Benz sold 205 Smart Cars in three and half hours on Taobao

"About two weeks ago on Sep 6 2010, Benz put up its 200 “smart” cars on Taobao‘s Groupon-like website offering 23% discount.
Mediaedge:cia was the agency behind this campaign and the plan was to sell 200 “smart” cars on Taobao in three weeks’ time. Surprisingly, all cars were sold out in three and half hours. The campaign also attracted over 300,000 visitors in less than 24 hours.
69 cars were sold to buyers in Zhejiang province (where Taobao’s HQ is located), 45 in Beijing, and 22 in Guangdong province. According to a salesperson at Benz, on average one Smart car was sold every day"

Source:  China Internet Watch, 20th September 2010

An average of 80m tweets a day are being posted

Click to enlarge

Source:  Chart from Gigatweet, retrieved 28th September 2010
Earier - 60m a day in June 2010

It takes the average person 14 seconds to solve a CAPTCHA, with a 10% error rate

"According to a study recently conducted by UC San Diego researchers, spammers employ many hundreds of people, mostly overseas, to solve CAPTCHAs at the rate of about one dollar per thousand solutions. It takes the average person 14 seconds to solve a CAPTCHA, and the human error rate is ten percent. There are 3600 seconds in an hour, which means roughly 231 solutions per hour per person [(3600/14)(.9)], which means that the foot soldiers of the CAPTCHA-solving army get paid less than 25 cents an hour."
Source:  Data from UC San Diego researchers, reported by GeekOSystem, 13th August 2010
PDF of the full study here

Over half a billion broadband lines are now installed globally

"In the third week of July 2010 the world passed a significant broadband milestone, half a billion lines are now installed in households and businesses globally.
“It’s only taken 11 years to get to half a billion fixed broadband lines. The internet and all that it brings has taken hold like no technology since the invention of fire. It has brought the world closer together. Improved health and education standards and ushered in a new era of research, data-sharing and cooperation.
“Finland recently took a significant step, by making broadband a legal right for its citizens, towards an entirely interconnected world. The benefits the global population will reap from the continued spread of broadband and the services and opportunities presented to them are legion The next 11 years are set to be as exciting as the last with at least another half billion broadband lines due to be added,” says Oliver Johnson, CEO of Point Topic.
At the end of June 2010 there were 498 million broadband lines and the internet service providers are collectively adding just over 1 million new lines a week at the moment."
Source:  PointTopic, 20th September 2010

Groupon is growing at a rate of 1 million subscribers a week

As stated in this interview by Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason
Source:  Bloomberg TV, 16th September 2010

Over 500 million legal music downloads have been made in the UK

"Britain recently passed the 500-million mark for digital music downloads, and figures out this year suggest another record total in 2010, according to the Official Charts Company (OCC).
Industry leaders said the figure was all the more impressive given the level of online music piracy which has robbed record labels and their artists of billions of dollars in recent years.
"There are nearly 70 legal music services, more than any other country, and consumers continue to embrace the choice, value and innovation on offer," said Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music industry body BPI. "
Source:  The Independent / Reuters, 17th September 2010

Gatorade's advertising within EA Sports generated an average ROI of $3.11 in revenue per $1 spent

"Commissioned by Electronic Arts on behalf of the sports drink maker, the study showed that in-game advertising increased household dollars spent on the drink by 24 percent, and offered a return on investment of $3.11 per dollar spent.
Nielsen's study followed at least one of the six EA Sports titles in a given household, including NHL 09, NHL 10, NBA Live 07, NBA Live 08, NBA Live 09 and NBA Street Homecourt. All of the games had Gatorade product placements within them, such as arena signs, water bottles, score updates and other strategic mentions.
The research firm found the results through its barcode-scanning U.S. Homescan panel, which includes 100,000 households.
Nielsen followed a sample of that panel that scanned relevant EA Sports games -- both before and after integration of the Gatorade ads -- and then compared Gatorade buying behavior with households that didn't purchase the games."
Source:  Gamasutra, 14th September 2010

McDonalds Foursquare campaign increased footfall in-store by 33% at a cost of $1,000

"At the Mobile Social Communications conference yesterday, [Rick] Wion shared that McDonald’s was able to increase foot traffic to stores by 33% in one day with a little Foursquare ingenuity. McDonald’s total cost for the successful campaign was a measly $1,000.
[Note - it seems that they boosted the number of checkins by 33%, rather than the total footfall]
Econsultanty reports that McDonald’s, with Wion driving campaign direction and strategy, opted to try and take advantage of Foursquare Day (4/16) to bring in more business. The company used 100 randomly awarded $5 and $10 giftcards as checkin bait to lure in potential diners. The bait also worked to attract the media’s attention and resulted in more than 50 articles covering McDonald’s Foursquare special.
The campaign worked in both digital and real world capacities. Patrons flocked to McDonald’s restaurants for the chance to win giftcards in exchange for checkins, and 600,000 online denizens opted to follow and fan the brand on social media sites.
“I was able to go to some of our marketing people — some of whom had never heard of Foursquare — and say, ‘Guess what. With this one little effort, we were able to get a 33% increase in foot traffic to the stores’,” Wion explained to conference attendees."
Source:  Rick Wion of McDonalds, speaking at the Mobile Social Communications conference, reported by Mashable, 17th September 2010
Note - Always treat company's own pronouncement of effectiveness (especially at conferences) with a degree of caution!

Halo: Reach generated $200 in sales in the first 24 hours

""Halo: Reach," the new installment in the blockbuster Xbox 360 series, topped $200 million in sales in the U.S. and Europe in its first 24 hours, according to data released by Microsoft tonight.
It's "the biggest game Microsoft has ever released," said Phil Spencer, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, in a statement. “Every major installment has grown in scope and popularity, firmly cementing the ‘Halo’ franchise as one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world over the past decade.”
"Halo 3," released in 2007, pulled in $170 million in its first 24 hours.
As is the tradition with these things, Microsoft made the obligatory comparisons to Hollywood movies, sizing up the initial "Halo: Reach" sales against the three-day opening weekends of “Iron Man 2,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Toy Story 3,” and declaring the video game "the biggest entertainment launch of 2010 in the U.S.""
Source:  Figures from Microsoft, reported by Techflash, 15th September 2010
Note - Both GTA IV ($310m) and Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 2 ($402m) generated more in the first 24 hours.

Groupon (Est. 2008) has 230 websites in 29 countries and 15m subscribers

"The most successful is Groupon (a combination of the words “group” and “coupon”, which buyers print out to pay for their service). Although the firm launched only in late 2008, it already operates some 230 local websites in 29 countries and boasts 15m subscribers. Flush with money from investors, it has embarked on a global land-grab, buying Groupon clones in other countries, such as Germany’s CityDeal.
Groupon is more about people than technology. It grew out of The Point, a Chicago-based website that offers tools to organise collective action. The firm employs a worldwide sales force of nearly 2,000 to identify interesting local merchants and 150 writers to describe the offers. It wants to be the company that finally allows small businesses to participate in e-commerce, explains Rob Solomon, its president."
Source:  The Economist, 9th September 2010

Chinese eCommerce sales hit 3.6 trillion RMB (USD $530 billion) in 2009

""Qian Xiaoqian, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said online shopping is become more and more popular in the nation as more people have started using the service.
"E-commerce sales volumes surged to 3.6 trillion yuan ($530 billion) last year," said Qian. He said the Internet industry is also changing from an entertainment-oriented approach to a more balanced structure offering diversified services.
China e-Business Research Center said in a recent report that the nation's e-commerce sales volume surged by 60 percent in the first half of the year to 2.25 trillion yuan. Business-to-business (B2B) transactions accounted for 2.05 trillion yuan, while business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales volume was around 200 billion yuan.
"China's B2B market will continue to witness rapid growth in the next few years along with the nation's economic growth and rising e-commerce penetration," said the report, adding that online shopping was one of the few markets that was largely unaffected by the economic crisis.
There were 20,700 e-business websites in China as of June this year and more companies have started setting up online stores to cut costs and improve efficiency. The number of e-commerce websites is expected to reach 23,000 by the end of the year. More users are expected to use mobile e-commerce as it will gain ground soon, said the report.
Mobile e-commerce sales of real objects, like electronics, daily necessities and clothes, reached 1.3 billion yuan in the first half, and had nearly 55.3 million users."
Source:  Chinese State Council Information Office, reported by China Daily, 18th August 2010

35% of US Adults have apps on their phones; only 24% use the apps

"Some 35% of U.S. adults have software applications or “apps” on their phones, yet only 24% of adults use those apps. Many adults who have apps on their phones, particularly older adults, do not use them, and 11% of cell owners are not sure if their phone is equipped with apps.
Among cell phone owners, 29% have downloaded apps to their phone and 13% have paid to download apps.
“An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project. “Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users.” "
Source:  The Rise of Apps Culture, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 14th September 2010