Tag Archives: nielsen

The lights are on but nobody’s home in the land of Google Plus

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It was supposed to be the next Facebook, but it seems social media users have turned their noses up at Google Plus with new reports stating the average user spent just seven minutes a day on the site for the entire month of March.

A Nielsen survey obtained by Mashable.com has found that Google Plus users were active for six minutes and 47 seconds compared to Facebook, where the average user is being active for an average of six hours and 44 minutes. A Google rep told Mashable.com the Nielsen’s figures are ‘far off’ from what the company’s internal data show. Nielsen’s figures are based on visits directly to plus.google.com in the browser, and do not factor in activity on other domains like YouTube and Gmail, which Google may factor in.

Nielsen is also reporting that 20 million unique visitors in the United States used the Google plus Android and iPhone apps which equals a 238% rise over March 2012. On desktop, Google Plus’s monthly unique views jumped 63% from the previous year to 28 million.

The figures compare to 142.1 million uniques for Facebook’s desktop site during the same time and 99 million uniques who visited Facebook via their mobile devices. Twitter had 34 million unique visitors on desktop and 29 million uniques visitors from their official mobile app.

The report also showed that 20 million unique visitors in the US used Google Plus on Android and iPhone apps; a rise of 238% in March 2012 compared to 99 million unique views for Facebook and 29 million unique views for Twitter.

On desktop, Google Plus’ monthly unique views jumped 63% to 28 million compared to 142.1 million uniques for Facebook and 34 million for Twitter.

Facebook is still sitting way up in front of both platforms with 700 million active users.

IAB announces new CEO: digital and mobile key focus

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Former GroupM Interaction regional chief operating officer Alice Manners has been announced chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia.

She takes up the key position after the exit of outgoing CEO Paul Fisher who resigned in 2012 to take up a regional role as head of media for audience measurement firm Nielsen.

After a four-month search, Manners begins work in August, and IAB chair Mark Britt is embracing the change, while looking to leverage her 14-plus years in both local and international digital worlds.

“The online industry has gone through a huge transformation in the past year and with more change ahead, it is perfect that we’ll now have someone of Alice’s calibre and experience heading up our peak trade association for online,” he says.

With the internet set to pass television in 2013 as the country’s biggest medium by advertising spend, Manners explains that, ”Digital will undeniably begin to lead discussions at the top table, and the opportunity to manage IAB Australia’s transition through this growth was one that I could not resist,” she says.

AMAA puts out tender for web measurement providers

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The Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA), formerly the Audit Bureaux of Australia,  is seeking expressions of interest from web measurement technology providers to provide a measurement solution for a new range of metrics under its Web Audit Service.

Until now, the AMAA had an exclusive partnership with Nielsen to audit the use of its census-based, Market Intelligence service. The AMAA will now seek to partner for each of the metrics to be audited and reported through the AMAA’s eData Portal.

“We have valued our working relationship and partnership over the last four years with Nielsen, however, since the launch of the web audit service in 2009 our members’ measurement needs have evolved. The AMAA has been keen to maintain a relationship with Nielsen and would welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Nielsen in some capacity under the new arrangement,” says AMAA CEO, Paul Dovas.

The AMAA reports it will introduce new metrics following considerable member consultation, which has identified the need to report multi-platform activity by device as a key objective.

The AMAA hopes metrics will initially include page impressions, unique browsers and unique devices, with a view to include audience measurement and viewable impressions at a later stage. The final suite of metrics will be determined through the review process and respondent submissions as well as the introduction of the unique device metric, which will record the number of unique devices that have generated a tagged item of content over a variable time period.

“The potential to deliver a reliable monthly unique device figure is looming as critical for smaller specialist and niche publishers, who no longer have access to a monthly unique browser or unique audience metric,” says Dovas.

AMAA chairman Stephen Hollings says, “The online world continues to evolve and the AMAA is evolving with it. Since the launch of the web audit service in 2009 the measurement needs of our members have changed dramatically and this update to the audit service reflects this. It is important that the AMAA’s metrics are accessible by the largest website publisher all the way to the smallest.”

With the successful launch of the new service, the AMAA will then look to focus on delivery across mobile and video.

Web measurement technology providers are being invited to submit proposals by 24 May 2013 with submissions to be assessed by a review committee.

 

Science in aisle three: Nielsen opens shopper experience lab in Sydney

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Global research firm Nielsen is claiming an Pacific-region first with its launch of a full shopper experience lab at its Sydney head office to help manufacturer and retail brands better understand shopping behaviour and test concepts.

The ShopperLAB will include interview, eye tracking and neuroscience capabilities. The eye-tracking equipment will help determine what shoppers see and virtual shopping devices will help to comprehend what shoppers do when faced with different products and shopping conditions.

The facility is aimed at marketers, category managers and sales directors to provide insights into how shoppers react to packaging, point of sale, range alterations, layout changes and aisle activation.

Associate director of Nielsen’s shopper practice, Rachel Shaw, says, “Nielsen research shows that 25% of new products fail in market. However, proper testing can dramatically increase a new products’ chance of success. Shoppers generally spend just 15 seconds interacting with a product category, so brands need to know how, when and where to communicate their strongest messages to shoppers.”

David O’Brien, customer marketing manager for Wrigley, says that working in the Nielsen ShopperLAB his company to explore the shopper psyche in a way they had not been able to previously. “Nielsen Shopper’s unique approach and cutting edge technology uncovered exciting new insights into shopper behaviour at Front of Store that identified significant growth opportunities for Wrigley and helped to enhance our position as experts in this area with our retail partners’,” he says.

 

Nielsen rating system to give digital a seat at the media table?

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Nielsen is bringing its Online Campaign Ratings product into the Australia market, and with it online media ratings closer and more comparable to measures of traditional media.

Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings takes into account the audience of online advertisers, providing data in reach, frequency, gross rating point metrics and demographic touchpoints like age and gender. It aims to provide a true picture of the online audience reached, rather than simply size, providing insights to determine the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns comparable to that of radio or TV.

The service is already available in the US and the UK and is scheduled to officially launch in Australia at the Consumer 360 Pacific Conference in May this year.

Neilson will combine online panel data with aggregated demographic information from participating online data providers, including Facebook.

Claiming to be the most accurate and in-depth website data to be made available in Australia, the product gives publishers and brand advertisers more information beyond simply sheer impressions.

Managing director of media at Nielsen Australia, Matt Bruce, says there is a demand for the service in Australia: “The dilemma for advertisers and their agencies is the ability to ensure their advertising is reaching the right audience and to quantify what they are getting for their money. This solution is already proven in the US. The Australian market is ready for this accepted standard of independent measurement which is why we have made Australia a priority for the introduction of this eagerly anticipated solution,” he says.

Gai Le Roy, director of research at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), feels positively about digital media gaining the credibility to match the TARPs and GRPs of traditional advertising.

“I think it will put digital upfront in marketers’ minds so they can look at their campaign across platforms with the same metrics,” she says.

“The product that Nielson are introducing is in beta at the moment, so we’re supportive of the move but we’re waiting to see the data.

“These products are as good as the data sources, so as long as the data is robust it should be a very positive for marketers, but obviously its early days and its too early to say, ‘this is the golden key’,” she says.

Le Roy admits there is the potential for teething problems.

“I think with any new product there will be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in terms of what the data means and how its used, and I think once it’s gone through that initial test period we’ll be able to, as an industry, probably develop some guidelines as to how the data is used,” she says.

Le Roy disagrees with concerns that the new system could expose some publishers who may be overly generous with their claimed digital data, saying a more accurate measuring system will provide better demographic and other segmentation information than the ‘blanket’ data currently available to publishers.

“It won’t necessarily expose in terms of numbers,” she says. “It will hopefully give advertisers clarity on the audience composition rather than a pure scale of numbers.

“Quality content providers that have good information on their audience that they’re selling to clients and, again with the caveat that the data is correct, should be welcoming this type of move.”

 

Free Pinterest Web Analytics tool released to assist marketers

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Pinterest is now using your pins and providing data to brands courtesy of its new analytics tool, Pinterest Web Analytics.

In November, the social scrapbooking site started encouraging businesses to open their own accounts and create boards so users can re-pin their products. The Pinterest analytics tool, already available, takes that a step further, with websites allowed to see which products are being most re-pinned, and the amount of web traffic generated from Pinterest.

Following a similar format to that of Google Analytics – Pinterest Web Analytics’ unique sell is that it does not concentrate so much on the person, but relays information to the brands, about how they’re being discovered, and which images appeal to users.

Other companies such as Pinfluencer and Pinalyzer have been providing brands with Pinterest analytics, but many of those companies charge for the data. Pinterest Web Analytics is a free tool.

In December, Pinterest had almost 30 million unique visitors, slightly edging out Instagram, according to comScore. A December Nielsen report also showed Pinterest as the fastest growing social network on both desktops and smartphones, up 1047% and 4225% over the same period in 2011, respectively.

Pinterest is now valued at US$2.5 billion and collects no advertising revenue, so these new tools give an inkling of how the company will leverage its growing user base to make money.

With Macworld.

TV disruption looms: Prime-time audience more addicted and connected than ever before

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The disruption of broadcast television at the hands of the internet appears imminent, with tablets and internet-enabled TVs now in one in three homes, 64% of online Australians using the internet during prime time and dual screening up to 74% of the population.

Nielsen’s ‘Australian Connected Consumers’ report, conducted among 5000 online Australians during December, shows consumers are logging on in increasing numbers while watching TV and access to devices that empower content choice is rapidly increasing.

Not only has tablet penetration boomed, now at 31% of households, but access to connected TV sets has also grown strongly overtaking tablets for the first time to reach 33% of households.

Equally telling for broadcasters are the findings which show dual screening increased from 60% in 2011 to 74% in 2012, while the number of Australians logging on during prime time hours between 6pm and 8pm jumped from 53% to with 64% of online Australians.

The traditional evening prime time is no longer the exclusive domain of broadcast television, with social TV coming out as a key trend Nielsen insight and innovation associate director Lillian Zrim says.

“In 2012, we found more than one in three online Australians engaging in social media activity in line with television consumption, whether it is posting comments about TV programs or reading comments about programs being watched,” Zrim says.

However, internet television is not necessarily a threat for broadcasters, Zrim points out. “There is still a major opportunity to own the internet television space in Australia, which remained relatively flat in uptake during 2012. Almost half (43%) of the Australian online population watched TV content via internet services and sources, and the NBN rollout will facilitate a surge in the demand for streamed TV and movie content in Australia in coming years.”

While broadcast television enjoys a single ‘peak time’ during the evening, online media also sees a morning peak, with 57% of online Australians accessing the internet between 9am and 12pm and consumption remains strong throughout the day.

Australians now spend an average of 23 hours and 18 minutes online in an average week, up an hour and 24 minutes on 2011’s usage figures, with men spending, on average, three hours longer than women per week.

The study also found mobile internet is now commonly the first daily media access point for Australian consumers.

It supports Kantar’s and Telsyte’s data showing Android has overtaken iOS as the leading smartphone operating system, finding 45% of online Australians utilising Android technology versus 38% using iOS. However, iOS users access more content compared to Android users.

 

Tablets not suspected in fall of TV, but may kill the PVR

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Time spent watching broadcast TV dropped noticeably in quarter four of last year, however rapidly-increasing tablet penetration in homes is not a suspect behind the downturn.

Now in 27% of Australian households, tablets were found to be supplementary to ‘traditional’ television viewing, which dropped by about 10% quarter on quarter and 3.5% year on year to an average of 91 hours and 5 minutes per month.

Nielsen, OzTAM and Regional TAM’s ‘Australian Multi-Screen Report’ and a separate tablet study found only 2% of new iPad users watch TV programs broadcast on either free-to-air or subscription television networks via the tablet devices. Other screens, including smartphones and PCs, also fail to put a major dent in the dominance of the ‘big screen’ with the television set accounting for 93% of all video content viewing.

The additional tablet study, which tracked the introduction of tablets into 30 households over 12 weeks during the second half of 2012, suggests tablets quickly entrench themselves in Australian homes when purchased, CEO of OzTAM, Doug Peiffer, says. “Their role is complementary rather than rival to TV, which remains remarkably resilient in an era of extraordinary consumer choice.”

The tablet is most commonly used to consume TV content if a program is missed on TV for reasons of convenience and portability. Around a quarter of users claim to use the tablet to watch any kind of video content in a month.

People meters attached to TV sets of participants in the special tablet study show, after an initial exploratory period, household TV screen use returns to normal, with viewing of live TV in some cases rising. Both before and after receiving tablets, 100% of study participants said the conventional TV screen was their preferred and primary device for watching TV.

However, TV playback viewing activity via PVRs was slow to recover during weekdays, suggesting the presence of tablets is influencing the days people do their catch-up viewing, with PVR use reducing and consigned to weekends.

The lion’s share of TV viewership remains live, with 93% of content consumed during broadcast slots and playback accounting for only 7% or 6 hours and 30 minutes per month.

Average daily time spent viewing television has been consistent over the past ten years, even as technology and entertainment choice causes audiences to splinter across screens. Across calendar 2012, Australians watched an average of 3 hours and 11 minutes of TV a day, compared to an average of 3 hours 18 minutes in 2003.

The combination of extended screens (PC and mobile phone, tablet time not tracked) for used for watching any video content accounts for 7% of video consumption on traditional TV sets. More than 11.1 million Australians watch video content online via a PC or laptop, for an average of 5 hours and 54 minutes per month. Such viewing is highest among people aged 18 to 24 years at 11 hours and 36 minutes.

Smartphone owners spend an average of 1 hour 20 minutes watching any video on the device each month.

Tablets are the device most likely to be used simultaneously to TV viewership, with 43% of people claiming to have done so at least once a month. On smartphones 40% were multi-tasking in concert with watching TV while 24% used laptops while watching the box.

Simultaneous tablet use is predominantly for activities unrelated to the TV program or advertising being watched, the most popular being messaging, shopping research and access of other entertainment content. Only one in three view content related to the TV program or advertising.

Technology in Australian homes is reaching new heights, the study also found. Digital TV is now practically universal, present among 98% of homes while household internet penetration is stable at 79%, with an average of 50 hours and 42 minutes spent online per month.

Internet-connected TVs can be found in 20% of homes, just behind tablets which are present in 27% of households after strong growth of 12% throughout the year.

Traditional broadcast television, however, still commands the most wide-reaching daily audience, hitting more than three quarters of the population every day.

 

Silver streamers come of age: online video population matches web traffic

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2012 closed with 15 million internet users, growth in mobile web views of 74% and a population of 11 million video streamers, Nielsen’s ‘Australian Online Landscape Review’ reports.

Each of these figures, traditionally dominated by younger generations, are now contributed to by an equal number of ‘silver surfers’ as the older generations try their hand at all aspects of internet use.

There were around four million Australians that didn’t steam video during any of their online sessions during December, but the assumption that these hail from older generations is false.

The 50 years and above age bracket in fact makes up the largest segment of internet users both in terms of the overall online population and the population of video streamers, comprising of around 31% of each category.

When it comes to the amount of video watched however, young Gen Ys – 18-24 year olds more likely to be studying than in an office job – far outstrip any other segment. An average member of this group streamed 246 videos in December, 60 more than older Gen Ys (25-34 year olds) and almost four times the number of streams accessed by those aged 50 and above.

Nielsen Dec12 video demos

Most of the videos being watched are accessed through social platforms, publishers and dedicated video sites such as YouTube and VEVO. Mi9’s network served the most video content out of the publishers, with nearly 2 million Australians streaming video on ninemsn or one of its other sites. ABC’s network ranked second with a reach of 1.1 million, while Fairfax’s smh.com.au out-streamed direct competitor News Limited’s properties, which failed to rank in the top 10.

In the overall website visitation rankings, Google and Facebook maintained their place as the top online brands by audience size. Skype made a rare appearance in the top 10 during December, possibly as people called home during the Christmas period.

Nielsen Dec 12 website top 10

The escalating use of mobile continued in December 2012 with mobile page views increasing to more than 334 million, a jump of 74% since January. Mobile traffic however still remains a small portion of the 38 billion page views recorded by Nielsen’s hybrid methodology for the period.

 

Upswing in retail spend predicted as purchase intent skyrockets: study

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Intent to make major purchases among Australians skyrocketed at the end of last year, according to Nielsen, leading the research agency to predict an imminent upswing in retail spend.

More than one in two (55%) believed the next 12 months will be a good time to buy things they want and need when asked in quarter four of 2012 – a jump of 13% on the previous quarter – a study fielded in November found.

This rise in retail optimism comes despite languishing consumer confidence, a measure built from a range of indicators in addition to purchase intent. Nielsen’s ‘Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions’ study recorded a three point fall in Australian consumer confidence to 95 for quarter four of 2012, mirroring ‘disappointing’ results logged by Westpac-Melbourne Institute’s ‘Index of Consumer Sentiment’ in January.

Nielsen’s results point to renewed hopes for a positive retail environment in 2013, says managing director of Nielsen Pacific, Chris Percy. “Despite a slight drop in consumer confidence, the figures show a turning point in the financial stability of most Australians.

“The number of consumers signalling their intention to buy the things they want or need over the coming year indicates a shift to positive sentiment when it comes to consumer spending, helping retailers to breathe a sigh of relief.”

Nielsen analysis shows that saving intention dropped by 1% quarter on quarter, which the researchers labels another indication of an imminent spending upswing, even though it’s not a statistically significant change.

“Globally, we have seen a drop in savings by three percentage points, and Australia is following that trend,” Percy believes. “Locally, retailers can breathe a sigh of relief as consumers become more comfortable with their discretionary spending. When asked how they will use spare cash after covering essential living expenses, one in four said they would buy new clothes and one in three intends to put their spare cash towards holidaying.”

Australian consumers also continue to be confident in their job prospects, with close to half (44%) anticipating employment opportunities would be ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ in the coming year.

Overall, global consumer confidence saw a one-point quarter-on-quarter decline over the current period to 91 points, putting it two points higher than the same time in 2011.

Asia Pacific reported the highest levels of confidence overall, on 101, but still experienced quarter-on-quarter declines in eight of its 14 markets.

Europe continues to have the lowest consumer confidence levels, with a drop of three points to 71, while Latin America improved slightly to 96 and the United States fell one point to 89.

Of the 58 countries surveyed, North America posted the most significant decline in confidence over the past year, down 15 points to 71, while Greece continued to decline, reaching a lowly 35.

Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

 

Nielsen’s ‘Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions’ quarter four 2012 was conducted between 10 – 27 November –27, 2012, among more than 29,000 online consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. Sample was weighted to be representative of Internet consumers.

New brands face uphill battle: two-thirds prefer familiarity

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Almost two-thirds of consumers prefer to buy products from familiar brands rather than switch to new brands, a global study has found, quantifying a common factor in the ‘new brand versus new brand extension’ decision process.

Nielsen’s ‘New Product Purchase Sentiment’ survey, which polled 29,000 internet users in 58 countries, found 60% of consumers prefer buying new lines from a known brand instead of an untested equivalent, supporting the argument for brand extensions.

Innovating on established brands that are already trusted by consumers can be a powerful strategy, says Rob Wengel, senior vice president of Nielsen Innovation Analytics.

“Companies spend millions of dollars on new product innovation, yet two out of every three new products will not be on the market within three years,” Wengel says. “Consumers are enthusiastic about adopting new product innovations but somewhat apprehensive about embracing new brands.”

Exactly half of online consumers globally are open to switching to new products, with people in North America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa more receptive to switching than those in Latin America.

Proof of concept and value make a difference when considering change with more than two-thirds (64%) saying they would consider value or store-brand options, while three in five (60%) prefer to wait until a new innovation has proven itself before trialling.

For some, economic factors play a role in trial decisions, with 45% reporting that challenging economic conditions make them less likely to try a new product. However, for others, innovation can command a price premium, with 39% indicating a willingness to pay more for a new product.

“In order for consumers to adopt new brands, marketers need to launch very strong awareness and trial-building campaigns, supported by a positive product experience,” Wengel adds.

A mix of word-of-mouth communication, traditional advertising, and internet activity is the most persuasive way to drive awareness of new products, according to the research, highlighting the importance of a mixed media approach.

While 77% of global respondents say word-of-mouth advice from family and friends is the most persuasive source of new product information, active internet searching (67%) and traditional television advertising (59%) also remain influential.

Globally, respondents say the internet is very or somewhat important when making a new product purchase decision for food and beverages (62%), personal hygiene categories (62%), personal health/ over-the-counter medicines (61%), and hair care categories (60%).

“Ensuring consumers are aware of the product and can find it on store shelves is just as critical as coming up with that winning new product idea,” Wengel concludes.

 

Mobile shoppers burn midnight oil, make post-store-visit buys

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Mobile shoppers are burning the midnight oil in the lead up to Christmas, making most of their purchases late at night, suggesting many shop from bed or after a trip to a physical store.

In the lead up to Christmas, PayPal Australia reports significant day-on-day increases in mobile transactions, with peak hour coming on Thursday nights between 10pm and 11pm, mirroring the traditional retail late-night shopping evening.

Compared with 2011, mobile purchases are tracking substantially higher so far during the Christmas shopping period. This growth is aligned with Nielsen research predicting consumer purchases on mobile devices will total $5.6 billion in 2012, up from $155 million in 2010. The research also indicates one in three (31%) Australians have transacted on mobile devices, with 22% using a mobile device for a retail purchase over the lead up to Christmas.

PayPal Australia managing director, Jeff Clementz says the rate of growth is far exceeding expectations for the holiday season, marking a huge shift in shopping behaviour as more and more shoppers are using their mobile devices to make purchases.

PayPal’s data shows in the last five weeks, transactions via mobile immediately after stores close are up, with 30% of transactions occurring between 8pm and midnight. The heaviest spend levels over this period have been on a Thursday night, suggesting that many shoppers search for deals on products they may have seen during late-night hours.

“Our data demonstrates that for consumers, there is residual ‘shopping time’ continuing on from the ‘in-store’ experience after they leave the shopping centre, on their mobile devices,” Clementz adds. “Additionally we are seeing consumers shop in short, mission-focused bursts on mobile devices as they knock items off their Christmas list while commuting or relaxing at home.

“Our data illustrates how mobile and traditional retail are complementing each other and quickly changing social habits.  We expect mobile shopping to continue increasing up until a few days before Christmas, where it will drop off as last minute Christmas shopper head in-store.”