Today we launched our Social TV Trends Report 2010 showcasing interesting findings for the future of broadcasting, as covered by Broadcast Magazine, Media Week, BBC News, and The Independent.  Surveying over 2,000 British consumers with YouGov, the results show that a night in front of the television is not quite what it used to be. Many of us are multi-tasking as we surf the web, instant message and text whilst watching our favourite shows.

Women are leading this trend, as 40 per cent of women surveyed said they consume more than one type of media at any one time. Although men aren’t too far behind at 29 per cent, there looks to be some truth in the myth behind a woman’s ability to multi-task!

Consumers have indicated that they want to see a future of television and internet access joined together on their TV set. Keen for functions that will enable them to comment, vote and download information on the programmes they are watching. Viewers want instant commentary and recommendation by their family and friends, currently turning to social networks and text messaging to do this whilst watching.

With manufacturers already producing internet enabled television sets the next step lies with production companies and broadcasters. How long will it be before they are working in conjunction with retailers, music companies and social networks to elevate their product to the next level? In a time where technology and its accessibility are at a premium, will TV keep ahead of the curve and act on the predicted trends? The report is positive news for the broadcasting industry, but it is essential that broadcasters take notice, and don’t get left behind.

As reported by PR Week, Mothercare has appointed Diffusion to an exciting, integrated brief to help develop the social media strategy for its iconic Mothercare and Early Learning Centre retail brands.  We have also been tasked to raise national awareness for Mothercare’s social networking site for new and expectant parents, Gurgle.com, through a high-impact mainstream print and broadcast campaign.

Mothers and young parents are an increasingly active group online, placing a huge amount of value on the opinions, advice and recommendations of their peers.  Figures from comScore reveal that over 4.6 million mothers in the UK go online every month, spending over 26 hours surfing the web with a high focus on retail sites.  We will be working with Mothercare and Early Learning Centre to develop an online engagement strategy based on actively listening to perceptions of the brand and its products online and then increasing participation on key parenting blogs, forums and social networking sites.

Key objectives will be to use social media to emphasise Mothercare’s expertise and heritage in the baby and parenting space, as well as promote key products and offers to drive both footfall on the High Street and sales via the brands’ ecommerce sites.

Our issues-based PR campaign for Gurgle.com will seek to make it a destination site for expectant and recent mothers looking for advice from both resident experts as well as the site’s extensive community of mothers. Core to the campaign will be to increase Gurgle’s profile in national and lifestyle press, positioning Nifa McLaughlin, editor of Gurgle.com as a recognisable media spokesperson on key social, lifestyle and health issues effecting new parents.

Mothers and young parents are an increasingly active group online, placing a huge amount of value on the opinions, advice and recommendations of their peers.  Figures from comScore reveal that over 4.6 million mothers in the UK go online every month, spending over 26 hours surfing the web with a high focus on retail sites.  Diffusion will be working with Mothercare and Early Learning Centre to develop an online engagement strategy based on actively listening to perceptions of the brand and its products online and then increasing participation on key parenting blogs, forums and social networking sites.

Key objectives will be to use social media to emphasise Mothercare’s expertise and heritage in the baby and parenting space, as well as promote key products and offers to drive both footfall on the High Street and sales via the brands’ ecommerce sites.

Diffusion’s issues-based PR campaign for Gurgle.com will seek to make it a destination site for expectant and recent mothers looking for advice from both resident experts as well as the site’s extensive community of mothers.  Core to the campaign will be to increase Gurgle’s profile in national and lifestyle press, positioning Nifa McLaughlin, editor of Gurgle.com as a recognisable media spokesperson on key social, lifestyle and health issues effecting new parents.

Brian Curran, Head of Group Direct Marketing for Mothercare commented, “Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre are brands which over many decades have built very strong reputations for quality, safety and innovation.  We recognise that today reputations are increasingly being shaped through online channels, and this is particularly true given the explosion we’ve seen in parenting forums and blogs in recent years and through our own site Gurgle.com.  We will be using Diffusion’s digital integration expertise to develop a social media approach which will allow us to enhance and safeguard our online reputation and increase our ability to listen to our consumers to deliver even better products and customer service in the future.”

Ivan Ristic, director and co-founder, Diffusion commented:  “The UK’s online community of parents is growing in both size and influence and is understandably becoming a major consideration for retail brands looking to reach UK mothers who control household budgets.  Developing relationships with key online influencers and working with Mothercare’s brands to make it an active and valued part of these online communities will be central to our strategic approach. Gurgle.com in particular provides a very active and vibrant platform for new mothers, which we will look to build through a proactive media relations campaign that brings a fresh and informed perspective.”

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Was this really the UK’s first Digital Election? That was the question we wanted to try to answer, at least in part, when Diffusion commissioned YouGov to examine the impact that online campaiging played as we headed to the polling stations on May 6th.  You may have seen the results of our Digital Election Report covered exclusively by the Financial Times last month, but I wanted to share some of the data in a bit more detail with you below.

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One of the key research findings was that over half  (56 per cent) of the voting age population consumed political information via digital channels during the General Election campaign. However, despite the hype surrounding some social media channels, one of the most popular sources for political information online were the websites for candidates and political parties, with 19 per cent of the public as a whole and a third of voters aged 18-24, visiting these sites over the course of the campaign.

Twitter was arguably the most hyped platform in the run up to and during the election itself, but our research shows that only 5 per cent of UK voters read any political content via the site, rising to only 13 per cent for those aged 18-24. This contrasts with Facebook, which was one of the big winners of the Digital Election with over a third (36 per cent) of those aged 18-24 reading political information on the platform. Of the sites we surveyed,  Facebook  was the most popular single online source of election information for young voters.  The social network also remained influential with those aged 25-34 with almost a quarter of this group (24 per cent) consuming political information on the site.

Online video content was a focus for all the main political parties, however only 8 per cent of the public watched political videos on sites such YouTube during the General Election campaign, but this figure is significantly higher at 25 per cent for 18-24 year olds.  Online advertising was also a prominent part of the online election campaign, with both the Labour Party and the Conservatives investing in Google AdWords and other online advertising campaigns on key sites.  According to our research 12 per cent of adults, rising to a quarter of 18-24 year olds, recall seeing online political advertising during the election campaign.

Interestingly, email, one of the oldest and potentially most effective digital channels and one which was a cornerstone of Barack Obama’s campaign, seems to have made minimal impact in this General Election.  Only 13 per cent of those surveyed can recall receiving any emails from political parties and organisations in the run up to May 6th.

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This was also not the ‘Mumsnet Election’. It appears that blogs and forums played a much more limited role as a source of political information for the general public, with only 11 per cent recalling reading political information on such sites.  While ‘online mums’ were courted by Cameron, Clegg and Brown, blogs and forums were actually twice as popular among men (15 per cent) compared to women (just 7 per cent) as sources of political news and commentary.

Finally, we also wanted to gauge the impact of digital campaigning on the voting intentions of the public. Did voters feel that the information they read and shared online actually made any difference? Now, asking voters  to separate out the impact of different channels on a decision as complex as voting is a difficult task, but the research revealed some important results.

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Of those that consumed political information online during the election, only 19 per cent claimed it made no impact on how they voted. Significantly, 15 per cent of voters stated that the political content they consumed online had either a ‘fair amount or great deal’ of influence on who they decided to vote for on 6th May. This may seem like a small amount, but a couple of percentage points can be more than enough to sway an election outcome.

As shown throughout the research, younger voters were most likely to have engaged with the General Election online and also most likely to be influenced by online campaigning. YouGov found that almost a third (30 per cent) of 18 – 24 year olds stated that their decision on how to vote was effected to a fair or great degree.

While the 2010 election campaign was dominated by the novelty of the TV debates, it is clear that digital channels, many also used for the first time in a General Election, influenced the electoral choices of British voters to varying degrees.  This was not the Digital Election some had predicted, but it certainly was a Digital Election, with online campaigning making an impact with large sections of the British electorate.

In the weeks ahead all political parties will no doubt be receiving the results of even more in-depth studies into the effectiveness of their online campaigns. If their results mirror ours, there will be some important lessons that will need to be learned ahead of the next General Election, whether it takes place in five months or in five years.

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