Woe CanadaSierra Club ad. (source: Ad Age, 1/27/09)
Reverse TiVo
1 in 5 people watch the Super Bowl “exclusively or predominately” for the ads. Women (31%) vs. men (11%). (source: Adweek, 1/30/09)
Segregated shoppers
Q: If you could only shop at one department store for the rest of your life, which would it be? A: Walmart 26%. Target 22%. But that’s not the interesting part. All the stores chosen had a very distinct shopper profile.
- Walmart skewed disproportionately toward the lower end of the income scale. 35% identified themselves as born-again Christians; 58% favored John McCain for president.
- Target: a higher-than-average proportion were college graduates (54%), and they skewed younger than the survey sample as a whole (29% are age 18-29). 63% backed Obama for president
- Macy’s (9%): 55% own homes worth more than $250,000
- Costco (8%): 56% also picked Obama
- Sears (5%) shoppers are older than average, with 47% falling into the 55-plus age cohort. A disproportionately high number (84%) are home owners
Quote of the week
“I may be unemployed, but I’m not giving up dessert.” – Recently overheard at a table full of young adults by someone from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Drunken copywriter
Why do I want to sip something called toes? Can anybody explain this name to me? TØZ is a recent product introduction from
Eew, mom’s on Facebook
The percentage of adults who have profiles on at least one social-networking site has skyrocketed to 35%, up from only 8% in 2005. But the young still rule these social websites for now. 75% of people 18-24 years old use them. And yes, this does creep teenagers out. (source: Pew Research Center/Marketing Power News 1/27/09)
Right place, right time, right product
The Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves that makes you look like a fuzzy monk, launched in October and has already surpassed the 4-million-sold mark. The Chinese can’t crank them out fast enough to meet demand. The product’s even got a fan-generated Facebook page with 4,000 friends and over 200 videos on YouTube. (source: Ad Age, 1/27/09)
Desk zen
Why go to a craft fair to create sand paintings when you can visit http://thisissand.com/ . For instructions, click the little grey box. (source: Very Short List, 1/27/09)
Stubby is hotSeems like a no brainer since the big boxes are mostly empty anyway, but cheers to Kellogg’s new materials-saving packaging. Every step forward is a good step. (source: Ad Age, 1/27/09)
Continuing success story of Chuck
Despite it all, last year Charles Schwab added 30K new investor accounts and $100 billion new assets. They say the key is their research. A lot of quantitative, but a lot more qualitative. One example: Schwab used a Gen X community it created to invite consumers on a jargon treasure hunt to flag the huge amount of financial lingo they didn't understand, then find ways to explain it in ways they do. (source: Ad Age, 1/28/09)
Shake it again
In the
The logo of a new generationIt never occurred to me, but ya know, the bloggers are right. They are the same logo.
Companies don’t get customer service
A survey of over 500 senior marketers by the CMO Council suggests that marketers don't know how to use customer input to improve operations, products, and processes.
- 33% said their companies are good at handling customer complaints
- the majority of respondents' companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers
- 23% said their companies track or measure customer emails
- 17% use that feedback to identify potential customer advocates
- 16% monitor online message boards and social networking sites
- 37% gather customer insight from customer engagement situations
- 15% use such situations to identify and cultivate potential customer champions and advocates
- 33% look for ways to turn problems into new sales opportunities
(source: Marketing Daily, 1/29/09)
No centsWalmart’s rounding off. It’s part of “Project Impact,” a program aimed at merchandising transformation, space optimization, and format innovation. (source: Instore Marketer, 1/29/09)
Who does the most unplanned grocery purchasing?
- couples married less than 10 years
- females
- larger households
- people who are generally impulsive
- people who pay with check or credit
- people who aren’t using a list
- people who say they are on a “major shopping trip”
- people who spend a longer time in store
- people shopping in an unfamiliar store
(source: new shopper study from Wharton)
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