‘Our Mobile Planet’, conducted in quarter one of 2012, discovered that 28% of smartphone owners have purchased a product or service on their device, of which 60% had made a recent purchase.

Among mobile shoppers there exists a hard-core group of users who purchase from their mobile frequently: 8% do so daily and a further 10% on a weekly basis. Mixed payment methods are used, with 60% using PayPal, but 48% also using credit or debit cards. A select few opt for an invoice or to complete the transaction using a gift card or web payment.

The barriers to making a purchase were investigated among those that were yet to do so, revealing that 68% simply prefer their PC or laptop to buy online, 36% don’t feel secure making the purchase on their device, 11% found it too complicated and 6% found the payment process specifically too complex.

Why have you not made a purchase using your smartphone?

Looking forward, 28% expect to make more purchases via their smartphone in the next twelve months, 45% do not expect to start accessing mobile stores, and a further 27% were unsure how their mobile commerce behaviour would evolve.

The study was commissioned by Google and conducted by Ipsos MediaCT in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

WMI cited a luke warm response to the Budget and pessimism among mortage holders, despite sustained rate cuts since October last year, as reasons for a “disappointingly small rise”. Enquiring about perceptions of the Budget, WMI discovered only 9.9% of respondents indicate that it would ‘improve’ family finances while 36% indicated thit would ‘worsen’ family finances.

Roy Morgan’s measure claims that while the budget appeared to receive a luke warm reception initially, “generous concessions to Australian families appear to have boosted consumer confidence a week after the RBA slashed interest rates by 0.5%”.

Read below the summary of this month’s results and comment from the studys’ economists.

Latest results

Roy Morgan Research Consumer Confidence Rating (weekly measure) – May 12/13, 2012

The rating has risen to 115.7 points, up 5.4 points in a week, and is now 5.0 points higher than a month ago but 1.3 points lower than a year ago.

Westpac–Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment (monthly measure) – May 7-11, 2012

The index increased to 95.3 points, down 0.8 points over the past month but 8.6 points below the level of a year ago.

NB: When reading the chart, please note that the numbers are not directly comparable due to slight methodological differences. Both are calculated from a neutral point of 100 plus the unweighted average of the difference between the proportion of respondents who give favourable versus unfavourable answers to five key questions. A score above 100 indicates that the number of optimists outweigh the number of pessimists and vice-a-versa for a number below 100.

 What are the pollsters saying about current confidence levels?

Gary Morgan, executive chairman, Roy Morgan

“Roy Morgan consumer confidence has jumped 5.4pts to 115.7, its highest level for three months since February 11/12, 2012 (115.7) after Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered the Federal Budget last Tuesday night. The generous concessions to Australian families appear to have boosted consumer confidence a week after the RBA slashed interest rates by 0.5%.

“The biggest boost to consumer confidence came as increasing numbers of Australians (33%, up 6%) said they expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months while only 18% (down 4%) expect ‘bad times’ for the Australian economy over the next five years. The positive reaction to the Budget is reinforced by the strong fall in Australians saying they are ‘worse off’ financially than this time last year (27%, down 6%).

“However, today’s consumer confidence was measured before the latest turmoil from the Eurozone as a Greek exit from the currency appears inevitable after inconclusive elections in Greece. The renewed uncertainty in Europe has undermined market confidence in Australia with the All Ordinaries down 117 points last week and already down a further 119 points this week.”

Bill Evans, chief economist, Westpac

“This is a disappointing result. It follows a surprise 0.5% cut in the official cash rate by the Reserve Bank and extensive media coverage that the unemployment rate had fallen from 5.2% to 4.9%. “However, other factors appear to have offset these positives. Firstly there might have been a degree of disappointment amongst households that the standard variable mortgage rate was reduced by ‘only’ an average of 0.37%. Secondly, increasingly disturbing news around Europe and specifically Greece is likely to have unnerved households.

“This soft response in confidence will be a disappointment for the Reserve Bank. It seems extraordinary that the Index is 2.0% below its level in October last year when the official cash rate was 4.75% – a full 1% above the current level.

“An additional explanation for this weak response of the Index is around the Federal Budget. We asked a supplementary question in the survey, “What impact do you expect the Federal Budget to have on your family finances over the next 12 months?” The results were disappointing with only 9.9% of respondents indicating that the Budget would ‘improve’ family finances while 36% indicated the Budget would ‘worsen’ family finances.

“Further specific evidence on the muted impact of the cuts in the official cash rate on confidence can be found in the response of those folks who hold a mortgage. Confidence in this group increased only 3% in the survey despite the largest cut in the standard variable mortgage rate since February 2009. Since October 2011 the standard variable mortgage rate has fallen by 0.76% yet the confidence of mortgage borrowers has actually fallen by 1.8%.

“There was a substantial increase of 17% in the component of the Index which measures how respondents feel about their finances relative to a year ago. That is an encouraging result from the perspective of the impact of the rate cut.

“The sub-index tracking responses on “whether now is a good time to buy a major household item” fell by a surprising 6.9% to register its lowest reading since June 2009. That would be partly influenced by the fall of around US2¢ in the Australian dollar.

“The Reserve Bank Board next meets on June 5. The minutes of the previous meeting on May 1 indicate that the Bank expects underlying inflation to remain near the bottom of the target range over the next 12 months. That gives the Board ample scope to further cut rates if deemed necessary.

It is our current view that the Bank will wait until July before it cuts again but developments overseas along with today’s evidence that the recent cut has had little impact on confidence could easily see the Bank bring that decision forward to the next board meeting in June”

Related articles: Editor’s pick

Consumer confidence surges to start the new year

Third-party credibility can be a manifestation, or an extension, of taking a strategic alliance approach. In the case of third-party credibility, however, it can be more of a one-way relationship, whereby the organisation is not expected to enhance the third-party’s reputation. The reality is that a third-party is unlikely to get involved with the initiating organisation unless he or she thinks it is credible anyway, of course. But you get the idea, I hope…

The need for credibility

A fundamental reality of life is that no one or no entity consistently earns credibility through its own actions. It takes the opinion of, or relationship with, a third party to initiate the credibility and/or keep the momentum rolling. And even if credibility exists, most organisations, for instance, want more of the same… enter the credible third party.

An extension of this fundamental reality is that organisations, especially corporates, are especially liable to have a need for ‘credibility’ momentum or enhancement. It helps engage organisational target audiences and helps create content and stories that target audiences talk about – real-time or online – that foster the esteemed viral, or word-of-mouth, characteristic.

Three major elements of third-party reputation enhancement

There are three critically important elements to generating third-party credibility:

1. Who or what is the third-party going to be? (Often this will be an integrated combination of both, in fact, as in the CEO from X organisation),
2. what will be the topic of the narrative the third-party will engage upon and how is this relevant to the organisation and its target audiences? How, in fact, is the content relevant to the third-party, too? and
3. what are the communication mechanisms through which the third-party content will be leveraged?

It goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that the third-party approach needs to be consistent with the organisation’s holistic communication strategy.

The answers to the three questions above will be apparent through the organisation’s market research and/or its interactions with target audiences.

Don’t guess. Do the science. Do the analytics. Identify the insights.

High on the agenda will be identifying a third-party with considerable influence over target audiences.

Communication mechanisms for leveraging PR

Some approaches that can be taken to utilising the third-party credibility model include:

• Producing a whitepaper on a strategically appropriate topic in partnership with an industry association stakeholder(s) and/or academic(s) and/or political stakeholder(s), then leveraging the content through communication, customising it appropriately,
• hosting a round table on a specific topic, inviting credible stakeholders to participate, then generating content (e.g. whitepaper) for leveraging through communication, or
• commissioning one or more academics to undertake research on a particular topic, then the organisation (using its CEO, for instance) comments on (i.e. analysing and contextualising) and promotes this content through relevant communication mechanisms – interestingly, this is an echo of the content curation model.

A hybrid approach that incorporates some of the ideas above is based on undertaking market research on a topic. This is generally quantitative but can also be qualitative. The research findings will be of interest of the media and, through them, target audiences. It can be repeated every year or so and becomes the ‘XXX Corporation Index on XYZ Topic’, thus enhancing the organisation’s positioning relevant to this topic.

The topic can be multifaceted and it can be evolved each time it occurs so the organisation does not need to be ‘stuck’ in a topic or area that may lose interest over time. For instance, if the core topic is Western Sydney, there could be evolving dimensions of the research that focus on health on one occasion, education the next, housing the next etc.

The research will be commented on by the organisation, of course, but so can other external stakeholders like academics be invited to provide an analysis and that too can be promoted. The research itself is undertaken by a third-party market research agency so the research content will have ‘arms-length’ credibility in itself.

As an aside, any advertisement I see that tries to apply third-party credibility looks seriously like unadulterated spin. For instance, ads that spruik toothpaste and use ‘independent’ dentists to back their claims – c’mon, are they serious? Are people really stupid enough to buy this approach?

Media and social media as credible third parties 

The medium can inherently communicate a message, as Marshal McLuhan noted many Tequila Sunrises ago. In this instance, having the communication content featured on platforms carries the imprimatur of that medium. This can include:

• A media outlet,
• a non-organisational website,
• a social media platform (e.g. Twitter, blog, Facebook, LinkedIn), even if that platform is just raising awareness of the content and features little in the way of a description or qualitative assessment of that content, or
• a presentation by the third-party or another non-organisational individual who may have chosen to use the content because of its utility.

This notion underlines the importance of leveraging the content delivered by the third-party in the best way possible. The easiest option and the option with the largest database/audience may not be the best option.

Ask yourself not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your communication strategy.

This post is an edited version of an article in a free whitepaper, ‘The Holy Trinity of Public Relations’, produced by experienced corporate communication practitioner, Craig Pearce. The whitepaper is available as a free download for all email subscribers to his blog, Public relations and managing reputation. The whitepaper provides an overview of the strategic dimensions of, and practical implementation tips on,  thought leadership, third-party credibility and strategic alliances.

“You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.”

– Norman Douglas

Each weekday in May we’ll bring you a niche, alternative or emerging advertising option that perhaps won’t appear on your research and data reports but highlights opportunities that can add reach, impact and value to your marketing and advertising mix. Your niche ad option for 17 May is:

Mobile and SMS advertising

Mobile and SMS marketing is recognised as a key growth sector. Advertisers have the opportunity to target specific audiences within geographic locations through an evolving range of dynamic and measureable executions. InMobi is the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network allowing marketers real-time campaign optimisation and reporting.

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The findings, from TNS’ ‘Mobile Life’ study, show that around one in two mobile owners use their phones for social networking, gaming and location-based services, more than one in three for mobile banking and streaming video, and around one in four for music streaming and video calling. In addition, a high number of mobile users indicate interest in using these and other innovative smartphone features.

The hunger for innovation on phones is driven by the utility consumers are realising it can provide, says executive director at TNS, Jonathan Sinton, as the usability barrier of the phone is lowered by increasingly intuitive interface design.

“The beauty of modern phones is there’s no technology barrier,” Sinton says. “They’re incredibly intuitive, and it’s pretty widely acknowledged now that if a two year old can figure out a phone and navigate it, then anyone can.

“So any of these [advanced features] are appealing to Australians if it makes their life easier, or it adds value to their life.”

According to the global study, conducted earlier this year among 48,000 people in 58 countries, 52% of the Australian population now own a smartphone, a figure higher among 16-30 year olds (67%) and men (59%). A further 22% intend to buy one in the next six months, with communication features like email the key drivers behind purchase intent.

Emerging features such as augmented reality, home control, mobile wallet and video are already showing signs of use and rank as some of the most desired feature among those yet to use them. 15% claim to be using augmented reality apps, such as augmented location browser Layar and the CommBank’s Property Guide app, while an additional 21% would like to use the feature. Similarly, 13% claim to be using their phone as a mobile wallet, through services such as CBA’s Kaching, and a further 28% would like to do so, which bodes well for uptake of the feature, despite experts insisting it won’t go mainstream for some time.

Sinton admits that there could be some confusion among respondents over augmented reality and mobile wallet usage, but is not surprised by the findings, given the high level of interest in the features.

Speech to text, video calling and home control via mobile rank as the three most desired features, with 36%, 33% and 32% keen to use them respectively.

Use and desired use of feature among all mobile users

Access of video via mobile phones shows strong momentum, with 37% streaming video and a futher 21% interested in doing so, and 18% watching live TV, with an additional 25% interested in the feature.

Social networking is conducted via mobile by 46% of mobile users currently, a figure higher among smartphone users, 47% of whom access social networks via their phone on a daily basis. The number of people checking in to locations on social networks has risen over the past year, up from 14% to 21%, with a further 15% interested in doing so.

In addition to smartphone users, according to the study, another 13% of Australians use phones that allow access the mobile web, enabling two-thirds of Australia’s mobile market to be digitally connected.

Read: Marketing’s report on perceptions of mobile advertising.

Browsing the mobile web continues to have relevance for all connected users – 58% currently browse the internet by mobile, almost every user with the ability to do so – indicating that map searches and app content are unlikely to take over altogether. With this in mind, Sinton comments that brands need to step up the quality of mobile websites, unless they deal in more habitual interactions with consumers, such as checking the weather, where apps tend to dominate.

“There is still a push to get clients to localise their sites, websites that are not optimised for mobile. There’s so much branding, so much searching, so much information search now happening on either a mobile or a tablet… the market hasn’t caught up with that yet.”

Worldwide, around 200 billion videos are watched online every month, reaching a global audience of 1.2 billion people, according to comScore. In Australia, spend on video advertising grew 31% year in 2011 to $43.7 million, compared to sluggish display advertising growth of only 4%, according to the IAB.  Moreover, that growth is expected to more than quadruple to $200 million by 2014.

In Australia, demand for online advertising video inventory so outstrips supply that CPM prices for premium environments can exceed prices charged for broadcast television, which is rare in digital advertising.

Sure, new local media arrivals, like the music streaming site Vevo, will swell premium inventory, which might result in lower prices, but even without additional inventory, many advertisers recognise that in-stream video ads hold great potential for reaching online audiences more effectively than other types of advertising – digital or traditional.

For advertisers still weighing the pros and cons of online video advertising, here are four facts to consider:

1. Users are 200 times more likely to click on in-stream ads vs. standard banners

According to MediaMind’s benchmarks, the average click-through rate (CTR) for standard banners is 0.009%, while the benchmark CTR for in-stream video is 1.74%, an increase of nearly 2,000%. While clicks are an imperfect measure of advertising effectiveness, they are a proxy for the amount of traffic a campaign generates – suggesting that video can be a phenomenally effective way to increase traffic to your website and eventually sales.

2. 70% of in-stream video ads play all the way to the end

One of the main contributors to the effectiveness of a campaign is the time users spend with an ad. The longer you see the brand in front of you, the more likely you are to remember it. With pre-rolls and mid-rolls (in-stream ads that appear before and in the middle of video content, respectively), users must watch the entire ad before the content resumes. Our analysis of millions of impressions shows that an average of 70% of in-stream impressions play all the way through, and 75% play three quarters of the spot duration, providing plenty of exposure time for the money invested.

3. Video ads work particularly well for brand advertisers

Branding is all about telling a story – something video can do better than most mediums (aside from novels). According to research by Dynamic Logic and TubeMogul, video ads have some of the highest impact on brand metrics such as brand awareness and brand favorability, with FMCG and financial services campaigns benefiting most from the format.

4. Online video watching is growing rapidly and globally four billion videos are viewed every day

Worldwide viewing online video is becoming a popular pastime. While the average Australian internet user spends around 10 hours a month watching videos online, the arrival of widespread broadband will help us catch up to markets like the US. There already 57% of internet users view online video at least once per week, and 21% viewed online video daily, according to a 2011 research study by Frank N. Magid Associates.

But the real spur to the online video watching market will come with increasing convergence of internet and TV, giving us the choice to watch whatever we like on any screen in the home. Currently, only around 1% of Australians have internet connected TV, compared to around 14% in the US. But this number will grow, with younger consumers leading the way, as better, simpler solutions emerge from the current wash of Apple TV, IPTV, Google TV and Telstra’s T-Box products.

Massive growth aside, in-stream video is already getting results for advertisers – in terms of clicks and brand metrics. The proof is in the spend on online video advertising, which is growing faster than any other advertising type – in digital or traditional mediums.

As online video gradually commands a more prominent place in our living rooms and a larger share of people’s time, online video advertising will likely become a standard component of mainstream campaigns. If it is not at least on your radar, you may be putting yourself behind the competitive curve.

The ‘Asian Marketing Fund’, set aside in last week’s Federal Budget in recognition of the growth expected to come from Asia’s emerging middle class, follows the announced relaunch of ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ in China, as the national tourism body sets its sights increasingly on the East.

The boost will be given out over four years: $8.5 million in the first year (2012-2013), followed by $14 million the following year, then $17.5 million, and $21 million in the 2017 financial year.

Commenting on the boost, Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon says, “Tourism Australia continues to approach its international marketing activity with a balanced portfolio approach, where traditional markets such as the United Kingdom and USA remain important, but nobody can deny that the opportunities that lie before us are in this Asian Century.

“With this new dedicated fund, we now have an unprecedented opportunity to further drive both existing campaign activity and new marketing efforts across our fastest growing and most valuable inbound visitor markets.”

While a decision is yet to be made on how to money will be spent, TA is expected to use it with its current agencies DDB and OMD.

“Advertising is the poetry of capitalism.”

– Michael Maynard

Each weekday in May we’ll bring you a niche, alternative or emerging advertising option that perhaps won’t appear on your research and data reports but highlights opportunities that can add reach, impact and value to your marketing and advertising mix. Your niche ad option for 16 May is:

Ice advertising

How’s this for a unique ambient advertising solution?  Over 40 million ice bags are sold annually in Australia through outlets such as bottle shops, service stations and supermarkets. Icy Media offers marketers the opportunity to target your brand, product message, competition or redemption offer within this unique and cost effective platform.

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The presentation will reveal how to tailor six elements of ad creative to implement successful ads on Facebook, according to AdAge, which was given a sneak peak of the findings. These six elements include two that are visual – focal point and noticeability – and four relating to a range of aspects of the message, from whether it’s easy to discern the brand to whether the advertiser gets the point across. High ratings in each of the six elements were found to be predictive of in-market success for two traditional metrics: brand recall and purchase consideration, according to the study which matched the results against Nielsen Brand Effects studies.

AdAge reports that head of platforms and standards at Facebook, Sean Bruich, said the model devised by the study explains 20% to 25% of variance in market performance. Practices that detract from ad performance included indistinct images, a frequent problem given the small amount of space the ads allow for images, and bright colours or fancy, eye-catching symbols.

“Ads that were rewarding tended to be pretty clear – there wasn’t an overload of information,” Bruich explained. “But [the] rewarding ads also seemed to connect. The information seemed meaningful.”

Incentives, in the form of offers or discounts, weren’t the only way to connect with users, the research also found. While some kind of reward was crucial for creating purchase consideration from the ad, Bruich said that this need not involve free stuff, and could be informational or even emotional.

When it came to recall, three things were particularly important: The image needs to have an obvious focal point, the brand needs to be clear and the ad needs to fit with the brand’s personality.

The study was conducted using a three-step methodology – initial qual with marketers to identify elements of ad creative to test, a quantitative survey to test which elements were the most important among 109 marketers asked to rate just under 400 ads on each of the six elements, and a modelling approach used to test the ratings delivered from the survey.

The ads examined were from a Facebook format called premium-engagement ads, which appear on the right column of a Facebook page and carry tight restrictions on image size and copy length.

In a TVC that highlights the size of the Flybuys campaign, an animated green ‘peaman’ says, “This is the simplest way we could make this ad. Because extra special savings from Woolworths Everyday Rewards is the simplest way to save on the things you love.”

The ad also takes aim at elements of Flybuys by saying Everday Rewards is simpler than “waiting at the mailbox” and “simpler than counting to five”, in reference to Flybuys’ letterbox drop and My5 initiative.

Created by Droga5, the campaign comes less than four weeks after Coles relaunched Flybuys.