Groupon penetration drives growth in European online couponing activity in 2010

The emergence of Groupon contributes to a significant growth in the usage of online coupon sites in Europe in 2010. According to comScore, the total number of people using coupon sites in Europe in a month grew by 162 percent to 34.9 million visitors in December 2010 when compared to the previous year.

The past year has seen online coupon sites emerge as an important channel in driving consumer behavior in Europe, generating a 5.7 point increase in penetration. This growth money-saving couponing activity is the highest seen in any region in 2010, bringing the reach of coupon sites in Europe to 9.6% of all internet users.

The report, The 2010 Europe Digital Year in Review, shows significant variation in the penetration of coupon sites. France continues to lead, having the highest monthly reach (20.6% of all French Internet users), followed by the UK (17%), and Italy (15.2%). Italy and Turkey experienced the highest growth rates, with a 15 and 13.6 percentage point increase, respectively.

Groupon, which was not a significant player in Europe in 2009, established itself as market leader following the acquisition of its leading competitor in Europe, Citydeal, in May 2010. The company was able to establish a presence in more than 100 European cities in the past year and now reaches more than 12 million visitors a month, approximately one-third of the total coupon market.

The growth of Groupon, which encourages sharing of offers via Facebook and Twitter, was supported by growing usage of social networking sites in Europe. By the end of the year, social networking monthly penetration in Europe reached 84.4% of all European internet users. According to comScore Social networking accounted for 22.8% of all page views in Europe, and approximately four out of every ten internet sessions included a visit to a social networking site.

A demographic analysis of social networking users in Europe, reveals women leading in terms of engagement. In December 2010, women spent 24.3% of their online time on social networking sites, while, men spent only 16.8% of their time on these sites.

Dan Gerstenfeld and Boaz Babai to Speak on Launching Mobile Technologies to the Blogosphere at Contech 2010

Dan Gerstenfeld and Boaz Babai will present how to successfully launch a new mobile technology, application or product and catch the blogosphere’s attention at Contech 2010.

Gerstenfeld, CEO of Interteam Content Services, and Babai, CEO of ARPU~UP will jointly explore the best ways to get bloggers to cover companies, test their products and spread the word. The presentation will be held on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 2.40 pm in Hall A at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv as part of the Contech 2010 event.

The presentation will be based on study cases of successful online PR campaigns carried out by Interteam and ARPU~UP for companies developing mobile solutions and applications. The presentation is aimed at providing companies with effective tools to build their online campaigns in order to ensure that their products receive maximum exposure.

During the event, Gerstenfeld and Babai will demonstrate the steps required to build a successful campaign. They will explain how the main story is built, presented and carried out to achieve maximum exposure.

“The gathering at Contech 2010 is an excellent opportunity for high-tech companies to learn how to effectively apply different tools in order to obtain maximum exposure and generate quality traffic to their web site,” said Interteam’s Dan Gerstenfeld. “The presentation is specifically designed for companies that are taking their first steps and are looking to get the word out.”

“Our experience with Israeli start-ups developing technologies and solutions for the mobile industry shows that it is possible to get considerable attention from leading bloggers by applying several simple tools,” said Babai. “All this can be done while using limited resources granting maximum return on investment.”

The Contech 2010 Conference features content and technology experts from leading international companies such as the BBC, Disney, Facebook, Fox News, HBO, MTV, NetFlix, ORANGE, Sony Pictures Classics, YouTube, Zinga, and more. The event opens on Monday, November 8, 2010.

New package for managing mobile apps campaigns offered by ARPU~UP and Interteam

Rapid developments in the mobile industry require an ever-growing number of developers to launch new innovative mobile applications. In this competitive environment, thousands of apps developers are trying hard to capture customers’ attention, most of them without a clear digital marketing plan in place. To help developers penetrate the market, ARPU~UP and Interteam Content Services launched a joint initiative to offer a new services aimed specifically at helping developers of mobile applications successfully launch new apps and get online exposure.

The service package includes press releases (PR) delivery, targeted marketing and advertising campaigns and are aimed at promoting the online and mobile visibility of new applications for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

ARPU~UP and Interteam recently completed high profile projects for several cellular application developers including Intuitive User Interface and Neatcall. Both campaigns received much exposure, which translated to growing interest in those applications. 

“We used the services of ARPU~UP and Interteam when we recently launched our innovative one-touch user experience solution for mobile phones,” said Itay Riemer, co-founder and VP Marketing of Intuitive User Interfaces. “The results exceeded our expectations by far as the successful campaign drew much interest to our new product. I can warmly recommend using their services.”

“When we launched our iPhone scheduling and communication application several weeks ago, ARPU~UP and Interteam managed the whole online campaign,” said Dan Benger, Neatcall’s CEO. “We were very impressed with their professionalism, dedication, execution ability and deep understanding of the mobile phone industry.”

“We have specifically designed the package for mobile apps developers who want to stand out from the crowd,” said Dan Gerstenfeld, CEO of Interteam Content Services. “The new service offers developers a unique opportunity to reach their audience directly in a simple and cost effective manner."

Online advertising expenditures to surplus print for the first time

Online advertising and marketing spending will be first time ever be higher than print this year, according to a report published by British research company Outsell.

The report, which is based on a survey of more than 1,000 US advertisers, indicates that marketing managers will spend $119.6 billion in 2010 on online and digital marketing compared to spending $111.5 billion on print.

Companies are expected to allocate money to strategies ranging from search engine keywords to webinars. Overall, US spending on advertising and marketing will increase by a modest 1.2% to $368 billion this year.

“Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding. As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they’re spreading their spending over a widening set of options,” said Chuck Richard, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Outsell.

The authors note that advertisers see their own websites as the generating the highest B2B return on investment. This is followed by conferences, exhibitions and trade shows; direct mail; search engine keywords; and e-marketing and newsletters.

51% of B2B marketers rate Facebook as extremely or somewhat effective, followed by LinkedIn (45%), Twitter (35%) and MySpace (25%).

87% of Israeli advertisers plan to invest in social media marketing in 2010

Israeli marketing specialists intend to increase their spending on social media marketing (SMM) in 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Israeli Marketing Association and Financial Daily TheMarker.

According to the survey, 87 percent of Israeli advertisers plan to launch social media marketing initiatives in 2010, by acting on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, and approaching bloggers.

The survey was carried out by research firm Meida Shivuki, which is owned by Meirav Shapira and Noam Raz.

The number represents an increase in comparison to 2009, in which some 83% said they invested in social media. It is interesting to note that more than 70% of those, who were not active in social marketing, last year, said they plan to do so this year.

The report said that many advertisers include social media initiatives in their overall public relations activities. This is in line with the fact that 16% of those surveyed said they intend to increase public relationships (PR) expenditures and only 2% said they intend to spend less.

The survey included some 70 CEO's and senior VP Marketing from 166 Israeli companies that are members of the Israeli Marketing Association. The report shows that 2010 will be the fifth consecutive year in which advertisers will increase Internet advertising as some 47% said they intend to increase their online advertising budgets.

ARPU~UP and Interteam partner to offer Special Web Marketing Package for MWC 2010

ARPU~UP and Interteam Content Services have jointly launched a special Web marketing package to participants attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010 to be held in Barcelona, Spain in February.

The package includes search engine and social media marketing, online PR, video production and other services. It is aimed at increasing participants’ exposure at the prestigious cellular meeting, allowing them to maximize opportunities.

Both companies have a proven track record of successfully completing similar campaigns for companies of all sizes. In the last 18 months, ARPU~UP and Interteam have provided Web marketing services to leading mobile companies such as Perfecto Mobile, Mobixell, Aerotel Medical System and innerActive Smart Media.

The online package is aimed at maximizing the exposure companies can receive from participating at the 2010 GSMA Mobile World Congress. Firms that intend to attend the congress will receive full marketing direction. The offering includes: personal guidance on how to best prepare teams for the show; team supervision; building social media presence, online PR and other Web-related marketing campaigns; marketing communication, and any other services required to draw interest from mobile industry leaders.

IsraelTechNews ranked at top 25 most influential Jewish Newswires on Twitter

IsraelTechNews was named as one of the 25 most influential Jewish newswires in Twitter in a special survey conducted by Jewish New Agency JTA.

The report, which was titled "JTA’s 100 Most Influential Jewish Twitterers", ranked IsraelTechNews as 21 in the list of influential Jewish newswires. IsraelTechNews was ranked behind Britain's Jewish Chronicle, the world's oldest Jewish newspaper.

IsraelTechNews publishes the latest news about the Israeli technology industry, including news updates on internet, mobile, software, medical device, healthcare and Cleantech startups. It was founded by Boaz Babai founder and CEO of ARPU~UP, a provider of online marketing strategy consulting services.