Have you ever wondered who the typical jewelry buyer was? Perhaps not surprisingly, jewelry buying is still largely done at brick-and-mortar retailers. However, the online jewelry industry has grown rapidly over the past decade (even despite the current, global recession), a trend that is not expected to slow down any time soon. The graphic below illustrates the anatomy  of a typical jewelry buyer, who he is, what he buys and when he buys it:

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Facebook is now serving more banner ads than any other site on the Internet, according to Cnet. This is big news as it puts Facebook ahead of it’s main competition, Yahoo!, for the very first time.

Facebook’s wild growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. According to the ComScore study (referenced in this article), Facebook’s display ad impressions reached 176.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010, up almost 200% from the previous year. Yahoo! trailed behind with 131.5 billion and Microsoft with 60.1 billion impressions. Over the same time last year, Facebook trailed Yahoo! as well as Fox Interactive Media.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this changing of the guard, is that Yahoo! and Microsoft both display ads on sites outside their massive network, while Facebook only displays ads on its site. This, of course, may change as many within the rumor mill claim that the social media behemoth will soon  launch their own ad network. The rumors are perpetuated by Facebook’s desire to expand their overall web presence by providing new social plugins and personalization products.

Via CNet

Last year, nearly three-fourths of all US wedding-related spending occurred between May and October. With nearly six thousand weddings a day, it should come as no surprise that the $48 Billion dollar wedding industry is as large as it is. The graphic below illustrates where and how this spending takes place:

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With the release of the iPad and the continued proliferation of the iPhone, there has been a steady increase in discussion about the mobile market and how marketers plan to deliver their ads on the emerging platform. As described in an article from Wall Street Journal, by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, the advertising behemoth, Google, has recently talked about eventually becoming a “mobile first” company, putting focus on the mobile market before the personal computer market. And Apple has also been increasing its stake in mobile advertising. But will the mobile market live up to its hype? Some aren’t so enthusiastic.

One such skeptic is Kevin Ryan, former CEO of online advertising company DoubleClick, and founder and chairman of the high-end discount retailer Gilt Groupe. Ryan believes that “the real answer” to the questions about the future of mobile advertising is that it isn’t going to be nearly as big of a market as people think. But Ryan also recognizes that “the answer that people want to hear is that mobile is going to be huge.” One of his chief concerns about the platform is that “the screen is just too small.” However, Ryan says that the iPad may be the first device that can effectively display advertisements to consumers.

Although spending on mobile ads is slowly increasing, it still represents a small piece of the whole pie. According to the market research firm eMarketer, overall online advertising saw a total of $22.4 billion in 2009, of which mobile ads accounted for only $416 million, less than 2%. That was almost 50% short of the $760 million in spending that eMarketer had predicted.

As far as purchases go, very few retail sites secure purchases from mobile phones, although he sites his company as an exception due to offering limited items at highly reduced rates. Ryan, does however stress the importance of the mobile content as a whole and believes that other subscription and pricing ideas may work very well. “There’s no inherent reason why advertising has to drive everything,” noted Ryan.

via Wall Street Journal

TV sales are alive and well. And the behavior surrounding a TV purchase itself has changed  Not only  are people are now buying their TVs online more ever before, they are also spending more time researching before making a purchase. The types of TVs being purchased are also changing, with LCDs now accounting for the majority of all TVs purchased in America.

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This year’s Mother’s Day economy is expected to be worth nearly $15 Billion, signaling a 4% increase from last year’s spending for the holiday. The graphic below illustrates how this spending will be comprised–where it’s coming from and also what types of gifts are being purchased.

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According to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, it seems that the world is finally recovering from the “Great Recession”. To Neilsen:

“Globally, the index reached 92 in the first quarter – just two points shy of the high score posted in the third quarter of 2007 before the recession swept across the world. Confidence hit an all-time low of 77 index points in early 2009.”

While consumer confidence seems to be up across the board, it has not risen evenly. The regions that lead the increase in confidence appear to be Asian and Latin America, while the North American and European economies seem slower to recover.

According to Dr. Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of The Nielsen Company.

“For the first time in two years, Nielsen’s global consumer data provides evidence that economic prospects are improving—a sign manufacturers and retailers have been eagerly waiting for that consumer spending intentions are turning into actual spending reality.”

Other findings from the Study include:

• Asia Pacific posted the highest increase in confidence of the regions – up 8 points
• Chinese confidence levels are back up to its all-time high of 108 in Q1 2005
• Latin America jumped 5 points, with Brazil leading the region
• Europe posted a two point increase, but Germany and Italy declined 3 points

via Neilsen

The New York Times posted an article on Sunday, by Teddy Wayne, revealing that for the first time ever advertisers spent more on Internet marketing in 2009 than on magazine marketing. This news came through a report from ZenithOptimedia, which purported that Internet ad spending is on pace to eclipse that of newspaper in the near future. Although 2009 saw a record 4th quarter, overall online advertising revenues for the year dropped 3.4 percent from 2008, the first time since 2002 there was an annual loss. Internet revenues were the least hit, however, as ad spending across all media sloped 12.3 percent for the whole year.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, search advertising posted gains from 2008 and made up 47 percent of all Internet ad spend. Similarly, display ad spending increased with digital ads rocketing up 38 percent. However, total revenues for e-mail advertising and online classifieds slumped.

While 2009 decreased minimally from 2008, industry totals reached $22.6 billion. However, in the magazine sector, ad sales fell to $19.5 billion, as noted in data given by the Publishers Information Bureau. This shift further emphasizes the continued migration into the Internet as a platform for marketing.

via New York Times

Online Shopping is growing, both in the US and internationally. However, there are pretty notable differences in the ways that people engage the online marketplace, based on such factors as, age, race and gender (among others). This graphic takes a look at who is shopping online, and how they are doing it.

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The Guardian posted an article this week on the newest Bellwether report, which is indicating signs of recovery in the advertising industry. The UK advertising industry, which has seen companies slashing their budgets during the last two and a half years now, is starting to pick back up with more companies growing their ad budgets than those which are not.

According to the survey, 21% of companies in the UK reported an increase in their advertising budgets in the first quarter of 2010, while 16% of companies suffered cutbacks. The last time that a higher percentage of companies reported an increase in their budgets was back in the third quarter of 2007. The growth is welcomed by many, such as Rory Sutherland, president of Practitioners in Advertising, the publisher of the Bellwether report, who says “it is good to see that businesses are now increasing their investment in marketing as a route to growth, a welcome change in sentiment compared to this time last year.”

The good news, however, was not universal. The types of marketing that were previously down and recently have gotten a boost include TV, press and radio. Internet marketing has been up for three quarters and continues to grow, but sales promotion and direct marketing were unchanged, while PR and events continued their downward trend. Although there are reasons to be pleased, “this should not be seen as a return to the good old days,” remarked Andy Viner, head of media for BDO LLP, he continues,  “spend on the marketing mix is changing.”

The growth in ad spend is probably a result of the renewed confidence in the economic stability of UK businesses. 42% of UK marketing executives said they had more optimism in the first quarter of 2010 than the last quarter of 2009. “The last three quarters saw an increase in optimism without an increase in spending,” continued Viner. “These results are a clear sign that renewed business confidence is translating into real budget increases and tangible economic recovery.”

via The Guardian