Global Marketing News – 29th July 2015
The money is in mobile in Japan
Research by Kenshoo has revealed that mobile ad spending is booming in Japan.
Overall online ad spend went up by 15% in the country last year, with a staggering 69% increase in mobile ad spending driving much of this growth. In contrast, desktop ad spend only went up by 7% during the same period.
Over 50% of clicks on ads in Japan came from smartphones and tablets in the second quarter of this year, with a Kenshoo spokesperson saying that this showed that “the year of mobile has certainly arrived”.
When looking more closely at the metrics, the researchers discovered that ad impressions had increased by 24% year-on-year, and click volume had gone up by a comparable 17%.
Kenshoo explained what that meant for businesses targeting the region, saying that: “The sheer growth of smartphone usage in the region means advertisers need to adopt a robust mobile marketing strategy, underpinned by the consumer engagement opportunities that the mobile channel delivers.”
Clothing brand Uniqlo stops selling on Chinese ecommerce site JD
Also in Japan, the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has announced that it is to stop selling items on the Chinese ecommerce site JD.
Uniqlo will still have a presence in China, but will be selling its products on Alibaba Tmall platform instead.
There are rumours that Uniqlo may have pulled out of its partnership with JD because of its ties with rival Alibaba, although both parties have denied this.
Ecommerce accounts for around 5% of Uniqlo’s international sales. Uniqlo has reported good performance in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, although it is struggling in the US.
Businesses in Brazil embracing content marketing
Businesses in Brazil are embracing content marketing, according to research by Rock Content.
Around 70% of companies from sectors ranging from ecommerce to manufacturing to marketing said that they engaged in content marketing.
Most respondents said they currently only spent a small portion of their budgets on content marketing, usually less than 25%, but 70% said they would increase the amount of money they spent on the technique over the next year.
Facebook was the most popular channel for content distribution, followed by company blogs. Twitter was a less popular distribution platform, being used by less than 50% of businesses questioned.
Most businesses published a few pieces of content per month, although 16% were much more active, saying they published over 20 pieces of content per month.
An increase in site traffic was the most commonly cited measure of success, followed by sales figures and conversion rates.
Lack of trust stopping Filipinos from shopping online
The CEO of the Filipino ecommerce website Lazada has said that a lack of trust is hampering efforts to get more Filipinos online.
A study revealed that 45% of Filipinos were reluctant to buy online because they were worried that their financial details would not be secure.
75% of Filipinos who did engage in online shopping opted for the cash-on-delivery payment option, highlighting that even online buyers harbour a certain level of mistrust.
36% were also put off by a lack of understanding of warranty rules online.
In order to dispel the myths that online shopping is risky and encourage more people to shop online, Lazada has invited the media to come to its Muntinlupa warehouse so that they can see the product journey for themselves.
Lazada is one of the most popular ecommerce sites in the Philippines, with around 20,000 sales every day.
Horse-drawn Google Street View launches in Mongolia
And finally, Google Street View has launched in Mongolia.
In order to reach the more remote regions of this sparsely populated country, the Google team had to use a horse-drawn carriage with the Google camera mounted on the back.
A trekker was also used, carrying the camera on his backback, to take pictures of the Gobi desert.
Mongolian officials have expressed their delight at being included in Google Street View and have said that they hope it will boost tourism to the country, as well help to preserve through imagery the nomadic lifestyle of many Mongolians.
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Gemma Houghton
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