Air Canada Named Top Airline in Customer Loyalty
Toronto, ON — Air Canada has been named the leading airline in customer loyalty, according to Brand Keys 2015 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index® (CLEI). The 19th annual survey, conducted by independent marketing research firm, Brand Keys, measures a brand’s ability to meet customers’ expectations better than the competition.
For the 2015 index, New York-based Brand Keys surveyed more than 36,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers, ages 18 to 65, and examined 540 brands in 64 categories to measure the degrees of loyalty that consumers exhibit toward their favourite brands.
“Recognition of Air Canada as the number one airline for customer loyalty in North America is a tremendous honour,” said Craig Landry, Air Canada’s Vice President, Marketing. “Brand Keys’ research findings speak to Air Canada’s focus on engaging customers and our continuing investments in world class products and services. In addition, this ranking recognizes our employees for their hard work and professionalism taking care of customers to earn their loyalty.”
“In a marketplace where consumers are looking to be delighted, according to this year’s Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, Air Canada has been better able to deliver against the very high expectations flyers hold for the Airline category,” added Robert Passikoff, President of Brand Keys. “Air Canada’s ability to better address customers’ emotional values has resulted in increased levels of customer engagement and loyalty. Brands able to do that generally see the highest levels of loyalty and positive behavior over the next 12 to 18 months. It is a tribute to Air Canada that they have accomplished this in such a highly challenging category – better than the competitors. We congratulate Air Canada, their management, and employees for being #1 this year.”
Andrew Bull Joins Mindfield as Vice President Sales and Marketing
Vancouver, BC — Mindfield, the recruitment solutions company that creates powerful hourly workforces, today announces Andrew Bull as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In his new role, Bull will lead the sales and marketing team with a focus on growth and international expansion.
Prior to joining Mindfield, Bull excelled in senior management roles in the food, beverage and technology sectors, most recently as General Manager of Logic Managed IT Services, and COO of WA-2 Water Company Ltd. In his role as General Manager – Marketing at Whitefish Group, Bull launched 40 brands into various markets.
“Andrew joins Mindfield at an exciting time as we expand into the United States in a big way,” said Cameron Laker, CEO Mindfield. “His vision, determination and commitment to building winning cultures is an asset to us both externally and internally as he builds structure and scalability within his team.”
Mobile Commerce Growth Poised to Eclipse Online Commerce in Canada
Canadian mobile commerce spend was $3.45 bn in 2013 and predicted to grow by 142 per cent in 2016
TORONTO, ON — New research from PayPal and Ipsos* shows that mobile commerce is growing at more than double the rate of overall e-commerce in Canada, giving Canadian retailers more reason than ever before to consider mobile as a strong sales channel. From 2013-2016, the compound annual growth rate for mobile commerce in Canada is projected at 34 per cent vs.14 per cent for overall e-commerce, including mobile commerce. This growth presents opportunities for Canadian retailers, as mobile commerce spend had already reached CAD $3.45 billion in 2013 – a number which is predicted to grow by 142 per cent next year.
“We are at the dawn of a mobile-first era,” said Alexander Peh, head of mobile and market development at PayPal Canada. “At PayPal, we’ve seen our mobile growth rise from less than one per cent of our payment volume in 2010 to more than 20 per cent in 2014.”
A Bright Future for Mobile Commerce
Mobile shopping is significant and growing in Canada. A fifth (19%) of online shoppers surveyed report having purchased from their smartphone in the past 12 months, and 15 per cent reported making a purchase from an Internet-enabled tablet. Millennials are the primary driving force behind the surge in smartphone commerce with more than half (52%) of smartphone shoppers between 18-34 years old. This same age group accounts for only 31 per cent of total online shoppers, which highlights the need for smart mobile e-commerce solutions for a forward thinking retailer.
“We strive to make our Indigo mobile app and mobile friendly online store a fantastic shopping experience for our customers. Mobile is a critical component of Indigo’s strategy and we’re constantly looking at ways to continue to innovate and add value through this platform,” said, Lauren Reimer, Vice President Online Merchandising and Marketing, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
Mobile Shopping Becoming Mainstream
Canadians have warmed up to including mobile shopping in their regular routine and 17 per cent of shoppers buy from their smartphone more than once a week. Another 10 per cent of Canadian smartphone shoppers pull out their cellphones to buy once a week. Millennials are the most active mobile shoppers, with 30 per cent making purchases at least once a week.
When it comes time to paying for those mobile purchases, Canadians prefer PayPal, with 42 per cent choosing PayPal as their digital wallet, far ahead of the next mobile payment method chosen (25%). Providing a quick, easy and secure mobile checkout platform for shoppers will help retailers drive more purchases through their mobile websites or apps.
Mobile Shoppers Prefer Apps to Mobile Browsers
Globally, 64 per cent of smartphone shoppers have purchased via an app and 52 per cent have purchased via a mobile web browser. In Canada, 55 per cent of smartphone shoppers had shopped from a mobile app and 52 per cent from a mobile browser. Nearly half (46%) of Canadian smartphone shoppers who have used both platforms prefer shopping on an app, while only 14 per cent prefer to shop through a browser.
Convenience is the key driver to people using their mobile phones to pay online, in-store or in restaurants. Smartphone and tablet users cited “it’s a convenient way to pay” (27%) and “it’s a fast way to pay” (25%) as the top benefits of using a mobile app. Retailers should take note of these benefits and consider how to integrate quick and easy mobile payment solutions to cater to mobile savvy shoppers.
Product Research Today; Nascent Features Tomorrow
Currently, product research is the most cited mobile commerce related activity among smartphone users: 25 per cent of Canadians said they had “searched for product information on my smartphone” in the past 12 months, 20 per cent had “used my smartphone to help locate/find information about a store or business” and 18 per cent had “read customer or user reviews from my smartphone”.
When smartphone users were asked how they would like to use their smartphones in the future, the top answers showed a desire for more well-rounded shopping experiences, from research to ordering ahead to payment. Canadians are looking to use their phones to compare prices while shopping in-store (17%), order their food or coffee ahead using an app or browser (14%), scan a barcode or QR code (11%) and tap their smartphone at the cash register to pay (10%).
Mobile Shopping: What’s Holding People Back?
A major reason that people have not yet switched to shopping on mobile devices is because they do not see any distinct advantage in shopping on mobile devices versus shopping on their desktop or laptop computer. Security concerns were also a key reason holding Canadians back from shopping on their smartphones and tablets.
Among Canadian smartphone users who have not used their smartphones to shop in the past 12 months, the top stated reasons were: “prefer to purchase online from laptop or desktop computers (41%)”, “concerned about security of online purchases made from a mobile device” (34%), and “prefer to access the Internet via other devices” (30%).
Those who have shopped on their smartphone in the past 12 months stated slightly different reasons for not doing so more often: “the screen size is too small” (38%) and “prefer to purchase online from a laptop or desktop” (38%).
“With low cost smartphones with larger screen sizes entering the market along with improvements to mobile device security, the entry barriers to mobile commerce will decrease,” continued Peh. “Those improvements combined with safer and simpler mobile checkout solutions from PayPal will make it easier and more intuitive for people to pay with their mobile phone.”
DoubleDutch Launches New Analytics Platform to Shape Event Performance in Real Time
Mobile event app leader DoubleDutch releases ‘Event Performance’ to get organizers closer to their audience and improve event outcomes.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — DoubleDutch launched “Event Performance”, the first-of-its kind analytics platform that marketers and organizers can use to produce more effective, strategic events. Event Performance helps organizers monitor content and engagement metrics as the event happens by surfacing the data generated from the DoubleDutch-powered mobile app.
“Event Performance is the culmination of a much broader vision,” said Lucian Beebe, VP of Product. “All along, we were building an app that was architected from the ground up to give organizers the data they need to transform the way they run events. Most analytics reports generated by app engagement can provide post-event data. We seek to also provide visibility into event performance on the day of the event, so organizers are not in the dark. Event Performance paired with our mobile application is the only way to obtain the real-time data they need to make their events even better.”
Event professionals can proactively listen to the data that the app generates, and take action to improve app adoption, attendee engagement, and overall sentiment, before it’s too late. Organizers can proactively monitor how many attendees have logged into the app and send additional reminder emails to encourage app adoption. Once attendees are in the app, organizers can track content trends and which sessions can anticipate the most traffic. Recommendations encourage organizers to use push messages to promote less popular sessions and boost attendance.
In-app user generated content is consolidated and sorted into “Top Status Updates” which shows the most popular conversations in the activity feed. This will change throughout the day based on trending issues and helps organizers understand what matters most to their audience, providing valuable insights for future events.
As the event progresses, organizers are able to keep track of attendee satisfaction with a built-in sentiment analysis tool, and the Engagement Score indicates how many attendees are interacting with the app throughout the event. To help keep your score up, Event Performance provides recommendations on how to up engagement while the event is still happening.
Event Performance by DoubleDutch empowers marketers and event professionals to run high-performance, data-driven events. For the first time, they can see how their event is going as it happens, develop deeper connections with their customers, and learn valuable lessons for future events.
gShift Survey Reveals Digital Marketers To Increase Search Marketing Budgets and Expand to Mobile, Yet Struggle with Measuring Performance
Toronto, ON —gShift announced the results of a recent survey of more than 700 digital marketers, which found even though a majority of respondents plan to increase their search marketing spend across desktops and mobile in 2015, digital teams still struggle with measuring performance and results.
Key findings include:
- Three out of four companies plan to increase 2015 search marketing budgets: 70 percent of survey respondents indicated search marketing budgets will increase in 2015, while 25 percent said budgets will stay the same and only five percent claimed their search marketing budgets will decrease.
- Digital marketers struggle with measuring performance, results and outcomes of digital marketing efforts: Only 10 percent of respondents cited they are able to measure their digital marketing efforts and investments through the entire sales funnel. Also, 50 percent of digital marketers are measuring digital marketing campaign results by tracking leads and conversions, 35 percent are measuring traffic and clicks and roughly five percent of digital marketers are not measuring results at all.
- Digital marketers are still not thinking mobile-first: Almost half of the survey respondents reported incorporating mobile strategies into both their search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, while a staggering 30 percent of the respondents said they were not considering mobile use at all in their search marketing strategies.
“Measuring performance and integrating mobile strategies is an ongoing challenge for most digital marketers. With these survey findings, it is safe to say measuring performance, results and outcomes of digital marketing efforts and investments is still something all digital teams struggle with at some level,” said Krista LaRiviere, CEO and co-founder of gShift. “This represents a significant opportunity for the industry to apply strategic, tactical and technical tools to measure performance and help prove the value of digital marketing investments.”
Proximity Canada names Adrian Capobianco as president
Digital veteran to lead agency’s data-driven creativity
Toronto, ON —Proximity Canada (www.Proximity.ca), a Toronto-based, leading digital agency — is pleased to announce the hire of Adrian Capobianco as president, effective immediately. The executive appointment is a strategic move on behalf of the agency to amplify Proximity’s position as a leader in digital, data-driven and creative services, in order to continue to deliver world class solutions for its clients. In his new role, Mr. Capobianco will be responsible for executing the firm’s evolved positioning to unleash the power of data-driven creativity, to solve complex business problems. Employing this strategy to leverage the power of data with its digital and creative expertise will deepen the agency’s leadership, with both current clients and new business. Proximity’s roster of blue-chip clients includes RBC, Rogers, Visa Canada, Mercedes, PepsiCo Foods and Campbell’s, among others.
Mr. Capobianco brings a breadth of leadership to Proximity with more than 15 years of digital experience coupled with CRM knowledge and an entrepreneurial drive. He has proven business development and executive skills stemming from roles at various organizations including IBM, Publicis, FUSE Marketing Group, the launch of his own innovation agency, Quizative, and Cundari. His experience has helped both Canadian and global brands leverage diverse digital tactics to achieve their objectives.
“We took the time to make sure we had the right fit for this critical role,” said Gerry Frascione, Chairman, BBDO and Proximity Group Canada. “Adrian is well respected by clients and in the industry for his consultative approach, strategic skills and business insight. He possesses the drive to continue to keep Proximity ahead of the market by using data and creativity to address clients’ complex issues. He’s the perfect candidate to lead the charge.”
“To put it plainly, I’m pumped about this opportunity,” commented Mr. Capobianco. “Proximity is an amazing agency brand with great people and strong global assets and tools to bring to the Canadian market. I love digging deep into a client’s business to understand and help solve their challenges. Together with the leadership team, I look forward to driving the next chapter of Proximity’s success.”
Continued Mr. Capobianco, “What will you see over the next year? I guarantee you’ll see amazing work continue to come out of Proximity. We’ll use data and intelligent experiences to drive insights that will fuel our creativity; that creativity will be implemented with tools to optimize and evolve. We have the right strategy, processes and proprietary tools to help our clients achieve their objectives.”
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