The site is well laid out and looks like the people behind it certainly know what they’re talking about. It’s not just limited to comparing products – be it organic foods or environmentally friendly cars – but is essentially a portal containing a variety of useful information on ethical living.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> On a personal level, like most people, I hope the site succeeds as any initiative which seeks to promote green living should be applauded. The trouble is that green websites, to date, haven’t been overly successful in attracting visitors. Despite the fact that the issues affect us all, and people increasingly discuss sustainability issues in the blogosphere, no site has tapped into this well enough to generate large enough numbers of visitors to attract the ad dollars of the mainstream advertisers.Most of the leading green groups, which one would expect to do best online, such as the Energy Saving Trust, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Fairtrade Foundation still barely register a blip. A sustainable website that has stood out online, however, is Freecycle.org - a grassroots, nonprofit movement of people who exchange goods for free in their own towns with the aim of ‘reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills’. Currently visited by over 200,000 Britons, it has experienced impressive growth this year.
The green offering from one of CNET’s fellow publishers, AOL’s ‘Go Green’ channel, perhaps gives a better clue as to the potential for smartplanet. It’s currently visited by almost 180,000 people – around one half of one percent of Britons online. Whilst this isn’t a number to be sniffed at, this number of eyeballs is probably only going to be of interest to targeted advertisers around specific green products.
However, advertising around niche interests or lifestyles is a key online theme this year. The plateauing of the large social networks, for example, whilst the niche-interest networks experience strong growth point to a ‘quality not quantity’ advertising focus as opposed to the large blind network buys.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> The fastest growing video social media site was vidShadow, growing 639% from the first time it appeared on the radar in 2007 to January 2008. Veoh, a mixture of consumer and professionally created content, grew 595%, Youku saw a 524% increase in popularity whilst Tudou and Video Jug grew by 250% and 247% respectively. And it’s not just the consumer-generated versions doing well. BBC’s iPlayer outperformed them all, growing by 918% from less than 200,000 UK visitors in August 2007 to over 1.9 million in January 2008. So, why are the video sites doing so well?Firstly, the intensively competitive nature of the UK broadband market means people have had the opportunity to switch to higher bandwidths, making video a more viable option. Secondly, as more video sites spring up, this increases competition which improves the technology available to consumers and results in increased marketing activity and, therefore, awareness in the minds of consumers. Finally, and perhaps, most importantly, all this would be irrelevant if it wasn’t for changing consumer habits. The Internet is now a daily part of life and it is now as natural to turn on a PC as it is to turn on the TV, tune in the radio or open a newspaper. Essentially, people’s mindsets are simply more tuned into watching video online now.
It’s important to be aware that this changing mindset is happening across the board, not just amongst a technologically savvy niche of consumers. YouTube’s audience, for example, is composed in pretty much the same way as the overall Internet audience – only the 12-24 year old age group shows a significant ‘over-indexing’ in YouTube.
However, the demographic that has increased its share amongst YouTube’s audience the most over the last year was 50+ women. This group composed just 4% of YouTube’s audience in Jan 07 but doubled it to 8% in Jan 08. Furthermore, BBC’s iPlayer tends to ‘over-index’ most strongly on older consumers. Almost 25% of its visitors are at least 55 years old – double the percentage that this age group makes up across the entire Internet population.
So, whether it’s people snacking on video clips or feasting on full length TV shows or films, it’s clear that video could be the star everyone is chasing this year.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>Despite the current fixation with how to advertise successfully in social networking and video media, together they still only account for around as much time as the most engaging UK Internet sector – Instant Messaging. IM accounts for 12% of all UK Internet time or, if one condensed all UK Internet time into one hour, seven minutes of it would be spent instant messaging.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> So, how would the rest of this typical ‘UK Internet hour’ be spent? After spending seven minutes instant messaging, the next five and a half minutes would be spent across social networking and blogging – as 9% of all UK Internet time is spent in ‘Member Community’ sites. Around four and a half minutes would then be spent emailing, as this accounts for 7% of all UK Internet time followed by almost four minutes playing online games (accounts for 6%).Search, ‘Classifieds/Auctions’ (the latter pretty much eBay) and ‘Software Manufacturers’ (dominated by Windows Media Player) would each account for around two and a half minutes - 4% of all UK Internet time. Around two minutes (3% of all UK Internet time) would be spent in each of the traditional, general, portal sector and the ‘Videos/Movies’ sector.
These ten sectors account for 57% of all UK Internet time (or 34 minutes in the typical ‘UK Internet hour’) with the other 43% of time being shared across the 75 other sectors Nielsen Online covers. This, if anyone needed reminding, shows how incredibly fractured Internet consumption is. More importantly, it highlights that one is not just competing with media within your own sector but all forms of online media represent a challenge to people spending time on your own offering.
How all UK Internet time is spent
| Rank | Leading sector by total UK Internet time | % of all UK Internet time | AKA: if all UK Internet time was condensed into an hour, how many minutes would be spent there* |
| 1 | Instant Messaging | 12% | 7 minutes |
| 2 | Member Communities | 9% | 5 ½ mins |
| 3 | 7% | 4 ½ mins | |
| 4 | Online Games | 6% | 4 mins |
| 5 | Search | 4% | 2 ¾ mins |
| 6 | Classifieds/Auctions | 4% | 2 ½ mins |
| 7 | Software Manufacturers | 4% | 2 ½ mins |
| 8 | Multi-category Entertainment | 4% | 2 ¼ mins |
| 9 | General Interest Portals & Communities | 3% | 2 mins |
| 10 | Videos/Movies | 3% | 1 ¾ mins |
| - | Other | 43% | 26 mins |
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>Whilst the Google suite of websites (visited by 274 million people globally – 80% of people online) is marginally more popular than Microsoft’s (262 million – 76%) and significantly more than Yahoo!’s (191 million – 56%) it is increasing the gap. From December 2006 to December 2007, Google’s global audience grew by 18%, double that of Microsoft (9%) and almost three times that of Yahoo!’s growth (7%).
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> It is, of course, search where Google’s real dominance lies. In the US in December 2007, Google accounted for 56% of all searches compared to 18% for Yahoo! and 14% for MSN. In the UK, it is significantly more dominant, accounting for 79% of searches with Yahoo! capturing 7% and MSN just 3%.Even though Microsoft and Yahoo have significant audience overlap (in the UK, for example, 85% of people who visit a Yahoo! property also visit a Microsoft property) and a combined search share that would not catch Google's, they could be positioned to create the next generation of ad networks - one that rivals Google/DoubleClick. It would be a diverse environment, made of up e-mail, search, original content and consumer generated media, where advertisers could maximize their buys over two of the most trusted online brands.
Furthermore, the next great frontier for online advertising revolves around how will it can tackle, or take advantage, of social media. In this regard, the proposed transaction itself would give Microsoft one of the industry's strongest portfolio's in the growing social-media space. This includes Yahoo Answers (visited by 40 million people globally – 12% of people online), Flickr (21 million – 6%), and Delicious (1.4 million – 0.4%), alongside its investment in Facebook (38 million – 11%).
Parent Company Global Metrics: December 2007
| Parent Company | Unique Audience (millions) | Active Reach | % Growth in Unique Audience since Dec 06 | Total Time (millions of hours) | Page Views (millions) |
| 274 | 80% | +18% | 460 | 68,632 | |
| Microsoft | 262 | 76% | +9% | 718 | 27,684 |
| Yahoo! | 191 | 56% | +7% | 418 | 42,073 |
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>When Nielsen conducted its first global survey into Internet shopping trends two years ago, approximately one in ten of the world’s population (627 million people) had shopped online. Within two years, this number has increased by approximately 40 percent (to 875 million).
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> In our increasingly cluttered lives, consumers are increasingly turning to the unrivalled convenience of the Internet to research and buy products. Globally, the most popular and purchased items over the Internet are Books (41% of recent online shoppers having bought these) followed by ‘Clothing/Accessories/Shoes’ (36%), then ‘Videos / DVDs / Games’ and Airline Tickets (both 24%).The number of recent Internet shoppers buying books over the Internet has increased from 34% to 41% in the past two years but the biggest increase has been in ‘Clothing / Accessories / Shoes’ which increased from 20% to 36%. Some of the biggest buyers of books on the Internet are from developing countries—China, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt—indicating massive growth potential for online retailers that can specifically target these fast-growing markets.
Whilst European (93%) and North American (92%) Netizens are the most likely to have shopped online, South Korea actually leads the way with 99% followed by the UK, Germany and Japan (all 97%). The U.S is joint eighth with 94% alongside Poland, France and Ireland.
Irish online shoppers have the most varied shopping baskets – averaging purchases from four different categories of products – followed closely by UK and Vietnamese shoppers (both averaging purchases from 3.8 different categories). The strong performance of the Asian market is reinforced by South Korea appearing next – averaging 3.5. The US appears 15th with an average of 3.1 product categories finding their way into Americans shopping carts. In contrast, Canadians averaged only 2.3 categories – putting them in second to last spot ahead of Indonesians.
In terms of how online shoppers choose the sites they buy from, familiarity is the biggest factor, with 60% going to the same site they buy from regularly. This shows the importance of capturing the tens of millions of new online shoppers as they make their first purchases via the Internet. If etailers can capture them early, and create a positive shopping experience, they will likely capture their loyalty and their money.
Nowhere is familiarity or habit more important than in Asia. Online shoppers in China (75%), Taiwan (73%) and Japan (70%) are the most likely to cite this factor. In comparison, 63% of Americans (8th most likely country) and 61% of Britons (11th most likely country) cite this as a factor.
Following behind familiarity (60%), online shoppers around the world also select their shopping sites through general surfing (33% citing this as a factor) followed by search engines (31%) and special offers (30%).
General surfing as a factor is strongest in Denmark (56%) Chile and Poland (both 51%), whilst search engines are most likely to play a part in the shopping process in Vietnam (63%) and Russia (57%). In contrast Taiwanese (54%) and Indians (48%) are the most likely to be swayed by a special offer.
It is interesting that, globally, personal recommendations and shopping directories (both 23%) are equally strong factors. The explosion in Consumer Generated Media over the last year indicates this reliance on word of mouth, over other forms of referral, could well increase. Clearly, however, any global retail strategy requires significant adaptation for local market nuances.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>So what types of video are proving popular; what are people watching and what are they linking to? The latter part points to the issue of ‘virality’ and measures the most popular videos in terms of links – as opposed to straightforward views. This is a key point for advertisers and publishers when it comes to understanding the holy grail of marketing – what makes people actually generate word-of-mouth.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> BlogPulse publishes the most linked-to videos on a daily basis and this highlights the ever-changing nature of consumer-generated media. The list is never the same two days running. The most linked-to video on Monday 21st January was ‘People in Order’ - part of a series of short films that assembles the people of Britain in a given order. This part contains 100 people arranged according to their age, starting from one.The day before, the honour went to Ooedo no Hikeshi’s Japanese version of Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’. On that day ‘People in Order’ was down in 22nd spot whilst Hikeshi dropped to fourth spot the day after. What is consistent, however, is the sheer variety of the leading sites. Aside from ‘People’ and Hikeshi, last Monday’s top videos involved leaders such as Martin Luther King, George Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, tutorials on the Wii Remote and Photoshop plus offerings on human rights and re-creating war.
Most linked-to videos: January 21st 2008
| Rank | Video | Website |
| 1 | People in Order | YouTube |
| 2 | Martin Luther King’s "I have a dream" | YouTube |
| 3 | President Bush pardons himself against potential war crimes | YouTube |
| 4 | Ooedo no Hikeshi - Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ | YouTube |
| 5 | Comedian Anne Roumanoff on Sarkozy and Carla | Dailymotion |
| 6 | Dying 47-Year-Old Professor Gives Exuberant ‘Last Lecture’ | Google Video |
| 7 | Richard Hammond presents Bloody Omaha | YouTube |
| 8 | Ezra Levant's opening statement at the human rights commission | YouTube |
| 9 | Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote | YouTube |
| 10 | You Suck at Photoshop #1 | YouTube |
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>However, PR didn’t end up dominating WOM. A few cutting-edge PR firms took it seriously but, overall, the industry coasted and other marketing disciplines caught up. However, it’s not too late for PR to claim the growing budgets now materialising but it is dependent on a shift in thinking and approach.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> PR has three main advantages. Firstly, WOM marketing is all about relationships – a core competency of PR and its dominant pillar. Brands trust PR people to manage relationships with influential people such as journalists, analysts, thought-leaders and industry bodies. WOM marketing is similar, built largely on managing relationships with influential members within communities of interest. Unlike PR, other marketing disciplines know a lot about broadcasting one-way messages but little about the intricate nature of managing relationships and developing individual conversations.Secondly, the PR industry has great experience in managing communications where messages are disseminated via unpaid channels such as news media and briefings. PR professionals strategically employ these uncontrolled and, often, participatory avenues to reach and influence target audiences - often more successfully than paid channels.
Finally, PR has fine-tuned the art of dissecting the essence of brands and issues, to position them in a credible way so people will want to talk about them in a certain way. Advertising people are experts at creating positioning in a controlled push-media model but one could argue that PR people are most effective at creating positioning that resonates with sceptical influencers. The latter are the gatekeepers of consumer-generated media, controlling reach and when and how a brand message is passed along to others.
However, PR also has challenges to overcome. Firstly, research and consumer databases must become a core competency as it already is for media planners, advertisers and direct marketers. WOM marketing requires continuous tracking as consumers are in control – often causing messages and perceptions to be fluid and unpredictable. Therefore, continuous research is required throughout a brand’s entire lifecycle to tweak messages appropriately. Moreover, research and databases enable you to achieve scale and track effectiveness in WOM strategies. These are critical elements to justify large budgets and are a primary concern among many brand marketers.
Secondly, PR must move out of its ‘media-relations’ box to include a more holistic grasp of the entire communications mix beyond just journalist relations. WOM is interconnected to all other channels such as advertising, promotions, direct mail, customer service and the product itself. A larger share of the WOM budget pie requires thinking from this perspective. PR must also branch out beyond the corporate communications department because WOM marketing budgets live with the brand teams.
Finally, PR must invest in its digital-media knowledge and capabilities. The Internet is multiplying the value and impact of word-of-mouth at a rapid pace and resulting in a massive reservoir of consumer-generated media that continues to become a greater source of the content people consume in their daily lives. The big opportunity for PR lies in leveraging its existing competencies; to pair them with a commitment to the methodologies, tools and concepts to keep up with this rapidly evolving landscape.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]>It’s not just how much is being said, but what is actually being said – and the degree to which socially created content is starting to overshadow the professional version is probably bigger than most think. The last year has seen the twenty most popular social media sites triple their share of web pages viewed in the UK.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
]]> According to BlogPulse, there are now almost 69 million English-language blogs globally. The last 24 hours have seen 93,000 new blogs and almost 665,000 new blog posts. That’s an awful lot of opinion the professionals aren’t in control of – coming from a lot of different people.A recent Nielsen survey, on the attitudes of online consumers around the world towards advertising, showed the most trusted form of advertising was ‘recommendations from other consumers’ – being cited by 78% of respondents. Furthermore, the third most trusted form of advertising (behind adverts in newspapers at 63%) was ‘consumer opinions posted online’ - being trusted by 61%.
The latter, in effect, means that six in every ten of your potential consumers will trust the recommendation of someone online they don’t know when it comes to deciding which of your products or services to buy. They’re more likely to trust these than your brand website, ads you place in magazines, on TV or radio or before movies, more than emails or texts they receive from you, sponsorships you engage in, search engine ads or banner ads that you place. Brand Association Maps (BAM) which plot language, attributes and issues around a topic show that, for ‘advertising’, attributes like “false”, “deceptive” and “misleading” are highly associated.
What people are saying about you can have more effect than all of your marketing activities, so it’s vital to understand what is being said and the sentiment behind it – the ‘buzz’. Our studies in the US have shown that monitoring ‘buzz’ can be like a digital version of a crystal ball when it comes to sales. For example, a well-known pet food manufacturer in the US was consistently cited in the same percentage of blogs until early March this year when suddenly its share of buzz increased twenty-fold in just two-weeks due to a contaminant scare.
This increase in negative buzz preceded a drop in sales by one week and the buzz spike coincided with a 50% drop in sales. So whilst it’s difficult to control what people are saying about you, by monitoring the buzz it can give you a fighting chance, a window, in which to develop appropriate counter-strategies. Word of mouth continues to grow unabated but so does your chance to improve from it.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
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