Saturday, January 31, 2009

Inauguration 5th Most Watched Online Event Ever

According to the Internet infrastructure company Akamai Technologies, news web sites saw about 5.4 million visitors per minute, making Obama's taking of his oath of office the fifth biggest web event. Akamai's Net Usage Index for News enables users to monitor global news consumption 24 x 7, seeing in real-time the impact of current events on online media consumption. Here is the 5 most watched online events since Akamai started its tracking (based on total visitors per minute) in August 2005:

1. Nov. 4, 2008 8,572,042 Barack Obama is victorious in historic presidential election
2. June 22, 2006 7,283,584 U.S. eliminated by Ghana in World Cup
3. Mar. 20, 2008 7,008,325 Day One of U.S. College Basketball 2008 Playoffs Coverage
4. Mar. 16, 2006 5,489,918 Day One of U.S. College Basketball 2006 Playoffs Coverage
5. Jan. 20, 2009 5,401.250 Barack Obama's inauguration

Friday, January 30, 2009

Research news

Here are some interesting news from the industry. Have a great weekend!

Insight at the heart of new WPP
"Global communications group WPP is planning to move away from its role as a traditional media and advertising supplier, to concentrate on becoming a more insight-led organisation, says CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. Sorrell says this change of direction will move the company away from the business models of rivals such as Omnicom, IPG and Publicis, towards those created by Nielsen, IPSOS, GfK and even Thomson-Reuters and Bloomberg." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Facebook launches polling ads
"Advertisers seeking to crack the code on reaching Facebook's growing audience have a new weapon in their arsenal: polls. CareerBuilder is the first advertiser to test a new ad format on the popular social network." AdWeek

Maverick CMOs try going without TV
"As the upfronts loom, many big brands—like General Motors and Citibank, for instance—are slashing their spending on television advertising out of necessity. But another factor to consider is the maverick CMO who is willing to spend a lot less on TV advertising or cut it out entirely." BrandWeek

Ex-ComScore execs bring analytics platform out of beta
"A new website audience profiling tool developed by two former ComScore executives moved out of beta today to challenge for supremacy in the online analytics space. The Crowd Science Demographics platform relies on website owners tagging pages of their site so that visitors can be randomly selected to take part in surveys. Questions cover basic demographics through to information on product usage and attitudes, and these are tailored to the particular focus of site or a given section within it." Research Magazine

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

"Online video of inauguration sets records"

According to an article in today's New York Times, millions across the country helped set records for Internet traffic on Tuesday as they watched online video of the inauguration ceremonies. "The overwhelming demand meant that some Web sites and data networks had trouble keeping up, forcing many people to turn to less cutting-edge forms of media. Internet traffic in the United States hit a record peak at the start of President Obama’s speech as people watched, read about and commented on the inauguration, according to Bill Woodcock, the research director at the Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit organization that analyzes online traffic. The figures surpassed even the high figures on the day President Obama was elected."

Monday, January 19, 2009

CNN teams with Facebook for Obama's Inauguration

Research highlights

More users have 1-hour-plus daily Web habit
"The number of adults who log more than one hour a day on the Web increased from 43% in 2007 to 48% in 2008, according to a Gallup poll. The survey also showed major boosts in this level of usage among those who make less than $30,000; unmarried people; 18-to-29-year-olds; and those with a post-graduate education" Adweek

Pre-Shop Customer Reviews Important to Online Customers
Nielsen Online, studying the holiday mindset of the U.S. online shopper, found that customer reviews are an important research tool for online consumers. 71 percent of online shoppers agreed that consumer reviews make them more comfortable that they are buying the right product. 81 percent have read product or retailer reviews by other customers when doing their holiday shopping this year. 63 percent of online shoppers indicated that it was important to have multiple reviews for each product, 14 percent looked for reviews from an established source, and just three percent sought out reviews by people they knew personally.

News No Longer Newspaper's Forte
According to the Pew Research Center, the Internet has now surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news. Currently, 40% of the survey respondents say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers. Television continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for national and international news.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

More industry highlights

Wal-Mart CEO Sees 'Fundamental Change' in Consumer Habits (Video)
"Consumers, particularly younger ones, who are seriously cutting back spending during the current economic downturn may be establishing new patterns of frugality that will live on after the recovery. That was one of the concerns of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, who yesterday kicked off the National Retail Federation's annual convention in Manhattan. His candid comments come just weeks before he is scheduled to step down as CEO" Advertising Age

Lines Between Media Channels Increasingly Blurred
"From 2006 to 2008, the share of U.S. consumers using shopping Web sites doubled from 17% to 35%, according to a study released Monday. More revealing, perhaps, is that 44% of those online shopping consumers reported reading consumer reviews and comments found on the sites. This demonstrates that such e-commerce sites have transformed into virtual social gathering places and information destinations." Online Media Daily

Key Advertising Groups to Develop Privacy Guidelines for Online Behavioral Advertising Data Use and Collection
"Four marketing and advertising industry associations today announced that they are working together to develop enhanced self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising in order to address privacy concerns and to increase consumers' trust and confidence in how online information is gathered and used. The associations are the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), a leading organization dedicated to advancing marketplace trust, is also part of the effort." BusinessWire

Survey: 45% of top U.K. marketers to cut ad spend this year
"Some 45% of U.K. marketers surveyed intend to cut their ad spending this year, while 20% plan to increase their budgets and the remaining 35% plan to keep spending levels flat, according to a survey of 250 major marketers in the U.K. by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising." Advertising Age

Monday, January 12, 2009

Industry news headlines

Meet the "New Info Shoppers"
"Political consultant and trendwatcher Mark Penn has identified a burgeoning consumer segment -- the "new info shopper." His research found that 92% of respondents trusted information gleaned from online searches as opposed to in-store sales pitches. While consumers have traditionally researched major purchases like homes and cars via the Web, the interactive marketplace is creating new categories of information-driven purchasing. The the new info shoppers just can't buy anything unless they first look it up online and get the lowdown." Wall Street Journal

10 things you need to know about mobile
"The much-touted location-based services (LBS) that marketers dream of leveraging for laser-geo-targeted promotions have not found their own way yet. A small percentage of U.S. phones have GPS built in, and while many more will come to market this year, carriers can't figure out how to price and promote them." Online Media Daily

Mobile video use up 14%, but numbers are still small
"Only 5% of the wireless subscribers in the U.S. access video content in a given month, but the 10.3 million who do represent a 14% gain from 2007, according to the Nielsen Co., which cited the growth of Internet-friendly handsets as the major driver of video viewing." MediaWeek

Web analytics market set to defy recession
"In the US, a survey conducted by the Web Analytics Association (WAA) has found that more than 96% of respondents plan to increase or maintain current spending on web analytics during the year. While the survey of more than 650 marketing and analytics professionals highlighted that more than 40% of respondents see funding as their biggest challenge, WAA says that the investment outlook is positive." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Mid-week news update


Marketer survey offers New Year cheer for MR
"Use of research will not decrease in 2009, say Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) members. A survey of marketing executives offers some New Year cheer for researchers – 78% say their use of market research will either stay the same or increase in 2009." Research Magazine

Economy weighs heavily on marketing execs for 2009
"Marketing executives are tired of buzzwords such as Web 2.0, blogs and social networking. They're more concerned about credit availability, housing markets, alternative energy and the trade deficit, according to a new study of top-level marketers." Advertising Age

Ad shops eye web space
"Firms Customize Digital Marketplaces to Stay in the Game. Madison Avenue took a back seat as technology companies created the tools to buy advertising space online. Now, major ad holding companies are developing their own systems." Wall Street Journal

Launch of ‘Digital Home Observatory’
"Competitive and market intelligence firm Strategy Analytics has launched a user experience research capability, which will explore purchase motivations, product satisfaction and barriers to the use and consumption of digital media." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

MRA predicts key legal issues for MR in 2009
"Auto-dialling of cellphones and online behavioral tracking are among the key areas raising legislative and regulatory concern for the research profession in 2009, according to a new forecast by the US-based Marketing Research Association (MRA)." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Obama urged to overhaul consumer privacy law
'Privacy campaigners are calling for the Obama administration to introduce a comprehensive consumer privacy law that would cover behavioural ad targeting and online data collection." Research Magazine

Monday, January 05, 2009

IMRO membership

Joining the Interactive Marketing Research Organization (IMRO) is easy. For non-MRA members, an application can be found on both the IMRO and MRA websites. Note that IMRO membership is one of the optional benefits of a MRA membership- the IMRO benefit must be selected during the MRA membership registration process. MRA members can join IMRO by either contacting the MRA via phone or email and asking to have IMRO added to their membership. If you have questions regarding membership or need assistance, contact the MRA.