The 2012 Grammy Awards was the most social TV event ever

"Last week we saw explosive growth in social TV with a record-breaking 12.2 million social media comments during the Super Bowl. The trend continued last night with the 54th Annual Grammy Awards setting a new record of 13 million comments – a 2,280% year over year growth from the 2011 Grammy Awards, which had 546K comments.
So what got people commenting last night? The first big spike in responses occurred when Chris Brown took the stage, though much of the sentiment was negative and related to past domestic abuse issues. After that, Adele was a popular topic with people tweeting up a storm during her 10pm performance. When she won Album of the Year for “21″ at 11:20pm, the comments poured in with 489K responses over a five minute period."

Source:  Data from Bluefin, reported in a blog post, 13th February 2012

The iPad accounts for 88% of US tablet traffic

"Not all tablets generate the same click rate. Apple's iPad generates the majority of tablet traffic, with an 88% share, while Amazon's Fire managed to step in as a low-priced alternative, generating slightly more than 4% of tablet ad clicks in late December before dropping to 3.5% at the end of January.
The traffic from non-iPad tablets still comprises less than or around 1% of total traffic for most. In January, RKG estimates the traffic at 0.8%.
About 68.1 million tablet units shipped worldwide in 2011, up from about 19.6 million in 2010 worldwide, according to the IHS iSuppli Worldwide Tablet Market Tracker Q1 2012. The research firm estimates tablet manufacturers will ship an estimated 124 million units in 2012."

Source:  MediaPost, 8th February 2012

The number of 'internet only' TV homes in the US rose 23% Y-o-Y in Q3 2011

"Characterizing it as a “development to watch,” Nielsen issued a new report to clients Wednesday showing that the number of U.S. households that bypass cable or satellite TV and subscribe only to broadband Internet access has grown dramatically in the past year, and not surprisingly, they spend dramatically more time watching TV over the Internet.
The Nielsen report said it is too soon to determine whether these households are so-called “cord-swappers”  - swapping the cable/satellite TV cord for the broadband Internet cord - but they are growing faster than any other segment of the “cross-platform” television marketplace.
While the percentage of Internet-only TV homes is still relatively small - less than 5% of all TV households - they grew 22.8% over the past year, according to the report, which reflects data for the third quarter of 2011 vs. the third quarter of 2010."

Source:  MediaPost, 9th February 2012

Super Bowl advertisers achieved over $11m value in 'free' online views in the 3 days after the event

"Online views have effectively returned a huge chunk of Honda’s Super Bowl investment, as the automaker earned itself some $4.42 million in free media impressions in the three days after Super Bowl XLVI.
According to a new study by Kantar Video, the automaker aired two spots in the Super Bowl that enjoyed a whole new life online after the game. Through Feb. 8, Honda’s spoof of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, starring Matthew Broderick, was viewed 14.8 million times on YouTube and other online destinations, for an “earned media” value of $2.24 million.
Also drawing a crowd online was the Acura NSX spot starring Jerry Seinfeld. The ad, which featured cameos from the Soup Nazi and a usurping Jay Leno, was viewed 18.5 million times on YouTube, generating $2.18 million in free exposure.
Based on the average unit cost of $3.5 million per 30 seconds of airtime, each one-minute spot recouped nearly 33 percent of its original cost.
[...]

All told, the roster of Super Bowl ads churned up some $11.1 million in incremental free online views. The top 10 spots alone accounted for $8.62 million of the total, on 95.2 million views."

Source:  AdWeek, 13th February 2012

American brewer New Belgium estimates that its Facebook fans are worth approx. $50m in revenue

"Facebook fans really "like" New Belgium beer -- so much so that they account for half the brewery's annual sales.
New Belgium has 42,000 local fans in 38 markets and 400,000 across all of its Facebook pages.
While it's tough for brands to value Facebook fans, the No. 3 U.S. craft brewer has a pretty good idea: It estimates its Facebook fans are responsible for $50.7 million in yearly sales. That's why the Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewer goes the extra mile when it comes to social and event marketing. It has made a notable investment in its Facebook presence, enlisting local salespeople (called "Rangers" in company parlance) to update 38 local pages across 28 states and Washington, D.C., and investing in custom apps and experiences. It also strategically targets Facebook ads to existing fans of its main page -- now 211,000 fans strong, compared with 138,000 and 134,000 for the No. 1 and No. 2 in the craft-beer category, Samuel Adams and Sierra Nevada -- to drive them to local pages for their region.
Since the market for craft beer is inherently regional, New Belgium considers Sam Adams to be less of a competitor than much more obscure breweries in its local markets. This is where a regional Facebook presence comes in handy -- especially when New Belgium is eyeing new markets like Michigan, where it will begin distributing this summer.
"With these pages that essentially become Ranger blogs, we're really able to talk about what we're doing locally," said Adrian Glasenapp, New Belgium's director-advertising and social media. "They highlight the fact that we have sales reps who live in these communities and work with local nonprofits [offering sponsorships]."
[...]
New Belgium now has 42,000 local fans in 38 markets and 400,000 across all of its Facebook pages, including 107,000 for Fat Tire, its best-known beer. It set out to figure out how valuable they are this fall by asking Facebook fans to fill out a survey, which nearly 3,000 completed.
Based on the findings, they concluded that the typical fan bought $260 worth of New Belgium beer per year, assuming that respondents drank 10 beers a week and that New Belgium made up 25% of their consumption, which adds up to $50.7 million spent yearly by unique Facebook fans.
New Belgium committed roughly $235,000 to its social-media presence last year that was mostly dedicated to Facebook, including both app development and advertising. However, most of its marketing budget still goes to print buys in national titles such as Wired, Rolling Stone and Men's Journal; niche publications dedicated to topics like cycling; and alternative weeklies and other regional titles."

Source:  AdAge, 13th February 2012

Nike's TV & press advertising budgets in the US have fallen, while marketing spend has risen

"Just try to recall the last couple of Nike commercials you saw on television. Don't be surprised when you can't. Nike's spending on TV and print advertising in the U.S. has dropped by 40% in just three years, even as its total marketing budget has steadily climbed upward to hit a record $2.4 billion last year. "There's barely any media advertising these days for Nike," says Brian Collins, a brand consultant and longtime Madison Avenue creative executive."

Source:  Fortune, 13th February 2012

Smartphone shipments rose 55% Y-o-Y in Q4 2011

"The worldwide smartphone market grew 54.7% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11), as Apple unleashed its iPhone 4S on an eager marketplace. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 157.8 million units in 4Q11 compared to 102.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010. The 54.7% year-over-year growth was higher than IDC's forecast of 40.0% for the quarter, and higher than the 49.2% growth in 3Q11.
On a full-year basis, total smartphone shipment volumes reached 491.4 million units in 2011, up a strong 61.3% from the 304.7 million units in 2010. This was higher than IDC's full year estimate of 54.7% for the year, but still below 2010's year-over-year growth of 75.7%. Although this marks a slowdown from 2010, IDC still fully expects continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future."

Source:  Data from IDC reported in a press release, 6th February 2012

Android has nearly 60% share of shartphones among first time buyers

"Apple was named the best-selling U.S. handset brand during the fourth quarter, according to a new report from the NPD Group.
However, the findings suggest that while iOS has won this battle, Android is really winning the war.
Not only do 48 percent of all smartphone buyers own Android smartphones (versus a close 43 percent on iOS), there is a much bigger disparity for first-time smartphone buyers. Android is attracting more than half of them at 57 percent, while Apple is considerably behind at 34 percent."
Source:  CNET, 6th February 2012

Unilever's digital campaigns yield 'over $3 in revenue for each $1 spent'

"Unilever Chief Financial Officer Jean-Marc Huet also mentioned his company's 15% increase in digital spending last year vs. a 2% increase overall in the context of spending efficiency in a Feb. 2 investor meeting. That follows a December investor presentation by Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed in which he noted several digital programs that produced north of $3 in revenue for each dollar spent."

Source:  AdAge, 6th February 2012

77% of young people use a smartphone to help decide what film to watch

"Seventy seven percent of people aged 18-34 decide which film to watch with their smartphone, according to research commissioned by Odyssey Mobile Interaction.
The study included 600 iOS and Android users in the UK, Germany and France and found that they use their devices to access trailers, find local cinemas and book tickets. Of that group, 36% use their device for this on a weekly basis whilst 64% use it monthly.
The study also found that 58% of the same demographic are likely to click on a banner to watch a film trailer they are interested in on their device whilst the market average is 23%. Consumers are also using the mobile devices in reaction to traditional media with 53% using smartphones to follow up on TV ads and 42% following up on poster ads.
The study took place at the end of 2011 and was conducted by Dres Consulting."

Source:  M&M Global, 6th February 2012

Amazon have 22% of the home entertainment market in the UK

"The online retailer overtook [HMV] in the run up to Christmas last year, making it the biggest seller of CDs, DVDs and video games in the UK, with a 22.4% market share. HMV is still in second place with 17.5%, putting it ahead of other mail-order sites, download stores and the supermarkets, though, of course, its costs – having to operate 200+ high street stores selling just entertainment product – are so much higher.
These figures come from research company Kantar Worldpanel, whose Consumer Insight Director Fiona Keenan, says: “Amazon’s strong performance is down to a number of factors: it is typically really competitive on price, has a wide range of products with no restriction on display space, and is known for its very good customer service”.
After HMV and Amazon come: Tesco (11.4%), Asda (8.1%), Game (7.7%), Sainsbury’s (5.2%), Play.com (4.9%), iTunes (3%) and Morrisons has (2.7%)."

Source:  CMU 8th February 2012

Chinese gaming platform Mobile QQ Game Hall has over 200m registered users

"Shenzhen-based internet company Tencent recently announced on an official microblog account that its Mobile QQ Game Hall app had surpassed 200 mln registered users, with up to 13 mln users per day of the application and peak concurrent user (PCU) totals of over 1 mln users. With Symbian, KJava, Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7, and HTML 5 versions, Mobile QQ Game Hall clients are available on all major platforms. Several dozen casual games are available through the app, with more being added regularly - primarily casual card and board games such as Dou Dizhu, Chinese chess, and Tetris."

Source:  Tencent Tech, via Marbridge Daily, 8th February 2012