The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

IAB Smartphone

IAB UK audit finds 46% of top 50 FMCG brands have no mobile presence

Author

By Jessica Davies, News Editor

May 15, 2014 | 3 min read

Almost half (46 per cent) of the top 50 FMCG brands in the UK don’t have a mobile-friendly site while 30 per cent have no mobile presence at all, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) latest mobile audit.

Danone, Dettol, Flora, Uncle Ben’s, McCain, Lenor, Muller, Novartis, Vanish, Head & Shoulders, Lindt, Sure and Fairy are among the brands that have no mobile presence whatsoever, while top performers are Clinique, Carling, Cadbury’s and Gillette with each boasting a mobile or responsive site, along with tablet and smartphone apps.

Danone, Flora, Lindt and Muller among those to be named and shamed (source: IAB)

A total 22 per cent of the top 50 brands have a responsive website, although 10 per cent of the sites served on a tablet include flash, meaning that flash assets would not appear properly and render it a bad experience. Over half (54 per cent) have a mobile site, while 24 per cent have a mobile specific one.

Lindt, Fairy and L'Oreal all have sites that run with Flash (source: IAB)

Meanwhile 64 per cent of the brands in the audit, which was carried out last month, don’t optimise their search for mobile. A total 32 per cent of brands have a mobile iOS app, and 14 per cent an Android version, while 20 per cent have an iPad app and 14 per cent Android.

32 per cent have a mobile app (source: IAB)

IAB’s director of mobile and operations Jon Mew told The Drum the results showed the number of brands without a mobile site were “worryingly low” and “not good enough”.The findings contrast the average level of spend on mobile advertising in the sector, with the IAB’s 2013 Adspend results revealing FMCG as the biggest spending sector in mobile and digital advertising. "What's the point in spending eight-figure sums of money in that area if people are not going to get a decent mobile experience on their own site, it's shocking really?" asked Mew. He conceded that for some brands developing a mobile presence could be difficult due to legacy, back-end systems, but added that this shouldn't be an issue for FMCG brands. "It just shows a lack of awareness at how our world has changed," he said.The results were revealed ahead of the IAB's Mobile Engage event, which takes place in London today, and for which The Drum is media partner. Last October the IAB revealed the results of its travel sector mobile audit, which showed 34 per cent of the top 50 UK travel brands have no mobile presence.
IAB Smartphone

More from IAB

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +