ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, ExchangeWire, head of research and analysis (pictured). In this week’s edition: research from Experian shows that Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) believe they can increase profitability by as much as 15% by better managing data; IAB report mobile “star performers” and Carnegie Mellon University reveal that smartphone users’ location data can be collected more than 5,000 a month by installed apps.

A search on LinkedIn returns almost 14,000 people with the title Chief Digital Officer, this is a relatively small number compared to other C-level titles such as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). It’s worth considering where the need for a new C-level position came from and why the responsibilities of a CDO could not be fulfilled by existing CMOs or CTOs. Many column inches and conversations have focussed on today’s skills gap in digital marketing, but typically this is something that is seen as an issue in the lower ranks of organisations. However, savvy organisations have realised that these people need skilled and knowledgeable leadership, or the solutions they are capable of implementing may flounder without support from senior leaders.

So, what do CDOs actually do? Typically, they lead technology transformation within organisations aligned with data-driven marketing solution implementation. They manage this transformation to a P&L and build teams of people with the skills to buy, implement and optimise new technology platforms such as demand side platforms (DSPs), ad exchanges, supply side platforms (SSPs), data management platforms (DMPs) and marketing automation tools. It is these solutions that CDOs believe will produce the 15% improvement in profitability reported by Experian. Read the full report here.

Research released by IAB UK on Tuesday this week revealed that over 80% of the top 250 UK advertisers have a mobile optimised site, with half of those being developed using responsive web design. The study also tells us that over 10% of the top 250 UK brands are running mobile display campaigns without a mobile optimised site. In today’s mobile-oriented world, you’d struggle to find a marketer who doesn’t consider mobile to be an important part of their strategy; however, the opportunity presented by mobile varies by sector, as does brand adoption of mobile.

– 94% of auto brands have a mobile optimised site
- Compared to travel where 87% have a mobile optimised site
- However, just 72% of FMCG brands have a mobile optimised site

At the other end of the spectrum, some brands still have no mobile presence; again, this varies depending on vertical:

– 9% of FMCG brands have no mobile presence
- 7% of travel brands have no mobile presence
- 7% of retailers have no mobile presence
- 5% of tech and telco brands have no mobile presence

IAB’s Senior Mobile Executive, Mike Reynolds said: “The audit shows that brands are finally putting mobile as a top priority, which is great to see. There are still some gaps though, especially when you consider that brands are spending their budgets on mobile advertising, however their shop fronts still aren’t optimised for mobile. Over the next 12 months I foresee that brands that have achieved the basics of mobile will focus on building on the quality of their mobile presence.”

Based on proprietary mobile KPIs, IAB also called out “star performers” in mobile; these were:

– Disney
- Tesco
- Lego
- Seat

Read more here.

Finally, a shift to consumer research from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Notre Dame has shown that smartphone users’ location data is shared more than 5,000 times a month. Previous research from many sources has shown that often smartphone users are unaware that their data (such as location) is collected by the apps they download. Furthermore, users who are aware that their data can, and is, used by app providers may be shocked by how frequent this behaviour is, in some cases, more than 5,000 times a month.

In many cases, accessing users’ data is facilitating a service offered by the app provider, such as local deals and offers. However, there is a question mark over whether users are aware that their data is being shared and when they are aware, if they’re happy for this data collection to continue at such scale.

The study from Carnegie Mellon University highlighted user behaviour changes when users were made aware via an app permission manager of the extent of data sharing. 96% of participants reviewed their permission when given access to the permission manager. Breaking down restrictions by information type, the most commonly restricted data was location (27%), followed by contacts (21%). Smaller percentages were reported to restrict access to their camera (9%), SMS (8%) and audio recording (6%), calendar (4%) and call logs (3%).

Mobile apps offer brands and consumers a chance to interact in an incredibly personal way. Increasingly consumers perceive their smartphone to be almost an extension of him or her, akin to a diary or journal, and through the downloading of apps are inviting brands into their lives. Brands need to respect this and resist the temptation to collect data for the sake of data and instead ensure that they have a clearly defined data strategy and pass the benefits of data collection back to consumers via content, offers and personalised experiences.

Read more here.

ExchangeWire’s weekly research roundup will now take a two-week break, returning on April 23rd.