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German consumers are in love with brands such as BMW, Adidas, Nike, Apple  – and even Aldi – but they haven’t taken to the likes of Facebook and Google, according to a study conducted by GMK. The German research firm believes respondents haven’t developed an emotional connection with many online companies as many have such short shelf lives.

Consumers have turned their backs on established media channels and are electing their own spokespeople, says Ernst & Young in its This Time It’s Personal: From Consumer to Co-Creator report. “Traditional one-way marketing does not satisfy the need for interaction, equality and community that today’s consumers want and expect from communication.”

All three of the UK’s main political parties are failing miserably in their use of new digital channels to reach voters, according to a report released by UK advertising agency Cheetham Bell JWT on the eve of today’s local elections.

Companies which fully embrace social media are experiencing four times greater business impact than their less-engaged counterparts, with the average return on social engagement calculated to be between 3% and 5%, according to the Socially Engaged Enterprise report from PulsePoint and The Economist Intelligence Unit. And ‘Big Return’ companies simply don’t box themselves in, the report says.

Men lag women on Pinterest but are beginning to sign up in number to the cool digital pinboard. In January this year, the male-female user split was 80:20, but in March men made up 28% of all Pinterest-ers. But Pinterest isn’t really for digital youth – 81% of users are aged 25 to 54.

Generation Z is addicted to mobile devices. And as these kids grow up, mobile will become deeply integrated into their daily lives: an ‘Everything Hub’ which enables socialising, shopping and surfing the web, with geo-location services supplying information on nearby friends, relevant deals and amenities, says JWT in its Gen Z: Digital In Their DNA. In response, marketers will need to create tailored mobile strategies, with websites optimised for mobile browsing – a recent estimate from Google suggests that only about one fifth of advertisers have mobile-friendly sites, says the ad agency.

Leading retailers such as Best Buy and HSN are now utilising points, badges and other incentives to drive customer engagement, purchases and loyalty, as gamification takes hold in the retail sector.

Multitasking can pay off for brands. Consumers watched a 30-minute TV show and engaged with mobile and tablet devices for a study conducted by AdColony/Nielsen at the CBS TV City Media Lab at MGM Las Vegas. A 15-second ad for Universal Studio’s movie Contraband appeared during the commercial break, followed by a 15 second spot served using AdColony’s Instant-Play ad-delivery platform on iPhones and iPads. Purchase intent for Contraband spiked by 72% for cross-screen viewers from 18% to 31%.  Brand recall for the movie was 69% higher for cross-screen viewers compared to TV-only viewers.