Retailers feel there are too many channels to effectively sell through

A TV remote control.

Online shopping has never been more convenient for consumers, who have access to a plethora of channels through which to engage with their favourite brands.

However, this same variety is confounding retailers, with 47% saying there are simply too many channels for them to effectively deliver the best sales experience.

This is according to Wunderman Thompson Commerce & Technology’s “Brands don’t fail... eRetail!” report, which found nearly all (94%) retail...

19 April 2023 | Content Marketing

Ru Roberts, Waze: On non-distracting and privacy-conscious advertising

MarketingTech caught up with Ru Roberts, UK Country Manager for Waze, to discuss how the popular satellite navigation app advertises to drivers in a responsible manner.

As a free app, Waze relies on advertising. However, displaying ads to drivers could be a recipe for disaster.

Waze has faced its fair share of criticisms in the past for distracting drivers. Early users will remember things like messages from random drivers popping up constantly. Fortunately, Waze heard...

11 February 2022 | Advertising

How to acquire and retain the attention of 200 million ‘ad aware’ users

Adjusting to any new environment is hard at the best of times, but back in March many of us had to come to grips with a new type of office: our homes. The kids screaming in the background during a video call, the moment of panic when the internet connection dropped, the constant snacking every hour of the day…and that’s not including the noise of everyone else working remotely with you and their phones going off constantly.

For the first few days and weeks in a new work...

27 October 2020 | Advertising

CMO Council explores the remit of earned media – and strained relations between marketing and comms

The Covid-19 pandemic may have forced a change in some respects, but a new report from the CMO Council makes it clear: marketing and comms are still too adversarial, and more media cohesion is needed.

In its report 'Bridging the Gap for Comms and Marketing', the council, alongside Cision, surveyed more than 150 brand leaders, as well as conducting interviews with executives from Schneider Electric, IBM, Nokia, and more.

Ultimately, marketing and comms don't really...

14 October 2020 | Advertising

The requirements for brands looking to build the new in-house marketer

As the marketing game changes, so must the players. Under growing pressure to effectively navigate an increasingly complex operating landscape – while doing more, with less – many brands, big and small, are considering if in-housing could be the solution to restoring the control, confidence and cost efficiency they so sorely need for the future.

However, in-sourcing the marketing function is not that simple. With no set model for in-housing – and every brand...

9 October 2019 | Branding

Does real-time marketing need to take an alternative route?

My role at Waze has seen me speak to hundreds of brands and agencies about how to reach drivers when they’re on the move. Increasingly, questions have centred around data and how targeted advertisers can be in reaching drivers.

As the sheer number of ads we experience on many of the services we use every day has increased - often at the detriment of the user experience - the mobile advertising industry has also had to consider the ethical implications of using consumers’...

13 September 2019 | Advertising

Five things to consider when planning an app: Usage, UX, and more

The app designing process will be a bumpy road if you don’t take a methodical approach. Your business doesn’t just need an app: it needs a user-friendly app that provides substantial value. If you know you want an app, then break out the whiteboard and start drafting out your plan.

There are some vital considerations you’ll have to make during the formative stages of mobile app development to assure that things stay budget-friendly and none of your efforts are...

11 April 2019 | Advertising Technology

Pinterest on track for IPO as ad revenue approaches $1bn waterline

Social media company Pinterest is approaching $1bn in ad revenue, according to sources close to the group, putting in IPO (initial public offering) in arm’s reach for 2019.

The image discovery platform could double its 2017 $500 million sales revenue this year, driven in large part by success with mobile ads according to CNBC, with big fashion and beauty brands turning to the platform to get in front of 200 million monthly active users, 80% of which claim to use its...

25 July 2018 | Native Advertising

Reddit roles out native autoplay video ads with focus on user engagement

Following its recent redesign, Reddit has rolled out a new native video ad format that will auto-play by default when a user scrolls through a feed.

The update is part of the massively popular site’s tentative efforts to monetise its 330m active monthly users, which can be widely resistant to any large-scale changes to user experience, particularly when there’s a commercial slant involved.

Users will, however, be able to turn off the autoplay function, while the ads...

13 June 2018 | Native Advertising

Native ad leader Outbrain acquires AdNgin for automated ad content optimisation

New York-based native ad firm Outbrain has acquired AdNgin, a UI (user interface) optimisation specialist built to enhance the reader experience.

The buyout - made for an undisclosed fee - marks the sixth for Outbrain since its founding in 2006, including the more recent purchases of content discovery platforms Zemanta and Revee as part of the company’s aggressive growth efforts and continued leadership in the native advertising sector. 

According to the...

6 June 2018 | Customer Experience