Xbox One S Dominates August Sales
It’s safe to say that Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox One S console was a success, accounting for nearly a third of total hardware sales in August, according to the latest NPD report. That shiny, white console earned a whopping 37 percent growth in unit sales and a 25 percent growth in dollar revenue for the Xbox One brand. The white Xbox One S gamepad followed in kind, selling over 79,000 units and topping the PlayStation 4 black controller, which has long been the number one selling game peripheral.
Facebook Messenger Is Kind of a Big Deal
Facebook Messenger has become a valuable resource for marketers, reaching one billion users in July, up from 700 million users in July 2015. According to David Marcus, Facebook’s vice president of messaging, 300 million people use audio and video calling features on Messenger every month. The social media giant now offers native payments, pushing Facebook into a full-fledged eCommerce contender.
Pumpkin Spice Errthang
It’s that time of the year again when everything from coffee to hummus (I wish I was kidding) is given an autumn makeover with pumpkin spice. The most notorious of pumpkinators is Starbucks, of course, whose Pumpkin Spice Latte has become a holiday tradition along with its own fan base. According to a study by social media analytics company Spredfast, tweets about the sugary drink jumped to 5,076 tweets per minute as soon as it became available. In total, the phrase “pumpkin spice latte” and the abbreviated hashtag #PSL have racked up over 56.8 million tweets.
Digital Ad Spending Has Finally Surpassed Traditional TV
According to a recent CMO survey by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, social media accounts for 11.7 percent of marketing budgets, up from 3.5 percent in 2009. In fact, US digital ad spending will hit $72.09 billion, about 37 percent of total ad spend according to eMarketer.
Insta-interaction
According to a recent study by Trackmaven, brands see the highest average engagement ratio on Instagram. However, the introduction of new monetization features caused a fall for engagement of nearly 26 percent. Instagram users may love to interact, but not with just anything—so don’t forget that frontline marketing!
