German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has hit the headlines after reports emerged that the majority of hits on its latest advertising campaign were provided by robots rather than human beings.

According to the Financial Times, in a sample of 365,000 ad impressions from agency Rocket Fuel, UK-based ad fraud investigator Telemetry found that 57% of impressions were viewed by automated computer programs.

Mercedes said that the overall number was nearer 6% throughout the whole campaign, and had been remunerated...

Despite big brands being predominantly recognised in emerging markets, only half of consumers are planning to spend with these brands – and Amazon is far behind the competition.

That’s the key takeaway from a survey by mobile marketing provider Upstream, who found that Amazon was recognised by significantly fewer customers who also wanted to spend less with the retail giant.

The most recognised brand in emerging markets Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Vietnam, according to the...

Dan Rogers, VP EMEA marketing at Salesforce.com, sits down at a press table in the ExCeL. “Well, today was just about the highlight of my career,” he begins.

Looking at the Salesforce1 World Tour, with the announcement of a UK data centre and the renaming of the Heron Tower to the Salesforce Tower, it’s easy to see why. “Hearing that we have huge customer momentum and growth, and the growth of the partner ecosystem, is just amazing,” Rogers explains.

“As a marketer,...

The issue of why brands should have APIs is not a new one, with articles as far back as 2011 espousing this notion. For Twilio, a provider of cloud-based APIs and a leader in the market, it’s about what CMO Lynda Smith calls “building great customer experiences.”

“What we’ve started to see as we looked across the customer base that we have, and all the interesting ways that we’re using communications, it’s...

Google is now the world’s most valuable brand having toppled Apple off its perch, according to the latest report from Millward Brown.

The two companies swapped places in the 2014 iteration, with Apple finishing second well ahead of IBM in third. Microsoft (#4) and McDonald’s (#5) completed the top five.

The report, now in its ninth year, collects results based on 150,000 interviews with consumers worldwide. And despite the competitive nature of the top 100 chart, the report found that brand values...

The Royal Navy has launched a new responsive website for both desktop and mobile, aiming to tell the story of the organisation and resonate with all, from “16 [to] 60, potential recruit [to] government official.”

The site was designed and launched by digital agency e3, who spent a week on board HMS Sutherland in an attempt to capture a deep understanding of the Navy’s challenges.

“Obviously most people have heard of the Royal Navy, but when it comes to understanding what our purpose...

With the World Cup fast approaching, plenty of campaigns will be launched to try and shoehorn a reference to football’s biggest extravaganza in an attempt to get more views.

Most of these, naturally, will be irrelevant from companies who should know better. Yet Guy Tweedale, SVP EMEA sales at outsourcing customer care provider Sitel, has come up with a list of tips for brands to achieve better customer satisfaction during the four week tournament.

Brands need to put mobile at centre stage, according to...

The vast majority of global retailers aren’t doing enough when it comes to converting social media and marketing into sales, according to a report from social commerce provider Buyapowa.

The report ranked 100 retailers and found that Tesco came out on top in terms of its social maturity, ahead of Falabella, Nordstrom, Lowe’s and JCPenney. Notable companies which didn’t place as well include Walmart (#10), Amazon (#15), IKEA (#37) and Apple (#54).

Each retailer was ranked based on how many...

This is one of MarketingTech’s favourite campaigns so far this year. Pet food supplies provider Pets at Home has used real interactions between pets and their owners for a new video campaign, which was debuted over the weekend.

Under the hashtag #mypetmoments, users were invited to send in their best, brightest and cutest videos starring their pets, with the usual dog and cat vids supplanted by proud owners of rabbits, hamsters, and even a duck.

According to Krow, the agency which put the campaign together, the...

Research conducted by mobile analytics firm Netbiscuits and Brand Republic has revealed that seven in 10 marketers use mobile and see it as ‘integral’ to their multichannel branding.

The report, entitled ‘Getting Mobile Right: Using Analytics to Create Insight-Driven, Personalised Experiences’, showed that even though the majority of marketers were using mobile, a smaller number had specific goals from mobile.

Just over half (51.97%) of the 5000 respondents across 10 countries said...

Ad incentivisation provider Adpoints, best known for its partnership with Nectar, has launched a mobile version of its product, meaning customers can now get Nectar points by viewing adverts on their smartphones or tablets.

The move comes amidst a huge growth in mobile advertising revenues in the UK, with recent figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) confirming mobile ad spend had broken the £1bn mark in 2013, from £529m in 2012, now accounting 16% of overall digital ad spend.

Adpoints...

On Monday, everyone’s favourite business-oriented social network LinkedIn turned 11. Boasting 277 million users, a net income of $26m in 2013, and one of the most successful tech IPOs in 2011, things have been continually rosy for chairman Reid Hoffman and CEO Jeff Weiner.

But should LinkedIn be celebrating its 11th birthday?

One look at the most recent balance sheet suggests otherwise. On May 1 LinkedIn published financial results of a $13.4m net loss in the first quarter, compared to $22.6m in the...

Research published today by domain .wiki has revealed that John Lewis is the most collaborative UK internet brand, ahead of Google, Apple and Marks & Spencer.

The news comes amidst John Lewis’ 150th birthday celebrations, and found that half of consumers believe there is ‘little to no opportunity’ for interaction with their favourite brands.

The survey, conducted by .wiki in conjunction with YouGov, took the opinions of 2,455 UK adults and 1,220 US adults – and didn’t come to...

Feature When Simon Tofield first started creating videos about a charming, yet mischievous cat, it was simply to teach himself a computer program.

Six years on, with book deals, syndications and millions of fans under his belt, he explains that he never expected the success Simon’s Cat has brought him.

“I had no idea it would ever really touch as many people as it has,” he tells MarketingTech. “I think the main reason it has done is because there’s a lot of cat fans out there and the...

A post from Forrester Research analyst Nate Elliott has revealed that Instagram is by far the most engaging network for social content.

The conclusion has been drawn after a research study of over three million user interactions with 2500 brand posts on the main social networks.

Elliott found that for one particular Red Bull post, Instagram results – 36,000 likes from 1.2m followers at a 3% likes per follower ratio – smashed Facebook – 2,600 likes from 43m followers at a 0.006% likes per...

A new study from Adblock Plus, in conjunction with media technology firm Sticky, has revealed that there is no discernible change in viewer perception if banner adverts are static or animated.

The report, which was based in both Germany and the US and combined eye tracking software with survey results of 1200 respondents, found that static ads were seen by 66% of those polled, compared with 64% who saw animated, or ‘flashy’ ads. In all, the stats for the two were pretty similar. Time spent on both...

The co-founder of independent brewer BrewDog, James Watt, has released a ‘formal apology’ to the Portman Group claiming he “couldn't give a shit” about a ruling that its Dead Pony Club beer encourages anti-social behaviour and rapid drinking.

In a ruling published yesterday, the Independent Complaints Panel (ICP) was particularly concerned about the labelling on the 3.8% ABV beer, which includes phrases such as ‘drink fast, live fast’ and ‘we believe faster is...

The latest edition of the IPA Bellwether Report, the quarterly document of marketing budgets published by Markit Economics on behalf of the IPA, has revealed that marketing budgets have seen their biggest increase in 14 years.

The report is certainly one of the more positive to hit the stands, according to the IPA – and the figures certainly show why.

A net balance of 20.4% of companies registered an increase in budgets during Q114, ahead of Q413’s number of 11%. This number smashes the survey...

It’s something of a misnomer to say that ad avoidance is a digital issue, with generations of TV watchers leaving the room like clockwork to make a cup of tea when the ad break arrived.

This is something of a tradition in the UK, but it’s actually not a myth – famously, the National Grid reported a power surge during the ad break of British soap opera Coronation Street because of several million people all boiling kettles and opening fridge doors at the same time, in what is

Analysis Japanese car manufacturer Honda has hit first and second place in terms of the top 10 most viewed car adverts in the UK since 2010, according to figures published by video analytics provider Visible Measures.

Colour us at MarketingTech as less than surprised. Infact, if the story had to be delivered in a Buzz Feed-styled headline, it would be: “You Won’t Believe Which Car Manufacturer Creates The Most Viral Ads...Oh Wait, Yes You Will.” So why would this be?

Looking at the figures only goes to prove that the biggest...