Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Why marketers should embrace Share of Search as a metric

News • 07 August 2020

Share of search provides a useful metric that any marketer can use as a surprisingly accurate proxy for the important, but often expensive, calculation of a brand’s market share, says a leading planner.

BIC’s five-point “SPARC” formula offers a roadmap for e-commerce success

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ANA webinar, July 2020

BIC, the pen brand, is using a five-point plan to inform its e-commerce strategy, and so drive progress on an increasingly vital sales channel.

Share of search: The most important metric you’ve never heard of

Article • James Hankins, WARC Exclusive, August 2020

Introduces ‘Share of Search’ and presents several useful and applicable techniques to help establish a nuanced picture of a brand’s context versus its competitor set.

What’s working in search

Article • WARC Category Intelligence, August 2020

Global strategies, campaign updates and trends in search.

The State of the Industry: Mobile Marketing in EMEA 2020

Data • WARC Data, July 2020

Summarises the findings of WARC's latest mobile marketing survey, conducted across EMEA on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association, to assess how advertisers and agencies are using, and planning to use, mobile in their marketing activities.

Search marketing amid a crisis

Article • Bertie Miller, WARC Exclusive, July 2020

Examines the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on online search behaviour.

Flight search lifts off as domestic travel drives demand in China

News • 24 July 2020

As some countries begin to show some success in dealing with COVID-19, individuals in China are once again considering the possibility of resuming travel in the near future.

The CMA’s digital advertising market study is a crucial snapshot of the industry and its failures – this is why you should care

Article • Sam Peña-Taylor, WARC Exclusive, July 2020

Explores in-depth the findings from the Competition and Markets Authority’s landmark study into digital advertising in the UK.

Three-way points for navigating e-commerce in a post-pandemic world

Article • Alex Zhang, WARC Best Practice, July 2020

Brands are now looking to transform the way they reach customers, but not all transformation is always good - here are three steps to adjust to the post-COVID e-commerce world.

How FMCG brands can blend traditional retail and e-commerce post-COVID-19

Article • Ed Cox, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

COVID-19 has prompted many brands to beef up their e-commerce presence or direct to consumer strategies to supplement traditional retail channels.

OMO Sensitive: Tough on Stains. Gentle on Skin.

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Laundry detergent brand OMO Sensitive adopted a multi-channel approach in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to win share and boost take-up among new mothers.

Google will pay some publishers for news content

News • 26 June 2020

Google has developed a licensing initiative that will see the internet giant pay participating publishers for high quality news content, while helping them build stronger relationships with readers.

How FMCG brands can respond to change after COVID-19

Opinion • Jess Smith, June 2020

The pandemic has changed consumers' behaviour and there will be further changes in their wants and needs in the months ahead.

Digital dominates discovery in APAC, while mobile sites trump mobile apps

Article • Low Lai Chow, Event Reports, Sitecore virtual summit, June 2020

The APAC region will continue to lead in adoption and use of digital and mobile channels for purchases, long after COVID-19 lockdown measures are lifted.

How to prepare for playing in the Google Privacy Sandbox

Article • Jack Shearring, WARC Exclusive, May 2020

Explores the impact of Google’s decision to phase out third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.

Racold: Mind Your Language

Case Study • Sabiha Khan, Aakash Chatterjee, Provit Chemmani, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Innovation, 2020

Water heater brand Racold exploited Indians' e-commerce mistypes to spell a disproportionate increase in sales vs money spent in the highly competitive online market.

Paid search ads should avoid one-size-fits-all strategy

News • 17 April 2020

Advertisers should avoid a “one-size-fits-all strategy” for paid search, and instead leverage different approaches for smartphones, tablets and desktop, according to a study in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

Consumers’ online behaviour transformed by COVID-19 pandemic

News • 16 April 2020

New research from online brand management company Yext offers insight into how people’s use of online search has changed around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic took off.

The digital skills gap

Article • Research on WARC, March 2020

Provides guidance for digital marketers who need to be able to not only recruit the best people, but alsokeep up-to-date with changes in technology and working culture in order to retain them.

How to win at Amazon’s Prime Day

Article • Dan Simmonds, WARC Exclusive, March 2020

A five-step guide to optimising brand visibility and communications around Amazon’s Prime Day e-commerce sales event.

How to get your SEO right

News • 12 March 2020

Search remains a key tool in the marketing armoury, enabling consumers to find the information they require, and by following a clear process, advertisers can boost visits and – ultimately – drive sales.

Effective digital marketing begins with an emotional connection

Article • Biprorshee Das, Event Reports, World Digital Marketing Congress, February 2020

Techdivine Creative Services CEO Ananthanarayan V takes attendees through the critical points of effective digital marketing at the World Digital Marketing Congress 2020 in Mumbai, India.

How to stay at the forefront of SEO trends

Article • Caitlin Robertson, WARC Best Practice, March 2020

A best practice guide to improving a brand’s organic search strategy, including technical improvements and on-page and off-page activities.

Where creative meets commerce: Orchestrating brand experience in digital marketplaces

Article • Research on WARC, February 2020

A look at four trends defining the landscape reveals what every manufacturer should know about the state of brand storytelling on digital marketplaces – and why it matters so much.

Click-through behavior across devices in paid search advertising: Why users favor top paid search ads and are sensitive to ad position change

Research Paper • Chongyu Lu and Rex Yuxing Du, Journal of Advertising Research, Digital First, February 2020

This study investigated differences in consumer click-through behavior with paid search advertisement across devices – smartphone versus desktop versus tablet.