Losing that Spark in the Bedroom? Consumers Confess to Honeymooning with Their Tablets

PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With nearly one-third of all Americans now owning a tablet or e-reader(1), Valentine's Day romantics should take note. A new Tablet Trends Study just released by Rosetta reveals that the majority of tablet users (68%) will likely spend significant time with their touch-screen devices in the bedroom. At the potential expense of their significant others, consumers are enjoying their own private "honeymoon" with their tablets for the first few months as they get to know their new devices in some untraditional rooms in the home, including 24% who take their tablets to the bathroom.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120213/CL52249 )

In addition to these headline findings, the Tablet Trends Study also unveils important key learnings for marketers about where and how tablets are being used over time. For brands that understand these new behaviors and adapt engagement strategies to follow usage patterns, their investment and effort to reach consumers on connected devices will be far more effective. Marketers beware, the rules are changing for where and how to reach consumers on connected devices:

• Capitalize on the honeymoon period. When the device is new, consumers tend to explore the full range of capabilities offered by tablets, from buying applications to creating documents, to shopping. After six months or more of ownership, a clearer pattern emerges as certain usages drop off and they continue to more actively use their tablets for things like reading or checking email, watching TV or movies, reading e-books, magazines or newspapers, and using social networking sites. Brands who understand this timeline can market more effectively during different stages.
• Keep the spark alive. Those who have owned their tablets for seven months or longer are more likely to prefer using a computer for many of the activities that they have previously explored during the honeymoon period. The opportunity for marketers is to give consumers more reasons to fall in love with their tablets over and over again, and to find the right intersection points between the tablet, computer and even smartphone usage as behaviors shift over time.
• Timing is everything. Targeting customers on their tablets with the right message or experience at the right moment is critical for brands to sell more apps, products, services and accessories. Understanding how, where and why consumers are using their devices deepens the 'can't-live-without-you' connection.
   

"Like in any relationship, the pressure is on to keep consumers engaged and happy with their tablets beyond that initial infatuation period," said Jay Lichtenstein, a Partner in Rosetta's Consulting Practice. "The key is to deeply understand a user's motivations and needs and then build the experiences to captivate them.  At Rosetta, our expertise lies in uncovering insights for marketers about their consumers' needs and motivations, then helping execute cross-device marketing programs that resonate at a deeper level. We are fascinated by who and where these consumers are, and helping brands capitalize on the moments that motivate them to buy – and buy more – online."

(1)  For additional information on the Tablet Trends Study, please visit: http://currents.rosetta.com/index.php/2012/02/rosetta-tablet-trends-study-qa-on-key-findings/

About Rosetta

Rosetta is a consulting-centered interactive agency engineered to transform marketing for the connected world. Rosetta drives material business impact by translating deep consumer insights into personally relevant brand experiences across touch points and over time. Their differentiated capabilities and structure have enabled them to become one of the market leaders, operating as an independent brand platform in the Publicis Groupe of global agencies. Rosetta is ranked by Ad Age among the top U.S. digital agencies and was named the #1 Agency to Watch in Ad Age's 2011 Agency A-List.

Rosetta has deep industry expertise in Healthcare, Consumer Technology & Entertainment, Consumer Products & Retail, Financial Services and Business-to-Business (B2B). The combination of a patented approach to market segmentation; technological depth across platforms and devices; world class creative, design and user experience capability; scale and integrated structure; and deep vertical industry expertise have attracted many of the nation's leading brands to Rosetta. The agency's clients include Allergan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis in Healthcare; Microsoft, Rogers Communications and T-Mobile in Consumer Technology & Entertainment; Coach, Express, Jos. A. Bank, OfficeMax, Valvoline and United States Mint in the Consumer Products & Retail sector; Citizens and Nationwide in Financial Services; and MSC Direct, Wirtz Beverage Group and Lincoln Electric in B2B.

Rosetta is headquartered in Princeton, NJ, with additional offices in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and Orange County. 

For more information, visit www.rosetta.com.

CONTACT:  Sandy Pfaff, Concept PR Communications, +1-415-819-7447, [email protected], or Samantha Steinwinder, Concept PR Communications, +1-206-713-6983, [email protected]

SOURCE Rosetta