Wednesday 15 May 2013

Streaming TV and Music Services shifting Ad Spend to Online

Streaming TV and Music Services shifting Ad Spend to Online


Recent iReach research shows that many Irish TV viewers are refusing to pay for content and looking to illegal sites for ‘free’ content knowing what they do is not legal but unworried about any consequences. Click to read more.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

The rise of Dynamic Dads in Ireland – Division of family related tasks amongst Modern Day Parents


The rise of Dynamic Dads in Ireland – Division of family related tasks amongst Modern Day Parents

Dads are taking a more hands-on and dynamic approach to childcare than previous generations of fathers. A growing number of Dads are taking the lead in Grocery Shopping, Cooking family meals and being the main carer of children. But Dads in Ireland are still not great at sharing housework and tidying-up.

Headlines:
·         30% of Dads claim to be the main grocery shopper

·         Mums are more likely to buy on impulse than Dads

·         While online grocery shopping remains limited, Dads are more likely to shop online than Mums

·         25% of Dads claim to do most of the cooking at home with 20% of Dads claiming they take it in turn to cook family meals

·         12% of Dads are the main carer with a further 29% sharing childcare task equally during the week

·         25% of fathers claim that housework is shared while just 11% of women concur with this with 77% of mums saying they do most of the housework and tiding up

 Summary Findings:
30% of fathers who still have children living at home, say that they are the main grocery shopper in their household, with just a small minority of parents sharing the shopping equally. 
Planning is prevalent – 67% view a shopping list as important with surprisingly little variations between mothers and fathers in this regard.  However, mothers are more likely to buy on impulse than fathers with 23% of mums doing so compared to just 14% of dads. 
Online shop remains limited – a mere 4% of parents are doing all of their grocery shopping online with only 27% of families grocery shopping online occasionally. Dads are more likely to shop online than mums as they are less interested in being able to see or touch the grocery’s or produce.
Where applicable (i.e. parents of younger children), mothers are still the main carers of their children with 59% of mums looking after their children during the day compared to 12% of dads being the main child-carers. A further 29% of dads state they share childcare responsibility equally during the week. 
77% of mums claim they are doing most of the tidying up versus just 21% of fathers.  Of interest, 25% of dads claim that housework is shared while just 11% of mums concur with this! 
Methodology:
·         Consumer Decisions Omnibus run by iReach in April with 400 responses
·         Results filtered to only include parents with children still living at home split equally by mothers and fathers.  76% with children under 21 and 24% with children over 21.

Friday 26 April 2013

Changing Female Purchasing Power in Ireland

iReach SheCommerce Quarterly Tracker

Each quarter iReach run our SheCommerce Tracker which is a survey of over 1,000 females in Ireland  to study changes in purchasing trends. In the changed economic reality of Ireland today, females have taken centre stage for a wider range of purchase decisions.  Irish females are highly connected and are heavily influenced by Social Media commentary. It is likely that Social Media is filling a void or disconnect for females as many feel advertisers are not ‘talking’ to them but an older stereotype of a ‘grocery mum.


Female Purchasing Power Survey Headlines:
·         Females now account for 58% of all purchase decisions in Ireland, and it’s no longer just grocery shopping
·         41% of females feel that advertisers don’t understand them with a high of 54% saying that Financial Services advertising is not targeted at them
·         Social Media has directly impacted on purchase decisions of 77% of females in Ireland

Even with such purchasing power, many females feel a disconnect with Advertising in Ireland, which is seen as targeting older ‘stereotypical norms’ of females as just the ‘main grocery shopper’.  Filling this void or disconnect is Social Media,  with 77% of adult Females in Ireland saying that Social Media commentary has directly impacted on a purchase decision.

Females now directly influence 58% of all purchase decisions including key financial decisions such as savings, pensions and investments. More Females are also directly influencing technology decisions such as PCs, Smart Devices, Broadband and Digital TV. Other male dominated purchase decisions such as cars are now more influenced by females than ever before.

Females in Ireland are heavily influenced by Social Media with 77% saying that online comments have directly impacted on their purchase decision; both having a positive impact reinforcing their decision or having a negative impact, making them change their minds.

 Impact of Social Media on Females in Ireland – Key findings
·         82% of females say positive recommendation will reinforce purchase decision
·         72% of females  say that negative comments or commentary online has made them change their minds on purchase decisions
·         83% of females say they are more likely to purchase a product or service if they can find additional recommendations about them online
·         86% of Females go online to do additional research after getting a word of mouth recommendation about a product or service (they may want to purchase), before they decide to purchase it
·         48% of females are now using their Smart Phones while out shopping. Activities include price checking, looking for promotional coupons and product review sites.  Only 6% of females in Ireland scan QR codes,

This research from iReach highlights that Brand owners and advertisers need to re-consider their target audience and reflect on the changing role of females today and their influence on the majority of purchase decisions across financial services, technology, car as well as FMCG.

Reality Check – Only 10% Dual Screening in Ireland

Reality Check – Only 10% Dual Screening in Ireland

Recent quarterly tracker research from iReach show that 55% of adults in Ireland own a SmartPhone with 33% owning a Tablet device. SmartPhone ownership is highest amongst the younder demographics while Tablet ownership peaks amongst those 35 to 54 year olds. Click link for more.....

Thursday 11 April 2013

Thursday 7 March 2013

O2 Value down over €500m – Planning for Asset Sales?

O2 Value down over €500m – Planning for Asset Sales?

This week the news for O2 is not positive as Telefónica reports at 27pc decline in profit and writes down value of stake in Ireland by €527m. Is this positioning the Irish operation for some non-core asset sales such as home and business broadband offers which would allow the business to re-focus on core mobile activities and build upon the rapid growth of Smart Phones.

Click link to see more about O2, Sky and Tesco

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Market Research for PR - How to develop a plan for a PR campaign

How to Develop a Market Research Plan for a PR Campaign

Effective market research can be the difference between a public relations campaign that succeeds and one that fails. Because public relations does not happen in a vacuum, market research is a great way to get a sense of the environment. By knowing in advance about the state of the market, the behaviors of consumers, and the strategies of competitors, you will be better able to position your company in the best possible light and maximise media impact.

5 Top Tips

  1. Check out competitor strategies. Note their responses to crises, the image they put forward, and the way they create a relationship with customers. Gather information from their websites and brochures, press releases, and relationships with the media. In doing so, you can use their successful strategies to prevent the chance of repeating or coming too close to another company's message and strongly positioning yours.
  2. Choose your target market. Gather information and data about your target audience base: economic status, family size, shopping preferences, personal goals, level of education, political opinions and personal views. Use customer surveys, published data about your area and demographic data to inform your research. Develop a comprehensive profile of your ideal customer so that you can better target a PR campaign.
  3. Investigate customer sensitivities. Consumers react to public relations campaigns based on factors in their personal and professional lives. Gather information that will give you insight into their mindsets. Look at current events locally, nationally, and around the world, and plan how they might effect customers' mood, economic status, and views of your industry. From that information, determine how your market's needs and wants have changed and how you can better make emotional appeals using PR and media strategies.
  4. Figure out what the market is missing. Investigate the strategies of businesses that produce related products or services and identify the features, benefits, or services that are missing. Based on the market needs, consider how your company or that of your client can fill the gaps. In doing so, you may discover the basis for your PR campaign
  5. Lay out your market research plan. Based on the information you found in your initial research, plan organised activities that are designed to get more specific information. If you have discovered that customers are missing a sense of personal relationships in your industry, you might organise a focus group or survey to learn more. Research published information, interview existing customers, or analyse consumer behavior in relation to national economic health to obtain the full picture.
iReach offer a wide range of cost effective market research offings under our PR Partnership Bundle if you need support in this area.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

iReach Market Reseach: Social media in the era of customer advocacy

iReach Market Reseach: Social media in the era of customer advocacy: Move over influencers; advocates are more valuable to brands.   It’s a fact that customer advocacy bring more life and longer term value for...

Consumer Experience and Research: Customer Engagement and Advocacy - Some tips for 2...

Consumer Experience and Research: Customer Engagement and Advocacy - Some tips for 2...: As each one of us is a customer of some brand ourselves, we should understand customer experience management like the back of our hand. Yet,...

Customer Engagement and Advocacy - Some tips for 2013

As each one of us is a customer of some brand ourselves, we should understand customer experience management like the back of our hand. Yet, for many marketers customer experience seems a bit mysterious, and certainly has a myriad of definitions.  Customer experience and advocacy management is a dedication to serving customer needs from their perspective and research techniques can enhance how organisations react to changing levels of satisfaction and advocacy, where your customers promote or recommend your brand to those that detract from your brand through negative word of mouth.

In the first of a series of 3 posts iReach propose that customer experience management must have the following 10 qualities in order to consistently win your customers (and prospects) heart to win a share of their wallet:
  • Perspective (the experience is defined entirely by the customer, not the brand).
  • Preventive (the customer gravitates toward the easiest and nicest brands that address customers’ needs).
  • Duration (encompasses the point from which customers become aware they have a need until they say that need is extinct).
  • Dynamic (the experience evolves with the customers’ context – the purpose and circumstances of their need, and overall experience reference points).
  • Choice (the experience is built on trust and mutual respect for brand; advocacy is more important than loyalty).
  • Multi-faceted (the experience is measured by functional and emotional (social and personal) judgments related to the customers’ expectations).
  • Operational (the experience is shaped by all the touch-points to an organisation’s processes, policies and culture, in addition to the physical product or service associated with the customer’s need).
  • Integrative (the experience is impacted by the degree of alignment among touch-points, technologies, channels, etc).
  • Anticipatory (the brand experience is on-going, where the present and future are equally or more important than the past).
  • Transparent (the customer sees through the brand’s motives and intentions, and favours genuine sincerity for the customer’s well-being).
  • Advocate (the customer is proactive about recommending the brand experience for friends and family generation positive word of mouth)
Next Blog post we will explore the difference between customer experience and Advocacy and explore how to measure and enhance customer advocacy. Feel free to comment or contact the writer; Oisin.Byrne@ireach.ie