Social Media Drives Restaurant Spending

A study of restaurant consumers by Ogilvy and ChatThreads shows that individuals exposed to social content are significantly more likely to increase their spending and consumption than those who aren't exposed.

There was a 2-7 times greater likelihood of higher spending or consumption depending on the media encountered by the study group. The sales impact was most pervasive when social content was combined with other types of media such as press releases, out-of-home media and TV advertising.

Additionally, out of over 20 channels studied, social content exposure was associated with the largest shift in brand perception during a seven-day period.



Despite these strong social content impact findings, consumers are seeing relatively little branded social content during their daily routine. Only 24 percent  of the study group reported exposure to social content, compared to a 69 percent exposure rate to TV ads.

The final report is available  here.

Ogilvy ChatThreads Social Media Sales Impact Study 2011

View more documents from 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy PR Worldwide

Brands Don't Necessarily Benefit From "Lots" of Followers or Fans

The sheer number of "followers" or "fans" a brand has does not seem to impress most users as much as the quality of the interactions, a study finds.

Online and Video are Biggest "Emerging" Channels, but Mobile Follows

Online communities and video seem to be the two "emerging" marketing channels marketers at companies with at least 200 employees are using now, or planning to deploy soon, a survey of 133 executives by Forrester Research suggests.

But a fairly broad range of mobile channels seem poised to get more attention.

Among them are location-based services, mobile social networks, mobile search, mobile web sites, text and multimedia messaging and mobile video.