Tweet

Avenue A Razorfish 2008 Digital Outlook Report

Guest post by: Guy Kawasaki

Article Overview: Avenue A Razorfish released the 2008 Digital Outlook Report yesterday. The purpose of the report is to help Avenue A's clients understand consumer behavior in the digital space. In the report experts cover topics such as media spending, mobile web usage, social influence marketing, the state of search, and behavior targeting. Here are some tidbits from the report:

Avenue A Razorfish 2008 Digital Outlook Report

Avenue A Razorfish released the 2008 Digital Outlook Report yesterday. The purpose of the report is to help Avenue A's clients understand consumer behavior in the digital space. In the report experts cover topics such as media spending, mobile web usage, social influence marketing, the state of search, and behavior targeting. Here are some tidbits from the report:

*

Vertical content properties and paid search were the biggest beneficiaries of the increase in spending. Verticals grew from a 37% share in 2006 to 39% in 2007. Increasingly, advertisers are showing a desire to work with a broader range of partners, as evidenced by the expansion of the number of sites the agency used in 2007. The majority of that expansion has occurred in the vertical category.
*

In difficult economic conditions, the most accountable marketing channels will be best insulated from cuts in spending. This clearly bodes well for online advertising relative to other channels. However, there will be an impact, even in the most efficient digital channel—search marketing. Search has become a powerful tool for shoppers, and in a recessionary environment, consumers will search, shop, and buy less frequently.
*

Only a few years ago, a Web site’s home page was the most prime piece of digital real estate a publisher could offer. Not so much today, however. The relevance of the home page as a media buy is on the wane. Search, social networks, blogs, and RSS (among a host of other online sources) are driving more and more users deep into today’s Web properties. Now, the majority of consumers bypass a site’s home page completely.
*

Every page is now a home page, each of which will have a wider reach, a lasting shelf life, and the ability to attract a new audience like never before. To capitalize on this, ensure that every page has a strong, clear global navigation scheme and related content that is visibly promoted. And don’t forget to make sure that display advertising gets prominent, above-the-fold, home-page-like treatment (300x250 rectangles and 728x90 leaderboards). Remember, every page can be accessed in any conceivable manner and in any conceivable order—you can’t design properties to control user flow anymore.
*

Despite user requests for a single mobile, PC, or gaming device to do everything, we found users increasingly willing to embrace multiple devices—even when those devices possess overlapping capabilities. For instance, a Nintendo Wii for the whimsical side of their gaming lives and an XBOX 360 for competition. A laptop for managing the business of life and another littered with stickers for fun. A smart phone for e-mail and a flip phone for weekends. We found users unwilling to make the compromises that come with an all-in-one while willing to embrace devices for different highly specialized aspects of their lives: “We bought my brother-in-law an iPhone specifically so we could get him to check his e-mail. Nothing else seemed to work.” (Laura, 26)
*

Consumers don’t see the Internet as something distinctly different from their offline worlds anymore, and they expect seamless transitions. Every key consumer activity has online and offline components—each one contributing to the total experience. The reason? Finally, the online world is getting more social, and as a result, more like the offline world.
*

In social media, marketers need to understand where their brands intersect with the passion points of their consumers. But ultimately, they need to empower consumers to express themselves via their connection to the brand. In most cases, brands can craft the framework of a campaign, but the customization of content and the dialogue around the campaign will be up to the consumer.

The report is stuffed with useful information and challenging thoughts that will change a thousand PowerPoint presentations. The material is so good that I'm surprised that the Avenue A folks are letting me post the report in its entirety, so download it before they change their minds. The person who manages the report is senior vice president Jeff Lanctot, and he has just started a blog that's worth checking out too.

Related Articles
  Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2010
  Koch Industries Financing Climate Denial
  Challenges in Canadian Franchise Financing in 2010
  1.8 References: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  Moment of Good Financial News Zen: Shark Attacks Down
  BlackBerry and Outlook Tips
  Quiznos Franchisees Hope for Debt Deal
  The Right Real Estate Offer
  Changes to Your Credit Score
  We call iPhone app market a “Grand Slam” for the iPhone developers since its launch
  New Study Suggests Lessons for Online Journalism
  Toronto Real Estate Trend and Market – What is the Current Outlook?
  Spending Time on Social Networking - Make it Count!
  Toronto Real Estate & Mortgage Trend and Market – What is the Current Outlook?
  TV is Dead… Long Live the Internet!
  How to Manage Your Email & Inbox – Lessons 11-15
  Four examples of luxury brands leading the way in social media
  Study: 2.5 million U.S., Canadian Households ready to buy an Internet-connected TV
  Egypt, Ghana, Kenya among top 10 reformed business economies says World Bank report
  Franchising Outlook Report Offers Further Proof 2011 is the Year to Become a Franchise Owner

Article Tags: accountable marketing, beneficiaries, consumer behavior, content properties, digital space, economic conditions, global navigation, marketing channels, mobile web, navigation scheme, outlook report, prime piece, razorfish, relevance, shelf life, social influence, social networks, verticals, web properties, web usage



Related Forum Posts
Outlook Business Contact Manager - I've just installed the new Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager and am testing it out to see how good of a CRM system it is. I like the concept because it works right within your Outlook and I already have all my contacts and emails here. Does anybody have any experience with Business Contact Manager for Outlook?
Managing emails - From the promo page it looks like they can handle up to 16 emails. What are the benefits of using this over other email checking software? I have 6 accounts that I check regularly and use Outlook while at the office and either my web hosting webmail or gmail when I'm away. Does this program save you time over using Outlook?
Backing up data on Outlook - Hi Jen At the moment, I have 1 email account on Rogers Yahoo for personal use and 3 different emails for business (i.e. 2 on MS Outlook and 1 with Yahoo). However, I don't backup anything as I've never really had any problems yet. Can I ask what was the ineffective method used when trying to backup your Outlook data?
Picking an external hard drive to backup my files - Does anyone here use an external hard drive to backup their computer files? And if so, which brand would you recommend? My friend suggested Western Digital or Maxtor... but I read some bad reviews about Western Digital on Futureshop.ca. And more importantly, would you trust buying a supposedly "brand new" external hard drive on Ebay? How could I really tell if it was used or not?
Update: Spam software - Well I still have not found a good plugin that will work with Outlook 2007. My web hosting client has an option to detect and delete spam on the server before it gets to my inbox but I am worried that it will delete some of my important emails. If anyone has had luck with Outlook 2007 and getting their spam issues solved, please post and let me know!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Pay Per Click Advertising

Setting Goals for your Home Based Business

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.