Going (Creatively) Digital
Amazon Tops For Product Searches, Google For Information
What’s the difference between “searching” and “finding” on mobile devices? It’s user behavior and intent, according to a new study by Amazon and Pymnts. MediaPost reports that when consumers are looking for information, Google gets the traffic. But for products, it’s Amazon. The majority (63%) of mobile shoppers use Google when seeking information while nearly half (45%) start at Amazon when searching for a product. The story’s takeaway is that a person shopping with a smartphone is likely looking for something specific (hence the verb “finding”).
Yahoo’s Buy Of Fashion Site Polyvore Seen As Click-To-Purchase Bid
Yahoo seems to have jumped on the click-to-buy train by scooping up Mountain View, CA fashion website Polyvore, in what’s said to be Yahoo’s biggest consumer platform purchase since Tumblr in 2013. Polyvore enables consumers to mix, match and buy from retailers such as J. Crew, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, the Oakland Tribune reports. Unlike rival Pinterest, Polyvore doesn’t yet have a “buy button” that allows direct purchases from the site, but that’s the direction Yahoo appears to be taking. In the meantime, the company has acquired a huge audience of millennials that it can sell to advertisers.
Don’t Turn That Mobile Device: You’ve Got Vertical Video
Although videos shot vertically were once seen as beyond the pale, they are gaining ground on places like Snapchat, whose Evan Spiegel says users are nine times more likely to view a vertical video than horizontal content, ClickZ reports. The preference for portrait as opposed to landscape viewing can be explained by the simple act of having to turn a mobile device sideways as opposed to holding it upright, according to GroupM Chief Digital Officer Rob Norman. One brand that is capitalizing on this is AT&T with its SnapperHero, a scripted series that has garnered a 73% average completion rate for its episodes on Snapchat.
MediaBrix Mines Consumer Behavior Data For Pivotal Ad Delivery
If timing is everything in life, four-year-old startup MediaBrix has a bright future. ADWEEK reports that brands like BMW, Coca-Cola, CoverGirl and others are using the company’s ad-delivery technology to reach consumers during pivotal moments based on knowledge of individual consumers’ behavioral traits. For example, brands can target a Chicago Cubs fan with a celebratory in-app offer minutes after the team wins a game (“since the Cubbies won, here’s 50 cents off your next soda”), or scrap the ad if the team loses. The technology is fueled by a cornucopia of consumer data, including biometrics.
C-Suite Moves
Claude Walton to SMASH Solutions as Chief Marketing Officer, from SDL, where he was Director of Global Product Marketing.
Lisa Pearson to Umbel as Chief Marketing Officer, from Bazaarvoice, where she was Chief Marketing Officer.
Doug Wolfe to People Pattern as Chief Operating Officer, from Atlas at Facebook, where he was Head of Operations.
Thom Allcock to LIN Digital as VP, Creative Marketing, from Mode Media, where he was VP, Marketing Solutions.
Mahesh Angadi to Local ID as Chief Product Officer, from PubMatic, where he was VP, Product Management.