Week in numbers: 49% of US workers burned out by video calls and DTC ad spend up 46%
Pitch deck running low on hard numbers? Presentation slides looking a little bare? Allow us to help. Each week, we gather the insightful new research you may have missed to inform your work or inspire a new idea.
Almost half of US workers say they feel ‘burned out’ for more than half of each week
This week, we look at research into the impact of endless video conferences, the size of the digital out-of-home (DOOH) market and consumer attitudes toward influencers.
49% of workers say they feel ‘burned out’ three days out of five
A bleak study from VPNoverview of 1,000 workers in the US finds that 49% of workers spend between three and 10 hours on video calls each week, and that the same proportion report feeling burned out for three days out of each working week. 7% of their sample said they were on more than 11 hours of video calls a week. You could watch the entire extended cut of The Lord of the Rings in that time.
In addition, one in six workers report feel ’very fatigued’ after video calls, with that effect amplified for those in leadership positions; one in four of those in senior posts said they felt ’very fatigued’. And 38% of remote workers reported feeling ’very anxious’ before virtual meetings, compared to 21% of workers participating in person.
DTC ad spend rises 46% compared to pre-pandemic
Advertising intelligence and sales enablement platform MediaRadar has estimated advertising spend by DTC companies. Unsurprisingly, retail is the biggest category; spend in January and June increased 46%, compared to the same period in 2019. Leading the pack are takeaway apps UberEats and DoorDash, bookkeeping software TurboTax and cultish static bike brand Peloton.
Fashion, another major category for DTC spend, saw $46.4m of ad spend in the first six months of the year – driven by Spanish clothier Zara and brands such as MeUndies, Adore Me and StitchFix. That’s an increase of 28% compared to last year.
Only 23% of companies have an ‘effective’ CMO-CIO relationship
According to new research from the CMO Council, only 23% of companies have an effective bond between chief marketers and chief information officers. Published in collaboration with KPMG, ‘Making Martech Pay Off’ found just over a fifth of modern firms claim to have a ‘very effective‘ alliance between IT and marketing teams – an alarming admission given the reliance of today‘s marketers on tech.
Jason Galloway, marketing consulting practice lead at KPMG, said: “There is an urgent need for CMOs and CIOs to closely work together to maximize the return from martech, leading to necessary changes in innovation, data-driven metrics, governance, and alignment and integration.”
Four out of five consumers back stricter influencer laws
A survey published by tech company BazaarVoice has found consumers prefer influencers with as little overt influence as possible. It found that 38% of European, Australian and American consumers trust ’everyday influencers’ more than any other type; 83% of consumers said they trusted recommendations or product reviews that were not sponsored.
They’re also open to more regulation of creators – four out of five of the consumers surveyed said they wanted stricter rules regarding photographs posted online – though many lack faith in regulatory advances made so far, with 42% saying influencers have not become ’more authentic’ in recent years.
The research was commissioned by Bazaarvoice and conducted in July 2021 by Savanta among 9,098 consumers from the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.
Majority of ad execs say DOOH market will hit $50bn
65% of ad execs think the DOOH market will be worth $50-55bn by 2026, according to new research from AI company Alfi. 30% said it would be worth even more than $55bn.
And 74% of global senior advertising executives say investment in ad infrastructure and networks will grow the digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising market. Alfi commissioned PureProfile to survey 100 senior advertising professionals from across the US, UK, France, Germany and APAC.