Despite cultural and economic differences, new research shows consumers around the world take a similarly pragmatic approach to sharing their data. Jed Mole analyses the results of the study into how the global customer perceives data collection, how they view their data privacy and the value they place on their data use.
Intriguing differences among global shoppers have been revealed in the iVend Retail’s 2018 Global Path to Purchase Report. Mia Farber examines the insights and shows that by varying your marketing strategies to suit your audience, you can significantly increase revenues and build customer loyalty . . . globally.
Global spending on native ads is predicted to hit $85.5bn a year within the next two years; it’s a format that is deemed to offer a more appealing and engaging user experience and is thus rapidly growing in popularity among marketers and brands – likely to overtake banner ads as the field leader in display advertising. Here’s a glimpse into tomorrow’s digital ad world and what the more creative, relevant and editorially compelling native advertising 2020 could add up to.
Providing customers with personalised content can lift revenue by 15%, according to Harvard Business Review, so why is it that businesses so often settle for producing generic marketing – or, worse, create messages that simply do not translate? Robert Berkeley says they need to do more to localise content if they are to draw in customers and grow their businesses.
Advertising with a social consciousness – putting human welfare above profits – has gathered momentum, with societal marketing becoming mainstream. Mike Alhadeff focuses on disability and how marketers have been displaying sensitivity and a conscience, especially since London 2012.
Research demonstrates need for better understanding of key techniques, such as data integration
Marketers are aware of the power of cross channel marketing in reaching customers, but many are not yet taking full advantage of the technique.
So says research from Experian Marketing Services and Forrester Consulting, who conducted a global study of 428 digital marketing businesses in the UK, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America, The poll identified varying levels of technology adoption and cross channel marketing success across markets, with technology issues still a major hurdle in implementation.
Commenting on the results, Simon Martin (pictured), managing director of Digital at Experian Marketing Services, said: “This report makes it clear that marketers understand the importance of cross channel marketing in taking customer relationships up a level, but still need guidance to make it work. Customers today are much like teenagers at university – they only want to hear from you at a time that is convenient to them, and when they need something. Data linkage across channels allows marketers to better assess when this time might be, which allows them to deliver the right message to the right customer, at the right time.”
Additional findings from the research include:
“Marketers must realise that the consumer cycle has changed with the advent of new shopping channels as well as expectations of excellent personalisation and service in interactions with brands”, continued Martin. “The sales funnel does not exist as it did before – marketers need to consider relationships in terms of customer need, not marketing action. The reward is increased loyalty, spend, and a better relationship with the customer full stop.”
Marketing and PR professionals among the best for productivity with higher than average ‘time on task’
Research from the iOpener Institute for People and Performance, which analysed responses from some 30,000 professionals, reveals significant 
differences between personal productivity levels in different countries and industry sectors. The findings also show a clear relationship between Happiness at Work and personal productivity.
The Institute measured components of Happiness at Work including energy levels, time engaged and feelings of happiness. Productivity was measured as ‘time on task’; the time that workers are actively producing outputs that make a tangible contribution to their organisation.
The international average for time on task is 58.8%, but there are significant differences between the various industry sectors. The Marketing and PR sector is one the best performing sectors with 60.9% time on task. At the bottom of the table is the Biotechnology sector with 53.2%.
Even greater differences are shown when comparing the different countries surveyed. Mexico is shown to have the highest productivity (73.2% of time on task), while Portugal has the lowest (43.3%).
Within both sets of data, the sectors and countries that show the highest levels of productivity also perform strongly in the measurements of Happiness at Work.
Jessica Pryce-Jones, founder director of the iOpener Institute and author of ‘Happiness at Work – Maximising Your Psychological Capital for Success’, notes: “While broad correlations between Happiness at Work and productivity have been recognised for some time, this detailed method of analyzing the components of Happiness at Work offers organisations actionable insights to formulate practical plans to improve their productivity.
“The sector and country results offer companies a contextual starting point; those in the Retail sector can ascertain how they measure up when compared to their sector and country averages and tailor their productivity initiatives accordingly. While the Marketing and PR sector can take encouragement from scoring highly, there is still potential for improvement in these industry sectors with businesses placing greater emphasis in 2014 on marketing’s contribution to business strategy. Meanwhile, the PR industry continues to undergo significant growth which places increased pressures on employee infrastructure.”
The report may be downloaded by visiting this link.
Samsung and Google top the list of most admired global brands in a multi–country survey from YouGov, covering Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.
The list was compiled using YouGov BrandIndex, which tracks consumer perception of brands through daily nationally representative surveys in 15 countries around the world. Each brand is assigned a ‘Buzz’ score based on whether respondents have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news, word-of-mouth or friends and family.
Samsung rates in the top 25 most well-regarded brands in 13 of the 15 countries surveyed, while Google comes top 25 in 12 countries. They are followed by YouTube in third place, which ranks in the top 25 in 10 countries. German automaker Volkswagen (8) and American electronics brand Apple (8) both rank fourth globally. Rounding out the list of global super brands are Sony, Audi and BMW, which rank in the top 25 in six of 15 countries surveyed.
In Brazil, China and Mexico, three of the major emerging economies covered in the YouGov rankings, all of the global super brands rank highly with consumers. Google is notably absent from the top 25 in China, while Samsung is rated number one among Chinese consumers. Chinese search engine Baidu has the largest share in internet search in China, and is the country’s third most well-regarded brand, according to YouGov BrandIndex.
In addition to Volkswagen, German car makers Audi and BMW also make the top 25 in both Brazil and China, and enjoy a strong global profile in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Japanese electronics company Sony is also in a strong position, making the top 25 in six countries, spanning Latin America, Europe and the US.
YouGov BrandIndex CEO, Ted Marzilli, said: “Technology and internet brands transcend national boundaries and provide products and services that impact people’s daily lives. Whether it is technologies made by Samsung, Apple and Sony, or the wealth of information and videos made instantly available by Google and YouTube, these companies shape modern life and connect people from around the world, making them some of the most powerful global super brands.
“Three German automakers, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW, made our global super brands list, which shows the high regard that consumers around the world have for German craftsmanship in the auto category. In addition to being top brands in the European markets, they also rate highly in Brazil and China, which are the new frontiers of the global economy.”
Global super brands, based on the number of countries surveyed where they rank in the top 25:
See the full global rankings