Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Ad industry experts continue to debate the best way to connect with tablet users. Last month, a Mojiva study pointed out that consumers are shifting some of their PC-based activity to tablets. Another research firm, InsightExpress, has released some new metrics that show the superiority of tablet over smartphone campaigns in certain situations.

As the era of smart mobile devices has evolved, marketers and publishers tended to talk about smartphones and tablets as being in the same ad category. However, earlier this year, Google announced its Enhanced Campaigns would treat tablets and desktop PCs as one category because of the similarity of ad campaign outcomes. New research shows that consumers are using tablets to replace tasks previously done on desktop computers, a trend that has implications for marketers.

The standard-sized tablet is expected to take a backseat to the new 7-inch tablet featuring a smaller screen. IHS iSuppli estimates 17 million 7-inch tablets shipped in 2011 and projects that this year’s total shipments will reach 34 million worldwide. The smaller tablets are also expected to account for an increasing share of all tablet shipments, rising from 24% in 2011 to 28% this year and 33% by 2013.

One of the hottest topics in the paid search sector this year has been the impact of mobile. Overall, paid search remains the dominant category in digital advertising but for the first time, the cost-per-clicks (CPCs) in the tablet format are costing marketers more than those in the desktop computer format. Further, analysts believe paid search will increase between 18%-20% globally this year and that CPCs will continue to rise, especially as we enter the holiday season.

The increased adoption of tablets (now in one-in-five homes) and the variety of content including music, video, and games being accessed on those devices has helped sales of premium headphones ($100+) nearly double year over year for the 12 months ending June, according to The NPD Group. “As consumers shift more consumption to mobile devices, and tablets in particular, quality headphones are a logical addition to the hardware profile,” said Ben Arnold, director of industry analysis at NPD.

The consumer electronics (CE) industry will see stronger than anticipated growth in 2012, according to new data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). CE industry sales are expected to surpass $206 billion this year. Tablets are the fastest-growing product category in the history of the CE industry; sales will continue to increase as more products hit the market, offering consumers more choices in size, price, operating systems, etc.