Social Media
Key trends, impacts and role for brands
IAB Europe Interact June 12th 2009 globalwebindex.net
Tom Smith
Trendstream
Director
tom@trendstream.net

Today
Preliminary results from the Global Web Index UK and US data
Motivations for using the web
Social media usage trends
How social media is driving change – video example
The impact of social media
Role for brands and challenge for advertising

Trendstream – global technology focus
Dedicated to understanding the global impact of communications
technology
Communications Technology
Global Web Index
focused research
Trend‐watching Education / training

About me: 4 years of social media research
Previously, Head of Consumer
Futures at global media agency
Universal McCann
Created ‘Wave’, global tracking
research into social media usage,
measuring adoption and usage in
over 30 countries
globalwebindex.net

The Global Web Index
What: Research service that measures the web world-wide,
focusing on behaviour, motivations and impact
How: Based on 32,000 consumers surveys a year in 16 markets
Output: Access data through an online tool, trend overviews,
analysis and bespoke reports
globalwebindex.net

New focus
Consumer Purchasing
Web + Social
Media
Marketing / Brands
Comms

32,000 consumer opinions annually
June 2009
December 2009
16-64 active web users (online monthly)
Representative by age, gender, income
volume of usage, region
Self completion online questionnaires
conducted via Lightspeed global panels
Wave 1 Wave 2
30 minute survey
16,000 16,000
respondents respondents
Local language
32,000 annual
survey release
globalwebindex.net

16 markets at launch
Netherlands
Canada
UK Russia South
Korea
Germany
China
USA
France
Japan
Spain
Italy
Mexico India
Brazil
Australia
globalwebindex.net

Delivering with Lightspeed
Survey design. Analysis. Insight. Trends.
Presentations. Workshops.
Scripting. Panel management. Data
Collection. Data processing.
globalwebindex.net

Social media: hundreds of access points
Blogs
Micro- Forums
blogs
Podcasts
Social Wikis
Media
Photo
Video Sharing
Video
Sharing

Social Media: changing the whole web
• A movement
• Consumer driven
– Network
– Content
– Knowledge
• Everything socialised

Social fulfils our motivations

UK: Purchase driven
Think about how important these reasons are
for you using the Internet.
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Top drivers: Knowledge. Connection. Entertainment
Knowledge
Connection
Entertainme
nt
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Age: motivations are consistent
18-34 35-54 55-64
Research / find products to buy Research / find products to buy Research / find products to buy
Stay up to date on news / events Research how to do things Research how to do things
Stay in touch with friends Stay up to date on news / events Stay in touch with friends
Research how to do things Stay in touch with friends Stay up to date on news / events
Entertainment Research for work Education
Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Women: more motivated to stay in touch
Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

55+: Opinions not content
Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Knowledge: driven by social media
• 83% use search to research
purchases
• Search increasingly
dominated by consumer
driven media
• “Samsung Netbook” > 8 out
of top 10 results are social

Knowledge: broken by social media
• Hudson river crash
• Turkish airlines crash at
Schipol airport
• Mumbai terrorist attacks

Entertainment is social
• YouTube
– 1.2bn streams a day
– Last year more bandwidth
than the whole internet in 2000
– Second largest search engine
in the world
– Just 3% can be
commercialised

Social media is mass market

Video leads passive. Photos number 1 sharing channel
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Men lead content creation
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Clear age bias in content creation
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Clear Hierarchy
Video
Forums
Photos
Social Networking
Blogging
Micro-Blogging

Video – driven by social media

US Video – incredibly active sharing environment
62% watch a week
30% share
20% upload
Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

In scale – already the size of network TV
Weekly universe estimates
Based on Comscore universe estimates of 167m users. TV universe figures sourced from WARC
Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Music and UGC lead consumption
globalwebindex.net Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Social media driving the viewing landscape
Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Social video: engages a premium audience
Viewed video on a blog in last 7 days
globalwebindex.net Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Sharing: Small minority drive the mass of sharing
Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Sharing is external and informal
Global Web Index USA pilot survey January 2009

Transforming the moving picture
• Mass market video platforms
just over 3 years old
• In ten years: Global TV
platform?
• Will be open and consumer
driven
• Challenge for advertising

Social Media – The impact

Typically friendship groups shrink with age
18-24 45-54
Friends Work
Face to colleagues:
Face: Face to Work
Friends
Face
32 Face to colleagues:
Face to
28 Face:
Face
17 28
Below is a list of different ways that you can maintain contacts with
people. Please can you indicate how many people do you stay in touch
with via the following means?
globalwebindex.net Global Web Index UK pilot survey March 2009

Massive digital connections maintain contacts
18-24 45-54
Friends Work
Face to colleagues:
Face: Face to Work
Friends
Face
32 Face to colleagues:
Face to
28 Face:
Face
17 28
Microblog Social
Network:
Social Network:
43 Microblog
88 31
45
Below is a list of different ways that you can maintain contacts with
people. Please can you indicate how many people do you stay in touch
with via the following means?
globalwebindex.net Global Web Index UK pilot survey March 2009

Networks of strangers
9% 4% 0.3%
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter
Percentage of people I would phone up for a beer

We trust strangers more than professionals
How much do you trust 1- 5
A family member
A close friend
A work colleague
A neighbour
A good contact on a social network
A consumer who reviews on a retail website
Store worker
A television news reader
The author of a blog you read regularly
A radio presenter
The main contacts on your microblog e.g Twitter
A presenter on a popular television show
A journalist for a national newspaper
A well known celebrity
CEO of a well known company
Your country’s leader / politicians
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00
When you seek an opinion on a brand you are considering buying. Which of the following
people do you trust to provide you the most accurate opinion? (5 trust strongly 0 = no trust)
globalwebindex.net Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. March 2009

Trust of strangers higher in younger groups
18-24 55+
1 A family member A family member
2 A close friend A close friend
3 A work colleague A work colleague
4 A consumer who reviews on a retail website A neighbour
5 A good contact on a social network A good contact on a social network
6 A neighbour A consumer who reviews on a retail website
7 The author of a blog you read regularly Store worker
8 Store worker A television news reader
9 A television news reader A radio presenter
10 A radio presenter The author of a blog you read regularly
Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. January 2009

New perspective on the world
• Trust total and complete
strangers
• Globally connected
• Strangers drive our
knowledge, ideas and
decisions

Social Media – Role for brands

Demand for 2 way involvement
Improves my
opinion of the
brand
Looking at the following ways that a brand can interact with you. What is your opinion ?
Source: Global Web Index, Pilot survey. UK data. June 2009

Demand for 2 way involvement
Page in a Listening to
social comments in
network to a social Be my
provide network / friend
feedback forum
24% 22% 6%

New role in Social Media
• Listening
• One to one conversation
• Driving advocacy
• Challenge for advertising
– No media spend becomes as
effective as media spend
• PR + Research + Customer
Service

Drives business

New role for advertising in Social Media
• Communicating groups,
forums etc
• Sponsorship
• Supporting content / platforms
• Providing more relevancy

Summary
• Social media is transforming the web
• Consumers driving content consumption Netherlands
• New role for brands
Canada
UK Russia South
Korea
Germany
• Challenge to advertising growth
USA
France
China
Japan
Spain
Italy
Mexico India
Brazil
Australia
globalwebindex.net

More information
globalwebindex.net
Global data in July
Report to download now:
Online Video: 2009 is Primetime
Slideshare.net/tomtrendstream
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tom@trendstream.net
globalwebindex.net