Martini Reports Affluent Spending Increased 20% YOY and Reveals Affluent Increased Engagement With Ads Across Categories

Company Unveils Sophisticated New Logo and Tagline

NEW YORK, NY and SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Martini, the experts in engaging the affluent online, shared key findings from its most recent Affluent Online Shopper Index™ research study powered by comScore. The index measured the behavior and engagement levels of the online affluent audience, and found shopping activity across the wealthiest segments continued to grow. The study is a continuation of an ongoing research series in which Martini has partnered with comScore to keep steady track of affluent shopping behaviors.

Applying comScore’s methodology (1), Martini’s Affluent Shopping Index reveals 100k+ earners were 90 percent more likely to make a purchase online in Q2, up five percent from the year before. The increased spending was seen across a variety of categories, including apparel, accessories and jewelry (up 16 percent YOY), event and movie tickets (13 percent), flowers, greetings and gifts (15 percent) and video games and consoles (20 percent).

Among luxury retail sites (tiffany.comcoach.com, etc.), affluent shoppers spent substantially more per buyer in 2013. Their average Q2 2013 spend was up 20 percent from the previous year.

Affluent shoppers are increasingly more likely to visit auto sites compared to those earning under $100k, with the gap in visitation growing six percent YOY. The gap in auto search reach also grew versus last year, with affluent shoppers now seeing an 11 percent higher index over those earning under $100k.

Similar findings are reported by Steve Kraus, chief insights officer for the Audience Measurement Group, Ipsos MediaCT, whose recently released study also highlights the growing spending and digital media use by affluent Americans. “Compared to a year ago, affluent Americans have significantly increased their spending in many categories, while also increasing their time spent online and their use of mobile devices. Coupled with the growing size and wealth of the affluent population, the growth potential remains strong for affluent-targeted brands, provided they reach and engage their audiences in compelling ways.”

The increased shopping and surfing habits of the affluent equate to more time spent with ads. Martini recently partnered with digital analytics company Moat to observe how Martini’s affluent audience specifically engaged with online display advertising. The study measured universal interaction rate, which indicates a user voluntarily engaging with an ad. According to Moat, the average universal interaction rate is 4.1 percent (as of Q2 2013), but the affluent audience, which was measured engaged at a rate of:

•      13 percent in retail – 217 percent over average
•      10.3 percent in automotive ads – 151 percent over average
•      9.5 percent in travel – 131 percent over average
•      6.1 percent in tech – 48 percent over average

“It’s very encouraging to see the affluent engaging with ads at such high levels across these diverse categories,” said Jonah Goodhart, CEO and Co-Founder, Moat. “We believe engagement and interaction activity are key metrics that matter for digital advertising, and it is a good sign to see the affluent, the audience that are typically the drivers of new trends and influencers on others, lead this trend.”

To reflect the growing digital media consumption of the affluent, Martini has launched a new look and tag line, one of the first major initiatives initiated by Martini’s senior VP of marketing, Sarah Kate Ellis, a well-known veteran of Conde Nast and Time Inc. According to Ellis, the new tagline “Affluent Advertising Engineered” represents Martini’s use of first- and third-party data to construct actionable audience insights that ultimately allow Martini to deliver the right message, at the right time, in the right environment to the affluent. The new design approach reflects a sophisticated logo that marries the look and feel of traditional affluent brands with the modernity of digital media and with a splash of Martini.

To download the infographic, please visit:
http://martinimediainc.com/comScore_Infographic_October.pdf

About comScore Inc.
comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

About Martini
Martini specializes in helping the world’s most prestigious brands engage the audience with the most money and influence online. Leveraging proprietary insights on where and how the affluent consume media, Martini provides sophisticated solutions for delivering compelling rich media campaigns that integrate content, video and social functionality across the passion-based, niche sites this audience interacts with, at work and at play. It’s affluent advertising engineered. Headquartered in San Francisco, Martini has offices in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and London. Visit www.martinimediainc.com to learn more.

1). The Martini Media Affluent Online Shopper Index™ Powered by comScore measured behaviors and engagement levels of the online affluent audience (HHI $100K+) by indexing (1) affluent users (across the Internet) against non-affluent online users (HHI < $100K) to provide a precise picture of how this coveted segment shopped, spent and searched online during the second quarter of 2013 versus the same time last year. (1) Indices are calculated using the comparative audience’s metric as a baseline to understand the propensity of the $100K segment to buy or spend within a certain category. Indices above 120 indicate a notable propensity and those under 80 indicate the audience under-indexed relative to the other income segment in terms of penetration and/or dollars spent per buyer.