Podcasting audience data is no surprise here

People between the ages of 35-54 represented about half of the podcasting audience and were also more likely than average to download podcasts, according to a comScore study. Well, yeah, we need to listen to something at work. And I believe people (of a certain age) see podcasts much like audio books, fitting in to our multitasking whenever possible.

More data…

• males represented a significantly larger share (63 percent) of the iTunes podcasting audience than did females (37 percent). 
• 18-24 year olds represented a substantial share of the audience (29 percent) and were more than twice as likely as the average Internet user to download podcasts
• those individuals in households making at least $100,000 annually were 28 percent more likely than average to download podcasts, while college graduates were 25 percent more likely.

So if you haven’t already, you might want to start getting your brand involved with podcasting. Don’t know where to start? Contact me.

And for more information from comScore, please visit here.

Send your questions or submit your marketing for critique to Jeny at jeny@ampbranding.com. All submissions may be published; please indicate if you would like your name or company name withheld.

Higher gas = lower consumer confidence

Some helpful highlights from the BIGresearch May Consumer Intentions & Actions Survey.

• 33.3% of consumers say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
• 18% say they only buy apparel on sale, up from April’s 16.8%.
• Drivers are supplementing spending at the pump with dollars earmarked for savings and not cutting back so much on other purchases. Fewer than a third (32.2%) are focused on paying down debt, down from last month (34.0%) and May ‘06 (37.1%).

• Grads may be receiving laptops, digital cameras, and perhaps even a wide screen TV. Expect parents to make their Electronics purchases at Best Buy, where almost a third (29.1%) of consumers shop most often, gaining from 25.6% last year.  Second is Wal-Mart with 15.0% (declining from 18.4% in ‘06), followed by Circuit City (7.8%), Sears (2.6%), and Target (2.2%).
• Six month purchase intentions are down for all categories this month: autos, computer, furniture, home appliances, housing, jewelry, major home improvements, stereo equipment, TV, DVD/VCR, digital cameras, and vacation travel.

Influence of Higher Gas Prices (% of respondents)
	All	North-east	Mid-west	South	West
Buying more store brand/generic products	22.2%	17.5%	25.7%	24.0%	20.3%
Doing more comparative shopping online	16.8%	16.0%	17.6%	16.8%	16.6%
Doing more comparative shopping with ad circulars/newspapers	23.3%	21.4%	25.5%	24.2%	20.9%(
Shopping closer to home	37.9%	33.8%	38.5%	40.7%	36.9%
Shopping for sales more often	30.7%	28.7%	33.6%	31.3%	28.6%
Shopping more online	13.3%	13.8%	12.3%	14.5%	12.4%
Taking fewer shopping trips	40.2%	34.2%	43.0%	43.0%	38.3%
Using coupons more	23.5%	22.4%	24.8%	24.8%	21.2%
Source: BigResearch, May 2007

What does this mean for your business? Anticipate lower propspect traffic. Ramp up your customer service to keep your current customers very happy and buying. Marketing materials must strongly connnect to customers for it to make an impact… and a purchase.

Send your questions or submit your marketing for critique to Jeny at jeny@ampbranding.com. All submissions may be published; please indicate if you would like your name or company name withheld.

MySpace and Teens Research

Great new research is out from the Pew Internet & American Life Project discussing teen online privacy protection (and let’s face it adults privacy too).

Findings include that

43% of social-networking teens have been contacted online by complete strangers.

55% of online teens have profiles online.

Most teens are using networks to stay in touch with people they already know, either friends that they see a lot (91% of social networking teens have done this) or friends that they rarely see in person (82%).

23% of teens who have been contacted by a stranger online say they felt scared or uncomfortable because of the online encounter.

Read the full report at www.pewinternet.org

Send your questions or submit your marketing for critique to Jeny at jeny@ampbranding.com. All submissions may be published; please indicate if you would like your name or company name withheld.

Getting a Grip…

I love articles like the following from this week’s Brandweek…Study: Ad Avoiders Can’t Be Ignored
Ten to 15% of adults 17-35 fall into the category of “ad avoiders” and generally find advertising “annoying,” according to a new report from Microsoft and Starcom… The report found two types: passive avoiders who simply can’t be bothered with ads, and active avoiders who message to advertisers is “be good or be gone.” Now I’m sorry but did we really need a study to tell us there were people in the
U.S. who hate ads?!! I was actually surprised by the percentage…. guess these are the hard core serious ones.The five-paragraph article mentions that these consumers’ habits makes them hard to reach by conventional means. Well… yeah… duh. What this article fails to realize is that none of us are such one-dimensional creatures. Okay, a mother doesn’t like ads and spend her time reading books and playing board games… this makes her immune to advertising? Mothers are the most powerful audience for spreading the word about good products and are very loyal when they do find one.Make a great product. Keep your current customers happy. Let them spread the word about how great you are. Make it easy for these new customers to find you. Keep going.And who did you want to be when you were 8?

Still Blowing Bubbles

Interesting piece of childhood nostalgia and market data all rolled into one helpful nugget of research….Here are the top 10 brand preferences of kids 6-11 who chew gum.
1. Bubble Yum (51%)
2. Hubba Bubble Bubble Tape (49%)
3. Bubblicious (44%)
4. Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit (38%)
5. Hubba Bubba Max (33%)
6. Bazooka (30%)
7. Ice Breakers (28%)
8. Trident (26%)
9. Other Brands (24%)
10. Wrigley’s Winterfresh (19%)Source: Experian Simmons National Kids Study Fall 2006When was the last time you blew a bubble?