The global online and telphone study was conducted in 10 territories which spanned Europe, the US, Brazil and Mexico and highlights the implications for media, technology and communications companies operating in the industry.

In the words of the Accenture website…

“The findings of our Global Digital Advertising Study 2007 (a seminal survey of more than 70 global advertising leaders — major advertisers, media companies, ad agencies and technology providers — on the future of their industry) represent a resounding call to action for participants throughout the advertising value chain. The survey also shows that the challenges facing them should not be taken lightly. Change is coming, and businesses will have to invest and change radically to get in or to stay in the game. But Accenture believes that the rewards will justify the effort. The long-term future of the advertising business — if we will even be calling it that a decade from now — is bright”

Key Findings can be found here…

as reported on the NMK site

The report focuses on the social and communications aspects of social networking sites and did not include either online networks dedicated to business networking, or user-generated content sites. As part of Ofcom’s Media Literacy Strategy, the aim of the research was to help define future priorities for the regulatory body and to understand who uses social networking sites and their attitudes toward them.

The report found that social networking usage is strongly related to age. Nearly half (49 per cent) of those between the age of 8 and 17 who have access to the Internet have their own personal profile on a social networking site. For adult Internet users, the figure decreases to around one-fifth.

It is common for adult social networkers to have multiple profiles across different social networking sites with users having 1.6 profiles on average. Half of the adult users of social networking sites visited their profile at least every other day.

A minority of people reported being aware of bullying through social networking sites and some younger users admitted using social networking sites to ‘get back’ at people they had fallen out with.

The qualitative research suggests that there are five distinct users of social networks:

• Alpha Socialisers – mostly male and under the age of 25. They use the sites in short bursts to flirt and meet new people
• Attention Seekers – mostly female of all ages, who crave attention and comments from others, often by posting photos
• Followers – males and females of all ages who join sites to keep in touch with friends and family
• Faithfuls – older males and females generally aged over 20, who typically use social networking sites to get into contact with old friends
• Functionals – mostly older males who prefer to use social networking sites in order to pursue specific interests

For those who do not use social networking sites, safety, unfamiliarity with the technology and general lack of interest were highlighted as issues. The report identified these three groups and their characteristics:

• Concerned about safety – often older people and parents concerned about the safety of their children online
• Technically inexperienced – often people over 30 years old who lack confidence in using the Internet and technology in general
• Intellectual rejecters – often older teens and young adults who have no interest in social networking sites and perceive it to be beneath them

Although many of those who do not use social networks cite security as a primary concern, the research found that social networking site users do not. Around four-in-ten users allow anyone to view their profile. Sensitive information such as phone numbers and email addresses are given out by 34 per cent of 16-24 year olds according to Get Safe Online Research. It was also found that 17 per cent of adults spoke to people on social networking sites that they did not know.
While some of the social networking sites are intended for those aged 13 and over, there was a significant presence of underage users on the sites. The research found that 27 per cent of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites and have Internet access have an online profile.

It would also appear that some parents lack control over their children’s social networking usage. 65 per cent of parents claim to set rules on their child’s use of social networking sites. However it was found that only 53 per cent of children said that their parents set such rules.

The full report can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/m edlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/

Always worth a look are the regular findings from the Pew Internet and American Life survey.

According to the latest press release “62% of all Americans are part of a wireless, mobile population that participates in digital activities away from home or work. Not only are young people attuned to this kind of access, African Americans and English-speaking Latinos are more likely than white Americans to use non-voice data applications on their cell phones”. More detail on this report here

For more details on the comparitive US and UK markets take a look here for the findings of a survey conducted by Telephia and comScore which indicates that

• 5.7 million people in the U.K. used a mobile device to access the Web during January 2007 compared to the 30 million people age 15 or older who accessed the Web from a PC (either a home or a work machine).
  
• At 19 percent of the PC-based Internet audience, the U.K. Mobile Web market is similarly developed on a relative basis to the U.S. Mobile Web market, where 30 million (or 19 percent) of the 159 million U.S. PC Web users of a comparable age accessed the Web from a mobile device during the same month.

… courtesy of Trendspotting

Between the ages of 25 and 60, the time users need to complete web site tasks increases by 0.8% per year. This means a 40-year-old user will take 8% longer than a 30-year-old to accomplish the same task. And a 50-year-old user will require an additional 8% more time.

Because the Web is relatively new, a 50-year-old might have started using it at age 40, whereas a 30-year-old might have started at age 20. In contrast, by 2050, a 50-year-old will have used the Web since age 5, and thus benefit from 45 years of experience. Nielsen believes that this added web experience might eventually allow older users to catch up and somewhat reduce the 0.8% gap – his guess is that the age penalty will drop to around 0.5%/year. I think he would agree that this is a “finger in the air” guess.

a good summary can be found here: http://blog.futurelab.net/2008/04/middleaged_users_declining_web.html

Original Post: http://www.20plus30.com/blog/2008/04/middle-aged-users-declining-web.html

I like this posted image from the adverlab blog…a Clear Channel digital billboard in California has been hacked into by Skullphone. Creative yes but is it that different from a long history of subversion of advertising. Take for example this classic 80s feminist graffiti?

     any other good shots, feel free to forward them… 

AdFreak.com outlines the controversy surrounding the campaign by Doc Martens last year which saw Saatchi London being dropped by the company due to the controversial backlash against their campaign which claimed (falsely) that a number of rock stars were Dr Martens wearers. The adsoftheworld.com site shows the level of backlash amongst some of the more passionate music fans.

Converse, now Nike owned, has become the latest brand to join in on the dead celebs in boots theme. This adweek article gives more detail on the campaign that will include Sid Vicious and Ian Curtis alongside the likes of MIA and Hunter S Thompson.

We wait to see what the popular reaction to the Converse ads will be. Any thoughts, let us know…