Digitize News

Irish online advertising rose 12.8 per cent in first half of 2012 – IAB

2012-11-16T17:01:52Z

Paid-for search advertising was the biggest part of online advertising. It grew from 27.2 million euro to 32.7 million year-on-year, representing a 45pc share of the total online ad spend. Display advertising expenditure rose 3.9 million euro to 24.6 million euro, for a 34 per cent share of the market.
Online classified advertising grew 2.3 million euro in the first half of 2012, for an online market share of 21 per cent. Meanwhile, adspend on social media sites accounted for just less than 3 million euro.
The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) sector is now the top display expenditure category, accounting for 16 per cent of the total display spend, up from 12 per cent in 2011. Finance is in second place at 11.6 per cent, followed by telecoms firms with 10 per cent and entertainment and media at 9.6 per cent.
The IAB/PwC study indicates that 80 per cent of all Irish people are now online, compared with an EU average of 65 per cent. Interestingly, 58 per cent of people who are online are also watching TV at the same time, compared with the EU average of 48 per cent. Time spent online now stands at 13.5 hours a week.
Digital advertising is also getting a bigger slice of the advertising cake, with 42 per cent of Irish marketers now dedicating a quarter or more of their adspend to online, compared with 27 per cent in 2011.
IAB Ireland chief executive Suzanne McElligott said: “Irish advertisers are increasingly devoting more budget online and using digital to engage more meaningfully with their audience. The 12.8 per cent growth recorded in the H1 2012 online adspend reflects the central role online now plays in Irish marketing campaigns.

Just 55 per cent of UK businesses making significant use of social media

2012-10-26T15:59:52Z

The study showed that in larger sized companies just 15 per cent of CEOs are responsible for managing their social strategies compared to 29 per cent in SMEs. Surprisingly, a significant 13 per cent of respondents said this responsibility didn’t sit with anyone.
In addition, the research showed that 45 per cent of marketing and sales departments are using the medium to raise awareness of their brand but only 28 per cent are using it to actually interact with their consumers. Remarkably, 34 per cent of businesses thought that no one in their organisation was using social media to communicate with consumers or for internal purposes.
How to measure success and proving the tangible benefits of social media are the top barriers behind businesses making better use of social media. The study found that 27 per cent do not know how the success of social media is measured within their organisation. While 30 per cent are using existing key performance indicators and 26 per cent benchmark previous campaigns with more recent ones, some 17 per cent claim to record ROI.
A lack of confidence is still an issue when it comes to utilising social media within UK businesses. Some 35 per cent did feel confident in communicating with consumers via social media, but 36 per cent did not, thus implying that education and training is still a core barrier to social media growth.
LBi’s head of social business design, John Monks said: “Our research findings show that there is still a huge opportunity for brands to become social businesses, with nearly half admitting that they have not done anything in the last 12 months to become more social.”
“While some brands make the use of social channels look effortless, it’s usually because they have invested in creating the necessary structures, processes and internal relationships. We believe that investing in becoming inherently social is crucial to the future success of any business.”

US Online Advertising Body Rejects Microsoft Do-Not-Track Browser Default

2012-10-19T15:45:29Z

The new Microsoft IE10 browser will be provided to consumers with the do-not-track feature turned on as a default setting. The May announcement of the new browser plan put Microsoft at odds with the global online advertising industry.
In a recent statement, the DAA said it does not believe that Microsoft’s IE 10 browser settings are an appropriate standard for providing consumer choice. It said that machine-driven do-not-track represents browser manufacturer choice and not user choice.
The DAA maintained that allowing browser manufacturers to determine the kinds of information users receive could negatively impact the vast consumer benefits and Internet experiences delivered by DAA participants and millions of other Web sites that consumers value. In addition, standards that are different than the consensus-based DAA Principles could confuse consumers and be difficult to implement. A ‘default on’ do-not-track mechanism offers consumers and businesses inconsistencies and confusion instead of comfort and security.
The DAA, a consortium of leading advertising industry groups, including the Association of National Advertisers, the Direct Marketing Association, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said that it will not sanction nor penalize advertising firms for ignoring this type of default setting.

Consumers need better understanding of data sharing - report

2012-09-28T16:39:12Z

The ‘Data Dialogue Report’ was developed from a poll of 5,000 consumers across the UK by market research company Populus. It found that there is in general a low awareness of the benefits of sharing personal information online. Just 38 per cent of those surveyed could see what consumers gain from sharing online purchase data, while only 21 per cent could see gain from sharing browsing history.
The report found that consumers could be divided into 5 groups regarding their attitude to sharing personal cookie information. There were the non-sharers (30 per cent of respondents), the sceptics (22 per cent), the pragmatists (20 per cent), the value-hunters (19 per cent) and the enthusiastic-sharers (8 per cent).
When it comes to defining personal data, the public does not have a clear understanding of how it is defined. In general, the more attributable to the individual the information, the more personal it is thought to be. For example, 83 per cent of people thought health records were highly personal, while just 29 per cent believed favourite websites were.
However, the report also found that people would feel more comfortable when offered measures such as clear statements on how information is used, an app to manage their own data and the ability to withdraw data. Some 71 per cent of the non-sharers and sceptics fell into this category, while 77 per cent of pragmatists and 78 per cent of enthusiastic-sharers did likewise. Nick Stringer, director of regulatory affairs at the IAB, said: “There is not one but many approaches to data sharing. The benefits of data exchanges are still unclear to consumers and this is something that we will begin to address with a campaign to explain targeted advertising and the new icon.”

Screen size important for ad effectiveness but other variables more so

2012-09-27T10:52:44Z

They measured the emotional response, attention and self-reported unaided recall by users across 4 screen formats (connected TV, linear TV, PCs, smartphones). The study found that while the size of the video screen was a factor, variables such as ad clutter, creative content and context had a much stronger influence on ad recall by viewers.
The research also showed that the couch is now the ultimate multi-screen environment, while the bed represents the ultimate single-screen environment.
The study concludes with the clear implications for media buyers and planners:
1) Clutter free environments, regardless of screen size, are a good value.
2) Advertisers without media budgets for high gross rating point (GRP) TV campaigns should consider moving to screens with less ad clutter to ensure campaign breakthrough.
3) Creative testing is strongly recommended whenever possible – and digital video is a great platform for testing different ad creatives.
4) Since prime-time for linear and connected TV is also the peak time for second-screen usage, consider buying placements across devices during this day part when planning for duplication.
Brian Monahan, managing partner of IPG Mediabrands said: “In today’s fully-mediated world, the need for both marketers and media companies to understand how content and consumer attention function across screens is more important than ever. We expect media buyers and planners to leverage the many insights we’ve uncovered, and to dramatically improve their effectiveness reaching consumers within the evolving media and device landscapes.”

Just two-thirds of UK’s most websites comply with EU cookie law

2012-09-14T15:22:53Z

They found that only 12 per cent of the websites they looked at have implemented prominent privacy notices with robust cookie controls, while 51 per cent have installed minimal privacy notices with limited cookie controls.

More importantly, a further 37 per cent of websites investigated have not taken any measures to meet cookie law compliance despite the legislation coming into force three months ago.

Under the new European law, websites must give consumers the option to opt-out of cookies, which track their online behaviour with the aim of creating targeted online ads.

However, of those that have done nothing to meet this law, 49 per cent have a low level of third-party cookies present on their site, while 35 per cent have a moderate number.
The report highlighted Toyota’s website as a prime example of how to comply with the legislation because it has made it easy for users to control cookie controls on the website.
Chris Babel, chief executive of TRUSTe, said: “Based on our analysis it is clear that many companies have started to take the EU Cookie Directive seriously and devoted time and resources to implement a compliance solution that helps their users control the tracking activity on their site.”

Advertisers set to target online consumers based on web and TV habits writes Seamus Blacoe

2012-08-10T15:26:42Z

The program links online and offline consumer behaviours by providing marketers the ability to connect with TV audiences online and more strategically align their TV and online ad campaigns. It uses data from TV and online panels, fashioning consumer clusters of similar media habits.
Using the program enables marketers to model a group of consumers for a specific campaign or message. It also offers the ability to reach consumers online based on lifestyle, demographics and consumer packaged goods (CPG) habits. Early adopters of the Nielsen Online Audience Segments – TV Viewing program include Microsoft, Adap.TV, Specific Media, Undertone and Videology.
Jonathan Carson, General Manager of Digital for Nielsen said: “This is a tremendous next step in connecting the dots between offline and online behaviour. The fact that we’re using the very same data that’s deployed within the traditional TV economy is a key differentiator which resonates with the industry.”
Market-research company Nielsen has been trying hard of late to deliver a credible cross-platform measurement service for TV and online activity by combining its relatively new online campaign ratings (OCR) system and its market-leading TV audience measurement system.

Most U.S. marketers spend less than 20 per cent of budget on social

2012-07-20T16:33:12Z

The survey found that half of them (49.5 per cent) said their company spent between 1 and 10 per cent of their marketing budget on social media, while 19 per cent spent between 11 and 20 per cent and nearly one-tenth (9.7 per cent) spent nothing on social media.
However, marketers reported that budgets were increasing and 72.9 per cent of respondents said they expected their overall social media budget to increase over the next year. This was further broken down into 56.6 per cent saying they thought their Facebook advertising budget would increase and nearly 40 per cent believing it would stay the same.
This is broadly in line with data from Useful Social Media, which found that in April 2012 54 per cent of US companies planned to increase their social media budgets in 2012.
How marketers best measure the success and ROI of social media like Facebook varies from company to company, with 27.2 per cent of respondents placing the most importance on clickthroughs, 15.8 per cent on assigning a value to Facebook ‘likes’ and 10.7 per cent on using a GRP-like metric. Some 12.9 per cent said they were not really sure how to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads at all.
While 71 per cent of marketers said they were somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with the measurement metrics available from Facebook, a significant 29 per cent said they were somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
In the wake of a less than glorious IPO, this leaves plenty of room for Facebook to improve its insights and metric offerings. This will encourage marketers to participate more on social media and increase advertising budgets down the road.

Digitize new selling Spil Gaming Network in Ireland

2012-07-09T14:14:03Z

Spil consists of several market leading Arcade Gaming sites such as girlsgogames, agames & gamesgames, and delivers 8 million display & 700k Vod impressions each month in Ireland alone. These sites are market leaders in gaming for teen girls, teen boys & Mum’s audiences & are the no.1 in most major markets in Europe & The Americas.

U.S. Senate told no need for new online privacy regulation

2012-07-02T14:49:52Z

Speaking at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Liodice said: ““Our self-regulatory system works. We have results that few, if any can claim. We have built and implemented a system that is operating and effective. “He told the committee that the online industry opposes do-not-track legislation and argue that a self-regulatory program they have adopted in recent years is working. The Digital Advertising Alliance’s ‘advertising choices’ icon program allows consumers to click on an icon that allows them to choose whether they want to receive ads based on information gathered about them as they surf the Internet.
He noted that the program’s icon is appearing in more than a trillion ad impressions each month and more than 1 million consumers have opted out of receiving targeted ads since January 2011.
Berin Szoka, president of free-market think tank TechFreedom, told the committee that the debate over online privacy “has systematically underestimated the benefits to consumers from the use of personal data to tailor advertising, develop new products, and conduct research, while overstating the dangers of data, which remain largely conjectural.”
However, Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the committee, promised to push for new privacy legislation, while acknowledging there is likely to be no change in the status quo before the next Congress.

Irish mobile broadband penetration among highest in EU writes Seamus Blacoe

2012-06-26T10:52:46Z

Mobile broadband penetration in Ireland is at the 60 per cent level, up by 19 per cent year-on-year and 16.9 per cent above the EU average penetration level, according to the latest report from the European Commission’s Digital Agenda Scoreboard. Ireland is the seventh highest EU country out of the EU27 in terms of mobile broadband penetration. Only 4.3 per cent of broadband lines were regarded as ultra fast (between 30 and 100 Mbps), although this space has grown from almost nothing in the last 18 months. The EU average was 8.5 per cent of lines. Meanwhile, the report discovered that 71 per cent of the Irish population use the Internet regularly, up 8 per cent year-on-year and just above the EU average of 68 per cent. Some 43 per cent of the people said that they had bought online, a rise of 7 per cent on the previous year. For businesses, 48.8 per cent said they had bought online, while 23.3 per cent said they had sold online. When it comes to eGovernment, Ireland performed very well with 100 per cent of public services for citizens (out of a basket of 12 basic services like income tax) available online, compared with the EU average of just over 80 per cent. Digital Agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “Europeans are hungry for digital technologies and more digital choices, but governments and industry are not keeping up with them. This attachment to 20th-century policy mindsets and business models is hurting Europe’s economy.We are shooting ourselves in the foot by under-investing. Europe will be flattened by its global competitors if we continue to be complacent.”

Online Adverts acceptable compromise for free internet access - survey

2012-05-11T14:21:33Z

However, 55 per cent of the 2,000 respondents said they would rather see online advertising relevant to their interests and 59 per cent would rather see a lower number of relevant ads online than a higher number of less relevant ones.
Only one in 10 people would be willing to pay for websites and online services they currently use for free if those services removed advertising. Nearly half said they would like to be able to control the type of advertising they see online and 40 per cent want to know what personal information is being shared. A third would like to be given more information about who is advertising to them.
Nick Stringer, Director of regulatory affairs at the IAB UK, said: “This research shows the balance that the industry needs to strike: providing clear and transparent information and control to empower consumers and help them safeguard their privacy, whilst enabling relevant advertising to help fund the quality content and services that they demand.”
Carl White, CEO ValueClick Europe, said: “Businesses and brands must begin to engage consumers in an open and transparent dialogue about how and why they see advertising online. This study shows that people are more receptive and open-minded about online advertising than is often reported, but they are also wary and understandably confused about the mechanics of digital marketing and privacy.”

E!online now being represented in Ireland by Digitize

2012-05-09T15:24:45Z

Digitize New Media are delighted to announce their appointment as exclusive partners to E!online in Ireland. The home of ‘Keeping up with trhe Kardashians’, ‘The Girls of the Playboy Mansion’ & ‘Fashion Police’ is for the first time available to Irish
Advertisers.
E!online’s Women 15-34 profile 46% is almost twice that of Mailonline's 27% (Comscore)
E!online’s users are far more loyal! They visit the site on average 12 times per month, Vs. only 7 times per month for mailonline (Comscore).
Standard formats available from now, Rich media & integrations to follow soon.
For more information please email info@digitize.ie or call your Account Manager on (01)6622380

Marketers must shape online regulation – ISBA president Woods

2012-05-04T11:48:40Z

Speaking recently at the annual Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Members’ Lunch in London, Woods said the government was prepared to seek partnership to effect change and the industry should respond positively to this.

Woods also addressed the issue of Online Behavioural Advertising and the challenges posed by the EU’s ePrivacy regulation.

He said: “We need to achieve a balance between valid concerns on privacy – which should interest us as consumers as well as advertisers – and enhancing the consumer experience and fostering e-commerce.”

“It will be a while before we get clarity in this area, but in the meantime advertisers and agencies alike should be aware of the regulations to ensure that they do not unwittingly get into difficulties.”

“The crux of the issue is transparency towards consumers. This means consumers being told what data is held on them, and by whom, and being given the chance to opt-out if they so wish. It’s encouraging that all bodies in our industry are in the same place in terms of what we are trying to achieve and are working together,” he maintained.

Online adspend grows 19.6 per cent to 132 million, writes Seamus Blacoe

2012-04-20T15:18:50Z

Advertising spend on other media recorded a 4 per cent fall in 2011, totalling 897 million euro. Digital ad spend now ranks third behind TV and newspapers but ahead of radio, outdoor, cinema and magazines.
Search marketing grew an estimated 16 per cent in 2011, accounting for a 42 per cent share of the online market. Hot on it’s heals was display advertising which took a 38 per cent share of the digital space.
Increased display spending across social media sites is one of the key drivers of the growth, with advertising on social media sites estimated at 5.8 million euro in 2011. Classified advertising online remained flat in 2011 and its share of the online advertising market slipped to 20 per cent.
Telecommunications is the top performing online display category with a 12 per cent market share, closely followed by FMCG and Entertainment and Media with 11 per cent each. The top spending category for classified advertising in 2011 was Property/Recruitment with 36 per cent, while auto garnered 30 per cent of the sector.
Looking to the future, some 70 per cent of the participants in the IAB PwC Online Adspend study anticipate “growth” or “strong growth” in the next 6 months. This is underpinned by increased broadband penetration, increased time spent online and the preponderance of smartphones in the Irish market. Media agencies predictions for 2012 vary from 13 per cent to 20 per cent growth in online adspend.
Eamonn Fallon, Chairman of IAB Ireland, said: “The strong performance of online advertising recorded in our 2011 Adspend Study is good news for the Irish advertising industry. IAB predicts that the growth of online adspend in 2012 is set to break the €150m barrier and see online account for 20% of total adspend”.