enjoy when brands stop trying to sell you something and focus on teaching you something,” this tells them that putting your bets on search is defenitely not the worst tactic.

Furthermore, most respondents agreed on search advertising terms…
- the best ads are the ones that work with the information source to help you get what you need (88%)
- that ads can be useful when they are very relevant to their search (77%)
- that ads have helped them find great options, deals or discounts (64%)

Spot On!
However, marketers can take their advantage from this study, being successful with the findings is still a challenge. What is the best way to identify in which mode a user is? The easiest option will probably be to have some ads for each of the categories. Still, this means to have the right content when consumers are clicking through to the landing page. If you think about it, you will understand why content marketing is seen as a major trend from CMO’s.

Incentivized ads boost brand perception, study finds

According to a recent study by KN Dimestore and SocialVibe brand messages and incentives influences most consumers to pay more attention to ads. In fact, if companies combine these two advertising and brand strategies, the interaction of consumers with brands increases by 91% and brand perception by 38%.

The study -which gathers data from more than 30,000 survey respondents- reported that when 48% of survey participants initially opt-in to engage with a brand for the incentive, they stay and pay attention to the brand message.

The aim of the study was to find out if and why incentives prompt people to engage with the advertisements, how they affect consumer perception of the brands, and if they influence people to visit the company’s website or „buzz“ their friends about the offer. Respondents gave feedback on ads from U.S. brands across financial services, CPG, entertainment, e-commerce and technology categories between June and July of 2011.

Some key findings of the study…
48% of those interact because of the incentive but pay attention to brand
12% interact purely based on brand
31% interact for brand and incentive
9% interact purely for the incentive

The results summary makes clear that engaging with the ad increased the odds that the consumers would purchase the product. Above that, incentives through ads drive website and in-store traffic, as well as purchases – and also conversions. Happy customers are coming back more often to the website when initially satisfied with an incentive through incentives. 36% of respondents were more likely to purchase brand-related products at physical store after interacting with the ad.

SocialVibe names the strategy “value-exchange brand advertising”. The company defines it as ads that ask for a consumer’s attention in exchange for something they want, such as virtual currency for social games or making a donation to charity. There is a clear differentiation from sign-up and straight purchase intended offers like cost-per-action (CPA) advertising.

Spot On!
The study is an interesting step in indicating the value of ads for branding. Generating consumer interest and awareness get’s more and more challenging these days with the masses of advertising we are faced with on a daily basis. Mobile advertising shows some similar development in terms of incentivization and engagement. Often companies said that the value of ads is getting lower as they just value it from a conversion-based ROI perspective. However, the study now shows that earning points, virtual currency or some other rewards finds the atention of customers. That’s when conversion comes into play, and that’s where brands need to foster engagement to a purchase via the right communication tactics.

Mobile Study: Retailers focus consumer mobile efforts on stores

One of the latest research projects “Keeping Up with the Mobile Consumer” by Retail Systems Research (RSR) which was sponsored by Google and SAP Research, states that retailers are eager to engage with consumers via their personal mobile devices, but focus their efforts on driving customers to stores, rather than on mobile commerce. The study offers some orientation and recommendations for successful mobile strategies for retailers (and brands).

The research studied of 83 qualified retailers in the summer of 2011 and divideds the respondents in best performers – Retail Winners – and other performers. It states that 79% ackowledge that a cut and paste version of a full eCommerce site is simply not a viable mobile strategy. It also shows that the “Winners” are somewhat ahead of the market, however it is early days in mobile ecommerce.

For Retail Winners the future of mobile ecommerce is not only an extension of their website to the mobile channel (77% vs. 88% of all others). Most retailers look to outside advertising agencies with mobile experience – 31% to 18% of the Winners.

The best performers take a broader view of what mobile really looks like as it relates to how consumers use mobility, the study suggests. Winners focuse much more on the ability to write once and deploy across multiple mobile platforms than are average and underperformers (73% vs. 35%).

“Overall, 51% of respondents say that their mobile sales will grow significantly in the next 3 years, and another 42% expect at least some growth, if not a significant amount. And while the top mobile channel capabilities for our retail survey respondents include search for merchandise and receive coupons/offers, Retail Winners tell us they are laser-focused on using mobile to help the purchase process,” Nikki Baird, Managing Partner, RSR Research

According to the study for the Winner retailers the main challenge is that consumers are using mobile as part of their shopping experience and that they need to be there and they see (92 vs 81 of others). 42% (versus 29%) see significant online traffic from mobile sources which they need to respond to. Even the Winners (38%) admit that mobile technology is evolving too quickly and they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation (48% of others).

“There’s going to be a lot of trial and error, and even though not all new endeavors will be successful, it’s important to remember that the consumer already wants to use the device she has in her purse; even if a new tactic falls short, she’ll be eager to try it, and she’ll likely reward you for trying,” Steve Rowen, co-author of the report.

Spot On!
Generally speaking, the study shows all retailers are aware of the common and future status of mobile. They recognize the opportunities that mobile devices offer to them, their capabilities, and the shoppers’ willingness to use them. However, it is still difficult for them to predict the best retailers understand that “the next big thing”.

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