Categories
Europe In the News Ireland UK

Air Business: parent company announces strong performance – and lottery win!

An Post, the Irish post office and parent company of Air Business, has announced strong group results for 2013. It has also highlighted its success in winning a 20-year licence to run the Irish National Lottery, as part of the Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) Consortium.

In assembling PLI, An Post partnered with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), the 100 per cent owner of the Camelot Group which includes UK national operator Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd and Camelot Global, which provide consultancy and management services to lotteries worldwide.

Both An Post and the Camelot Group have proven track records of growing lottery sales in Ireland and the UK respectively, as well as having demonstrated global leadership in responsible gaming and corporate social responsibility.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of An Post, Air Business sees this long term investment as a positive commitment to An Post Group Companies. Adam Sherman, Air Business group managing director, said: “An Post gives us the freedom to operate independently while supporting us as part of their strategic growth strategy. The 20-year commitment to the Irish National Lottery is an encouraging investment supported by the strong group performance.”

An Post Group turnover for 2013 was €811.7m, an increase on the 2012 figure of €807.3m as a result of the company’s focus on growing revenue across the group’s activities.

An Post chief executive, Donal Connell (pictured on the left with An Post chairman Christoph Mueller) said: “This positive progress has strengthened the company as it faces the challenges ahead. Donal Connell and Christoph Mueller An Post

“We continued to focus on cost containment, productivity and efficiency improvement alongside strategic investment in revenue-generating mails and retail business streams and our strongly performing Group Companies including Air Business.”

Categories
Americas Europe France Germany In the News UK USA

New domain names set to revolutionise the way consumers search and shop online: report

A new report from NetNames – a major online brand protection and domain name management specialist – reveals how the web is set to transformDomains On Smartphone Shows Internet Websites And Information Addresses over the next five years. This follows the launch of thousands of new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .london, .shop and .sport. The inaugural Internet 2020 report comprises a survey of 6,000 consumers and 400 business leaders across four countries (UK, Germany, France and the US) and expert input from ICANN and other industry leaders.

In its research, NetNames found that 80% of internet users think the new domain names will make them more likely to enter a company’s web address into their internet browser rather than use a search engine. The simplicity and specificity of the new web address endings will make internet navigation less reliant on search, as users will be able to use direct navigation much more frequently. Businesses agree with consumers on this point, with almost half (42%) of corporate respondents identifying the biggest benefit of the new domain names as better search and recognition on the internet.

Further to this, the survey revealed that over half (59%) of daily internet users think the new web address endings will make it easier for them to find things on the internet. This view was even stronger amongst businesses, with 89% stating they believed that new web address endings will help consumers find their website. The type of endings thought most likely to support this change were those related to relevant communities (e.g. .bank, .sport and .art), which were highlighted by 44% of consumers.

Search engines will need to evolve their algorithms to reflect the relevance of the new gTLDs and the web traffic they will generate, and offer direct search within the URL bar.  Some are already taking proactive steps in this area, with Google having set up a dedicated gTLD business unit to run the infrastructure of 100 new gTLDs.

Gary McIlraith, CEO at NetNames, explained why the new domain names are likely to impact search traffic: “The internet is vast and we need search engines in order to find the content we are looking for. In some ways, that is even truer with so much new internet real estate being created by the new gTLDs. However, in cases where they have a specific website destination in mind, the descriptive nature of new gTLDs will help internet users to memorise naming structures and facilitate browser-based navigation to the specific areas of the websites they are interested in, bypassing home pages. Consumers will therefore become less reliant on using a search engine to find a website.”

“The new domain names effectively represent the resetting of the internet. Brands need to consider which of the new domain names will provide the most business value and be most relevant to their customer base in order to strengthen their internet presence and remain relevant in the changing nature of the internet. By doing this, brands will be able to secure continued success in the internet of tomorrow.”

Categories
In the News UK

Facebook and Twitter experience year of declining popularity (but FB is still king of Social Media)

 YouTube is the most popular site among 8-15 year-olds, UK research shows.

The popularity of Facebook and Twitter is continuing to decline among social media users, new YouGov research suggests.social-network_110002633-012814-int

The “Social Media 2014” report shows that one in ten (10%) social media users stopped using Twitter and around the same proportion (9%) stopped using Facebook in the past year.

The main reason for social media users stopping using services was a loss of interest (55%), followed by increasing concerns about privacy (26%). One in five (21%) say they were fed up with advertising and marketing strategies (21%) and one in six didn’t like third parties having access to personal content (17%).

The survey was based on 494 UK adults aged 16+ who stopped using a social media service in the 12 months to February 2014.

Yet despite its relative decline, Facebook is still the dominant force, with 86% of active social media users using the service. This is almost double the proportion of its nearest competitor, YouTube, which is used by 46% of active social media users. Twitter, the third most popular, is used by around a third (32%) of active social media users, while Instagram and Pinterest are used by 9% and 6%, respectively.

Although Instagram and Pinterest have relatively low rates of penetration, they have experienced marked growth in the past year. Three in ten (30%) Pinterest users joined the service during the six months leading up to the survey, with almost half of these (14%) signing-up in the month before the research took place. Similarly, more than one in five (22%) Instagram users joined the service in the half year leading up to the survey, with a third of these (7%) joining in the month prior to the research being carried out.

James McCoy said: “It could be argued that the relative decline of Facebook and Twitter is a direct result of social media being such an intrinsic part of people’s everyday lives. For example, Facebook has been available to the mass market for seven years and in that time it has gone from being a fresh, new and innovative start-up to a familiar colossus – a business empire with money to make and shareholders to satisfy. However, it should be noted that Facebook’s decline is relative – it is still the king of social media with impressively high levels of usage.”

Children and social media

YouGov’s “Social Media 2014” report also explored children’s use of social media. It found that YouTube is the most popular social media site among 8-15 year-olds, with more than four in ten (41%) logging into it most days. Facebook is second most popular (36%), far ahead of Instagram (13%) and Snapchat (11%). Just one in ten (10%) children surveyed regularly use Twitter.

(Base study: 508 GB children aged 8-15).

The relative lack of popularity for Facebook and Twitter among 8-15 year olds is driven by a belief that certain social media services are more suited to adults. Almost a third (32%) of children believe that Facebook is for a grown-up audience, while almost as many (30%) feel the same about Twitter. All other social media services came in at less than 15%.

Young people are also alert to potential problems on Facebook, with the vast majority believing that it is necessary to restrict access their profiles. More than four in five (84%) believe it is important to restrict access to profiles, with just 14% believing it is not important. Those believing it is important are significantly more likely than average to be girls, and their strength of opinion lies firmly in the “very important” camp.

 

Categories
Europe In the News UK

Loyal customers left frustrated as brands look to new business

A survey of more than 2,500 UK consumers has found that nine out of ten (89 per cent) believe most brands put more effort into attracting new Customer Service Showing Help Or Assistance For Consumercustomers than looking after existing ones.

The research, which was carried out by The Grass Roots Group, revealed this leaves customers feeling frustrated, with just under half (49 per cent) even considering switching loyalties if a provider’s special offers are only available to new customers.

In today’s highly competitive market, it is imperative brands do not lose sight of the importance of retaining existing customers, especially when they opt to attract new business with exclusive special offers. More than half (55 per cent) cited loyalty rewards as an important factor when staying with a provider, demonstrating it is an area that must not be ignored to keep customers happy.

Ian Horsham, divisional director, promotions and incentives at The Grass Roots Group, said: “It’s hard to go online or watch TV without being served up special offers for new subscribers or shoppers, making it all too easy for consumers to become fickle when it comes to loyalty to just one brand.

“Our research has shown that customer loyalty is being compromised and people will switch brands if they feel they are being forgotten or not given the same treatment as new customers.

“Brands are becoming complacent when it comes to customer retention. They concentrate too much on securing new customers, leaving others to feel undervalued. With the cost of customer acquisition five times greater than keeping existing customers happy, this strategy could have a huge impact on revenues and future business success.

“A loyalty scheme should go hand in hand with a new customer programme, as a key part of retaining them once they have made the decision to switch.”

The research was carried out this month and surveyed 2,610 UK consumers about their relationships and loyalty towards the following suppliers: phone and broadband; utilities; insurance; banks; supermarkets; and car manufacturers.

Categories
Europe In the News Ireland

Dublin: Breakfast event to throw light on data audits

Have you ever wondered exactly what happens when a company is data audited?

Do you need to know what the recent EU Right to Be Forgotten Legislation means for you and your business?DataXcel3

Do you want to know exactly your local Data Protection Commisioner’s latest report means to you?

In Ireland, on Thursday July 10, from 8-10am in the Dublin Chamber of Commerce on Clare street, the IDMA is hosting ‘Compliance and Croissants’ – a breakfast briefing.

During the event, Lorcan Lynch of DataXcel will present a case study of what exactly a business can expect from a data audit, how best to prepare and how to follow up to best remain compliant.

IDMA board member Hugh Jones, of Sytorus, will then outline exactly what the DP Commissioner’s report means, what is coming down the line regarding data and compliance and what the EU ratification of the Right to Be Forgotten Legislation means for direct marketers and data companies.

It’s vital information for anyone working in data. Tickets for IDMA members are €20 and €75 for non-members, discounts for DCC, IAPI and IIA members and are available here. 

Categories
In the News Middle East

Oman’s internet users’ e-commerce spending on products and services exceeded US$69.5 million in 2013.

A new Arab Advisors Group survey of Oman’s Internet users revealed that around 19.4% of the adult internet users in the country buy products, pay for arab advisors_6services or pay bills online through e-commerce.

The survey of internet users in Oman was conducted by the Arab Advisors Group between January and April, 2014 and revealed that around 19.4% of adult internet users in Oman buy products and pay for services and bills online. The Arab Advisors Group conservatively estimates the number of these e-commerce users to be around 180 thousand users.

The survey, Oman Internet Users and e-commerce Survey 2014, probed internet and cellular usage patterns, in addition to online games, e-commerce, online banking (e-banking) and e-government usage.

Mai Al-Zeir, Arab Advisors Group senior research analyst, said: “The survey revealed high adoption levels of mobile Internet; with 78.6% of Internet users reporting accessing the Internet through their mobile operators’ networks. The survey also revealed high smartphone adoption, with 96.5% of Internet users reporting owning a smartphone.”

The Arab Advisors Group survey questionnaire provides a focus on the following areas:

  • General information on respondents and their households
  • Internet usage
  • Cellular services
  • e-commerce
  • Online banking (e-banking) services
  • e-government services

The Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has already produced more than 3,875 reports on the Arab World’s communications, media and financial markets.

Categories
In the News

MMA reveals a creative framework for breakthrough mobile marketing campaigns

 Analysis of 450 award-winning and leading brand mobile campaigns uncovers five crucial creative insights.

An interactive creative framework on how to build and execute the most effective mobile campaigns has been released by the Mobile Marketing MMAAssociation (MMA).

The insights included are the result of an in-depth analysis of more than 450 global mobile campaigns, including the winners in the MMA’s annual Smarties Global Mobile Awards Program. The study explored a number of marquis brands and local innovators with highly successful mobile campaigns from around the world, including campaigns from marketers such as Delta, Dunkin’ Brands, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, O2, Samsung, Range Rover, Ray Ban, The Coca-Cola Company, Zyrtec and more.

The analysis examined the innovative mobile creative approaches of successful brands across some of mobile’s unique attributes, uncovering key commonalities and differences and revealing five key benchmarks:

1. The “Brand Activation Remote”

Mobile is the consumer’s remote control to activate engagement with your brand. Using mobile as a brand campaign unifier, bringing access, experience and commerce together, is an unbeatable combination to keep consumers constantly connected along the path to purchase. The unique opportunity here is for advertisers to use devices and campaigns to close the loop on prospects and leads, drive conversion, commerce and loyalty and bring brand experiences closest to their consumers.

2. There is no time like the present

It is said that timing is everything – and mobile brings that to life with the ability to engage and motivate consumers in the present moment and on their terms. From real-time shared experiences to native executions, location-based incentives and dynamic ad serving, mobile’s power is that it’s personal – (one or more phones per person, it’s a personal device); pervasive – (it’s with you all day, from first thing in am till last thing at night and at every opportunity for content, information, utility and transaction all day); and proximity (it’s always with you and marketers can use location as a predictor of human behaviour).

3. Content rules

Across a number of the highly successful mobile campaigns, compelling content was at the heart. Marketers gave consumers unique, shareable and first access content, games, music, stories and collectables. The common thread among all of these was a desired and immersive set of interactions that put the consumer at the centre of the brand story. In some cases, the mobile device was actually the unifier across all of a brand’s communication platforms, allowing consumers to move freely across and among a brand’s assets according to their requirements and on their own terms.

4. Enable bespoke consumer experiences

When consumers personally connect to some aspect of the brand and tailor that experience to their needs, preferences and tastes, everybody wins. Clearly, some brands are better able to customise than others, but again, results show that the ability to personalise brand communications with relevancy delivers a more meaningful response and depth of interaction. Brands can invite consumers in, make them feel heard and achieve significant impact when consumers can exert their preferences to create their own unique experience with your brand.

5. A toolkit to get things done!

Brands that can deploy tools on mobile devices that provide utility and save time can win in a big way. The big winners here used tools or calculators (some that learned what consumers liked), tech integrations that provide unique brand interactions or leveraged an ability to transact on the spot. All these enhance the consumer brand experience in a unique and useful way.

Greg Stuart, MMA CEO, said: “Creativity and innovation are fundamental to brands being successful with mobile. These benchmarks provide marketers and their agencies with a concise framework on how to think more strategically about mobile across the purchase funnel as well as how to leverage uniqueness that only mobile can provide.

“We hope this will stimulate new ideas and help the industry continue to raise the bar on mobile creativity, effectiveness and further innovation.”

 

Categories
In the News

Strategies by L’Oréal, Fendi, Clarks and Tag Heuer to drive in-store sales: showcased at event

Thirty-nine per cent of offline sales are influenced by online browsing, case studies showcased at a recent fashion event have showed.Try Buy Keys Show Shopping Online

Multichannel marketing firm, Solocal Group UK, revealed the top trends in digital strategy being leveraged by major fashion and luxury retailers to convert online researchers to in-store customers. http://www.solocalgroup.com/en>

Showcasing presentations and case studies from L’Oréal, Fendi, Clarks and Tag Heuer, the recent Solocal UK event demonstrated the current gap between online and offline purchasers. It also highlighted the power that digital strategies, including SEO, online store locators, data capture and social media have to influence in-store purchases, and the success that Solocal’s solutions have achieved for clients.

Former chief digital officer at L’Oréal and current chief strategy officer at QuantStreams, Georges-Edouard Dias highlighted that only 7% of total sales are made online, while 39% of offline sales are influenced by online browsing: “On and offline sales must complement each other. E-Commerce needs and fuels traditional commerce, while social and mobile channels are building a demand-based neighbourhood commerce community.

“Customers are now in control of the retailer relationship – they are the creator, producer and consumer of products and services. It is therefore not a matter of online sales taking over from physical shops, but of retailers reinventing their business mindset and format in order to connect, collaborate and collectively deliver in a way that suits the consumer’s new approach.”

Benoît Delporte, international e-commerce and digital marketing manager for L’Oréal brand Kérastase and Solocal Group customer, revealed that 70% of customers use search engines to locate their nearest store; 25% more than those going straight to the brand website. Highlighting the importance of effective SEO to capture customers, he also demonstrated how crucial store locator integration into websites was. The assimilation of social media and mobile channels to ensure seamless consumer journeys also featured highly in Kérastase’s strategy to convert online interest into in-salon custom, together with online contact forms and customer acquisition tools such as coupons and vouchers.

“We have benefited enormously from the integration of Solocal’s solutions into our digital strategy,” said Delporte. “Our web-to-store visits have increased by nearly four times in the 11 months since using the Leadformance store locator solution and we will shortly be implementing the Timendo real-time appointment booking facility to provide customers with a personalised online experience; booking the right service and hairdresser at the most convenient salon whenever they need to. This will continue to ensure our online traffic is being effectively converted into salon use.”

Solocal Group UK country manager, Bruno Berthezene, said: “While the Internet has made brand and retailer information globally available, one in four Google searches and one in three mobile searches are actually for local information. The key focus of our brands is therefore on helping retailers harness the benefits that digital media influence has on in-store sales, closing the gap between what consumers are expecting and what brand websites are offering and allowing retailers to transform online traffic to offline results.”

The event gathered more than 20 guests from brands such as Bell & Ross, Diesel, Net à Porter and Stella McCartney. The presentations can be found here.

Categories
Data Driven Channels Global In the News Mobile

Mobile device production – emissions to rise by more than 30% in five years, says report

A new report from Juniper Research has found that mobile device production will generate more than 115 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year by 2019.

This level –  equivalent to 60 years of flights from London Heathrow airport, or the annual emissions from 22.6 million cars – represents an increase of more than 30% on the 2014 figure.

According to the report – Green Mobile: The Complete Guide to Vendor Strategies & Future Prospects 2014-2019 – vendors have made progress on reducing their own carbon emissions but have not prioritised environmental sustainability to the extent required to drive their suppliers into action.

Still weaknesses in the supply chain

As vendors are directly responsible for fewer than 5% of overall production emissions, the report highlights the need to drive change across the whole value chain in order to achieve a significant net reduction across the whole industry.

With MNOs (mobile network operators) starting to unify their eco-ratings, and consumers able to quickly have vast amounts of product information at their fingertips, vendors cannot continue to hide bad practices in their supply chain. The report demonstrates that the greatest reductions can be made in component manufacture. By encouraging component makers to improve energy efficiency and adopt more renewable energy sources, vendors could incentivise a potential 18.8 megatonne decrease in GHG emissions.

Green business is good business

Additionally, the report argued that with eco-ratings playing a larger part in product evaluations, the business imperatives for sustainability were impossible to ignore.

Other key findings include:

  • Phone design has a large impact on recyclability, as certain design features make recycling uneconomical. Vendors must plan for the end to ensure they do not exacerbate the growing e-waste problem.
  • ICT lobbying of energy companies has had a positive impact on renewable energy adoption, and further action here could curb user-related emissions.

The white paper, ‘How Green Is My Mobile?’ is available for download from the Juniper website together with full details of the report and the attendant Interactive Forecast Excel (IFxl).

Categories
In the News UK

Is Privacy already consigned to history?

Just 12% of people in the UK believe their mobile calls and texts remain private, with 35% so concerned that they’re careful what they say when making a private call on a mobile device.

Almost a quarter of people (24%) actively avoid making sensitive calls on a mobile phone in a bid to win back some privacy.

Those are the findings from a study of 1,000 employed people, sponsored by global private communications firm, Silent Circle and conducted via OnePoll.

The study reveals that more than half (54%) of the poll respondents believe ‘anyone with the right equipment’ has the ability to listen in on their mobile calls and texts. With the recent confirmation by Vodafone of secret wires on its network, surprisingly 20% believe it’s OK to listen in on people’s calls. A defiant 61% of respondents would like to see tougher jail sentences for snoopers and eavesdroppers.

Vic Hyder, revenue chief for Silent Circle, said: “What our study confirms is that the wider working population of the UK is aware of the ever-increasing threats to the data we transmit via mobile technology. They know of eavesdropping capabilities, but in many ways are consigned to the abuse – not just from Government but from criminal scavengers and corporate competition.

The ‘groups’ that respondents cited as having the ability to eavesdrop/listen in on calls and texts were – Government (53%); the police (44%); mobile service providers (33%); and criminals (28%). A further 17% pointed the finger at a jealous spouse/partner.

Privacy is increasingly eroded, around the globe. In the UK, having every move recorded by CCTV is just one example of the daily incursions on each and every citizen’s private life. Hyder added: “Privacy is a commodity that is more and more difficult to find. In today’s world of forced exposure, you are the product and your information is the currency.”

Other interesting trends unearthed by the study, particularly when comparing the sexes, were that men are more cynical with 59% pointing the figure at Government, compared with 48% of women. Although females were far more condemnatory, with 82% believing it wrong to listen in on others’ calls and texts, the figure was slightly lower for men, at 77%.

When comparing the ages of respondents, those aged 45+ were ‘believers’ with 77% suggesting anyone with the right equipment could listen in to calls and texts, while 73% of workers aged 55+ want to see perpetrators jailed.

Hyder said: “Everyone feels the need for privacy at some time or another, practically each and every day. Whether it’s closing the door to your office while negotiating contract details or turning your head in the coffee shop while discussing a family matter. Privacy is appreciated by all and all should have a place to go to be private – even in a digital smartphone world with eyes and ears nearly everywhere.”