A disgruntled IT chief working at UK supermarket chain Morrisons has been handed an eight-year prison sentence for exposing the company’s 100,000-strong payroll database – including staff names, addresses and bank details – in revenge for being disciplined. Bradford Crown Court had heard how IT auditor Andrew Skelton had been incensed when bosses accused him…
44% of men paid £21,000-£30,000 while 43% of women earn less than £20,000 80% of top salaries go to men A new study by digital recruitment agency, The Candidate, has revealed that men are paid on average 9% more than women across a variety of roles in the thriving digital industry. Data generated for the…
Despite the clear benefits of aligning sales and marketing teams, 40 per cent of British companies have yet to align their sales goals with their marketing activities, according to research conducted by specialist recruiter Randstad Sales, Marketing and Retail. Four in ten of sales and marketing professionals surveyed across the country say their companies have yet…
But new research reveals emotional connections are harder to achieve with increasingly cynical consumers in today’s complex, multi-channel media landscape. The Smash Martians (pictured), BT’s ‘you got an ology?’ and Yellow Pages’ ‘J.R. Hartley’ have been voted the UK’s most memorable ‘pre-internet’ ads, in a poll of 2,000 UK consumers that also highlights the challenges…
Research from Visa Europe reveals that UK mobile payments are projected to hit some £1.2bn a week by 2020, with six in ten expecting to use their mobile devices in the UK for payments at least once a week in the next five years.
The average shopper reckons they will spend £27 via mobile each week by 2020, £10 more than today, and nearly a quarter predict they will spend around £50 a week using their mobile by 2020.
While apps and music are still the items purchased most frequently via mobile devices now, Visa has seen an increasing number of consumers already buying higher-ticket items, with electronics (23%) and clothes (22%) among their top-five most bought m-commerce items.
The British embrace of digital payments is a sign of shoppers’ growing comfort with new methods to pay as they become more widely available, easier to use and better understood. With the increasing publicity around m-commerce options, digital wallets and contactless payments, 43% of shoppers say they would be interested in using a mobile wallet service and nearly half (47%) are interested in using their smartphone to make everyday contactless payments in a shop.
Jeremy Nicholds (pictured), executive director for mobile, Visa Europe, said: “While we’re excited to see consumers saying they expect to triple their weekly spend using mobile payments over the next five years, we at Visa think those 
numbers could be rather conservative and that the actual adoption rate will be much higher.
“This is particularly true when you look at the growth in contactless usage, which saw European usage grow by 2x and spend grow by 3x over the last 12 months.
“Contactless and online commerce enhancements have been key in paving the way for the next generation of mobile payment technology. The environmental conditions are already in place to meet the demands and expectations for digital payments.
“It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ consumers will embrace this new way to pay – it’s when – and for us the next 12 months are when mobile payments become mainstream.”
People who are already using their mobile devices to make transactions are also open to other mobile money services. The research highlights that these ‘mobile money’ users are five times more likely to be interested in paying friends through a smartphone app compared to non-users (48% vs. 9%). One in five would be open to social media payments too, compared with only one in twenty non-users.
When looking at the main concerns about mobile payments, a third of respondents admitted that they simply didn’t know enough about it. As with other new technologies, this has resulted in apprehension about issues like privacy, fraud and security.
Nicholds continued: “We’re witnessing a huge surge in interest from consumers in the UK for faster and more convenient payment methods as mobile and online commerce technologies continue to evolve at pace. This is why Visa Europe spends more than €200 million in on innovation including a number of secure payment technologies such as tokenisation to address security and convenience.
“When it comes to money, concerns over control and security are understandable though a simple lack of knowledge is often an underlying cause and consumers are quick to see the benefits of convenience. We’ve seen this with contactless card adoption – once people learn about the technology, see others using it and get used to paying with it, usage soars.”
The London School of Marketing (LSM) has published insights on the ways in which social media has contributed to the rise of brag culture in marketing. The article by LSM – which offers accredited marketing and business qualifications in the UK capital – asks the question: in today’s frenzied world of digital marketing, how else can marketers…
Supermarkets Aldi and Tesco are in a David and Goliath fight for share of voice on social media in the UK, based on their relative market share, according to a ‘Talkability Tracker’ from big data product company DigitalContact.co.uk, which monitored millions of social media mentions during June.
Aldi is becoming the talk of the town on social and taking on Tesco for the top spot in this first supermarket online Talkability Tracker.
DigitalContact.co.uk has developed a snapshot view of the most talked about supermarkets online via analysis which ran for a five-day period between June 24 and 28 and found that Tesco – by far the biggest food retailer in the UK based on market share – topped the conversation list of supermarkets’ online presence. However, of the tweets, 15% of those received were negative, which was 73% higher than average – akin to the incident caused by their placing of Bacon flavoured Pringles in the Ramadan offer, a forbidden food for Muslims.
However, Aldi is getting value for money from its social presence, securing 17% of market share based on social conversations – despite only commanding 5.5% of market share by UK revenue. Aldi has been encouraging positive conversations about their brand by using #AldiChallenge, promoted using the hashtag to report any savings they have made by shopping there. The tracker shows that, if you take into account Aldi’s smaller market share, it is punching far above its weight, outperforming its giant rival by a factor of 2.3x. If you only look at positive mentions, the challenger is doing even better, beating Tesco hands down by a factor of 2.8x.
As for other supermarket competitors, ASDA is also outshining a number of high street and traditional British retailers, featuring fourth on Digital Contact’s sentiment report, ahead of Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.
It is important to acknowledge that this data is a five day ‘snapshot’ of the most talked about supermarket brands on social media, only taking into account what their customers are saying about them, rather than the conversation they are building themselves. Despite only showcasing a short period, the research reinforces the changeable and powerful impact that conversations had by customers online can have on a brand.
Digital Contact CEO, Gareth Mann (pictured left), said: “Social media is the voice of the consumer and companies need to be listening to what it says if they want to stay one step ahead. Understanding what has been said about your brand should be paramount to any organisation. This calibre and depth of analysis can help businesses establish a better relationship with customers, understand consumer needs, see the differing trends from around the world and help predict future trends in their industry.
“As we can see, social media is making the fight for brand recognition a level playing field and, by understanding and capitalising on social media, many brands can take on the Goliaths in their markets.”
Demand for sales and marketing professionals outstrips supply with 1.6 jobs per candidate In the UK, the number of advertised roles for sales and marketing professionals in the City jumped by 64% in May, compared to last year’s figure. The results of the Robert Walters City Jobs Index, which tracks the number of jobs available and…
New research was designed to revolutionise the way fundraisers select and use their media-mix to ensure their messages are welcomed by donors and prospects. David Cole discusses latest research into fundraisers’ best routes to market.
According to a major survey of marketers by Adobe, marketing has changed more in the last two years than in the previous fifty. So how do we know what best practice now is or even, at a minimum, good practice?
How to tell if you’re ready for today’s world of marketing and business.