ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, head of research and analysis, ExchangeWire. In this week’s edition: Online Olympic content; Improving omni-channel shopping experiences; Growth of online video ads; Rise of smartphone placements.

Online Olympic content

Brits spend a cumulative 3.8 billion hours reading content about the Olympic Games online, suggests research by native video advertising platform Teads. This equates to 34 minutes per person, per day. The report finds those who don’t usually watch sport will follow this summer’s Games. Three-quarters (76%) of this group say they read articles about the Olympics, for an average of 18 minutes per day.

The main reasons audiences read online content are to find out results from events they missed (cited by 58%) and to brush-up on their knowledge of particular events, such as who holds the current world record (29%).

Cable providers also find that audiences are increasing their digital interactions with the Olympics. NBC reported that one billion minutes of the games had been streamed live as of 11 August. While viewing figures have been, on average, 20% lower compared to London 2012, people tuning in via mobile device accounts for these lower figures.

Improving omni-channel shopping experiences

Over half of large UK retailers are still struggling to connect in-store and online shopping experiences, concludes RetailMeNot, operator of VoucherCodes.co.uk. Although more than nine out of ten (92%) large multichannel retailers are now selling online in the UK, three-fifths (59%) consider a lack of visibility across channels the biggest challenge they face today.

The study, which interviews 50 senior marketing executives, finds that nearly two-fifths (38%) of respondents struggle to offer consistent prices across multiple channels. To combat this, over two-fifths (42%) of UK retailers have restructured their business to bring together online and in-store teams. Almost a third (30%) are currently transitioning to a combined retail team, and a further 6% are considering combining their teams.

This is changing the way marketing budgets are allocated. Although 61% are allocated via channel and split between mobile and in-store, the remaining 39% now assign budgets to an omni-channel marketing team.

Retailers recognise that mobile and email can help to close the loop between in-store and online. Almost three-quarters (73%) of UK retailers plan to increase levels of digital investment across multiple channels to drive online shoppers in-store over the next two years. Severine Philardeau, VP of retail and brand solutions, RetailMeNot, said: "Connecting the dots between online and in-store behaviour and sales is absolutely imperative, and holds the key to improving the shopper experience and maximising the effectiveness of investments in digital and mobile marketing and promotions."

Growth of online video ads

Video will drive 80% of global internet traffic, according to a new report by Nielsen Media Lab, commissioned by HIRO media. Despite the ubiquity of online video advertising, there is little correlation between engagement-based KPIs (such as CTR, VTR, viewability, and consumer intent) and ROI.

Player size has high implications for pricing: big players in comScore’s top five sites cost five times more than small players in comScore’s top 1000 sites, but don’t deliver the same ROI. This is particularly true for known brands, who can lower their costs by decreasing their VTR and running on smaller players. If you are an unknown brand, it is wise to start with a big player to boost awareness by increasing viewability.

Finally, post content that is relevant to the target audience, which increased consumer impact by 30%.

Rise of smartphone placements

Global programmatic auction volume has risen by 151%, according to Accordant’s Q2 2016 Pulse Report. Furthermore, mobile supply is continuing to accelerate – UK exchange-traded inventory rose 51% year-on-year and 20% quarter-on-quarter.

The UK accounted for 17% of the EMEA programmatic ecosystem in Q2 2016, followed by Germany (10%), Turkey (9%), France (8%), and Italy (8%). The UK was the second-fastest growing country in the region.

Non-human traffic (NHT) has decreased by 59% year-on-year, with viewability rates improving 31% over the same period. Arthur Muldoon, Accordant Media CEO & Co-founder said: "Q2 has maintained the impressive programmatic momentum from the previous quarter. It is also very encouraging to see that we continue to make noteworthy progress in the battle against non-human traffic and viewability threats."

Smartphone placements continue to be the focal point of marketers’ mobile strategies, with mobile ad sizes accounting for a larger percentage of overall volume. After sharing the market on a nearly 50-50 basis for years, smartphones began to separate themselves from tablets in the mobile programmatic space during Q4 2015. The trend continued in Q1 2016. In Q2, smartphones account for 70% of the mobile programmatic market.

Is there too much fragmentation in the programmatic industry? What will the future bring? What are the key drivers and challenges for programmatic technology adoption? BidSwitch and ExchangeWire Research have partnered to uncover some answers to these very questions. Join us for the official launch of our research publication.

The research will be launched at an invite-only event on 31 August, in London.

AGENDA

12:30-13:00 – Presentation of Findings by Rebecca Muir, ExchangeWire

13:00-13:30 – Panel Discussion, moderated by Barry Adams, BidSwitch

13:30-15:30 – Lunch, sponsored by BidSwitch

If you would like to attend (free of charge), please register here.