P&G generates $3bn a year from eCommerce; growing at 30% a year

"P&G is also adopting a new approach to programmatic. Through using third-party verification tools, it found it was reaching “too few people with too many ads too many times”, leading to “excessive frequency and waste”.
But now instead of using programmatic to save money through cheaper ad buys, P&G is now looking at the issue “through the lens of the consumer”.
He cited the example of Amazon, with P&G using its unique consumer ID data to ensure it is reaching consumers when they are ready to buy. Ecommerce is now a $3bn business at P&G and growing by 30% a year, while the improved targeting it offers is cutting waste by 20% and improving ROI by four times, as well as offering a better experience for consumers.
To help eliminate fraud, P&G has stopped buying media in the publisher long-tail, which was a “massive” source of bots. Pritchard admits the company “took the head fake” of thinking that the endless supply of websites would supply cheap media. It did, he said, “but you get what you pay for”. P&G now works with TAG and only advertisers with 200 trusted media partners that have proven they are clean."

Source:  Speech by March Pritchard at DMEXCO, reported by Marketing Week, 14th September 2017

Apple is now the largest watch maker in the world, by revenue

"Traditional watchmakers, be very afraid. Apple has announced that it is now the biggest watchmaker in the world replacing Rolex at the top of the list.
Tim Cook revealed the big news alongside the unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 3, which comes packing LTE as was expected.
Apple had already reported that it had a 50% year on year growth for Watch sales, something that Cook made reference to at the 12 September event. We still don't know exact sales figures, but it's not the Apple way to talk numbers.
That's pretty impressive though when you consider that the first Apple Watch launched in 2014, while Rolex has been making watches for a fair few more years than the Cupertino company.
Moving to the number one spot also puts Apple ahead of Fossil, who have been making a big push with smartwatches and hybrid smartwatches over the past year as well as luxury watchmaker Cartier and Omega."

Source:  Wearable, 12th September 2017

Facebook Messenger has 1.3bn Monthly Active Users

"Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger as a whole continues its ascent, entrenching itself as the top cross-OS messaging app in the West. Messenger now has 1.3 billion monthly users, up from 1.2 billion in April and 1 billion in July 2016. That’s the same count as Facebook’s other chat product, WhatsApp.
Messenger’s growth rate has slowed slightly over the years. It took just six months to go from 800 million to 1 billion, and nine more months to get 1.2 billion, and five months to add the last 100 million. That could signal that Messenger is beginning to hit saturation in some core markets."

Source:  Techcrunch, 14th Sept 2017

Amazon's price cuts at Whole Foods boosted footfall by 25%

"Amazon.com Inc.’s splashy takeover of Whole Foods, complete with deep price cuts, did more than bring a surge of publicity to the chain: It boosted customer traffic by 25 percent.
That’s the finding of Foursquare Labs Inc., which compiled location information during the first two days after Amazon completed its acquisition of the grocer. The data, culled from shoppers’ mobile devices, was compared with the same period a week earlier."

Source:  Bloomberg, 11th September 2017

BBC Three's audience share more than doubled after going online-only

"Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three, has declared that the service’s move to online from a linear channel has been a success, noting that BBC Three has more than doubled its total brand reach and seen phenomenal growth on social platforms, producing original content with true public purpose.
Speaking at a meeting of the Broadcasting Press Guild in London, Kavanagh noted that when the service moved online in February 2016, he said the transition would be a marathon not a sprint as the broadcaster learnt and adapted its behaviour to ensure it reached young audiences wherever they are.
“The growth has been amazing,” he said, paying tribute to what the BBC Three team and all the creative talent who work with it had achieved. “We’ve won over critics and audiences alike; winning numerous awards along the way including the prestigious RTS channel of the year award 2017.  And we have done what we promised – we have backed the very best emerging talent in the UK, creating some household names along the way,” he noted.
According to Kavanagh, BBC Three’s audience share has increased from 3.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent, admitting that a target of 10 per cent was set for some four years down the line. “We’re well on the way to achieving that,” he noted.
He admitted that in the multi-channel, OTT era, there was a challenge for the service to make its content and brand known to its target 18-34 demographic. “I’ve got to yell: ‘Watch me!’,” he remarked. “But I’m not going to go for clickbait [programme] titles.”"

Source:  Advanced Television, 7th September 2017

Note - I'd love to see a breakdown of some other measures like total reach, time spent etc.

Only 11% of US teens think Instagram & Snapchat have too many ads

Source:  Research from Forrester, reported in their blog, 29th August 2017

What happens in an Internet Minute in 2017

Source:  Created by Lori Lewis and Chadd Callahan of Cumulus Media, and featured in the WEF's blog, 31st August 2017

The fertility tracking app Natural Cycles is as effective at preventing pregnancy as the contraceptive pill

"Natural Cycles, the only app to be approved as a contraceptive, has proved 99 per cent effective in the largest study investigating it to date.
The startup had previously conducted a study of 4,000 women, which showed similar accuracy rates. It has now proven the efficacy of the app again after testing 22,785 women through a total of 224,563 menstrual cycles across a year, to calculate the app’s Pearl Index – the rate used to measure a contraceptive’s effectiveness. It found that if used perfectly – using protection such as condoms on red days – effectiveness is 99 per cent. Typical use, where people don’t use protection on the red days, leads to 93 per cent effectiveness, well above other natural family planning methods that rate at around 75 per cent and even the pill, which rates at 91 per cent."

Source:  Wired, 13th September 2017

A+E's Facebook show Bae or Bail had 24m views in one week

"A+E Networks released its first show on Facebook’s Watch platform for video programming, “Bae or Bail,” which is a hidden-camera reality show that tests the bonds of couples, according to a statement made available to Mobile Marketer. The first episode, which followed two couples at a pre-staged funeral prank, has received more than 24 million views since its August 30 debut, including 230,000 shares and 35,000 comments. New episodes will debut every Wednesday.
A+E has plans to release an advice series, “This Is How We Do It,” on Facebook in October. That show features discussions between grandmothers and their 20-something grandkids about sex and other intimate details of their personal lives. Each three- to six-minute episode includes advice on dating and relationships."

Source:  Mobile Marketer, 8th September 2017

Start-ups have placed more than 16m shared bicycles in China

"There are now more than 16 million shared bicycles on the road in China’s traffic-clogged cities, thanks to a fierce battle for market share among 70-plus companies backed by a total of more than $1 billion in financing. These start-ups have reshaped the urban landscape, putting bikes equipped with GPS and digital locks on almost every street corner in a way that Silicon Valley can only dream of."
Source:  NYT, 2nd September 2017

Macy's customers who buy online and collect in-store spend 25% more

"While Macy’s overall sales fell 5.4% year-on-year in Q2, the brand saw double-digit growth in online sales. Robust omnichannel capabilities play an integral role in the brand’s digital sophistication and serve as an opportunity for growth.
Macy’s customers who buy items online and pick them up in-store spend 25% more, making clear that brands need to nail the basics on omnichannel capabilities. Macy’s steps up to the plate and offers eight of the nine crucial omnichannel features mentioned by L2 retail experts Harrison Lewin and Chad Bright at this year’s DLA event in New York."

Source:  L2 inc, 25th August 2017

Google & Facebook own 8 of the 10 most popular apps in the US

Source:  June 2017 data from comScore, reported by Techcrunch, 25th August 2017

3 brands cominate UK news sites - The BBC, The Guardian and Mail Online

"Three brands (BBC, Guardian and Mail Online) together accounted for two thirds of stories read (63 per cent) and time spent (64 per cent) amongst our total sample of UK news sites during the month.
The BBC News website became even more important during the Westminster attacks as a source of reliable news. Three-quarters (76 per cent) of all those who accessed any news story about the attacks used the BBC site and over half (55 per cent) only used the BBC. Aggressive use of social and search allows some smaller brands to perform better around individual stories than they do on average, as illustrated by the Independent’s strong performance around the UnitedAirlines passenger eviction story.
Different formats are effective for different types of stories. Live blogs were by far the most popular online format during the first 12 hours of the Westminster attacks, but a 53-second video was the key driver of the United Airlines coverage.
Some brands are much more reliant on side-door traffic than others. Only 22 per cent of visits to BBC news stories come from social media, search, and other links, with 78 per cent coming from a direct path. This contrasts with other outlets like the Sun and the Independent, which generate the majority of their traffic via third-party referrals (e.g. search engines and social media). Many brands in the UK are struggling with low engagement (time spent) and low levels of loyalty (frequency of use), which is likely to make it hard to charge for content.
In general, those using social media consume more news brands than those who tend to go directly to a news website or those who tend to search for news. Those who use social media more heavily access an even wider range of brands.
Overall, our analysis shows a winner-take-all environment dominated by a few major brands, but also that distributed forms of discovery, such as social media and search, generally point towards more diverse news use than direct discovery."

Source:  Data from Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, reported by Advanced TV, 30th August 2017

Amazon cut prices at Whole Foods by up to 43% on its first day of ownership

"Amazon.com Inc. spent its first day as the owner of a brick-and-mortar grocery chain cutting prices at Whole Foods Market as much as 43 percent.
In a sign of how the retailer is changing, the Amazon Echo, a voice-activated electronic assistant, was also for sale, for $99.99 -- a sharp pivot into electronics for a company known for kale and quinoa. The Echo Dot, a smaller version, was advertised for $44.99.
The tech giant’s $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods has sent shock waves through the already changing $800 billion supermarket industry. The wedding between Amazon and the upscale grocery promises to upend the way customers shop for groceries. Cutting prices at the chain with such an entrenched reputation for high cost that its nickname is Whole Paycheck is a sign that Amazon is serious about taking on competitors such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp."
Source:  Bloomberg, 28th August 2017

Uber drivers in the US received $50m in tips in 6 months

"Uber has made some changes to its driver experience as part of its ongoing “180 Days of Change” campaign. Uber introduced the 180-days effort in June, with its decision to finally add tipping to its app as the first in a series of changes designed to improve the driver experience and reduce turnover among that important user group. Now, Uber is adding a few new features, including trip type preferences, more driver destinations and long trip notifications.
Already, Uber is seeing positive results from its 180-days program changes, including rapid uptake of its tipping option on the rider side.
“This week, we’re going to hit $50 million dollars in tips for drivers,” explained Uber’s U.S. and Canada manager Rachel Holt. “We launched the tipping effort in three cities two months ago, but we didn’t roll it out all over the U.S. until the middle of July. So we’re really, really excited just to see how well that feature has done in just a short period of time.”
That $50 million is a lot in context: Lyft has had the feature for years, and hit just $250 million in tips in July. Drivers have made around 200,000 phone calls to support, Holt says, since Uber introduced 24/7 phone service, and on average they reach an agent in less than 30 seconds. Eighty-five percent of drivers have said they’re satisfied with the experience."

Source:  Techcrunch, 22nd August 2017

A malware attack cost a shipping company up to $300m

"A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container ship and supply vessel company, said Tuesday that it would incur hundreds of millions in U.S. dollar losses due to the NotPetya wiper malware attacks of late June.
In its second quarter earnings report, Maersk executives said they were expecting losses between $200 million and $300 million. The lost revenue, they said, was due to “significant business interruption” because the company was forced to temporarily shutter critical systems infected with the malware.
“The malware was contained to only impact the container related businesses of A.P. Moller – Maersk, and therefore six out of nine businesses, including all Energy businesses, could uphold normal operations,” the company said in its earnings report. “A.P. Moller – Maersk also remained in full control of all vessels throughout the situation, and all employees were safe.”"

Source:  Threat Post, 16th August 2017

Amazon's own-label goods account for 2% of sales, rising to 12% during Prime Day

"Amazon has been doubling down on its private label business in recent months, though many of its own brands aren’t easily identifiable to consumers as they don’t indicate they’re Amazon-made products. But these private labels have been gaining steam, according to a new report out this week from 1010data. Several Amazon brands have been seeing tremendous growth, it found, including AmazonBasics, kids’ clothing brand Scout + Ro, Amazon Elements, and other Amazon-made devices like Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV.
The report comes from analytics and insights firm 1010data, which regularly tracks Amazon’s private label business.
During the first half of the year, Amazon’s private labels accounted for just 2 percent of total units sold, excluding marketplace and subscriptions, but the retailer boosted that figure to 12 percent during Prime Day, the report found."

Source:  Techcrunch, 16th August 2017

Note - Clearly Amazon is able to coordinate big discounts on its own label products during Prime Day!

45m people send birthday greetings on Facebook each day

"Roughly 1 in 30 Facebook users tells someone Happy Birthday each day, showing Facebook’s first major emergent behavior is still going strong. Now Facebook is equipping the 45 million people sending birthday wishes each day with some new features.
Now instead of just posting a soulless “HBD” or “Happy Birthday!” on someone’s wall with no personal message, photo, memory, or anything that makes it feel sincere, you can post one of Facebook’s auto-generated, personalized birthday videos. Similar to the ones it shows on your friendversary with different people, the birthday video will show photos of you and the birthday boy/girl with stylized transitions."
Source:  Techcrunch, 16th August 2017
Note - I'm amazed it's not higher...  I think about 25% of my friends wished me happy birthday this year!

80% of Instagram users follow at least one brand

"Today, 80 percent of Instagram users follow at least one of the 15 million total brands active on the platform. Buckner Rose said as its shopping features continue to evolve, Instagram has been particularly focused on integrating the physical retail experience into a mobile framework. Specifically, Instagram has done this through implementing features like the “save” button that allows users to store posts and then organize them by category for future viewing. This was in large part catered to shoppers, 50 percent of which take at least 24 hours to make a decision on a purchase on mobile (fashion buyers are at an even higher rate, at 63 percent.) "
Source:  Glossy, 18th August 2017