Wednesday, April 27, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-13-18-year-olds get an average seven hours and 26 minutes of sleep on weeknights, reports the National Sleep Foundation.

-36% of 2-11-year-olds use the TV and Internet simultaneously, according to Sesame Workshop and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

-48% of high school students are considering asking a date to the prom via text message; 14% have already been asked this way, says textPlus social messaging app.

-From the time a child enters kindergarten through the 12th grade, the total sum of summer breaks amounts to three years of vacation, estimates Kumon.

-15% of college students own an e-reader, according to OnCampus Research and the National Association of College Stores.

Monday, April 25, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-When shopping for groceries, people's top priority is health; when dining at restaurants, it's taste, finds The Lempert Report.

-63% of adults age 55 and older who have graduate or professional degrees are still working, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

-57% of fathers visit social networks, finds Unicast.

-17% of Americans would consider traveling abroad solely to get medical treatment, according to YPartnership.

-65% of women with annual incomes of $100,000 or more buy most of their beauty products at Wal-Mart, according to The Benchmarking Company

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-Teen drivers bump their parents' insurance rate up an average $800 a year, according to Nationwide Insurance.

-37% of teens expect to purchase an iPhone in the next six months, reports Piper Jaffray.

-77% of kids 6-12 eat while watching TV, says Ipsos OTX MediaCT.

-Less than half of high school students (47%) feel their schools are doing a good job using technology to enhance learning, compared to 74% of high school teachers and 62% of their parents who say the same, according to the Speak Up 2010 survey.

-The largest number of Americans envision Justin Bieber in celebrity rehab by age 30 (30%), rather than married and living quietly (18%), still playing to packed stadiums (13%), or fat and bald (12%), say Vanity Fair and CBS News

Thursday, April 7, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-“Angry Birds Rio,” Rovio’s movie tie-in app with the 20th Century Fox film, netted 10 million downloads within 10 days of its March 22 release, according to the app developer (via Gamasutra).

-Weekly sales of Elton John’s hit songs have spiked following the singer’s appearance on “American Idol”: download sales of the track “Tiny Dancer,” for example, were up 217% to 14,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

30% of U.S. households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a videogame system, a Blu-ray player, or the TV set itself, says Leichtman Research.

-24.6% of U.S. mobile subscribers age 13 and older played games on their devices between December, 2010 and February, 2011, comSore estimates.

-17% of U.S. teens own an iPhone, and another 37% plan on getting one in the next 6 months, according to Piper Jaffray (via All Things Digital).

Monday, April 4, 2011

Today"s Five Facts About Consumer Behaviour

-35% of grocery shoppers complain about products being placed too high on the shelves, finds SupermarketGuru.com.

-45% of Asian Americans and Hispanics own smartphones, according to Nielsen

-70% of boys ages 6-8 buy toys with their allowance; 70% of boys ages 9-11 buy videogames with theirs, finds Mintel.

-46% of men ages 18-34 live with their parents, according to advertising/media sales firm Giant Realm.

-49% of Americans listen to music when they feel stressed out, according to the American Psychological Association.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-During the fourth quarter of 2010, the number of U.S. mobile subscribers watching video on their mobile devices topped 24.7 million, a 40% increase from 2009, Nielsen reports.

-Middling film quality has contributed to a 20% year-over-year decline in movie theater attendance during the first quarter of 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports.

-80% of children’s book purchases are not planned, with 40% classifed as “pure impulse,” according to Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children.

-Prepaid gaming cards now account for 22% of all videogame accessories sold, according to NPD (via All Things Digital).

-Digital sales now account for 49% of the U.S. recorded music market, estimates music trade group IFPI (via Billboard).

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Today's Five Facts About Youth Markets

-The average weekly allowance for kids 6-11 is $7.35, reports Mintel.

-82% of 10-12-year-olds spend at least one hour a day online, finds Harris Interactive.

-14% of children under age 12 have a cellphone with Internet access, according to eMarketer.

-79% of children brush their teeth in the morning, finds the Delta Dental of Minnesota Tooth Fairy poll.

-60% of girls under 12 claim they have never read a print newspaper, according to Carat Global and the Stardoll Network.

Monday, March 14, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-20% of working North Americans are annoyed by the way coworkers smell, according to Ipsos.

-Baby Boomers spend an average of $211 annually on pet food, says Nielsen.

-67% of consumers choose where to bank based on whether the company offers free checking, reports comScore.

-People who live in the American city of Oklahoma spend the most on gas in a year: an average of $2,867, finds Bundle.

34% of North Americans typically spend more than $50 on their Halloween costumes, according to Savers clothing chain.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Please Pray For The People of Japan

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-69% of stay-at-home moms say they wouldn’t have left their jobs had their employers offered flexible work schedules, says the Center for Work Life Policy.

-33% of women say shopping for skincare products is more confusing than filing their taxes, reports Olay.

-64% of North Americans feel that women of mixed race represent the epitome of beauty, according to Allure magainze.

-Brides spend an average 11 hours each week on wedding plans during the three months before their wedding, find TheKnot.com and the WeddingChannel.com.

-The average woman feels as if she has “made it” when her salary hits $100,000, says Women’s Health.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-Some 44.9 million people age 50 and over went to the movies in 2010, a 67% increase from 1995, reports GfK MRI (via The New York Times).

-Among videogame-buying households, spending on mobile entertainment rose in 2010 to account for 7.4% of households’ total monthly entertainment budget, according to Nielsen.

-6% of online 12-17-year olds want to be friends with a brand on Facebook — half the number of 18-24-year-olds who do, says Forrester.

-Broadband Still Growing: The 19 largest cable and telephone providers in the U.S., representing 93% of the market, acquired 3.4 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in 2010, according to Leichtman Research Group.

-61% of first-week album sales for Adele’s “21” were digital downloads — an unusually high percentage among releases topping Billboard’s chart, according to the magazine.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-One in three parents (36%) say that talking to their teens about an allowance is comparable or more difficult than “the stressful experience of negotiating the purchase of a car,” reports American Express.

-47% of teen girls say fashion magazines give them a body image to strive for, according to the Girl Scouts and Dove.

-12% of teens attended more than two concerts in the last year, compared to 24% who said the same in 2000, find Arbitron and Edison Research.

-Girls 8-18 are more likely than their male counterparts to feel they know more than their parents about laptops (42% vs. 33%), digital cameras (43% vs. 27%), and smartphones (44% vs. 34%), says About.com's ConsumerSearch Survey.

-Asian high school students (73%) are most likely to volunteer, followed by Whites (73%), Hispanics (60%), and Blacks (51%), according to What Kids Can Do, Public Education Foundation in Chattanooga, and the Alliance for Education in Seattle.

Monday, March 7, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

-Adults who don’t have children at home spend an average of 5 hours and 47 minutes per day on leisure activities; those with kids under 18 at home spend 4 hours and 24 minutes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

-3% of men let their spouses or partners pick out their clothes for them, reports AskMen.com.

-62% of girls ages 7-12 say playing with friends is their favorite way to spend their free time; 49% of boys say playing videogames is their favorite way to spend theirs, finds IKEA.

-More than three quarters (76%) of Canadians who speak a language other than English at home also speak English, according to the Canadian Census Bureau.

-Asian Canadians stay up later and wake up later than Whites, Hispanics, or Blacks, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Friday, March 4, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-32% of wives have a bank account their husbands don’t know about, reports Redbook.

-47% of men would like their girlfriends to shave their legs every day, says Kings of Shaves.

-The most desired compliment women want to hear from men is “you have a great smile;” men want women to say “you’re so funny,” find Ralph Lauren Romance and Glamour magazine.

-33% of women eat breakfast every morning, reports BettyConfidential.com.

-Even if men were able to become pregnant, 63% of moms would still prefer to be the one to give birth, according to Parenting magazine.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-One-third of adult broadband users use some form of PC-to-TV connection at least once a year, reports TDG Research (via paidContent).

-Fewer than 30% of broadband households consider a cloud-based “digital locker” an attractive alternative for music or video, according to Parks Associates.

-The number of frequent moviegoers in the U.S. and Canada — those who go to theaters once a month or more — rose to 35 million in 2010, up 9% from 2009, according to the Motion Picture Association.

-34% of Canadians are interested in purchasing an e-reader or tablet within the next year.

-Only 9% of location-based app users seek coupons or special offers through the mobile services, according to Lightspeed Research.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-41% of 13-17-year-olds purchased new headphones within the past three months, says NPD Group.

-60% of kids prefer to play outside than inside, according to Nickelodeon and Smarty Pants.

-75% of entertainment searches made by kids online are for songs or musicians, reports Norton Online Family.

-42% of 18-24-year-olds purchased something online during the past week, according to MTV, AP, and Edison Media Research.

-Children and teens are twice as likely as parents to feel reading comments posted on Facebook count as reading (28% vs. 15%), finds Scholastic.

Monday, February 28, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

-Baby Boomers spend $46 more than the average consumer on a typical shopping trip to Wal-Mart.

-81% of Hispanic women want more hair care and personal care products to be sold in bilingual packaging, according to Mintel.

-Almost half of adults (47%) prefer to watch television shows as they're being broadcast; 27% prefer to watch them recorded on DVR, finds Zogby.

-Three quarters of breakfasts (76%) are eaten at home, according to the NPD Group.

-Almost twice as many women get health advice from websites (62%) as from their mothers (32%), finds iVillage.

Friday, February 25, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-46% of women say their worst nightmare is to go bathing suit shopping with their mother, says Self magazine.

-26% of women have changed their hair color more than five times, reports Women’s Health.

-45% of women have had the same skincare regimen since they were teens, finds Wakefield Research.

-64% of working moms intend to take all their paid vacation days this year, up 7% from 2010, according to WhyMomsRule.com.

-Women are more active Twitter users than men (10% vs. 7%), says Pew Research Center.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-Teens are more likely to spend their free time playing video or computer games in 2011 than they were in 2010 (72% vs. 63%), according to Harris Interactive and World Vision.

-74% of teen girls say “most girls my age use social networking sites to make themselves look cooler than they are,” report Pew Research Center and the Girl Scouts.

-The main reasons teens admire someone are for their personality traits (26%), because they hope they can follow in their footsteps (22%), and because they admire their accomplishments (13%), finds The Barna Group.

-Only 9% of those under 17 consider a meal’s calorie content before ordering at a restaurant, say The School of Medicine and Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

-23% of grandparents buy clothing for their grandkids, finds Nielsen

Friday, February 18, 2011

FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-51.2 million women watched the Super Bowl this year, up from the 48.5 million in 2010, according to Nielsen.

-Women (40%) are more likely than men (28%) to be either currently dieting or to have dieted in the last year, says Baeta Corp.

-57% of first-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and service workers were women in 2009; National Restaurant Industry Association.

-62% of Redbook readers claim they are better drivers than their husbands, yet 50% admit their husbands would claim superiority.

-22% of couples don’t know their significant other’s salary, find American Express and iVillage.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-The average online video viewer watched 201 videos during December 2010, a 20% increase from December 2009, according to comScore.

-During January 2011, the average online video viewer spent more than four and a half hours watching online video streams (279 minutes). That’s a 44.5% increase from January 2010, Nielsen reports.

-Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” single sold 448,000 downloads in its first three days of availability (ending Feb. 13), representing the third-largest debut sales week ever for a song, Billboard reports.

-In a Centris survey of 40,000 adults, 62% have either never heard of video-on-demand, never used it, or are unable to access such services (via Home Media Magazine).

-Sony’s online videogame subscription service, PSN Plus, now counts more than 100,000 monthly users, according to FADE.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-18% of teens say ads entice them to purchase products, finds Experian Simmons.

-Children with dogs as pets take 360 more steps and exercise 11 more minutes each day than children without dogs, according to St. George’s, University of London.

-49% of teens say having to ask their parents for money is a “hassle,” says American Express.

-92% of girls 14-17 would give up all of their social networking friends if it meant keeping their best friend, according to the Girl Scouts.

-Teen girls are more likely to be members of an academic group (57%), than participate in student council (25%) or drama club (19%), report Ketchum Global Research Group and Varsity Brands.

Monday, February 14, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-62% of drivers believe that talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous, but 69% have done so in the past month, according to AAA Foundation.

-When shopping online, 58% of women and 44% of men are concerned about the cost of shipping, finds Burst Media.

-81% of affluent families with teenagers own five or more computers, according to Ipsos OTX.

-Not having to clean up after the meal is the top reason Canadians and Americans dine out, finds NPD Group.

-Yellow is the least popular color for vehicles in North America, according to DuPont.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Assocations - How to sell Financial/Insurance Products to them.

I actually have a meeting tomorrow to discuss selling Financial/Insurance products via direct/online channels to Associations/Affinity markets. For those of you that know me and read my blog regularly, you'll know that if I have a strong interest in something I'll blog about it. That said, I have dealt with Associations in the past and have done some partnerships with various selling wireless services to their members. While wireless services are certainly different from insurance/financial products, I do think the principals of selling to Associations are the same. We're just talking about a different commodity here.
Hope you enjoy this post and please feel free to use this information and send me any questions should you have any.



Selling to Association Members.

How to create and manage association-endorsed programs. When you serve associations, take into account that you are dealing with a diverse group of clients, which could include sporting goods merchants, musical instrument dealers, doctors, lawyers, entertainers etc.
For the purpose of this article let’s assume we are selling association members various forms of insurance such as Long-Term Disability Insurance, Office Overhead Expense Insurance, Term Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Extended Health Care, Dental Insurance, Critical Illness and Extended Health Care Insurance for Retirees. Because many associations are members of national associations, the marketing territory would cover all Provinces and Territories.

When successful, association-endorsed programs are a win-win situation for both an insurance organizations and an association. Insurance companies attract and retain additional clients and revenue, while associations use association/affinity programs to attract and retain new members. In this article I'll explain how to select an association for the purpose of marketing insurance programs to its members.

Finding Prospects

To find prospects, a good place to start is to regularly attend Canadian Society of Association Executives regional meetings and trade shows. Referrals are also a strong avenue through which to find new associations. When you work with a particular group, it's not uncommon for that group to introduce your insurance company to another association that's having insurance problems. (There are a number of Insurance companies competing for association business, so the associations tend to talk to each other about them.)

Exhibit at Trade Shows

Working the show-exhibiting at trade shows is one way that insurance companies obtain leads for its association endorsed insurance programs. Look for strong associations that provide other member benefits, has the trust of its members and has their best interests in mind. The association should be well-established. The stronger the association, the more successful the insurance program will be. Furthermore, the association should have clear objectives for the insurance programs.
Another factor determining whether to approach an association is the type of industry or trade it represents. Is this an Association you are willing to provide insurance to its members?

Before finally selecting, and seeking an appointment with, an association, find out whether the organization is large enough. Also find out who the decision-maker is, what position he or she holds in the organization and what the association's decision-making process is. You can often meet an association's decision-makers at trade shows or through referrals.
Once you obtain an Associations endorsement for the insurance programs, begin to gather information from the association concerning their members' exposures, hopefully your Insurance organization has a standard questionnaire. The benefits of a questionnaire should be twofold: It tells you what the members' insurance needs are, and it acts as the basis for customizing a plan for that specific association. Associations that currently have programs often conduct their own member surveys (sometimes even before your first meeting with them), for example what coverage members have and how much they're paying for them, and what coverage needs aren't being met. These surveys are great and also give you a good indication of what kind of pricing will attract the members.
From an Insurance companies perspective ensure that your claims service is capable of handling the volume that association programs can generate. Perhaps most important is whether you can offer such member benefits as a special coverage the group needs or a dividend plan-something beyond you’re your company normally would provide if the business came through your regular agency plan.

When insuring associations, it is essential that a Sales agent obtain special rates for the program. Agents should also keep in mind that it is impossible to design a program for which all members will be eligible; the association should understand this as well.
The insurer usually assigns the association its own underwriter or a group of underwriters. The underwriters get to know the needs of the group.
Some coverage is useful in selling to associations. For example, many associations promote the availability of customized business owner’s policies to increase their membership. It is important to note that Associations seek out Financial/Insurance brokers because specific Association/Affinity programs help associations/affinity groups with retention.

More on Trade Shows

Attending an association's trade shows and conventions is one of the most effective ways to market the program to members. A good plan is to set up a booth at these tradeshows and send letters to members before a show, asking them to visit your booth. At the show introduce yourself to the members and encourage them to get more information on the insurance programs. An association also might lend its support by promoting the program in its periodical or by supplying you with a membership roster. Member testimonials are another effective way to promote the program, especially if they appear in an association's publication. When members regularly hear from their association about the insurance program, the message has a greater impact than when it comes directly from the insurance company. Nevertheless, you should also advertise in association publications and attend seminars that concern the association's industry in an effort to promote the programs. Please note, that after a trade show, it's not unusual to have hundred of leads!!!

Develop Trust

Selling to association members can be difficult at first because they are skeptical about a new insurance agency and are reluctant even get your company to quote. A typical objection is, "I've been with my agent for so many years." Indeed, it might take two or three years of contacting before you gain some members' confidence. Therefore, keep a record of all activity on each prospect. So if you contact them via a direct mail, email or phone call, you will know what happened in the past and how to approach the prospect next time. Tell the members what they want to hear emphasize that association/affinity programs can offer better price, coverage and service.

Your Company Website

Since some associations insist that you devote a section of your company’s website to their groups, it is a smart idea to accommodate this on your company website. Furthermore if you can negotiate with the Association Group partners have your Associations/Affinity Group link on the Associations' Web sites.

Develop a Relationship. Keep in Contact

Once you have acquired an Association the work does not stop here, Try to meet with each association at least annually-sometimes more often for a formal review of the program. Look at partnership opportunities to promote your services regularly to their members.
Be prepared to spend significant amounts of time and money to acquire an association and get the insurance program up and running. From the first meeting with an association to a formal proposal I believe it takes at least three to six months. An association's endorsement opens the door to new prospects, but it does not guarantee immediate sales. I have read several articles online that claim that it takes two to three years before an Insurance company makes a profit from an Association. Key is to provide Association members with superior price, coverage and service, and then your insurance organization can reap the steady rewards of association/affinity programs.

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO YOUTH

-30% of teens 13-17 admit to accidentally texting "I love you" to the wrong person at least once, finds TextPlus.

-Hispanic 16-17-year-olds are less likely than their non-Hispanic peers to text message with their friends at least once a day (49% vs. 64%), says Pew Research Center.

-Teenagers run 40% more yellow lights and have 60% more crashes while playing a racing videogame if they know their friends are watching, reports Temple University.

-70% of high school graduates go to college within two years of graduation, according to Harvard University.

-While on the road, younger drivers focus on moving objects, such as other cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians, whereas older drivers pay attention to line markings and road signs, says Volvo

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-78% of brides plan to make their weddings more environmentally friendly, such as offering paperless wedding invitations, finds David’s Bridal.

-Women are 18% more likely than men to say they read books on snow days, according to Nestle.

-51% of women have made a major life sacrifice for a partner, compared to 37% of men who have done the same, says Self.com.

-Men (57%) are more likely than women (46%) to say houseguests overstay their welcome after a few days, reports HomeAway.

-80% of women feel guilty if they don’t clean their house regularly, finds Scrubbing Bubbles.

Kudos to CBC Dragons



This came up in the comments section over at Skeptic North today and it's simply too good not to pass on further. A garbage medicine hawker came on Dragons' Den with a ridiculous product and a ridiculous "deal" for the Dragons.

If you're familiar with the format, feel free to skip ahead to the 25 minute mark and sit back and watch some serious deserved tongue lashing. If you aren't familiar, then watch the first part of the show just to get the feel first.

The product in question - Precious Metals Nano Water from Bruce McBurney of HIMAC Research Publishing from Niagra Falls Ontario. He undermines his presentation from the get go by asking for WAY too much money (2.5 Million) for a laughable amount of the company (25%) that is heinously over priced (10 Million dollars - based on the sales of 40 thousand dollars over several years.) Initially his presentation is amusing as it's so absurd and badly put together. He thinks he has a panacea which will cure everything from indegestion (sic) to prostrate (sic) cancer. And he offers no more than "video testimonials" and books of un-declared an questionable provenance as evidence.

He is completely full of shit. The Dragons let him have it on all fronts, they stip him down and flog him verbally and as far as I am concerned he gets off easy.

Looking at his website http://www.himacresearch.com/ - which is also littered with spelling errors, like his cheap-assed presentation - he is also trying to hawk "suppressed" (Oh the conspiracy!) carbeurator technology that could (you see it coming don't you?) revolutionize the world by taking cancer causing agents out of automotive pollution and improving mileage by over 400%.

As Dragon Jim Treliving tells Bruce to his face - "Bullshit."

Monday, January 31, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-38% of men and 46% of women secretly wish they could throw out items their significant other keeps on display, reports HomeGoods.

-Consumers (36%) most commonly buy their specialty foods at specialty food stores, though 20% find them at standard supermarkets and 14% buy them from restaurants, according to Mintel.

-40% of leisure travelers are planning to stay in a vacation rental home in 2011, up from 33% who did so in 2010, finds TripAdvisor.

-75% of teens have a profile on Facebook, and 27% of those say they access the site continuously throughout the day, says Ipsos.

-65% of workers who have an employer-provided cell phone say that device is a smartphone, compared to 32% of personal cell phone owners whose devices are smartphones, reports TNS.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-Brides register for their weddings an average six months before the big day, according to The Knot.

-Women are twice as likely as men to be annoyed by those who spit in public (30% vs. 18%), find Vanity Fair and CBS News.

-57% of women have recently purchased a health or beauty product online, say The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.

-U.S. moms spend an average $822 on consumer electronics products used by their households each year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

-Women spend 20.4 hours per week providing care and making healthcare decisions for their immediate and extended families, finds AARP.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-Twitter users made an average of 10 visits to the microblogging site in November 2010, up from an average of 7.3 visits in November 2009, according to Experian.

-Some 31% of American and Canadian households own four or more TV sets, according to Nielsen.

-Verizon Wireless mobile subscribers completed a total of 96 million music and video downloads in 2010 — a 42% decrease from 2009, according to an analysis of the company’s quarterly earnings statements.

-Vevo, the ad-supported music video streaming service, steadily grew its audience in 2010, passing 50.6 million viewers for the month of December alone, comScore reports.

-Free downloads will account for 81% of the worldwide app market in 2011, Gartner forecasts.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETING

-78% of teens 13-17 regularly participate in word-of-mouth discussions about media and entertainment brands, compared to 57% of the population overall, says Keller Fay Group.

-26% of teens say the Internet has changed they way they shop, finds Experian Simmons.

-35% of teens with parents on Facebook aren’t “friends” with them, reports Kaplan Test Prep.

-Millennials are 50% more likely than the general population to want to cook for someone to show their appreciation rather than take them out to dinner, according to Ketchum Global Research and Liberty Mutual.

-50% of teens say their school work requires writing every day, finds the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Monday, January 24, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR



-52% of men say they wear a suit for special occasions, whereas 36% do so simply because they enjoy dressing up sometimes, reports Men's Warehouse.

-30% of adults plan to buy a tablet computer — such as an iPad — or an ebook reader in 2011, according to American Express.

-66% of mobile phone owners send SMS or text messages, finds Nielsen.

-Americans most commonly say high speed Internet access (24%) is the technological advancement to have most impacted society in the prior decade, followed closely by Facebook (22%), says Zogby.

-42% of women and 31% of men believe that the best shopping deals are found online rather than in-store, notes BIGresearch.

Friday, January 21, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN


-54% of women say there are more TVs than people in their homes, reports Redbook.

-Among advertisements, women are most likely to ignore banner ads (45%), Internet search engine ads (21%) and TV spots (13%), finds Harris Interactive.

-84% of moms say their number one goal when shopping is to save as much money as possible, according to CafeMom.

-Half of women (50%) feel the use of fur in clothing is cruel, compared to 31% of men who feel the same way, say Vanity Fair and CBS News.

-20% of women do not remove their mascara before exercising, finds Fitness magazine.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING


-Consumers have downloaded close to 10 billion apps from Apple’s online store — more than 60 for every iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch sold, reports Asymco.

-More movie renters frequented automated kiosks (31%) than brick-and-mortar video stores (27%) for the first time in the third quarter of 2010, according to NPD. Netflix and other subscription services account for the majority of renting activity, with a 41% share.

-Cake’s comeback album, Showroom of Compassion, is on track to top this week’s album sales with a new lowest-ever total: 42,000 copies, says Hits Daily Double. The total falls below last week’s new low of 52,000 for Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now.”

-Within hours of LivingSocial announcing a 50%-off deal on $20 Amazon.com gift cards Jan. 19, more than 530,000 online shoppers had taken up the social commerce site’s offer. Details at Business Insider.

-Although Americans are embracing alternative platforms such as online streaming to view television programs, 75% of Whites, 75% of Hispanics, 74% of Blacks, and 70% of Asians still primarily watch television via a traditional TV set, according to Horowitz Associates.

Monday, January 17, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-Married couples are 58% more likely than single people to purchase food and beverage items online, finds M/A/R/C Research.

-28% of Baby Boomers say health and age issues are barriers to them achieving what they want out of life, reports AARP.

-36.9 million Americans are of Irish heritage, second only to the number who claim German heritage, says the U.S. Census Bureau.

-Americans spent $1.6 billion on airline baggage fees in the first half of 2010, notes the Bureau of Transportation statistics.

-93% of women aged 35 and older believe that one needs to take care of both their face and body skin to look young, finds Proctor & Gamble.

Friday, January 14, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT MARKETING TO WOMEN

-The average women can say thank you in three languages, says Women’s Health.

-49% of women spend between 6 and 30 minutes looking for coupons, reading circulars, and learning about products from friends before heading to the store, find SheSpeaks and iVillage.

-Women held 14.4% of Executive Officer positions in 2010, up slightly from 13.5% in 2009, reports Catalyst.

-48% of moms of tweens regularly use Facebook, compared to 40% of other adults, according to the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.

-Women college students double their alcohol intake while studying overseas from 1.81 days per week to 2.76 days per week, reports the Journal of Student Affairs Research.

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-33% of Internet users have paid to download or gain access to music online — more than games (19%) or videos (16%), according to Pew Research Center’s InterneT.

-More than 20 million people worldwide use BitTorrent file-sharing software every day, according to the company. (BitTorrent remains highly popular with traders of copyrighted movies and TV shows, but the platform has been put to legitimate use as well.)

-Some 26.2 million people in North America paid to see a touring act in 2010, 12% fewer than in 2009, reports Pollstar.

-U.S. movie admissions in 2010 totaled 1.34 billion, 5% fewer than in 2009, estimates Exhibitor Relations via The Wrap.

-45% of consumers who own an Internet-connected TV claim to have accessed Internet features, according to NPD.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS

-Teen girls talk an average 753 minutes per month on their cellphone, while teen guys use 525 minutes, reports Nielsen.

-Children 6-11 engage in twice as much physical activity each day as those 12-19, according to Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

-33% of teens could not care less if a product is all natural, says ChaCha.

-67% of children have a library cards.

-24% of 16-17-year-olds have sent a photo of themselves to a stranger over the Internet, say Harris Interactive and McAfee.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-72% of workers have started to save for their retirement; they began saving at age 31, on average, says AXA Equitable.

-52% of Blacks, 38% of Hispanics, and 25% of Whites rent their homes, according to Fannie Mae (US STAT).

-42% of children under age 18 have a glass of fruit juice on a typical day, notes the Juice Products Association.

-44% of workers would go to work with a fever, and 19% feel pressured by their boss not to take sick days, reports Halls.

-55% of smartphone owners would like to be able to find local reviews on their devices, finds Ask.com.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

-More 18-24-year olds watch a full TV show episode online in a given week (50%) than play an online game (37%), according to an AP-MTV poll conducted by Edison Media.

-The installed base of new Apple TVs was on track to cross the one million mark during the week ending Dec. 26, according to Apple.

-“Avatar” has the dubious distinction of being the most illegally downloaded film of 2010, with 16.6 million downloading the film via BitTorrent services alone, reports TorrentFreak via Digital Media Wire.

-25% of kids aged 6-12 expect to have a new Nintendo DS within the next six months, according to Nielsen.

-19 million users of social game apps designed for Apple’s iOS spend more than 22 minutes a day with them, representing an aggregate market larger than the audience of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” according to Flurry.

TODAY'S FOUR FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS (only 4 today...sorry)

-43% of teens say the ability to text message is the primary reason to get a cellphone, reports Nielsen.

-84% of 8-11-year-olds find out about new products and trends from their classmates; 48% learn from their parents, finds Mintel.

-20% of 8-18-year-olds hope their families purchase a 3D TV in 2011, says ConsumerSearch.com.

-13% of 6-7-year-olds want their own digital camera, finds Play Science.

Monday, January 3, 2011

TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-39% of travelers who visit family members over the holidays would rather stay in a hotel than be a houseguest, according to Hotwire.com.

-63% of those who own a smartphone and cook use their devices to find recipes, finds Allrecipes.com.

-69% of those aged 65 and older cite the economy as a major source of stress in their lives, notes the Psychology Association.

-27% of Consumers have switched to private label pet care products, compared to 75% who have switched to private label household products, says Epsilon Targeting.

-79% of Americans think the U.S. is too divided along political lines, reports USA Network.