Category: USA

USA

Dutch design team opens ‘Oval Office’ stateside start-up

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 21st May 2015
No Comments on Dutch design team opens ‘Oval Office’ stateside start-up

start-up success, design team start-up article

The design team says the office in SoHo – which it has dubbed its ‘Oval Office’ – is the next step in strengthening its ‘Mr.Prezident’ service for a rapidly growing client base in the US.

The Prezi Design Agency was founded in 2011 by Pieter Bosschaart and Paul van Hattem, to challenge the concept of corporate presentations. And Mr.Prezident, an official Prezi expert, has been designing creative and professional presentations for various brands and corporations ever since. In 2014, 30% of all incoming business came from within the US. Opening up a US office is the logical next step, says the company, which now employs a team of 20. The Manhattan office will be led by Celeste van der Spoel.

With creative roots in international advertising and experience within the US market, she will take charge of all Mr.Prezident’s US activities. She said: “There’s a market to explore for Mr.Prezident and we have great things to offer. I’m sure that our ‘design thinking’ and Dutch straightforwardness will not go unnoticed.”

Design team offers story-telling skill

Pieter Bosschaart, a Mr.Prezident founder and the current chief commercial officer for the design team, said: “The world of presentations is expanding and the United States is at the centre of it. Lots of companies are looking for experts that can help tell and visualise stories. By opening up a New York office, we’re making sure we will be there to help. Working from two different time zones will only strengthen our service, as we will be able to produce in the Netherlands when it’s night-time in the US.

“We’re extremely proud that we were able to take this big step forward and cross the Atlantic and we’re looking forward to expanding our business internationally.”

More about the company’s ethos and advice on making a more impressive presentation is here.

Tags creative, start-up

Asia-Pacific Data Strategy India Insight Russia Strategy and Management USA

International marketing gone wild!

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 17th March 2015

Columnist Doug Sacks looks beyond the days of BRIC. Mardi Gras is behind us and so the Lenten season is under way. And it is not just drunken college girls in New Orleans who are showing off their assets. Access to mobile phones and mobile phone technologies among the poorest populations are transforming how business…

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Tags cross-border marketing

Germany In the News UK USA

Christmas shoppers to spend £17.4 billion online

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 2nd December 2014
No Comments on Christmas shoppers to spend £17.4 billion online

Online sales set to account for close to a quarter of all Christmas spend in the UK, with the average household forecast to splash out a total of £775 on the festive season. Mobile shopping is expected to grow by 301% year-over-year.

UK shoppers are set to spend a record £74.3billion in the run-up to Christmas, with almost one in four pounds expected to be spent online, according to research commissioned by digital offer marketplace RetailMeNot – operator of VoucherCodes.co.uk. The study, conducted by the Centre for Retail Research, forecasts that online sales at Christmas will grow by 19.5% to £17.4 billion this year, compared to £14.5 billion in 2013.

On the high street, shoppers are expected to spend £56.9billion this year, but as Christmas Day draws closer, the proportion of online retail sales is likely to increase as consumers turn to the web to escape the crowds. As such, e-commerce is predicted to account for 23.4% of Christmas sales this year, up from 20% in 2013, while bricks-and-mortar sales are expected to decline by 2.1%.

Mobile shoppers to drive increase in Christmas spend

With Brits increasingly using tablets and smartphones to shop, mobile purchases are expected to account for over a quarter (29.8%) of all online Christmas sales, up 301% compared to last year, and representing a total of £5.2 bn, almost twice as much as the Germans (£2.9bn) and nearly three times higher than in France (£1.8 bn)

Although the PC is still the killer outbound channel for Christmas shopping, with a predicted £12.2 billion to be spent by Brits, tablets and smartphones are increasingly important. This year, tablets are expected to account for £2.1 billion of all Christmas sales, while smartphones are expected to account for £3 billion, representing 18% of all online sales. Brits are set to have the highest share of online and mobile shopping in Europe this Christmas (23.4% and 29.8% respectively) and are even ahead of the US, where 18.7% of the Christmas shopping will be done online, of which 28.4% is projected to be mobile.

Giulio Montemagno, senior vice-president of international at RetailMeNot, said: “Retail spending in the weeks before Christmas is the most important period of trading for retailers both online and offline. Retailers, particularly of specialist merchandise, will often take 20% or more of their sales in this period.

“This Christmas looks set to be a bumper year for online retailers as a record number of consumers will be turning to the web to order gifts. With shoppers spending 23 pennies out of every pound online, retailers must ensure that they are appealing to consumers through mobile and tablet devices. The study reveals that almost 30% of all online Christmas sales will occur on mobile this year and in such a competitive retail environment it’s more important than ever that retailers have a solid mobile strategy in place to target shoppers as they shop online or in-store.”

Brits set to be biggest Christmas spenders in Europe

The international study also found that British shoppers are likely to be the highest spenders during the Christmas season in Europe, with a total projected spend of £74.3billion, followed by the Germans (£61.2billion) and the French (£54.9billion). UK Households are expected to spend on average £459 on gifts, £172 above the European average and £22 ahead of the US.

Americas Asia-Pacific Europe In the News Latin America UK USA

Digital marketers recognise the benefits of cross channel marketing, but struggle to implement

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 5th November 2014
No Comments on Digital marketers recognise the benefits of cross channel marketing, but struggle to implement

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:

Email is still a stalwart: 97% of respondents use email today and 65% have used it for at least three years. Email maturity has not discouraged investment, either, as it is still growing at 8% compound annual growth rate
Marketers struggle to integrate channels, with even a mature channel such as email only being integrated with search retargeting by 54% of respondents
On average, any two channels are integrated by only 45% of respondents
Few marketers harness the potential of customer data: only 24% are able to merge contextual data into a single, shared and real time cross channel view of the customer
Marketers in EMEA are behind their counterparts in using targeted display, with 80% agreeing that they make use of the technology compared to a global average of 97% (with all US digital marketers surveyed using the technology)
Sophisticated email marketers demonstrated significantly higher rates of data-usage best practices, which was twice as much as the average respondent
Practices among marketers in Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries demonstrated the highest prevalence of this mature use of customer data at 36 per cent, with China leading the pack at 47 per cent. APAC also led other regions in overall cross-channel marketing maturity
Seventy-five per cent of marketers that Forrester Consulting identified as ‘sophisticated marketers’ use data in real time

“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.”

USA

Echo awards announced at DMA2014, San Diego

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 29th October 2014
No Comments on Echo awards announced at DMA2014, San Diego

The Diamond ECHO Award Goes to Republik New Zealand for Innovative ‘Wide War One’ Campaign

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced the 2014 International ECHO Award winners last night during a gala ceremony hosted by renowned comedian Chris Hardwick.

Established in 1929 and encompassing every type of media used in direct and interactive marketing campaigns, the ECHO Awards honour exceptional creativity, marketing strategy and response results. This year, DMA presented a total of 88 ECHO Awards to data-driven marketing campaigns from all over the globe.

Reflecting the increasingly global nature of data-driven marketing, DMA’s 2014 International ECHO Awards honours were presented to campaigns originating in a wide variety of countries, including Canada, India, Spain, Japan, US, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Philippines, the UK, Malaysia, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Belgium and Germany.

This year’s awards were entered, categorised, judged, and presented in 15 primary business categories. Eleven went to nonprofit campaigns.

Of the hundreds of campaigns submitted for this year’s ECHO honours, 14 campaigns were honoured with Gold, 30 with Silver and 40 with Bronze. In addition, four campaigns received special awards, which include the Diamond ECHO Award.

The Special 2014 International ECHO Awards Winners:

The Diamond ECHO

The prestigious Diamond ECHO is considered the best-in-show prize of the International ECHO Award competition. It is awarded to the top campaign that has demonstrated strategic thinking on a whole new level — encompassing strategy, creative and results — the three pillars of ECHO. The winner is selected by the ECHO board of governors from the Gold winning campaigns.

Category: Information Technologies

Client: Fuji Xerox

Agency: Republik New Zealand

Campaign: Wide War One

Henry Hoke Award

Sponsored by Hoke Communications, Inc.

Selected by Hoke Communications, this award honours the campaign with the most courageous solution to a difficult sales marketing problem.

Business Category: Education

Client: Federation University Australia

Agency: CUBED Communications

Campaign: Federation University Australia

Personal Connections ECHO Award

Sponsored by Pitney Bowes

This award recognises excellence in the use of data, customer insights, and direct marketing to create more personal and lasting customer relationships.

Business Category: Business and Consumer Services

Client: Aeroplan

Agency: Cossette

Campaign: Milestone

USPS Gold Mailbox Award

Sponsored by the United States Postal Service

The Gold Mailbox Award is chosen based on the most innovative use of mail as a critical component of an omni-channel strategy.

Business Category: Professional Services

Client: Google Japan

Agency: MRM//McCann Tokyo

Campaign: AdWords Puzzle Campaign: Find the Key to Business Success with Google

For a complete list of 2014 DMA International ECHO Awards winners, click here .

Brazil Country Focus UK USA

GMA and fast.MAP research: Fancy making riches from the rag trade in Brazil and America?

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 10th September 2014
No Comments on GMA and fast.MAP research: Fancy making riches from the rag trade in Brazil and America?

David Cole (pictured) examines the latest fast.MAP/GMA research and discovers a booming market.

If you’re thinking of selling direct to shoppers in the USA and Brazil, a good bet would be to start with clothing – since clothes are the most commonly direct-purchased foreign items in both countries – by 44% in Brazil and 32% in the USA.

According to new online research carried out in August by fast.MAP for the GMA, accessories are the next favoured foreign direct purchase in Brazil (35%), followed by technology items ((33%). In the USA, it’s books 26% and food (25%), whereas in the UK it’s CDs/DVDs/games (26%) and books and technology (both 23%).

Foreign white goods such as dishwashers are least likely to be bought direct by Americans (9%); musical instruments and DIY/gardening tools by Brazilians (both 7%); and motor vehicles and white goods by the British (both 3%). See chart: http://bit.ly/1ttG2Lf

12% of US, 14% of Brazilian and 38% of British adults have bought direct from abroad in the last year. And the market is set to expand since although one per cent of Brazilians don’t plan to do so again, 19% are considering their first direct purchase from abroad, as are 16% of Americans.

27% of US consumers ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ buy direct from abroad and a further 17% do so ‘rarely’.

Neither population is as committed to buying foreign goods direct as are those of the seven European countries already examined in this on-going GMA study. See chart: http://bit.ly/1vQMTUb

If you need tips on where to promote your goods, it’s worth noting that Brazilians’ five most popular methods of sourcing foreign goods are company websites, social networks, online publications, email and search engines. All were used by more than a third of buyers in the last 12 months.

Around three in ten Americans have sourced via search engines and emails, a quarter from company websites and two in ten from TV or radio ads, auction sites or social networks. Chart: http://bit.ly/1oRzxCr

When translation problems occur they can lead to lost sales: 62% of Brazilians and 68% of Americans have not encountered language difficulties when buying direct from abroad, but only because they either speak the language or use websites which are in their native tongue.

Ten per cent of Americans and 18% of Brazilians successfully used translation software, but 7% of Americans and 10% of Brazilians suffered problems with it.

Two in 100 received language help from the seller and 6% of Americans and 4% of Brazilians were helped by a friend. Chart http://bit.ly/1AgWK4o

Of the 22% of Americans who had language problems, 7% managed to successfully buy the goods they wanted while only 4% of the 20% of linguistically-challenged Brazilians managed to.

Americans were far less likely to be put-off by potential currency, refund or customs problems: 38% had no such concerns, compared with 34% of Brits and 17% of Brazilians. But a clear multi-lingual explanation of company policy on these issues would help to allay fears.

Brazilians (55%) and Brits (46%) are most worried about additional postage costs or customs charges, while Americans are most concerned about the inconvenience of returning faulty or unsuitable goods (38%). Financial transactions with a different country are the least pressing (though still a significant) concern: USA and UK 31%; Brazil 37% http://bit.ly/1tnk1zp

Nineteen per cent of Americans, 13% of Brazilians and 8% of Brits have returned goods they bought direct from abroad. In the USA the majority did so by pre-paid post/courier, while in Brazil (41%) and the UK (54%) the majority bore the cost of return postage/ courier.

Both delivery to a local agent/ retailer/ courier depot or collection by a local agent/ retailer/ courier were significantly more common in the USA (39% and 34% respectively) than in the UK (4% & 17%) or Brazil (19% & 21%).

Companies serious about expanding their direct sales into other countries can maximise their chances of success and avoid costly mistakes, by first simultaneously and speedily using online research to test reactions to their product, prices, promotional material and incentives in each country.

For more international marketing insights click here.

Methodology
The questionnaire was run from August 22 to 29, 2014, to a US panel of 2.9million adults and a 149,000 Brazilian panel.

David Cole is MD of fast.MAP. Email: david.cole@fastmap.com

In the News UK USA

It will soon be Christmas! Are you ready?

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 27th August 2014
No Comments on It will soon be Christmas! Are you ready?

How to prepare for Christmas as consumers grow tired of poor online retail experience

For retailersm Christmas is just around the corner. IBM has released its annual guide for how UK online businesses should prepare for the shopping season. Based on IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, the report provides a detailed analysis of the Christmas 2013 season and includes figures for online retail leading up to March 2014. The report is available here.

James Lovell, Smarter Commerce retail consultant, Europe, IBM, said: “While online retail is undeniably growing, the average amount people are spending remains flat and the number of items they are buying per transaction is actually decreasing.

“What’s more, attention metrics show consumers have no patience for underwhelming retail experiences. If websites are not optimised for mobile, for example, shoppers will quickly give up trying to browse. Retailers need to understand consumer shopping ‘journeys’ – that is, gain a clear understanding of which technologies they are using, how and when they are using them and how these merge with the store.”

So what should retailers prepare for this year and how can they prepare? What are the key shopping trends and the channels retailers should be paying attention to as they gear up for Christmas and New Year 2014? Is it worth paying attention to social? The report reveals:

Online retail spending rose 11.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2013. Over the same Christmas shopping season, Cyber Monday (2 Dec) and Black Friday (29 Nov) emerged as strong buying days in the UK, mirroring the US trend for key shopping days before Christmas.
Despite Android having a majority of the UK mobile market, sales via Apple devices are higher (sales via iPads and iPhones accounted for 26.9 percent of site sales in March 2014). As mobile grows, retailers need to pay close attention to how their websites perform on different devices.
Social channels remain a low source of traffic, with just 0.5 percent of visitors arriving from Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and other social channels in March 2014, and accounting for 0.1 percent of sales.

In the News UK USA

It will soon be Christmas! Are you ready?

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 26th August 2014
No Comments on It will soon be Christmas! Are you ready?

How to prepare for Christmas as consumers grow tired of poor online retail experience

Online retail spending rose 11.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2013. Over the same Christmas shopping season, Cyber Monday (2 Dec) and Black Friday (29 Nov) emerged as strong buying days in the UK, mirroring the US trend for key shopping days before Christmas.
Despite Android having a majority of the UK mobile market, sales via Apple devices are higher (sales via iPads and iPhones accounted for 26.9 percent of site sales in March 2014). As mobile grows, retailers need to pay close attention to how their websites perform on different devices.
Social channels remain a low source of traffic, with just 0.5 percent of visitors arriving from Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and other social channels in March 2014, and accounting for 0.1 percent of sales.

Americas Europe In the News UK USA

‘Consumer trust in new domain names is growing’

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 14th July 2014
No Comments on ‘Consumer trust in new domain names is growing’

New data from Afilias reveals that consumers increasingly welcome dotBrand domain names

New research has highlighted that consumers in the US and UK are increasingly open to the world of new, generic top-level domains (gTLDs), as the number that would trust addresses at the new extensions has increased since last year. Conversely, the number stating they would only trust heritage domains like .com and .co.uk is decreasing.

The new findings, commissioned by global registry services provider Afilias, are based on a large sample of 3,469 internet using consumers in the UK and US. The study revealed a significant decrease in the number of people stating that they would only put faith in heritage domain names, dropping from 54% in 2013 to 39% in 2014! The findings also showed that 25% of consumers would trust new domain name extensions just as much as the heritage domains – this is an increase of 4 percentage points in the past 12 months.

Roland LaPlante, senior vice-president and CMO, Afilias, said: “Major global brands are now preparing to launch their own “dotBRAND” domains in order to capitalize on the branding, security and customer experience advantages they will now have over competitors. Brands without these advantages must prepare quickly for ICANN to open the next window, as consumers are showing an increasing willingness to accept and even trust these new addresses.”

The release of the figures coincides with the upcoming arrival of new gTLDs from major global brands such as Google, Microsoft and Nike, who are all set to create their own ‘dotBrand’ domain names at the top level (eg. running.NIKE instead of nike.com/running).

Further, people are now more willing to purchase from a branded gTLD than they were a year ago. In 2013, 13% stated that they would prefer to buy from ‘shop.adidas’ over ‘adidas.com/shop;’ this year, that preference has increased to 18%.

In 2014, nearly one third of people (32%) said that they would be more likely to trust that legitimate goods and services are being sold on a site that uses a dotBrand extension (with only 10% being less likely to trust a dotBrand site).

Importantly, the data show that 13% of people would feel that brands are ‘behind the times’ if they were not using branded domain name extensions.

LaPlante added: “The arrival of new domain names is an historic chapter in Internet history. Even before they have all fully launched, consumers are warming to the notion of new domains. The research reinforces our belief that within 5 years most global brands will be operating from dotBrand Internet addresses.”

Americas Europe France Germany In the News UK USA

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

Post author By Sally Hooton
Post date 2nd July 2014
No Comments on 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 transform 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.”