March 29, 2018

The Figaro Digital Digest: 29th March 2018

Happy Easter from everyone here at Figaro! Here is your bank holiday weekend round-up of the latest marketing news to enjoy catching up on while you dig into those chocolate eggs.

Location-Based Mobile Doubles Engagement Of Generic Ads

Research by Verve which surveyed 2000 UK adults has revealed that people are twice as likely to engage with mobile ads that are optimised for local data than generic ads.

Of those who engaged with ads, a third said they would engage with an ad if it related to something they planned on doing or somewhere they were going in future. Despite this, 56 per cent of respondents said mobile ads were boring and dull, and only 11 per cent found them useful. Seventy-eight per cent said that mobile ads are too small to read and contain too much text.

Verve has stated that the average British person ignores more than seven mobile ads a day.

So, what do those surveyed want out of mobile ads? Well, 20 per cent said they’d like ads that adapt with their phones tilt, tap and zoom mechanics, 19 per cent want game like ads that encourage users to navigate through them, and 21 per cent would like ads to ask them a question.

Facebook Prioritises Local News In Latest Update

Facebook users will soon see an increase in localised news stories in their feeds as the social giant rolls out an update globally.

However, there is loophole. If an article is read by users in a specific location, it will be considered local and get a boost. For example, an article about The Biggest Weekend in Swansea may be read mostly by people in Cardiff and therefore be considered local to residents who live there – despite the hour-long drive between the Welsh cities.

Alex Hardiman, Head of News Products, and Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships, said in the announcement:

“[Facebook will] continue to prioritize high quality news in News Feed, including news from sources that are broadly trusted, informative and relevant to local communities.”

“By expanding the scope of what may be considered local to people, we’re including other cities that people may care about and connecting people to local publishers from those cities.”

Children’s Brands Warned They Need To Adapt To ‘Dramatically Shifting’ Needs

Research agency Kids Insights has surveyed 20,000 UK children as part of its Future Forecasts report and found that brands need to recognise and adapt to the ‘dramatically shifting’ environment that young people are growing up in.

These changes include technological advances, developing demands, a rise in gender neutral products, and YouTube influencers.

Nick Richardson, Futures Analyst at Kids Insights said:

“In the battle for children’s attention and ultimately their hearts and minds, innovation is increasingly critical…The brands which are enjoying success are those which are extremely responsive to the constantly developing and increasingly complex kids ecosystem.

“Trends are coming and going far quicker than ever before – and brands who are in tune with how children are behaving are able to turn these trends into opportunities rather than see them as risks. Brands that stand still are going to find it harder and harder to regain the attention of young consumers.”

 

For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles.