Manufacturing outlook dropped to the lowest number in this 13-month period, matching the Index from last November. The main drivers for the slippage was slower growth in output and new business at the same time that export orders were falling. Soft exports appear to be a direct result of China – US trade concerns. They seem to have a direct effect on the level of optimism for the coming year among industrial managers. Source: Markit Economics
As the advertising world moves inexorably toward more mobile, it is wise for practitioners to follow a few important tips…
Re: Levers of Fraud Protection
Use third-party safety sources: For viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) issues look at companies such as Moat, DoubleVerify or IAS. They offer pre- and post-bid media monitoring. In addition, look at companies like White Ops and TUNE, which delve beyond the simple ad network or publisher level.
Re: Levers of Delivery Control
Placement: Upper placements are typically used to generate awareness, middle placements are used more to generate product consideration while lower placement is used to drive conversions.
Optimization: Use regular inventory reports to make mid-course adjustments in favor of better performing inventory partners, data sources and ad units.
Distinctions: In-app advertising is not the same as mobile web advertising. Tracking them individually is critical. Consumers spend more time on their phones on a few apps as compared to a larger number of mobile websites accessed. Fraud issues are different, one verses the other, and tracking conversions are easier on mobile web. Source: MediaPost
Forrester’s latest projections for the world’s e-commerce market in 2022 re-enforce our continuing interest in Chinese consumers. At present China’s e-commerce market has nudged past the US for the first time, but by 2022 these data suggest China’s e-commerce activity will be more than twice the size of the US and other Southeast Asian countries will fall well behind both China & the US. For Western countries, China is the place for growth in spite of trade difficulties. Source: Marketing Week
Here are five clear benefits gained from incorporating AI content creation into your marketing program.
AI can help to…
Source: ClickZ
Pressure on prices coming from a variety of sources pushed the inflation rate back over 2% for the first time since March. The government’s target is 3%. Higher costs for food, transportation, communication, vehicle fuel, rent, heating fuel, utilities, education, culture, recreation, clothing, household goods and services all played a role in the rise. Sources: Trading Economics; National Bureau of Statistics, China
China now has one hundred million more mobile subscriptions than population, which is astounding given the population is 1.4 billion. Smart device subscriptions continue to grow at a solid pace, averaging 10.8 million new subscriptions per month over the last twelve months and more than 81 million new subscribers since the beginning of this year. From our point of view, the most important number is the 1.2 billion mobile devices that are advertising friendly. Sources: China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom
Successful marketing is all about finding points of pain and offering relief. Chinese consumers have been feeling the pain resulting from a series of quality failures with locally produced health products particularly around infant health. Most recent was the distribution of faulty vaccinations, which followed last year’s baby formula problem. Other issues have been raised about the safety of beauty and health supplements. It’s enough to make consumers look elsewhere to relieve the pain.
Enter LemonBox, a response to the quality concerns of Chinese consumers. Three Chinese nationals, two of whom were educated in and have worked in the US, have started a subscription service company that sends a box of LemonBox branded vitamins that are sourced in the US. They are available in either monthly or three-monthly quantities.
In three weeks LemonBox recruited 700 customers with an average purchase basket of $45. A tiny business by any standard, but the instant response is a positive sign that the combination of East and West, which appears to quell real pain, could be a winner. Source: TechCrunch
Source: eConsultancy
A couple weeks ago we made note of Google’s $550 million investment in Alibaba’s chief rival JD.com. This week we add a co-investment of $500 by JD.com and Walmart in Dada-JD Daojia, a Chinese online grocery delivery service that claims 20 million active monthly users. Walmart, which already owns a 12% stake in JD, now is the number two investor behind Chinese giant Tencent.
The new investment brings Walmart closer to JD as Western companies continue to insinuate themselves into the Chinese market. This is happening on both sides as Chinese companies slowly buy their way into Western companies. While the governments make trade noises heard around the world, the slow, tectonic movement of commerce goes on just beneath the surface. The economies of East and West inexorably knit together. Source: Yahoo Finance
A revealing study by Adcolony showed that in-app video ads that promise some kind of reward for viewing delivered the most effective user experience and monetary payback.
Re-enforcing a theme we have emphasized before, the study found that beyond video, ads that are well-integrated with an app’s overall user experience, are of short duration and are highly engaging produce the most success. By contrast, auto-play ads were least favorable.
By applying demographic, behavioral and geo data to messages marketers can up the engagement for any of these breakouts.
One further insight: Mobile video accounted for 31% of revenue, display 20% and native 5%. Our question: where does the other 44% of revenue come from? Source: eConstultancy