46 per cent of the top 50 UK FMCG brands don’t have a mobile-friendly site and 30 per cent have no mobile presence whatsoever, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK’s Mobile FMCG Audit.

The audit was carried out in April 2014 across the top 50 FMCG brands (ranked by UK ad spend). The audit investigated whether the brand had a mobile-friendly site (mobile optimised or responsive); a tablet-specific site; an app; and whether it had optimised its search for mobile. The IAB has carried out similar audits on Finance, Retail and Travel brands.

The study found that 22 per cent of the top 50 UK FMCG brands had a responsive website. However 10 per cent of the sites served on a tablet included Flash content, which would be served as a back-up image or not render at all. 36 per cent of the audited brands were found to optimise their search for mobile.

The best-performing brands were Cadbury’s, Carling, Clinique and Gillette. All had a mobile-friendly site, plus a mobile and tablet-specific app.

“The IAB’s full year 2013 ad spend results reveal that the FMCG sector is the largest spending advertiser category on mobile, however the results from the FMCG audit clearly show that when it comes to mobile a significant percentage are still lagging behind,” said Alex Kozloff, head of mobile at the IAB. “The consumer goods sector should be doing a lot more on mobile to ensure the media works for both them and their customers.”
You can access the results of the IAB’s Mobile Finance, Retail and Travel Audits here.