Both Bad and Good News for Brands in Social Networks
http://scm-l3.technorati.com/11/11/10/56185/TNS-Digital-Life-study.jpg?t=20111110115120 The bad news is that brands fail to listen to what people want. Over half of consumers in the industrialized countries don’t want to engage with brands on social networks, says new global study published today by TNS / Kantar. This survey among 72,000 consumers in 60 countries - TNS Digital Life Study - is the largest global study into people’s attitudes and behaviours online, suggest that many brands are wasting both time and money on the wrong strategies in trying to reach people online. Misguided digital strategies - fail to listen to what people want - by publishing tons of “Digital waste” on friendless Facebook fan pages to blogs that nobody reads. “It’s harder than ever to win and retain consumers. The online world undoubtedly presents massive opportunities for brands, however it is only through deploying precisely tailored marketing strategies that they will be able to realise this potential. Choosing the wrong channel, or simply adding to the cacophony of online noise, you risk just to push potential customers away and damage its growth opportunities” says Matthew Froggatt, Chief Development Officer, TNS. The good news is that fast growth markets are more open to socialising with brands In a global perspective however, the study reveals, large geographic differences in how consumers want to engage with brands in social networks. Thou this fact, according to TNS underlines the risk of failure, if you as an international commercial brand chooses a “catch-all” strategy. In fast-growing countries such as Argentina, China, Columbia, Prior, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Thailand and Vietnam, consumers are so much more open to commercial brands in social media than consumers in countries like USA, UK, Netherlands and the Nordic countries. Also, in the fast-growing countries you find the most eager consumers when it comes to shopping via social media, 48% of consumers do it and in India as high as 59%. In contrast to only one in four consumers in most western countries. The TNS / Kantar study also looks at consumer habits and attitudes in a broader perspective, which shows that Asian consumers are far ahead of Europe when it comes to mobile shopping and group-buying (deals such as Groupon). 46% of digital consumers in China already use group-buying tools, while in Europe the adoption rates is as low as just 6% of Nordic consumers. Fast growth markets are more open to brands on social networks than developed markets, which show resistance to both buying and engaging with brands in these spaces. Social networks can therefore put brands at risk of damaging their image in developed markets, and must be carefully approached. Get more key insight and findings from the TNS study at www.tnsdigitallife.com and watch their intro video of observations from the study.
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