The Business Elite want digital and traditional media

Europe's most successful and influential business leaders are increasingly accessing media content through digital platforms, though not at the expense of traditional means, according to the latest Business Elite Europe survey from Ipsos MediaCT. While 72 per cent now obtain media content online every month (up from 63 per cent in 2008), 95 per cent still utilise print and 85 percent TV on a daily basis. "For the Business Elite digital is a means of keeping informed at all times, especially while on the move. Almost half of this group (47 per cent) access online content via smartphones on a weekly basis," says James Torr, director at Ipsos MediaCT. "However, instead of replacing other media, digital supplements their use of print and television. Europe's business leaders require as much information from as many different sources as possible." Returning to business fundamentals   The Business Elite Barometer 2010 shows that while they continue to adopt new media (46 per cent have a presence on Facebook and 41 per cent are on Linkedin), the European Business Elite are going back to basics in order to succeed after a number of very difficult years. While volatile markets and managing economic uncertainty remain key challenges, other areas are changing dramatically. Outsourcing and downsizing are no longer seen as the big challenges they were previously, having dropped 40 per cent compared to 2009. Alternatively, attracting and keeping talent (up 65 per cent), technical advances (up 45 per cent) and innovation (up 39 per cent) are all clearly becoming priorities.    James commented: "Attracting and keeping talent and technical advances allow innovation to happen. The economy doesn't experience positive trends by companies producing the same products and services. By implementing innovative strategies and developing new offerings, corporations and firms will be able to facilitate sustainable growth. Innovation is key." Elite customers The recession of the last two years has had a huge impact on consumer confidence and spending. However, that being said there are still pockets of people who have defied these trends and have continued to spend. The Business Elite are one of these exclusive groups, with average personal incomes of almost 151,700 euros they can continue to spend and consume as they did previously. James said: "Taking into account their spending power and net worth, combined with average budgets of 8.3 million euros, the Business Elite remain the most important customers for a number of industries. As well as being a key audience for business to business marketing, they also represent the key to profitability for sectors such as finance, luxury goods and cars, airlines and hotels.." "The Global Business Elite series annually reaches this target in Asia, Australia, Europe, Japan, the Middle East and the United States. The surveys are used by over 35 media owners and agencies. They are the only surveys that reveal the behaviour and inner motivations of this difficult to reach group on a truly global scale."