The top reason to friend a brand on Facebook was to receive discounts, followed by simply being a customer of the company and a desire to show others that they support the brand. On Twitter, discounts, up-to-the-minute information and exclusive content were the main draws; only 2% of respondents followed brands on Twitter to show their support.
The “2010 Consumer Study,” which polled predominantly female (71%) US online buyers, found that 55% of respondents claim to be more fiscally responsible as a result of the recession, while a further 29% don’t believe hard economic times are over yet. The vast majority are planning to stick to the basics and purchase only what they need or can get a deal on. And 54% say this will lead them to spend more time online either researching before an offline purchase or searching for coupons, sales and sweepstakes.
Overall, this will lead to more online shopping for 64% of those surveyed, though most plan to make the same number of online purchases they did in 2009. More than one-half of online buyers found online ads helpful when researching and shopping online.
he annual “UK Online Fraud Report,” which charts the experiences and expectations of over 200 UK e-tailers and the views of more than 1,000 UK consumers, found that four in 10 online businesses expected growth of 20% or less. But 6% said they hoped to more than double their revenues in the current year. Smaller retailers were generally more optimistic than larger ones.
Consumer packaged goods marketers have incorporated online video content into their marketing strategies in a variety of ways—on YouTube channels, video blog posts, content sponsorships and product placement. Typically, marketers deploy online video content in the form of short video clips, the majority of which are no more than 2 minutes long. The clips are sometimes repurposed TV ads, but increasingly they are edited versions of TV spots or original video content created by the marketer or even consumers.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Will Consumer Products Brands Go Ga-Ga for Video?
Posted By: Tobi ElkinMore consumer packaged goods brands are getting into the online video content game. Take the case of consumer products giant Clorox–its Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing brand has produced “Garden Party”, a series of original Webisodes extolling the virtues of fresh, seasonal veggies. The series of Web shorts star actress Jennie Garth of “90210″ fame, a mom of three and an advocate of healthy eating. The Webisodes are being distributed via iVillage.
The new eMarketer report “Consumer Packaged Goods Sector Taps into Online Video” notes that the notoriously low involvement consumer packaged goods sector is looking for ways to engage more closely with consumers through online video content. Marketers know their consumers are spending a lot of time with video, and they’re increasingly looking to associate their brands with video content through sponsorships, original content creation, or both.
From the report:
By getting in front of consumers who snack regularly on video clips, as well as share and post comments about them, consumer product brands are attempting to use a tool that has the potential to generate viral buzz around the virtual watercooler. Creating an online video presence helps marketers facilitate an ongoing dialogue with consumers, boost brand equity, lure prospective customers and solidify support among brand loyalists.
That’s the idea. If consumer products marketers want to generate viral buzz among their target audience, it’s essential to provide consumers with the tools to distribute video in a viral manner. For instance, it took me 15 minutes to find an embed code for the video above, which wasn’t readily obvious on Hidden Valley’s Garden Party microsite. That’s far longer than what the average consumer will be willing to spend if they’re thinking about forwarding the video to a friend or discussing it in a blog post. Still, the video’s content represents a step in the right direction for consumer products brands looking to engage in a new ways with digital consumers.
The full report, “Consumer Packaged Goods Sector Taps into Online Video,” can be viewed here, to eMarketer Total Access subscribers.
Walmart had 14.97 percent of of the traffic among the top 500 most-visited retail web sites on Thursday, up 9 percent from 13.72 percent a year ago. Amazon.com was second with 12.41 percent, up 30 percent from 9.56 percent a year ago. And Best Buy had 6.22 percent of online traffic, up 3 percent from 6.05 percent a year ago.
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