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Survey

Two thirds of UK firms won’t be GDPR compliant by May 25

New research says UK companies are massively ill-prepared for this week’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcement deadline.

Less than a third (29%) of organisations surveyed by USB drive specialist Apricorn felt confident they would comply, and when questioned further and asked whether there were any areas they might be likely to fail, 81% could think of some area of the new requirements that might cause them to fail when it comes to GDPR compliance.

Fifty per cent of organisations who know that GDPR will apply to them admit that a lack of understanding of the data they collect and process is their number one concern relating to non-compliance.

On top of this, almost four in ten (37%) believe they are most likely to fail because of gaps in employee training, and almost a quarter (23%) say their employees don’t understand the new responsibilities that come with the GDPR.

While one in ten still regard the GDPR as a mere tick box exercise, a substantial proportion do view it as being of some benefit to their organisation – for example 44% agree that the new regulation is a welcome opportunity to overhaul their organisation’s data handling and security processes.

The most commonly taken step so far, for those who say they will be at least somewhat prepared for the GDPR, is to review and update their security policies for mobile working (67%). However, 30% still worry they could fail to comply due to mobile working, and almost a quarter (22%) of respondents are concerned they may fail due to a lack of encryption.

“Data or personally identifiable information (PII) is at the heart of GDPR and mapping and securing it should be every organisation’s number one priority. By now, all employees, from the top down, should have an understanding of the importance of GDPR and the role they play in keeping this data safe,” said Jon Fielding, Managing Director, EMEA Apricorn. “While we know that many organisations have provided some form of employee training, clearly in some cases this hasn’t been effective and organisations should address these gaps urgently.”

ANA members vote Transparency as ‘Marketing Word of the Year’…

Members of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the US have voted the word transparency as the ‘Marketing Word of the Year’. 

During the week commencing November 28, the ANA surveyed its members online and asked them to vote on the ‘Marketing Word of the Year’ from a list of finalists prepared by the association’s staff. A total of 267 members participated and ‘transparency’ received the most votes.

A representative selection of verbatim comments from ANA members include: [Transparency] is the single most important issue in marketing and has the greatest potential benefit in terms of improving marketing ROI; [Transparency] or lack of, defines all media agency relationships and provides a new perspective to consider these relationships; and [Transparency] affects everything we communicate in marketing, from our product formulations and labels to how we communicate in all channels to our internal culture.

Bob Liodice, CEO at ANA said: “It’s no surprise that our members chose transparency the Marketing Word of the Year. Our media transparency study was one of our most important initiatives and it sparked fundamental behavioral changes among marketers and in the industry, here and around the world.” 

Other top choices considered by ANA members were customer experiencecontent marketing, influencer, and programmatic. It was the third consecutive year the ANA announced a ‘Marketing Word of the Year’. Previous winners were content marketing in 2015 and programmatic in 2014. 

 

RadiumOne scoops top spot in 2016 IPA Online Media Owner survey…

RadiumOne has taken the lead position in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising‘s (IPA) 2016 Online Media Owner survey, with 88 per cent of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing that their overall experience dealing with the company is of a good standard.

Leading the ‘Grand Prix’ category regarding agencies’ overall experience of dealing with media owners, the data-driven marketing agency is one of the seven companies to achieve a score of 80 per cent or more alongside Captify, Collective, Dennis Publishing, Inskin Media, Quantcast and Unruly. 

RadiumOne also achieved scores in excess of 90 per cent in the ‘Understanding of Own Products’ and ‘Ease of Contact’ categories; and 80 per cent across ‘Agency/ Owner Partnership’, ‘Overall Experience’, ‘Dispute Resolution’ and ‘Understanding of Client Strategies/ Objectives’. 

Nigel Gwilliam, consultant head of Media and Emerging Technology at IPA, said: “The purpose of this survey is to highlight to our agencies which online media owners are providing the best levels of service. Having swept the board at this year’s Media Owner Awards and in this autumn survey, it is clear that RadiumOne are the exemplars in this space.”

In addition, Spotify has taken leadership of ‘Online Pure Plays’ with a score of 75.7 per cent and Dennis Publishing with a score of 81.5 per cent leading ‘Crossover Media’.

Download the full survey here

Industry Spotlight: The new rules of shopper marketing engagement…

Today’s marketplace is a networked dialogue of information sharing between businesses and consumers. The more effectively information is shared across these functions, the better the relationship between all of the members. While consumers are increasingly comfortable with marketers using their personal data for targeted advertising that is relevant to them, marketers are still struggling to deliver the timely, personal customer experience that consumers are longing for.

According to Bazaarvoice and CMO Council’s Shopper Marketing: The New Rules of Engagement survey, marketers across brands and retailers are guilty of continually missing out on opportunities to influence and engage buyers as they shop. This awareness is positive, but what exactly are the most common mistakes marketers continue to make as they attempt to provide a more bespoke customer experience?

While 90 per cent of marketers say that access to real-time customer sentiment and shopping behavior is critical, less than 10 per cent are able to tie their content efforts directly to customer shopping behaviour. Furthermore, data strategies are often short-sighted, with 83 per cent of marketers admitting that they are unable to see beyond their own brand properties. This limited access to first-party customer data across the broader retail ecosystem, means nearly half questioned the accuracy of the customer data they were actually working with.

Conversely, 47 per cent  of consumers point to reviews, social media posts and past purchases as the best places for marketers to gather insights about them, indicating the value of identifying and reaching in-market shoppers based on their consumer-generated content (CGC) and shopping behaviour. In fact, consumers trust peer-to-peer opinions three times more than brand content, highlighting the clear opportunities when investing in a CGC strategy.

Marketers need to not only ask themselves if they have the right content to appeal to consumers along the various stages of the buying journey, but also which components are required to create successful customer engagement too.

Shop Direct, the UK multi-brand retailer ran 100 AB testing experiments in one month, comparing different versions of the website to see which one performed better. As part of this, they removed 50 per cent of reviews from their website, which impacted conversion globally by 1.7 per cent, showcasing the importance of online reviews.

The most powerful multi-channel marketing strategies are geared towards understanding the customers’ needs and building loyalty through effective customer communications, regardless of the business size. As expectations increase, customers are increasingly showing that if they are not being engaged, on either a practical or emotional level, then they are much more inclined to take their purchase elsewhere – a trend that businesses simply cannot afford to ignore.

The right content can take various forms, depending on audience preferences, and a Bazaarvoice study, looking at high street stalwart, John Lewis, confirmed the significance of displaying visual content on a retailer website; with 25 real shoppers looking at product images before any other content on the product page.

John Lewis recognised the value of visual association and transformed consumers into brand ambassadors with its #MyShoeStory campaign. By curating Instagram pictures of customers modelling their new shoes and then pushing these across into a variety of other social channels, John Lewis not only used CGC, providing its customers with inspiration, but also created further customer engagement too. This is a great example of how marketers can maximise engagement and build customer advocacy through the integration of CGC into a creative and thoughtful social campaign.

It’s only through listening to the individual preferences of consumers, analysing data on a case-by-case basis and considering each opinion as valuable stakeholder feedback that brands and retailers alike, can increase positive feedback, foster loyalty and retention, and crucially, increase sales figures.

Words by Prelini Udayan-Chiechi, VP Marketing EMEA at Bazaarvoice

Hootsuite highlights social media significance across the customer journey…

Companies that are not investing in their social media strategies may risk losing touch with their customers and being outdone by competitors, a new Hootsuite survey has discovered.

Surveying 2,048 adults in the US and 1,029 adults in the UK, 48 per cent of Americans have interacted with companies or institutions on at least one of their social media accounts, and 41 per cent say it is important for companies they engage with to have a strong social media presence.

In regards to UK consumers, 40 per cent of agree it is either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very important’ for a company to have a significant social media presence, and more than one in three (34 per cent) would rather engage with a brand or company on social media than visit a physical location. 

Penny Wilson, chief marketing officer at Hootsuite, said: “This research underscores the pervasiveness of social media and the massive opportunities available for organisations that use social to engage with their customers. 

“Today, social plays a key role in determining and influencing customers’ attitudes, motivations and behaviours. Now, more than ever, there’s an opportunity to tap into social and connect with customers when, where and how they want, helping to maximise sales.”

US and UK respondents also find customer service via social media has made it easier to get questions and concerns resolved, with 59 per cent in the US and 56 per cent in the UK, respectively.

Read Hootsuite’s 8 Social Media Tips for the Retail Industry here 

Facebook beats LinkedIn as content king for senior execs…

B2B content marketing agency, Grist has confirmed Facebook to be the ‘go to’ social platform for C-suite executives to seek business advice.

As a result of its new The Value of B2B Thought Leadership Survey – presenting the findings from more than 200 interviews conducted at FTSE 350 companies – Facebook was cited as the most popular social platform for senior executives to engage with business content (79 per cent), followed by Twitter (73 per cent) and LinkedIn (68 per cent).

Regards thought leadership, 84 per cent believe this plays an important part in adding value to their role. Meanwhile, two-thirds search for thought leadership particularly on a Monday and believe it fails to make an impact when it’s too generic (63 per cent); lacks original ideas (58 per cent); or doesn’t address the reader’s needs (53 per cent).

Andrew Rogerson, founder and managing director at Grist said: “This research is great news if you are in control of your firm’s marketing and communications programme. The C-suite clearly values thought leadership and is happy to receive it from advisers.

“However, we can also see that much of this content is below par. The C-suite is a sophisticated and demanding audience, and will not respond to rehashed marketing material. Instead, thought leadership must provide a return on investment (ROI), both for the firms that invest the money to produce it and the senior executives that invest time in reading it.

“Consider, too, that Facebook matters in business-to-business communications. The marketing department, content teams and agencies need to deal with the consequences of this and devise a compelling editorial plan that includes a wide range of channels and different perspectives.”

Format was also discussed, as 800-word articles (63 per cent) and 300-500-word blog posts are preferable to longer content pieces.

Access the full survey here

Millennials likely to ‘show dump’ content if too difficult to access…

The global leader in entertainment technology and audience insights, TiVo, has released the findings of its ‘2016 TiVo consumer survey’, concentrating on the behaviour of millennials and how the demographic interacts with video content, products and services in compared to other generations.

TiVo found that millennial and Generation Z (those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s) viewers are more than likely to ‘give up’ on shows they previously enjoyed when they become too difficult to access; either finding the content trapped behind paywalls or spread across a variety of entertainment sources.

Regarding the search for content, analysis discovered millennials consume up to six hours per day of video; in addition to spending an estimated 32 minutes searching for content to watch.

In contrast to other generations, millennials are most comfortable with video entertainment services and devices, likely driven by their desire to stay at the forefront of the newest content. 91 per cent pay for at least one subscription streaming service, and 73 per cent have streaming video devices at home.

Vice president of strategy and strategic research at TiVo, Paul Stathacopoulos commented: “The media industry is facing a perfect storm with increased choice and access to content, at the cost of massive fragmentation and frustrated consumers.

“The coveted millennial demographic is in the eye of this storm, consuming the most content across the most services and platforms. However, members of this generation have short attention spans, and they are the most likely to ‘show dump’ when access to content becomes challenging. These are cautionary signs for content owners who rely on loyalty and continued engagement to rationalise and realise returns on their investments in creative properties.”

Primarily based on the attitudes of US millennials, TiVo researchers carried out an online survey of 5,500 pay-TV and OTT subscribers across seven countries, conducted 2,500 interviews in the US and an additional 500 interviews each in the UK, India, Japan, Germany, France and China.

 

Download the survey infographic and generational chart here

Data leading marketers to feel ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘distracted’, new report claims…

A survey of 151 UK-based senior marketers commissioned by the Callcredit Information Group has revealed that almost three quarters (72 per cent) believe data is negatively affecting the creative aspects of their role; with 69 per cent branding data as a ‘distraction’ from core marketing duties.

The Data Dilemma’ study found data to be a ‘valuable asset’ for 70 per cent of respondents, but the medium is not being fully exploited within their organisations. This corresponds to the fact that only 29 per cent believe they hold the appropriate skills to analyse data effectively – prompting 44 per cent to claim they are planning on investing in further training over the next two years.

Download a full copy of ‘The Data Dilemma’ here

Brits’ high smartphone use leads to infinite marketing opportunities…

A new Verto Analytics survey – which studied the differences in smartphone usage between UK and US consumers – found Brit marketers to have a more onerous job compared to their US counterparts, after revealing 81 per cent of Brits use a smartphone, compared to the US at 68 per cent.

The findings, which were collected via the organisation’s ‘single-source audience measurement solution’, acknowledge the mass opportunities for UK marketers to take full advantage of the medium and its growing popularity.

Additionally, social media apps were found to be the most popular component of the platform; with every UK consumer using at least one and spending an approximate two hours per day.

CEO of Verto Analytics, Dr. Hannu Verkasalo, said: “We are delighted to provide the UK market with a way to better quantify and measure consumer behaviours and usage patterns. For example, knowing how one consumer uses multiple apps or websites, across several devices, in one day is helping companies make more informed decisions around marketing, advertising, and product development.”

Read more on the survey here