Social media usage in the United States is higher than in Europe, but high usage does not imply true integration as the social media approach is often disconnected from general company management. 

A digital gap is growing in the corporate world, as companies already investing will continue to do so whereas those not investing are not planning to do so. InSites Consulting, an international market research agency, this week released its survey of 1,222 managers and business owners from companies (+20 employees) in the US, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. 

“Even though there is a clear digital evolution and pull among clients, there are still companies that are not convinced that they too have to go with the evolution. The risk for these companies is that, in a rather short term, they will miss out on an important target group in their market. It is time for these companies to observe, facilitate and join these conversations through e.g. consumer consulting boards or social media observation techniques,” comments Prof. Steven Van Belleghem, partner at InSites.

Key findings include:Continue reading...

Google’s Android mobile operating system is #1 on the top 20 brands favored by the LGBT community, according to the researchers at YouGov BrandIndex. Last year, Google's YouTube topped the annual LGBT ranking.

The 2012 LGBT buzz list includes four Apple-related and several other tech and social media brands, and looks quite different from last year’s ranking, with 12 new brands making the top 20: Android, iPad, Target, Samsung, Aleve, Kindle, Advil, PBS, LG, Starbucks, Comedy Central, and Skype. Disneyland and Disney World share fourth spot, reflect the parks' annual LGBT days and outreach to the gay community.

“Gay consumers number 15 million and counting, spending $743 billion annually” in the U.S., according to LGBT marketing agency Prime Access. Falling out of the top 20 this year: Google, Amazon, Whole Foods, Claritin, HBO, Lowe's, Cheerios, Food Network, M&Ms, Nike, Trader Joe's and Bose.Continue reading...

The 2012 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is out and it demonstrates the kind of consistency that a fast food behemoth like McDonald's can't be too happy about. 

The ACSI's new ranking puts the burger-meister dead last in the "Limited-Service Restaurants" category, with a satisfaction rating of 73 percent. That puts McDonald's just below rival Burger King (75 percent), but considerably below Wendy's (78 percent). Pizza delivery company Papa John's was rated #1 in the limited service category with a satisfaction rating of 83 percent, an increase of 5.1 percent from the previous year. Interestingly, the company in this category with the largest drop in customer satisfaction from last year was Starbucks. Often touted for its customer service, the coffee house fell from 80 percent in 2011 to 76 percent in 2012. 

Unfortunately, the lowly ranking should come as no big surprise for McDonald's management; the company has ranked last in the ACSI since 1995. In fact, its current rating of 73 percent is a percent higher than last year, and 73 percent is the highest rating ever achieved by McDonald's on the ACSI.Continue reading...

The Made In America Store is making the most out of a recent David Letterman complaint on his Late Show that "We can't even make our own back scratcher in America, why?" A press release announces, "In response, the Made In America Store has sent Letterman a Maple Landmark Back Scratcher, entirely made in America."

A new survey from Li-Ning, the Chinese athletic footwear and apparel company founded and named after China's most famous Olympic medal-winning gymnast, suggests that Americans might just be in the market for a Chinese-made back scratcher after all. In fact, the survey's highlight finding suggests that over 90 percent of US consumers are ready to buy a Chinese brand. Continue reading...

Pinterest has become the dark horse in the U.S. election season. First Lady Michelle Obama this week joined as part of her husband's re-election campaign, with three boards — Father's Day, Around the White House, and Great Memories. Michelle’s account, like her husband’s, is run by Obama 2012 campaign staff, with original "pins" signed "-mo."

Mrs. Obama joins the President (the only other account she's following), Vice President Joe Biden ... and Ann Romney, who helped raise awareness in Pinterest among her fellow Mormon wives while tacitly supporting hubby Mitt's presidential run. 

While pinning may now be seen as a precursor to winning, Pinterest is on fire in Latin America, the most socially-engaged market anywhere and home to the fastest growing group of "pinners" on the planet.Continue reading...

As social check-ins and chat are now driving TV tune-in and engagement, the long-anticipated disintermediation of the entertainment-to-home ecosystem has arrived.

A new study by Frank N. Magid Associates, reveals that one of every five consumers are using video game consoles, Blu-ray players or other devices to bring the Web into their living rooms on their television screens. The seachange has led to a flood of social TV partnerships in what Ad Age calls the "Exploding Social-TV Ecosystem."

"Connected TVs will bring the Internet to the large screen, in contrast to how the smartphone has brought the Internet to the small screen. Consumers will be able to watch and browse what they want, when they want, on a big screen through connected TVs," commented Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors, a unit of Frank N. Magid Associates, to the Los Angeles Times.

The research, part of the Magid Media Futures 2012 study, found that:Continue reading...

America is settling in for a long summer of campaigning between the Democratic candidate President Obama and the Grand Old Party’s Mitt Romney. News of minor flubs by candidates and those who work for them will come up at bars, barbecues, and ice-cream joints across the land (or be completely avoided, for everyone’s safety).

Americans will likely hear a constant media drumbeat about red states vs. blue states that will be so loud, it will seem that the country is about to burst into a Civil War.

Just in time for this comes a new study from Buyology that members of the two political parties don’t just disagree on their candidates. They also mostly disagree on the brands they love, though there are three that help bring them together. Next time a president wants to have a bipartisan summit of some sort, he or she might want to involve Coke, Apple, and Visa. Those three names were named by both parties as brands they love.Continue reading...

Macy’s, Sephora, Lancôme, and Michael Kors are ranked as Facebook “Geniuses” in the second annual L2 Facebook IQ Index, the New York-based luxury think tank that measures the aptitude of 100 luxury and prestige brands across Beauty, Fashion, Specialty Retail, and Watches & Jewelry.

The study, conducted in partnership with Buddy Media, ranks brand efforts across four criteria: Size & Growth, Engagement, Programming, and Integration, and each brand was scored against over 350 qualitative and quantitative data points, and assigned a Facebook IQ ranking of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged, or Feeble (a description we'd quibble with, by the way).

The rest of the top ten prestige brands in L2's new Facebook index? The envelope, please...Continue reading...