The EMS study, which is considered an industry standard by top media and marketing companies for their multi-national and pan-regional planning, includes EMS (top 13% of affluents in Western Europe), EMS Select (top 3% of affluents in Western Europe), CEMS (top 13% of alffluents in Central Europe) and CEMS Select (top 3% of affluents in Central Europe). EMS covers affluent consumers in Austria, Belgium/Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK while CEMS covers Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Russia.

 

The survey is conducted year-round and results are released twice a year. Synovate spoke with  18,241 affluent Western and Central European residents foe the latest EMS winter results.

EMS constantly evolves to meet the needs of the market: 

 

 

Synovate will be launching EMS Middle East including eight countries across the region.

 

Synovate is delighted to welcome four new subscribers to EMS: Russia Today, History Channel, The Financial Times and Ogilvy. (Please see the attached fact sheet for the full subscriber list).

The study shows that Europe’s elite are still travelling frequently taking 6 return flights a year.

Europe’s most frequent travelers are the EMS Select respondents (Top 3% in Western Europe) who are taking 11.84 return trips per year. Though they take fewer trips than their Western European counterparts Central Europe affluents are currently making 4.63 return trips per year an increase of 15% since the summer EMS results.

 

The EMS survey also shows that the affluent respondents are still enjoying their electronics. While a DVD player is the most widely owned product, LCD/Plasma Screens have enjoyed the greatest growth with ownership increasing by 2 million people (16%) since the summer release of EMS data.

 

LCD/Plasma Screens are likely to enjoy even more rapid growth in the future, with more then four million affluents intending to purchase one in the next 12 months. In Central Europe ownership of a ‘Home Cinema’ is slightly more widespread than an LCD/Plasma Screens (26% versus 23%).

Home entertainment - Currently own	Total	EMS Countries	CEMS Countries
	%	%	%
DVD Recorder	38%	38%	35%
Wide Screen TV	37%	37%	34%
LCD, Plasma Screen	32%	34%	23%
In-Car DVD Player	22%	23%	16%
Home Cinema	18%	17%	26%
HDTV	13%	15%	5%

 

While MP3 players and Laptops/Notebooks have reached 54% and 62% penetration respectively, it is Laptops/Notebooks who are likely to grow fastest in the next 12 months, with 10% of affluents intending to purchase one. In Central Europe this purchase intention is even higher at 13%.

Electronics – Ownership and Purchase Intention	Total	EMS Countries	CEMS Countries
	%	%	%
Owned - Handheld/ Palmtop/PDA	21%	22%	15%
Plan To Buy In Next 12 Months – Handheld/Palmtop/PDA	2%	2%	2%
Owned - Laptop/Notebook Computer	62%	64%	47%
Plan To Buy In Next 12 Months – Laptop/Notebook Computer	10%	10%	13%
Owned - MP3 Player/iPod	54%	54%	50%
Plan To Buy In Next 12 Months – MP3 Player/iPod	3%	4%	3%

 

 

 

 

Affluents across Europe are heavy media consumers with 46% reading at least three publications, 52% watching 13+ hours of TV a week and 23% spending at least 13 hours on the internet (excluding e-mail). 

 

There are some cultural differences though, Central European affluents read less, watch more TV and use the internet more frequently. However, the Top 3% of Central Europeans (C-EMS Select) are more interested in print than their less affluent counterparts.

 

 

International media continues to thrive among affluent European adults, with relatively limited duplication between the international TV channels and their websites. This is also applicable to the international print titles and their websites. It allows these prestigious media brands to extend to a new, wider but equally valuable audience.  

 

While readership of international print titles is more limited among affluents in Central Europe, these media websites are being introduced to a new larger audience in this region.

 

 

		EMS Countries	EMS Countries Top 3% Select	CEMS Countries	CEMS Countries Top 3% Select
Total	Audience(000)	39,665	8,254	6,134	1,175
Intl Print (AIR)	Reach (000)	4,559	1,817	442	173
	%Reach	11.5	22	7.2	14.7
Intl Print Websites (Weekly Contacts)	Reach (000)	4,250	1,481	721	184
	%Reach	10.7	17.9	11.8	15.7
Intl Print (AIR) + Intl Print Websites (Weekly Contacts)	Reach (000)	7,294	2,608	982	285
	%Reach	18.4	31.6	16	24.3
Intl TV (Weekly Reach)	Reach (000)	28,806	6,446	4,663	960
	%Reach	72.6	78.1	76	81.7
Intl TV Websites (Weekly contacts)	Reach (000)	11,077	3,087	1,116	315
	%Reach	27.9	37.4	18.2	26.8
Intl TV (Weekly Reach) + Intl TV Websites (Weekly Contacts)	Reach (000)	30,996	6,947	4,765	988
	%Reach	78.1	84.2	77.7	84.1
Inflight Magazine (AIR)	Reach (000)	6,815	2,957	371	191
	%Reach	17.2	35.8	6.0	16.3

 

Intl Print = Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Economist, Newsweek, Time, Forbes, Fortune, CNBC European Business, Euromoney, Harvard Business Review, Institutional Investor, National Geographic Magazine (English edition), Scientific American

Intl TV = Aljazeera (English) Arte, BBC Prime, BBC World News, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Discover, DW-TV, E! Entertainment, Euronews, Eurosport,  France 24, FTV Fashion TV, MTV, National Geographic Channel, Sky News, Travel Channel , TV5 Monde

Inflight Magazines = Aeroflot Inflight Magazine, Air France Magazine, B There! Magazine, Blue Wings, Business Life, Cara, CSA Review, EasyJet Inflight Magazine, High Life, Holland Herald, Horizon Magazine, Iberia Ronda Magazine, Kaleidoscope, Lufthansa Magazine, Ryanair Magazine, SAS Norge Magasinet, Scanorama, Swiss Magazine, Ulisse, UP, Voyager, Flying Dutchman, Sky Europe – Runway Inflight Magazine, Sky Lines

While Europe’s elite continue to travel - they are not immune to the changes in the global economy - they are becoming more conservative in their general outlook.

 

 

 

EMS respondents are a very sporty group of individuals – almost 19 million taking part in ‘Outdoor pursuits’ such as rambling and hiking. There is a trend towards more ‘outdoor independent’ types of sporting activities (see below). Ice/figure skating is enjoying the fast growth of 145% (although from a relatively low base of almost 300,000 to almost 700,000 people participating in this sport).

 

Central Europeans participate less regularly in all the major sports, although CEMS Select (which represents the Top 3%) are very fond of Tennis and Scuba Diving.

 

Sports on the increase are: *

Outdoor pursuits (+3%), Motor sports (+7%), tennis (+4%), Swimming/Scuba Diving (+4%), Skiing/ Snowboarding (+7%), Golf (+8%), Ice/Figure Skating (+145%), Extreme Sports (+8%), Cycling (+3%) and Boating (+3%).

 

* All % changes compare EMS Winter 2008 versus EMS Summer 2008