This year, all players in the social ad game should be thinking big. 2012 was a breakout year for social advertising. Brands from all verticals emerged to play the social ad game, with some clear winners emerging. But what are the major trends for 2013?
Tagged 'trends' 
5 Mobile Trends for 2013 (Projection Alert!)
Posted by Scott Swanson on December 17th, 2012 at 8:57 am
At the end of every year, there is no shortage of projections -- especially in the advertising industry. Analysts, bloggers and even internal teams try to predict "what's next", in order to better plan and budget for the coming year.
But often the best way to understand what's around the corner is to take a peek back at where you came from, what direction you're going, and how fast you're traveling.
Last week our parent company, Opera Software, released a report that does just that. It looks back on the biggest moments and trends from the year, leveraging the data from its mobile ad platform of 10,000 sites and apps which serves 40 billion impressions a month. So we're not talking about a casual, subjective glance; this is a deep dive into what actually happened in the last 12 months.
Several of these trends are no doubt going to continue in 2013, and likely build even more momentum:
iPhone and iOS will enjoy the view from the top
The Samsung Galaxy III is definitely a huge hit among many -- about 30 million have sold since it's mid-year launch. But the iPhone 5, which launched about four months later, now accounts for 16.1% of all... Read more
Back-to-School, Halloween…Christmas: I miss Thanksgiving
Posted by Dan Roche on November 15th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
It’s become the standard, yearly routine. Summer ends, children go back to school and we buy costumes and carve pumpkins for Halloween. Then it’s on to Christmas, decorating the tree and lots of holiday shopping. But wait – What happened to Thanksgiving?
It seems like any Thanksgiving celebration is now overshadowed by radio stations beginning to play Christmas carols months in advance, Starbucks introducing red holiday cups on November 1 and stores decking the halls in October. And, if Black Friday wasn’t enough of a shopper’s paradise, the biggest shopping day of the year has been extended beyond just Cyber Monday and now includes deals and steals on Thanksgiving Day! Are people really enjoying the holidays anymore or are they already moving on to the next celebration? Do consumers want to forgo their Thanksgiving holiday to shop?
Many retailers seem to think (and hope) so. Stores that extended their hours last year saw an average increase in sales of 22 percent, according to chief retail analyst at NPD Group, Marshal Cohen. Therefore, Walmart, Sears and Toys “R” Us are all opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day at 8:00 p.m. to capture extra holiday sales, and Target will be opening at 9:00 p.m.
Personally... Read more
