Online ad spend boom Down Under

Cheers Elizabeth Lloyd at imedaiconnection for this rundown on the state of affairs in the Australian online ad space

The latest figures show Australia has a bright future, both for online advertising opportunities as well as broadband subscriber growth.

According to the International Telecommunication Union, 74.3 percent of Australia's population is online -- out of 20.6 million inhabitants, 15.3 million are online (as of December 2007). With statistics like this, it is no surprise that Australia is one of the top 20 countries with the highest number of internet users.

What is interesting to note is how the internet has changed Australia's traditional media use. The World Internet Project in July 2008 published a report titled "CCi Digital Futures Report: The Internet in Australia" detailing:

• For users, the internet is now their most important source of information. Just under seven in ten users described the internet as 'important' or 'very important' compared to a third for television and less than a half for newspapers or radio. Internet users spend less time watching television, listening to radio and reading newspapers than nonusers.

Advertisers are starting to notice the shift from traditional to digital media -- it is evident in the rising online advertising expenditure. With growing internet penetration rates (in just eight years the number of online users has more than doubled), online advertising expenditure in Australia has showed record quarters. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Online Advertising Expenditure Report, which was published in June 2008, states:

• Online advertising expenditure in Australia for the second-quarter of 2008 totalled A$412.5 million, the largest second-quarter recorded. This is an increase of $28 million (or 7.3 percent) from the first-quarter of 2008, and is an increase of $87 million (or 26.7 percent) from the second-quarter of 2007.

What has contributed to increased penetration rates and the shift to digital media for information consumption is growth in the broadband market. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that 22.8 percent of Australia's population falls in the broadband subscriber category (as of September 2007) -- just under four in five home connections are broadband.

Broadband does make a substantial difference to peoples' use of the internet. "The internet is more highly valued by those with broadband connections and they use the internet for longer and for a greater variety of purposes. Younger people have been quick to integrate the internet into their lives, they use the internet more and particularly for entertainment," according to the CCi report.

The internet is widely embraced in Australia. However, a digital divide does exist as a fifth of the population has never used it. With or without broadband, internet use varies greatly between different groups. The CCi report has found that "men, students, employed persons, younger people, higher educated and higher income individuals are all more likely to use the internet than women, retired people, home-makers, older people, lower educated and lower income individuals".

Aside from the demographics, what is interesting to note is the type of online media that is receiving the most attention. The IAB report cites that:

• The largest online advertising expenditure was search and directories, which comprised of 45.3 percent, while general display advertising and classifieds advertising accounted for 27.8 percent and 26.9 percent of the total advertising expenditure for the second-quarter of 2008, respectively. Finance, computers and communications, and motor vehicles sectors continue to be the dominant industries using general display advertising, and comprise over 50 percent of the general display spending.

Marketers take note of the online user demographics as well as the dominant sectors in all forms of online media. It is evident that Australia has a very promising future -- both for online advertising opportunities, as well as broadband subscriber growth. Not only does the number of broadband users increase, but online advertising expenditure statistics are very impressive.

Elizabeth Lloyd is co-founder and chief revenue officer, 9Global, Inc.

Men happiest online, women prefer family time: poll

Thanks Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - For men, bliss is often just a mouse-click away while quality time with family is guaranteed to put a smile on women's faces, according to an Australian study of what makes people happy.

The "Happiness Index" study, which polled more than 8,500 Australians aged 18-64 years, showed rest and relaxation were the most enjoyable activities while physical exercise was least likely to make people happy.

"Australians are made happy on a week-to-week basis, not by possessions and achievements, but by entertaining experiences and by meaningful interactions with others," said Karen Phillips, managing director of The Leading Edge, the business consultancy that conducted the survey over a week in August.

"This index gives insight into the way we tick, with the results being useful to Australian businesses who want to better communicate with their customers," she added.

Both men and women -- or 63 percent of overall respondents -- picked relaxation as the activity that made them happiest, but that is where the similarity between the sexes ends.

Just over half of men said happiness meant surfing the Internet, playing online games or accessing social network sites such as Facebook, compared with only 39 percent of women.

Fifty-five percent of women said having meals and spending time together as a family made them happiest, compared to 45 percent of men. Women are also more likely than men to have been made happy by their pets.

More men than women, 48 percent versus 40 percent, found happiness being intimate with another person while 38 percent of men, and only 28 percent of women, said drinking with friends brought them joy.

More women than men said reading a good book, eating comfort food or buying gifts made them happy

But Phillips said the survey also debunked several gender stereotypes, finding that shopping for new clothes and shoes made only 30 percent of women happy and that more men and women with children cited sex and romance as making them happy than singles.

"It's important to not make assumptions but to do your research when utilizing happiness drivers to improve your brand's performance," she added.

New Study into Australian buying habits on line - from Coremetrics

Cheers Gerry for this.

We have recently completed a study into the online buying habits of Australians and New Zealanders which you may find interesting and useful.

Aussies embrace eCommerce - buying offshore

Melbourne, July 16, 2008 - Coremetrics, the leading provider of digital marketing optimisation solutions, today revealed the results of a study of the online buying habits of Australians and New Zealanders with some surprising results. The study, which focused on the interaction of visitors to a sample of major US based eCommerce web sites during the first half of 2008, found that:

* Australians and New Zealanders are twice as likely to buy products when they shop online, than consumers in other major markets, including the US and the UK.
* The typical total order value by visitors from Australia and New Zealand was 34% less than the global average.
* The amount of time taken to decide and make a purchase by Australians was consistent with the world average, but a full minute and a half longer than our UK cousins.

"The significantly higher conversion rate of Aussies and Kiwis buying on line is a bit surprising" said Coremetrics General Manager for Australia, Kevin Mackin. "It suggests that consumers here have become much more comfortable and confident to buy online than most people had expected. This outcome suggests that local sellers need to look at their own online strategies to keep the business in our region. I hope it doesn't mean that we are suckers for internet marketing strategies!"

Global Trends

The study shows some strong global trends in eCommerce which can be applied by local web marketers as well:

* Average Session Length: 7mins 34secs
* Page Views per Session: 9.3
* Average Order Value: US$78.69
* Orders per session: 2.96 orders per 100 sessions

The average session length - 7∏ minutes - shows that web shoppers are happy to search around and make a considered decision. Web sites which engage their customers with interesting and relevant content, especially now adding third party references and recommendations are reporting the best results in this area. It is interesting to note that the ANZ visitors were on the global average for session length, whereas some of the more so-called advanced internet markets such as the US and the UK showed results of 1-1∏ minutes less time. A small portion of this time could be attributed to internet speed but a definite difference beyond that is evident.

The average number of number of page views per session is a measure of the 'stickiness" of a site. Combined with the average session length, it shows that the ecommerce sites in the study attracted around 48 seconds of viewing time per page. This value is increasing with the advent of smarter and more engaging web 2.0 technologies including video product outlines and high quality custom graphics. Australian visitors were consistent with the global average number of page views per session at 9.1 and New Zealanders were just under the average at 8.6.

The average order value is a function of the products and services in the sample group studied and in itself is of little interest. However, the differences in average order value across geographies is striking. Against the global average of US$78.69, Australian visitors average spend was $54.76 and New Zealanders were at $48.46. Combined, this is around 34% less than the global average. On the world stage, one of the highest value spending countries was Singapore which came it at $111.23

Orders per session describes the conversion rate of orders from the general number of visitors to the web sites studied. A global conversion rate of 3 orders per 100 sessions is lower than those figures which have been seen in other studies and may be related to the level of competition encountered by the web sites in the study. Australians accounted for a rate of 4.4 orders per 100 sessions; New Zealanders came in at 4.0 orders per 100 sessions. Both of these countries were significantly higher than the US at 3.3, the UK was at 1.7 and Singapore at 1.0. The weighting of clothing and sporting goods products and services in the sample could be attributed for some of this variance with these items being more widely and cost effectively available in their local markets.

Coremetrics Benchmarking

The data in this study came from an extension of the Coremetrics benchmarking capability - LIVEmark. Coremetrics is the only marketing optimisation company that bundles a web site benchmark for retail and specific sub-verticals and behavioral analytics within a single interface. Coremetrics LIVEmark leverages aggregate performance data across more than 300 participating brands to deliver over 35 benchmark metrics addressing performance indicators such as campaign and channel effectiveness, site stickiness and conversion rates.

The study looked at buyer activity across nearly a million eCommerce retail web site visits by users from Australia and New Zealand to a range of major US based internet properties during the first half of 2008.

In the study, visitors from Australia and New Zealand accounted for:

Ø 963,349 Visits

Ø US$2.29M in sales

Ø 42,600 Orders

Ø 8.6 Million page views

The study focused on visits primarily concerned with B2C eCommerce, with dominant product categories:

Ø Clothing

Ø Sporting Goods

Ø Books and calenders

Ø General Merchandise and electronic goods

About Coremetrics

Broadband and Internet Use in Australia

Thanks eMarkerter for this report: JULY 11, 2008

Small population, big pipes

In what is typically a sign of growing broadband usage, the number of dial-up subscribers in Australia showed a notable decline last year, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Meanwhile, the number of high-speed subscribers climbed markedly.

Indeed, broadband penetration in Australia has been rising dramatically over the past several years. A clear majority of households had a broadband connection in 2007, and in 2008 more than 63% of homes, numbering just over 5 million, are expected to be high-speed Internet subscribers. ADSL is by far the most popular broadband technology, projected this year to be installed in almost 4 million households. The use of cable technology for broadband access is a distant second, with 785,000 users projected for 2008.

Across the board, whether via ADSL, cable or other technologies, broadband penetration is expected to continue to climb through 2012, when more than three-quarters of households in Australia are projected to have broadband access of some type. It is safe to say that Australia, despite its small population, is poised to take a top spot among the giants of the industrialized world with regard to broadband penetration.

Although the majority of Internet users in Australia have broadband, their preferred online activities are not bandwidth-intensive, according to Nielsen Online data released in March 2008. Some 98% of those surveyed said they used e-mail while online last year, making it by far the most popular Internet activity in the country. Financial activities were also favorites, including banking (72%) and bill payment (66%).

A minority of respondents said they used the Internet for various e-commerce activities, including purchasing airline tickets (44%), booking hotel and travel arrangements (37%) and auctions (37%). Activities related to research and information are especially popular in Australia, with 62% of respondents reporting they used the Internet for maps and directions and 59% for directories (yellow and white pages).

Princess puts pain into cruising

[Thanks to Future Lab for this post]


Princess Puts Pain into Cruising

by: Roger Dooley

Regular cruise ship passengers almost always say that cruising is the least painful way to travel. Once you are on the ship, there’s no packing or unpacking as you visit new destinations, and you are pampered 24/7. Your cabin is straightened and cleaned several times per day, and an endless cornucopia of food is available. Passengers can see live entertainment, attend lectures, play games, or do nothing at all if they so choose. For many, that’s a painless way to spend one’s travel time.
One of the kinds of pain we talk about here at Neuromarketing is the “pain of paying” or “buying pain” – brain scans show that shelling out cash can activate the pain centers in the brain. (See The Pain of Buying.) Cruising generally excels at minimizing this kind of pain, too – once the cruise has been paid for (often many months before the actual cruise), almost everything is included. Elegant dinners, sumptuous buffets, Broadway-style entertainment, and much more is “free” on board the ship. For customers who feel the pain of paying more acutely than others, cruising is about as pain-free as you can get. Want more lobster? It’s free. Care to watch a recently-released movie after the performance by a concert pianist, and then hang out at the disco until dawn? It’s all free. Cruise lines further minimize paying pain by ensuring that their passengers pay for nothing with cash – one’s “cruise card” is a combination room key and shipboard credit card that one can use to buy anything on the ship. (In almost every case, an automatic service charge obviates the need to calculate a tip or even look at the amount one signed for – a great way to further minimize buying pain.)

The nature of cruising is that you are often thrust into contact with other passengers as you share a dinner table, sit next to each other at a show, and so on. Introductions always involve first names and where one lives. By far the most frequent opening conversational gambits are how many cruises one has been on, which lines and itineraries are the best, and what one thinks of the current cruise in the context of past cruises. Aboard the Crown Princess on a cruise I just completed, a new topic cropped up in perhaps half of these random encounters: the small charges that seemed to be mushrooming all over the ship.

There have always been some items that cost extra on most cruise ships – spa and beauty services, alcoholic beverages, photos, and so on. Just about all food has traditionally been part of the price, although many cruise ships have added specialty restaurants with a nominal fee for their use. Occasionally, one finds charges for items served outside the normal dining venues, like ice cream confections and specialty coffees. The Crown Princess, though, seemed to be packed with opportunities to spend a little extra. Brewed coffee, free in most areas of the ship, cost $1 in the coffee shop. And while many food items in the International Café were free, a couple of scoops of gelato would set you back all of $1.50. Tapas were available in the evening for an additional charge. Orange juice was free at breakfast, but ordering fresh-squeezed juice in another venue cost $2.75. If you wanted to spend four hours in a relaxing pool area called the Sanctuary, your cruise card would be billed $10. To eat at the Crown Grill steakhouse, a specialty dining venue, a $25 charge applied. And, if you were audacious enough to order lobster, a further $9 fee would be assessed.

I thought at first that it was a minor ratcheting up of the normal trivial charges, but the “nickel and diming” aspect was raised by so many fellow passengers that it was clear that Princess was putting the pain back into cruising. The odd thing is how meaningless most of these charges are. A typical passenger paid thousands of dollars for the cruise, and most of the passengers I met were well-heeled enough to not care in the least about an extra dollar or two. Many I spoke to clearly had annual travel budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, they WERE irritated by these tiny charges. If you asked them, they would say it’s the principle that’s involved – they didn’t like being subjected to miniscule additional charges after paying thousands for what they thought was a more inclusive cruise. In neuromarketing terms, though, their brain’s pain center was getting a tweak when they had to pay for something they might well have expected to be provided at no charge.

It isn’t clear to me what Princess is up to with this strategy. Is it even worth processing a $1 or $1.50 charge ticket? It seems likely that this is a “throttling” or demand control strategy – the gelato line might be long if it was free, but just about non-existent if there was a small charge. (Indeed, Princess employs a different kind of demand control strategy with their “secret” ice cream service. For a one hour period each afternoon, they serve free ice cream to passengers along with sundae fixings. What they don’t do is publicize this in their daily schedules. Not only is there no signage for this daily event, but to reach the ice cream service passengers need to ignore and walk around a “Dining Room Closed” sign.)

I can’t help thinking that almost all of the cruisers I spoke to would have paid an extra $20, or $50 – a trivial sum considering the entire cost of the cruise, air travel, shore excursions, and so on – if all of these niggling charges went away. In general, people prefer a single lump-sum price to a series of pay-as-you-go transactions, even if they aren’t really saving any money by paying that way. (See Painful Sushi and Other Pricing Blunders.) Would consumption of coffee-shop coffee and specialty ice cream increase? Of course… but on a ship with continuous and unlimited food availability, how much more are people really going to consume?

I’m sure it’s tempting to control demand and pad the bottom line a bit with charges for “special” items, but if cruising is to be perceived as the most painless way to travel, the pain of paying needs to be a key consideration. Those extra-charge items need to be restricted to a small number of products and services that passengers would reasonably expect to pay for separately. All cruise lines are diligent about collecting customer feedback after each cruise, and I expect that Princess will hear what I heard from so many passengers. (We’re not the only ones to notice this trend - veteran travel writer Arthur Frommer has also weighed in on the topic - see Frommer blasts cruise ship nickel-and-diming.)

Original Post: http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/princess-puts-pain-into-cruising.htm

http://blog.futurelab.net/2008/05/princess_puts_pain_into_cruisi.html

WARC's digital world snapshot map

With data from WARC's World Advertising Trends and other leading industry sources, WARC.COM has mapped the challenges for global advertisers in navigating the digital world."

http://www.warc.com/LandingPages/Digital/World.asp

Taking residence in virtual worlds

Good overview from Mahesh Sharma in December 04, 2007's issue of The Australian IT section about some current, Australian business activity in the 2.0/virtual world environments

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22862449-24169,00.html

Aussies 'addicted' to social networks

Monday Nov 5 16:45 AEDT
For many users, checking their MySpace or Facebook account has become 'automatic and compulsive behaviour'. (Getty Images)

A growing number of young Australians are becoming addicted to online social networks, according to a new study.

Naked Communications digital strategist and recent Monash University graduate, Julian Cole, uncovered the trend as part of his research into the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

"For many moderate to heavy users, checking their MySpace or Facebook account has become an automatic and compulsive behaviour, with some participants reporting they log on up to twenty times a day," Mr Cole said.

He found that many openly admitted to their addiction and, in an ironic twist, contribute to online confession groups.

"It's very bizarre. With a lot of other addictions people tend to hide it, but because it's such a common thing it's not hidden and people talk about it more," Cole said.

He believes one of the key reasons behind the addictive nature of social networking is it's "sticky nature".

"People lose track of time," he said.

"The thing that makes social networking so sticky is that there are so many paths you can take. You'll be on one friend's profile and then you click on their friends, and their friend's friends. It's never ending."

According to Mr Cole, warning signs of possible social networking addiction include frequently visiting the site for longer than intended, experiencing negative psychological or physical effects when the activity isn't available, and scheduling other activities around your time online.

"The point where it crosses over to an addiction is when people go there without a goal, it becomes part of their habit," Mr Cole added.

The study also revealed a divide between blue and white collar workers, with the later more likely to be addicted.

"The fact that they are in front of their computers means they are more likely to become addicted to these websites," he said.

He said typical addicts are more likely to be university students or people new to the workforce, people who have ready access to computers.

Mr Cole points out that the benefits of online social networking currently outweigh the negatives.

"A lot of social relationships are now being maintained, and the ability to connect with people you may not have normally," he said.

His tips for ensuring you don't become addicted are planning the amount of time you'll spend on online, and finding alternate ways of staying in touch with friends.

Mr Cole's findings were based on an in-depth survey of 20 participants, chosen from a larger survey of 300 people.

©AAP 2007
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Melissa Bolling, Strategy Planner, BMF
Tel: 02 9552 7072 Fax: 02 9552 7070 www.bmf.com.au