2009 Marketing Trends in brief

So much has been going on for me that I have neglected this blog. I plan to do better in 2009.

I could not leave 2008 without commenting on all the trend articles that are out there. So many viewpoints, so little time. To that end, her eis my last bit of help in 2008… here are the 2009 marketing trends articles I found most thoughtful, thought-provoking and pretty on target from what I’m seeing in the world.

Many blessings for business prosperity and talk to you in the new year!

BEST MARKETING TRENDS of 2009 ARTICLES

1. Felipe Korzenny’s Hispanic Marketing Trends for 2009

2. KEY MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2009 (Canadian but definitely going to see south of the border too)

 

3. PART 1: 50 Youth Marketing Trends for 2009 by Graham Brown

 

4. Strange Corporation – News – Online Marketing Trends in 2009

5. Greg Verdino: Marketing, Media & Trends: If 2009 will be the ‘year …

6. Email Marketing Trends for 2009

 

7. Cliff Allen on Marketing: 9 Marketing Trends for 2009

SEO and the rest of your marketing efforts

A new report from iProspect, conducted by JupiterResearch,  says that 45% of search engine marketers do not integrate their search marketing efforts with offline channels.

In addition, it uncovers a big disconnect between search engine marketer strategy and search engine user behavior…The study finds that just over half of search engine marketers (55%) intentionally integrate their efforts with at least one offline marketing channel.

Other key findings: The two integration techniques most frequently employed by search marketers are prominently including the company Web address (84%), and the company name (66%), in offline marketing initiatives.

Only 26% of marketers utilize the same keywords in offline campaigns as are used in search marketing campaigns in their integration efforts.

24% of companies do not participate in offline marketing at all.

Can you hear me grinding my teeth on this one.

It’s articles like this that bother me as a marketing professional. I have been saying for years that it is not about Search Engine Optimization but Web Optimization that must happen which includes getting your PR efforts and branding materials to all be utilizing the same language, content, tone and keywords.

It irks me more to know that small business owners everywhere get sucked in by some so-called SEO expert that this will solve their marketing woes when in reality what they get in sales goes right back out in word$.

If you are working with an SEO “professional,” challenge them on this. Question how they plan to cross-train your SEO with your direct mail piece planned next month. If they give you a deer-in-headlights look or it’s silent on the phone, cut your losses and find a true marketer that gets it the first time.

See full article here.

Done ranting.

3 bits worth knowing

So besides my book writing, I’m also looking to write some articles.

I have also cleaned out my in-boxes and been diligently reading the many enewsletters I subscribe to. Here are three interesting nuggets:

Laura Ries analyzes the branding of iPhone. Good read.

A recent benchmark study of more than 6,000 women by BlogHer, in conjunction with Compass Partners, shows that 36.2 million women actively participate in the blogsophere every week, with 15.1 million publishing and 21.1 million reading and commenting. 68% of this BlogHer community is concentrated in the 25 to 41 age group (the GenXr’s), compared to 42% for the general blogging population. Two thirds have completed college, and 46% earn over $75,000 compared to only 25% of the general community.

Pew has now broken down our twiddling middle class into four pieces. Great stats and pretty interesting from a mindset perspective

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.

Two great campaigns launched last week…

First, New Belgium Brewing, an employee-owned brewery that’s environmentally conscious has launched its first national print campaign. Three of seven ads launch in 16 states this month, from Chicago to California and Montana to New Mexico, using the tag line: “Follow Your Folly. Ours is Beer.” They’ve created a great site followyourfolly.com where you can watch videos and learn more about saving the environment. Cultivator Advertising & Design created the campaign.

Gillette and NASCAR have a partnership called the Gillette Young Guns featuring drivers Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson. Driver Kasey Kahne is the newest member of the Young Guns so they’ve created a new ad “Prank Revenge” that promotes the Gillette Fusion Power Phantom and is definitely on the fun and funny side. The ad will run exclusively during NASCAR programming. BBDO New York created the ad. Revolution sends kudos to both agencies.

When was the last time you used the yellow pages to find a company or product… AND when was the last time you used a search engine to find out something? Is your current web site helping you or hurting you?

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?