Addressable TV, retail sales, data privacy: 5 killer stats to start your week

1. Addressable TV dramatically boosts awareness and engagement

Addressable TV – the ability to show different ads to different households while watching the same programme – can boost ad engagement by 35% and cuts channel switching by half (48%). Viewers of addressable TV ads are also 10% more likely to spontaneously recall an ad compared to linear TV advertising.

Higher engagement and relevance also have clear business results, increasing purchase intent by 7% overall and by as much as 20% for new TV advertisers.

Combining linear and addressable TV boosts ad awareness by 22% and ad recall by 49%.

Source: Sky Media

2. Online shoppers help lift UK retail sales

Retail sales increased 0.5% in the three months to the end of July compared to the previous three months.

Retail sales in July also climbed 0.2% from June after a strong growth of 6.9% in non-store retailing. Compared to July 2018, sales were up 3.3% year on year with food the only sector sector seeing a decline (of 0.5%).

Department stores’ saw growth for the first time this year, up 1.6% month over month growth after six consecutive months of decline.

Online retailing accounted for 19.9% of total retail sales in July, compared with 18.9% in June. Online sales were up 12.7% year on year.

Source: ONS

3. Consumers less willing to share their data even in exchange for more personalised ads

The percentage of US consumers willing to share their home address with brands has fallen by 10 percentage points to 31% compared to a year go. They are also eight percentage points less likely to want to share their spouse’s first name and surname (at 33%), seven percentage points less likely to want to share their personal email address (54%), and six percentage points less likely to want to share their own name (63%).

Consumers are most willing to share their gender (93%), race (91%) and marital status (85%). They are least likely to want to share medical information (26%) and financial information (20%).

There was also no sign that consumers are more willing to share this data if it results in more tailored ad, although the researchers did point out this might be due to making respondents answer all the questions again.

Source: Advertising Research Foundation 

4. Magazine circulation continues to decline

Magazine circulation continued to decline in the first six months of the year, with the number of actively-purchased magazines among the top 50 most popular falling below 10 million

In women’s lifestyle, only three – Tatler, Stylist and Harper’s Bazaar – of 17 titles managed to record an increase in circulation. Market leader Good Housekeping saw circulation fall 1.4% year on year, while Cosmopolitan was down 32% although it remains the most popular magazine among young women.

In men’s lifestyle, market leader Men’s Health saw circulation drop 11% year on year, while GQ and Esquire also saw circulation tumble. Women’s weeklies continue to decline with sales down 9% and Take a Break down 8.4%, although it continues to lead the market.

The women’s weeklies sector saw circulation drop by 9%, while men’s lifestyle was up by 9% year on year. Children’s magazines grew, with primary girls up 7% and boys up 3%. Women’s interests such as parenthood is up by 2% and home and gardening grew by 1%.

The sector registering the most significant decline in circulation year on year was business and finance, which was down 38%, while news and current affairs remained relatively steady. The Economist remains the best selling and held its circulation despite a price rise in March.

Source: ABC 

5. Media and marketing sector outperforms as small businesses predict growth

The UK’s small business community is holding strong after experiencing an upturn in growth predictions across six industry sectors.

In the three months to the end of September, half (49%) of small businesses are expected to hold their position, while 35% are predicting growth and just 16% expecting a decline.

Four sectors – manufacturing, construction, retail and real estate – expect falls in small business growth. Six industry sectors – finance and accounting, legal, IT and telecoms, media and marketing, agriculture and transport and distribution – are predicting a rise.

Within that, the media and marketing sector is a bright spot, with 37% of small businesses expecting growth, outperforming every other area except finance and accounting, legal, and IT and telecoms.

Source: Hitachi Capital Business Finance