Author: lpadmusr

According to Nielsen, this year’s Super Bowl averaged 103.4 million TV viewers, but despite massive hype, this is a 7% loss in viewers from last year.

The fact is that TV is no longer a one-screen experience. Adobe insights found 47% of US internet users used a smartphone while watching TV, while 20% used a laptop and 14% a tablet.

While brands spent millions on their half-time Super Bowl ads, initial research shows little impact on consideration. Surveying agency, YouGov, compared brand consideration around the ads from early January to findings three days after the game. Five of the big ads saw statistically significant improvements in word-of-mouth buzz: the NFL, Avocados from Mexico, Skittles, T-Mobile and Bai. However, when it came to purchase consideration, none of them made a statistically significant gain.

This makes sense. Just after the Super Bowl game we surveyed over 2500 individuals, asking ‘Did you watch the Super Bowl half time ads?’. Respondents had the option to say Yes, No – I was on my phone / tablet, No – I was taking a comfort break or No – I wasn’t watching the Super Bowl.

Once removing those who didn’t watch the Super Bowl, 58% saw the half time ads on their TV. Tellingly, 27% were on their phone or tablet, and a further 15% took the opportunity to take a comfort break.

So, with over 40% of the surveyed audience uninterested in carefully created (and very expensive) TV spots, how can you ensure you reach the right audience?

LoopMe’s CEO, Stephen Upstone offers some tips: ‘Brands should ensure that their big Super Bowl activations are supported with cross-channel marketing to expand the reach of their TV buy, as this survey proves.’

‘Mobile is data-rich and a scalable solution, allowing brands to understand their consumers and create advertising which delivers measurable results beyond the immediate Super Bowl fan.’

LoopMe’s PurchaseLoop product moves the dial on brand metrics, using data and AI to optimize to brand awareness, consideration and purchase intent.

2018 is a big year for sports with the Winter Olympics, the World Cup and Ryder Cup all taking place and set to attract millions of viewers. This in mind, LoopMe hosted ‘Think Fast, Move Faster’ at ping-pong venue Bounce to educate and inform marketers.

For those unable to attend, or who’d like a quick recap – read on! To receive invites to our next event, sign up to our events mailing list.

Authentic Sports Marketing

The morning started off with a  presentation by Misha Sher, Worldwide VP Sports & Entertainment at Mediacom on ‘Creating Sports Excellence’. Misha encouraged marketers to ask, how can we break through the noise and add value to consumers? He gave examples of sports brands who had done this well, such as Heineken with their #ShareTheSofa campaign that made people all over the world feel like they were part of something.

Most importantly, when creating powerful sports marketing you should ask – Is it unstoppable? Would people choose to watch this and is it original?

Mobile and emerging technology

We then moved on to our first fireside chat, where Dee Frew, from the IAB UK interviewed Maggie Oswald , Senior Account Director at UM Worldwide on her experiences on working with FitBit.

Maggie explained how their research found the majority of consumers are researching on their phone and then go on to buy in-store. As a result, their creative is focused on awareness and engagement, as seen in the one LoopMe built.

Creative Director at R/GA, Ciaran McCarthy, then spoke to the audience about his experience working with on the ‘The Game before the Game’ campaign by Beats which first aired in 2014. The campaign went on to win numerous awards including a Gold Lion at Cannes.

He made an interesting point that one of the reasons why the campaign was so successful is because of the use of influencers and also observed that a 4-minute video was unlikely to work now, given that mobile adoption has rocketed in the last few years.

LoopMe’s Alex Hinds expanded on this in his keynote, highlighting that throughout the history of sports marketing, video has remained a constant feature due to its emotive power.

We rounded off the morning with a panel discussion moderated by Nicola Kemp from Campaign. Nicola interviewed Ryan Skeggs, of GiveMeSport, Linsdey Eckhouse of the NFL and Loic Dalle of Two Circles. Data driven marketing was a core focus, with all panellist agreeing that the use of big data effectively can unearth a wide range of possibilities for marketers, such as an increased understanding of the touch points a consumer interacts with the brand.

They warned about the danger of pigeon holing consumers into stereotypes, and said that in this day and age, every brand should know who their audience is and how to reach them but that sports brands have been late to the game in this adoption.

For more data and insights, download your free Sports Marketing one pager here.

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Thanks again to our brilliant speakers for their insights, we hope to see you all at another event soon!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in New York then moved to Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Madrid, Copenhagen and finally London, but I consider myself a born and bred Londoner. After finishing my degree in languages from at University of Exeter, I went to Canada for a year to ski.

When I came back to London I decided that there was a good career to be had in removals, so decided to try my hand at that for a while. When I realised the career progression was not quite what I thought, I changed to the world of media!

Why did you join LoopMe?

I joined LoopMe as employee number 1 or 2, (there’s some debate as to who started first). Back then LoopMe looked very different; we used to work in Stephen’s garden shed.

The ‘younger me’ regrets not doing something more maths related at University, so finding LoopMe was a bit of a blessing as it was a job which my degree may not have allowed me to do at a larger company.

What’s your job role and day to day responsibilities?

I’ve just celebrated 5 years at LoopMe, after starting as an Account Manager. I gradually transitioned into a Technical Account Manager and now I’m a Product Manager. My main responsibilities are ensuring that LoopMe’s software is continually being developed to keep up to date with the market and client requirements.

What’s been your favorite moment at LoopMe so far?

I’ve had a lot of fantastic memories since I’ve been at LoopMe, but the most memorable is probably LoopMe’s 5^th anniversary where we had a companywide away day. I can’t discuss much more than that.

Tell us a fun fact.

I’m a semi-retired Arsenal fan

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We’re hiring! Check out our open roles and apply here.

We’re excited to launch our first vertical session of 2018, which takes a deep dive into sports marketing on Jan 24^th . RSVP to secure your spot here.

The value of sports marketing                                        

According to Forbes, the most valuable sporting event in the world is the Super Bowl, worth approximately $663 million. This is $244 million more than the Summer Olympics Games, while the Winter Olympics completes the top 3.

Interestingly, the UEFA Champions League is the only specifically European based event that makes the top 10.

‘Moment marketing’, which delivers advertising at a specific time is most common around sports events. 61% of digital brand marketers said that they used sports events to trigger digital campaigns.

But far from sticking to TV and the traditional 30-second spot, sports marketers are turning to different platforms and devices to distribute their video content.

What does this mean?

With the Winter Olympics, the World Cup and the Champions League all taking place in 2018, this event will help you plan ahead.

In this jam-packed agenda we’ll be ‘bouncing’ through the following:

–     Case studies of effective sports marketing

–     How to harness data for targeted & effective marketing

–     What brands can do to stand out in a highly cluttered sports sponsorship environment

RSVP here to be the first to hear about speaker details. ‘Ping’ us a message if you have any further questions. We look forward to seeing you there!

Much has changed in the 4 years since the last Winter Olympics, so why keep your advertising the same? The Sochi Olympics broke records with a total of 3.3 billion streaming minutes; but with mobile streaming on the rise, now is the time to move your advertising efforts to mobile.

Here are five reasons why your advertising efforts for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics should skew toward mobile:

• Time spent watching TV is on a steady decrease, with a drop of viewership dropping by roughly 30 minutes.
• According to GeoMarketing, in 2014 average time spent on mobile per day by US adults rose from 2 hours and 37 minutes to a projected 3 hours and 23 minutes in 2018.
• 56% of viewers choose streaming because it allows them to watch the events live while they happen, while 50% choose streaming due to the convenience of on demand.
• Even when a viewer isn’t streaming on mobile, they’re still using their mobile devices. While viewing, 59% are using their smartphone and 47% are using their tablet.
• Approximately 30 million Americans watched NBC’s coverage of the Olympics opening event. Many viewers choose to watch the event at the bar but still, 81% of Americans spend time looking at their phones while dining out.

These stats will also be useful when considering your advertising strategy for the upcoming World Cup and other major sporting events.

Sources: GeoMarketing, eMarketer, NBCSportsGroup and Deloitte via Time

 

This is our last instalment of our ‘Data Champions’ series which looks at those championing ‘big-data’ and using it to achieve their business objectives. Read our earlier blogs which look at Under Armour and Morrisons.

Starbucks is approaching its 50^th anniversary, but have recently adopted AI to improve their offering.

Dubbed the ‘digital flywheel’ strategy, it looks to improve their store sales through their Starbucks Rewards programme, which currently accounts for 36% of US company-operated sales.

It’s designed to boost customer acquisition and spend-based rewards, offering personalised consumer offers.

Using algorithms Starbucks can look at numerous factors and data sets (including order history, time of day, current weather conditions, location and more!) to make suggestions via push notifications from their app.

Crucially, Starbucks have recognised that their mobile customers are receptive to these schemes. With this in mind, they’ve designed an app with the sole purpose of driving customer loyalty.

Starbucks have really grasped the idea of ‘value exchange’ with consumers giving their personal data to Starbucks regularly in return for discounted products.

Not only is the programme a way in keeping up with a mobile-first world, it also shows how companies can create personalised experiences to encourage loyalty.

A recent report by KMPG said that ‘customized promotions’ helped to influence customer loyalty. Millennials are the most receptive to personalised promotions with 29% of respondents saying that it creates loyalty between them and a brand. Gen X and baby boomers were 28% and 25% respectively.

Matthew Ryan, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Starbucks commented on how this strategy had benefited them:

“The data is clear that when we acquire a new customer, the act of signing up for a digital relationship results in a sudden and sustained lift in spend as measured by careful pre-post tracking.”

“That’s how we’re able to drive so much value from a relatively small portion of customers, 13.3 million active reward customers compared to a total of approximately 75 unique customer visits to our stores each month. We know that even modest increases in the total universe of active customers drive tremendous long-term value.”

Under Armour, Morrisons and Starbucks are three of thousands of companies using data to enhance their business.

Find out how you can use data and AI to support your marketing goals: contact@loopme.com