Consumer packaged goods marketers don’t have a reputation as innovators when it comes to adopting new ad technology. But in the case of mobile marketing, these companies are now catching up according to research conducted in the U.S. by Millennial Media and comScore. Its key finding: CPG marketers tripled ad spending on mobile in 2012.
Among the things you might not have known about CPG advertisers in mobile:
• CPG is adopting mobile faster than the other leading categories. Consumer goods ranked in No. 6 among industry verticals last year, according to Millennial Media, with spending up 235%.
• Mobile is an awareness medium for CPG advertisers, just like, well, all the other media. Of consumer-goods campaigns, 46% had awareness as a goal vs. only 14% among mobile advertisers generally. As a result, CPG advertisers are using their awareness-building medium of choice – video – heavily. They’re twice as likely as advertisers overall to use mobile video, according to the study. (Separately, growing CPG interest in digital video has driven growth of TV-style ratings for online audiences and led them to increasingly repurpose TV ads as digital video. Thus, comScore recently divested its ARS Group TV copy-testing service, since few CPGs were paying separately to test digital video copy.)
• CPGs are into location, with 40% using some kind of location targeting in mobile campaigns, making it the fourth-biggest vertical category using location, even though it’s only the sixth-biggest spender overall. Beverage and beauty advertisers led CPG subcategories using location targeting, accounting for 69% of industry usage.
• Men are more likely than women to use their phones in stores for some tasks. Specifically, men are more likely to use phones to check product availability, compare prices, find deals or make online purchases. Women are more likely than men to use phones in stores to text or call friends about products, send pictures of products, or research product features.
• Shoppers use their phones in stores more than many people believe. Millennnial Media and comScore found over a three-month period that 40% of women and 47% of men used their phones in stores to find coupons or deals, while 29% of men and 41% of women used their phones to research consumer-product details.
In-Store Mobile Behavior by Gender
During three-month period, percentage who used their phone for the following consumer-goods-shopping tasks while in a store:
Check product availability:
Men: 47%
Women: 39%
Compare prices:
Men: 51%
Women: 38%
Find coupon or deals:
Men: 47%
Women: 40%
Take picture of a product:
Men: 21%
Women: 29%
Text or call family or friends about a product:
Men: 37%
Women: 51%
This story originally appeared in Advertising Age.
