The Trend Report Collection

The Trend Collection (December 2006 - August 2007)

by Kelly Carlson

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Trend Report v 8.5

College Credit: Honor Roll or Bank Roll?

A cap, a gown, a degree, maybe a hangover and an average of $20,000 in debt: That’s what graduating students are leaving college with.

A few other facts regarding college students and their use of credit cards: • 43% of freshmen owned a credit card, compared with 74% for 4th and 5th year students.

• 41% of cardholders carried a balance from month to month, and the median amount was $1,000.

• Approximately 25% of cardholders used their credit card to pay for tuition.

Source: www.hoffmanbrinker.com

Marketing:

Free Love Continues...

Advertisers competing for the muchdesired attention of the college-aged set now have another opportunity to get their ads in the hands of students—and hold their interest for up to 90 minutes.

FreeHand Advertising distributes free note-taking paper to students on their way to class. Each page is branded with the same type of horizontal ad you see on websites, only these are visible for at least the duration of a college lecture, and longer if students refer back to their notes (as they should).

FreeHand agents operate at 90 of the biggest college campuses in the United States, reaching up to 3,500,000 students in 32 states, including all major cities. Businesses can select which campuses they want to market to, for local or nationwide campaigns, or to a targeted demographic. Thorough post-campaign reports detail how many sheets were distributed and even include pictures of agents handing them out to students.

Finance:

Economics:

According to the NRF, from a study conducted by BIGresearch, students and their parents will spend a combined average of $956.93 on backto-college merchandise, up from last year’s $880.52, for a total of $47.3 billion gearing up for college.

Forget the age-old tales of having to walk uphill both ways in the snow to get to class—college students at Syracuse University in New York don’t even have to coordinate their own grocery shopping, laundry or cleaning, thanks to a concierge service that aims to motivate them by giving them a taste of the good life.

Concierge on Campus

Super Spenders

Laptops, digital cameras, along with iPhones and other cell phones, should be big sellers again this year, with students and their parents expected to spend a total of $12.8 billion on electronics. Spending on furnishings is expected to reach $5.43 billion, up from last year’s $3.82 billion. Young adults aged 18-24 will spend the most in the dorm and apartment furnishings category, spending an average of $158.61.

Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch, Phil Rist, said, “For today’s students, spending on college-related merchandise is as much of a necessity as wearing a business suit for a job interview...retailers are smart to focus on a group that needs to buy because of a life stage event.”

Source: www.centerformediaresearch.com

Statistics:

18 million: The projected number of students enrolled in the nation’s colleges and universities this fall. This is up from 12.8 million 20 years ago.

Ads can be used to gain visibility, offer coupons, or promote sales, grand openings or other events. Colored and recycled papers are also available, and larger images can be displayed as watermarks. With so many brands and marketers reaching out to this market, note paper is an innovative low-tech solution for grabbing their attention. And free love—giving away ad-sponsored anything—is generally appreciated by those on the receiving side, too.

$13,425: Average tuition, room and

Source: www.freehands.com

Source: www.census.gov

Student-owned and operated Precious Time is a personal assistant, errand and concierge service just for college students. Students can become members by charging pre-paid accounts with a minimum of $50, and money is drawn from the account to pay for services as needed, plus a percentage for Precious Time’s own profit. Services include placement and delivery of take-out orders from local restaurants, grocery shopping, house cleaning, flower delivery and booking tutors.

While a concierge service for college students may seem over the top, education at top colleges comes with a high price tag. So it’s not surprising that some students are willing to buy extra time by outsourcing domestic chores, so that they can fully focus on their studies. The concept could also do well on other campuses, and Precious Time hints at franchise opportunities on their website. What about concierge services tailored to other busy demographics who struggle to find the time for all the items on their “to do” lists, like working parents or small business owners?

board (for in-state students) at the nation’s four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year.

$36,510: Average tuition, room and board at the nation’s four-year private colleges and universities for one academic year.

3 million: Number of college degrees expected to be conferred in the 200708 school year.

Source: www.precioustimeny.com

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Women. The Mega Niche. The under-served market of all markets. And so on. Just consider the fact that women, who comprise just over 50% of the U.S. population, make over 80% of the consumer purchasing decisions (and in case you’re wondering, consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. GNP). Consulting firm A.T. Kearney estimates that women determine 80 percent of consumption, purchase 60 percent of all cars and own 40 percent of all stocks. No wonder some companies have FEMALE FEVER these days.

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Craigslist Meets YouTube

What do you get when you cross online classified ads with web-based video?

Realpeoplerealstuff.com is equal parts Craigslist and YouTube—a whole new way for customers to reach out to one another to sell their used appliances, automobiles, collectibles, concert tickets and countless other goods and services.

“Realpeoplerealstuff.com combines the hottest Internet trends in one, easy-touse site: e-commerce, snarky writing, funny videos, everyone’s desire to be a star and video sharing.”

With a few clicks of a mouse, customers can upload their own video commercials, recorded on their camcorders, webcams, digital cameras or cameraphones. Ads are organized by category and location, and users can enter text descriptions, prices, thumbnail photos and tags along with their video clips. For best results, users are encouraged to engage their personality, creativity and sense of humor when filming their commercials.

And who knows? One may well turn out to be the next average Joe or Jane launched into Internet stardom. The service is entirely free—for now at least, though there may come a day when, like Craigslist, modest charges apply to select portions.

Realpeoplerealstuff.com improves on two of the top trends on the Internet— videos and classified ads— by combining them. And it’s a smart new use of personal video, especially considering the number of people who are growing accustomed to using their cellphones or digicams to create and upload their own videos. With classifieds, video is obviously a useful extra layer of information, especially when it comes to renting apartments or selling cars and other large items.

Source: www.realpeoplerealstuff.com

Trend Report v 8.4

Shopping Styles:

Definition: “FEMALE FEVER”

Life Online:

Philanthropy:

Family-to-Family

It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t want to support efforts to relieve hunger and poverty, which continue to be a problem even in developed countries. But donating money or non-perishables to food banks, while philanthropic, can feel a bit detached—and therefore easy for consumers to overlook. Family-to-Family, a non-profit hunger relief program is looking to change that by making charity personal.

...a Part of Our DNA?

According to a new online survey of over 3,000 women, ages 18-49, by AMP Agency, how a woman approaches shopping does not change as she grows older, shifts from life stage to life stage, moves from region to region, has children, or moves income brackets. A woman’s approach to shopping is very much part of who she is: “it is part of her DNA.” The report states that there are distinct approaches to shopping, and identified and segmented women across four distinct mind-sets or “Shopping Genes”: • Content Responsibles (Practical, Loyal, Efficient) • Natural Hybrids (Confident, Balanced, Classic) • Social Catalysts (Social, Smart, Trendy) • Cultural Artists (Creative, Impulsive, Adventurous)

A young girl at home in Pembroke, Illinois, the community that inspired the founding of Family-to-Family. (Photo: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)

Family-to-Family links middle class or well-to-do families to less privileged counterparts in poor, rural areas of the United States. There are two options for sponsoring a family. With the first option, the sponsoring family actually shops and packages shipments of food and other essential items—such as warm winter gloves, over-the-counter medicine or shampoo—once a month. Alternatively, a family may choose to send a gift certificate or check in the amount of $35 earmarked toward the purchase of food each month with an essential item. Families also are encouraged to write letters to get to know one another, making the mission all the more personal.

The organization, which was started with a meager 17 names of families who desperately needed support, now serves more than 700. For example, Family-toFamily aids people in Mingo County, West Virginia where many residents do not have running water or telephones. Entrepreneurs who want to lend their business sense to making the world a little brighter for the less fortunate: take note!

Source: www.family-to-family.org

With a 418 billion dollar annual sales opportunity, figuring out how women shop can help marketers determine how to connect with them in distinct and effective ways, opines the report.

The groups were based on the respondents’ self-reported views of themselves and their place in the world according to respondents’ answers to a series of “influencer”-type questions. This is how an estimated 67,560,586 women in the United States between the ages 18-49 slice up in population and on an individual annual spending basis, says the report: Average Annual Spend: • Content Responsibles: $4,778 • Natural Hybrids: $5,383 • Social Catalysts: $6,035 • Cultural Artists: $7,672 Anastasia Toomey, VP Insights, AMP Agency, concluded, “...In the end, understanding these mind-sets can help brands improve upon existing relationships and start new ones with female shoppers.”

Source: www.centerformediaresearch.com

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Easing the blow of the UK ban on smoking in public spaces that came into effect on July 1st, TankBooks is selling books packaged like cigarettes—right down to the cellophane wrapping on the outside and silver foil on the inside.

Despite their diminutive size, the first series of TankBooks aren’t the intellectual equivalent of Menthol Lights. Pitched as ‘tales to take your breath away,’ the box-packed reads range from Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” to Kafka’s “Metamorphosis.” While perhaps not tempting enough for every smoker to kick the habit and take up reading instead, it’s a start.

Source: www.tankmagazine.com/tankbooks

Travel Toys:

Functional Footwear:

Passengers on Contiki tour buses can now relax and enjoy their travels without stressing about their mobile phones, digital cameras, iPods or other portable electronic devices running out of juice. Australian-based Contiki has introduced Charging on the Go as a free service to customers. Starting this summer, the company is outfitting all of its European coaches with electronic charging units, so customers can plug in while en route to their destination and not have to worry about their batteries going flat.

Know how to spot a (stylish) woman driver? She’ll be the one with one shoe all scuffed at the heel and wrinkled at the toe, because that’s the foot she uses to drive with. Or maybe that’s just me? Anyway, these convertible high heels by car insurance company Sheila’s Wheels are designed to put an end to the female driver’s plight, with a stiletto heel that folds into the sole, turning it into a flat. They’re safer to drive in than your stilettos, and they’re certainly more glamorous than most “driving shoes”. The question is, though: would you wear them?

This is a smart move considering how much people increasingly rely on digital devices, especially while travelling. It adds an extra layer of convenience for customers—and should be particularly appealing to the Gen X and Gen Y crowd that Contiki primarily caters to. Every business serving consumers in transit can win their approval by helping them stay wired, connected and powered.

Source: www.contiki.com

Drivers’ Delight

Source: www.ilovesheilas.com

... And Secret Sandals

Ever wonder what to do with that single car key and wad of cash when you hit the beach? A company called Archport Shoes has come up with a brilliant idea, if not the most aesthetically pleasing. Their one-inch soles contain two pop-out chambers big enough to hold cards, cash, keys and any other random tidbids you can’t bare to leave in the car.

Meeting Magic: AV Rental Made Easy

Trend Report v 8.1

Dine and Dangle?

From Lighting Up to Light Reading?

Contiki Keeps You Charged

Source: www.archportshoes.com

Table with a View

Last year, a Belgian company began organizing dinners in the sky, with a table, chairs and guests suspended from a crane. The concept made quite a splash and, over the past year, has traveled across Europe and attained TÜV certification—one of the toughest seals of security.

Recently, Dinner in the Sky added a gravity-defying element to the mix: a concert in the air. Suspended from a second crane, a violinist and a pianist—playing a grand piano, no less— performed for 22 guests who were dangling from their own crane several meters away. What’s next: acrobats, dancers, a play? Other suggestions for use of a twin crane include unveiling a new car model, launching an advertising campaign or hosting a fashion show. Anything presented at a height of 50 meters (164 feet) is bound to make a more lasting impression than it would on terra firma. This is the experience economy, after all!

Source: www.dinnerinthesky.com

Meeting Tomorrow offers business customers easy access to audiovisual equipment. Hotels often charge extortionate prices for renting a projector or display screen, and other meeting venues don’t always have the equipment needed for a presentation. On Meeting Tomorrow, you choose the equipment you need, order it online or by phone, and the equipment is delivered to your home, office, hotel or meeting location on time. Advance orders are delivered the day before the meeting, and same day orders are welcome. (Meeting Tomorrow offers same day delivery to 95% of the US, and next day service to the rest of the country.)

The beauty of the concept is how simple it is for customers, who can rely on the equipment arriving on time and don’t have to go out of their way to pick up or return a projector. For returns, Meeting Tomorrow takes a cue from Netflix: pre-paid adhesive FedEx return labels are included with projectors and laptops. After using the equipment, customers slap on the label and drop the cases in any FedEx drop box. Bulkier equipment, such as screens or sound systems, are picked up after the event.

Pricing is straightforward, too: no matter where the equipment is needed, customers pay the same rental prices and a flat delivery fee.

Source: www.meetingtomorrow.com

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Trend Report v 7.1

Definition: “Maturialism”

Whether it’s adults fed up with the dumbed-down teen/tween culture dominating everyday life, or just a serious case of boomer decadence: MATURIALISM is HOT. A vital combination of “mature” consumers pursuing a seemingly restrained “best of the best” materialism is driving the trend in ditching mundane goods and services for more professional, premium or sassier versions. From heavy-duty power tools to state-of-the-art cameras to grown-up ice cream flavors.

Coffee culture:

A global phenomenon?

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Confused Consumers: Grappling with Gratuities

He’s Just Into You: Wrinkles and All

The inevitable question heard at the end of many restaurant meals was asked of consumers across the globe, with the most common answer from 31% of all respondents being between 10 and 15 percent of the bill.

A recent study on global tipping practices showed that 15% of consumers will usually leave less than 10 percent of the bill, 14% will leave between 15 to 20 percent of the bill, while the largest group of all (36%) don’t base the amount of their tip on the final bill.

Unsurprisingly, Americans are the world’s largest tippers, with 53% of respondents from the USA believing that a tip of between 15 and 20 percent of the bill is an appropriate amount to leave at the end of a meal, while Russians were the least generous, generally leaving less than 10 percent of a bill.

Who do you tip?

Consumers are most likely to tip the world’s waiters (86%), hairdressers (58%) and taxi drivers (52%), while casino dealers (8%), hotel doormen (14%) and coat check staff (22%) are the least likely to be rewarded.

Other service providers named by consumers as likely to receive a tip for their service include bartenders (46%), hotel bellhops (43%) and the handyman (33%).

Service is Key Three quarters of consumers globally will not leave a tip if they feel that they have received bad service.

Source: www.synovate.com

“Skinny latte, extra foam, to go please…”

Consumers the world over are highly in favor of coffee giants and the vast array of choices they offer, reveals global market research agency Synovate.

In a study that sought to illuminate coffee culture around the globe, Synovate spoke to 5,806 respondents in the US, UK, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Serbia, Morocco and Australia. Overall, 76 percent of respondents agreed that “large multinational coffee chains are good because they expand choices for consumers.”

MTV booty-shaking minx or Catherine Deneuve? In another recent survey of seniors aged 55 or older, there is no contest – nearly 40 per cent of men in 12 key markets said older women were just as attractive as their younger counterparts.

And in a day and age when Hollywood roles for older actresses are in rapid decline and Botox use starts in the teenage years, this is refreshing news.

Apart from the 50 percent of Greek men and 33 percent of Italian men who point out weight gain as the least attractive aspect of women getting older, a flat tering majority of men in most markets surveyed find mature women every bit as attractive – wrinkles, grey hair and all. Still feeling ancient? Book a ticket to Germany, where six out of 10 older men think older women are simply gorgeous.

Interestingly, both men and women held fairly the same opinions on when a woman’s beauty peaks. For the French and Americans, the 40s are the golden age.

In general, about three in 10 women claim to spend just as much money on cosmetics as they used to when they were younger. About 20 percent spend more money now that they’re older – 40 percent in France.

However, it’s clearly a trade-off between enjoyment and principles for many, with 28 percent also agreeing that these “large multinational chains have negatively impacted local culture.”

When asked which coffee shop or café first comes to mind for quality ready-todrink coffee, a majority of respondents from Hong Kong and the US mentioned Starbucks.

Over in France, however, unspecified bars, restaurants or cafés were top of mind, with Starbucks cited by a mere 2 percent. The top result for Australians was Gloria Jean at 32 percent, while two in five Serbians mentioned Nescafé.

More Coffee Curiosities...

We all know that the French love their espressos, but over 1 in 5 Brazilians also choose espresso as their favorite coffee Iced coffee is most popular in Hong Kong, US and Singapore, with around 7% of respondents choosing it – double the average across all markets Decaf coffee, though only a small favorite, was chosen mostly by Americans and English

Is the loss of beauty something to be mourned? Not really, respondents chorused. For 57 percent, beauty “is part external appearance and part how a person is on the inside.”

When asked which coffee shop or café first comes to mind, after general cafés/restaurants the French were most likely to mention espresso brand names such as Lavazza (8%) and Segafredo (7%), further highlighting the importance of espressos in this market

Source: www.synovate.com

Source: www.synovate.com

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Trend Report 6.27.07

High Gas Prices

Sparkler Safety

Though they can be exciting, festive and fun, it is important to remember that fireworks are also dangerous. In 2005, an estimated 10,800 people were treated in U.S. emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries. Between June 18 and July 18, 2005, firecrackers (26%), sparklers (17%), and rockets (17%) accounted for most of the injuries seen in emergency departments. Sparklers were associated with over half of the estimated injuries among children under 5 years, during the same time period. Injuries from fireworks most often affect the hands, eyes, and the head, face, and ear.

Source: www.cdc.com

Fast Facts:

Independence Day Info 2.5 million

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation. (1776 population from Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)

302 million

The nation’s population on this July 4th.

$206.3 million

The value of fireworks imported from China in 2006, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($216 mil lion). U.S. exports of fireworks, by com parison, came to just $22.6 million in 2006, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($8 million).

$17.3 million

The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks in 2002.

$5.3 million

In 2006, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags; the vast majority of this amount ($5 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

$349.2 million

Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers, according to the latest published Economic Census (2002) data.

$1.7 million

Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2006. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was the leading customer, purchasing $661,498 worth.

30

Number of places nationwide with “liberty” in their names. The most populous one is Liberty, MO (29,042). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

More than 74 million

Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.

6.8 billion pounds

Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2006. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production.

About 50-50

The odds that the beans in your side dish of baked beans came from Michigan or North Dakota, which produced 49 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2006.

Nearly Half

The amount of the nation’s spuds (for your potato salad) produced in Idaho or Washington in 2006.

...and 4th of July Festivities As consumers head into summer, gas prices still weigh heavily on their minds, but not at the cost of their Independence Day celebrations. According to NRF’s 2007 Independence Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 42.1 percent of consumers said increased gas prices will impact their spending for the July 4th holiday, slightly lower than the 46.8 percent who said they were impacted last year. Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year, adding an additional challenge for retailers that plan special July 4 promotions.

When it comes to consumers’ 4th of July plans, 61.1 percent will have a cookout/ barbecue or picnic, 42.5 percent will attend fire works or another type of community celebration and 9.7 percent will attend a parade. While many said they are currently driving less (40%) and taking fewer shopping trips (41.9%) due to fluctuating gas prices, one in ten con sumers (11.3%) will travel or go on vacation for the holiday. In addition, 17.3 percent of shoppers said they will purchase additional patriotic merchandise to celebrate Independence Day. “Retailers will make sure stores are packed with patriotic-themed apparel and other items such as sparklers and flags,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin.

“Americans will celebrate Independence Day surrounded by family, food and fun.”

In general, the uncertainty about gas prices seems to have the most impact on consumers’ spending decisions.

Nearly 73 percent believe that gas prices will be more than they are now by July 4. On average, consumers expect the price for gas to rise to $3.38.

“While gas prices do play an important role in where and when consumers shop, shoppers will not let that dampen their summer plans,” stated Vice President of Strategy at BIGresearch Phil Rist. “Many people will choose to stay closer to home to celebrate or take advantage of their community celebrations, but some still feel this holiday is definitely worth the drive.”

Source: www.census.gov

$1.7 million Dollar value of U.S.

Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!

Source: www.nrf.com

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Trend Report 6.13.07

For Father’s Day?

Trend: “(Still) Made Here” “(STILL) MADE HERE encompasses new and enduring manufacturers and purveyors of the local.

In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”

Source: www.trendwatching.com

More “Made Here”:

Fighting Piracy

Most summer music festivals take a large toll on the environment. Mountains of waste, car parks, food from afar, diesel generators for electricity, tidal waves of plastic water bottles, flying in international artists... In an effort to do less harm, several music festivals around the world have started putting “carbon neutral” practices into place, offsetting the carbon dioxide they’ve caused to enter the atmosphere.

Backed by musician Peter Gabriel, British We7 is offering consumers free songs tagged with 10-second advertisements, which are played before the music track starts. Four weeks after downloading, We7 gives the user the option of downloading an ad-free, DRM-free version. Which makes for free music without piracy. We7 is currently in beta and hasn’t signed up any major labels.

The venture is currently working with independent record labels, featuring artists such as Youssou N’Dour, the Dave Matthews Band and Hall & Oates. (A similar service is SpiralFrog, scheduled to launch in Canada and the US later this year.)

Music Festival Goes Local

A new British student festival is aiming to do more than become carbon neutral.

Beach Break Live, a three day event in Cornwall taking place from June 12-14, has taken a number of steps to have an environmentally and socially positive impact. The micro festival (just 3,000 visitors) has organized cheap bus travel for students from their universities, keeping road transit and parking to a minimum.

Beach Break Live takes place during a mid-week outside the peak holiday season, which means it’s providing the local economy with a boost during downtime.

Furthermore, most food and drink will be sourced locally: beef and lamb from neighborhood farms, beer from Skinner’s, a Cornwall brewery, bottled water from a Cornish spring, seafood from Cornish waters, and even toilet paper from a nearby paper recycling plant.

By backing the local community and trying to do as little harm to the environment as possible, Beach Break Live incorporates a number of elements of the still-madehere trend seen above.

Source: www.beachbreaklive.com

...With Free Love

Not Just Neckties

According to NRF’s 2007 Father’s Day survey, the average spending for a gift for dads this June will be $98.34, which will total $9.9 billion when everything has been tallied. And thank goodness that not all of it will go for neckties!

From the survey, it was revealed that most dads would get a greeting card (69.9%), which will be accompanied with a special outing such as dinner (42.7%).

Or Dad can receive an apparel item (37.1%), which hopefully is not a necktie, a gift certificate or gift card (29.9%), consumer electronics or computerrelated accessories (17.8%), sporting goods or leisure items (13.9%), tools or appliances (13.6%), and home improvement or gardening tools (12.4%).

But it’s not only dad or stepdad (50.1%) who will receive gifts. Family members and friends who are dads will also be remembered. More than a fourth of consumers (28%) will buy a gift for their husband and 7.7 percent will splurge on their son. Consumers will also spend on their grandfathers (3.8%), brothers (4.6%) and godfathers (1.1%).

And, here’s the clincher, though the holiday is for dad, men will still be spending more than women this year with men planning to spend $100.72 on average versus women’s average of $96.09.

Source: www.nrf.com

More Dad’s Day Fun Facts...

There are approximately 66.3 million fathers in the United States.

In theory, it’s a win-win-win: consumers get free songs without pangs of guilt for stealing from artists, artists are paid for their music, and advertisers get the opportunity to “Intimately whisper into the ears of their targeted audience like never before”, as We7 puts it. To make the concept work, We7 will need to sign up more top artists and hot up-and-coming ones. Still, it’s yet another interesting example of what trendwatching.com dubbed “free love,” the practice of offering consumers free products and services, sponsored by advertising.

There are approximately 98,000 “stayat-home” dads. These are married fathers with children under 15 years old who have remained out of the labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home.

Among these stay-at-home dads: • 29 percent had their own children under 3 years old living with them • 63 percent had two or more children • 40 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 or more There are about 26.5 million fathers who are part of married-couple families with their own children under the age of 18.

And there are about 2.3 million single fathers, up from 393,000 in 1970. Currently, among single parents living with their children, 18 percent are men.

Source: www.we7.com

Reminder: Sunday, June 17, is Father’s Day

Source: www.census.gov

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Trend Report 5.23.07

Word of Mouth:

Definition: “Virtual Anthropology”

‘Observing’ and ‘inspiration’ are at the core of what trend watchers do, and many of their activities could be described as a ‘diet’ version of anthropology. To refresh your memory, anthropology consists of the study of mankind with a strong emphasis on fieldwork. Or, when it comes to business: the study of how consumers live and work.

Top Influencer of B-to-B

As consumers around the world pro-actively post, stream if not lead parts of their lives online, we (any trend watcher or “Virtual Anthropologist”) can now vicariously ‘live’ amongst them, at home, at work, out on the streets. From reading minute-by-minute online diaries or watching live webcam feeds, to diving into tens of millions of tagged pictures uploaded by Flickr-fueled members of the online generation in Mexico, Mauritius, Malaysia and dozens of other countries.

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Vendvertising:

Art Online:

Saatchi’s Gallery

Well-known British advertiser and art collector Charles Saatchi last year launched Stuart and Your Gallery online projects, which has reached 3.5 million visitors daily. Definitely, this is the largest audience in current online art projects.

Your Gallery is a YouTube like service where users can show, share and vote on pieces of art. Over 20,000 artists with different styles and, let’s say, many levels of quality have uploaded their works, paintings, drawings, photographs and even video (surprisingly, video is the least represented technique, less than 10% of the works) can be browsed by the artist names. Every piece has a profile with a brief biography of the artist, a resumé, a statement of the work and artist’s contact (just for subscribed users, like in the popular movie directory IMBD). The audience is primarily from the States, followed

by United Kingdom and German.

Saatchy Gallery is now preparing a mandarin version of the site, of course, to address the service to the Chinese art market, with its emerging artist and collectors.

Even though there are no specific requirements to upload works and take part of the database, Saatchi also hosts an art student service. The main difference between both “galleries” is that Stuart adds features of social network. Students’ profile look more like MySpace. When registered, besides showing their skills, users can also add artie friends to their network and chatting with other connected users.

Source: www.yourgallery.com

Free-for-View Vending Machine

Business-to-business sales are more affected by conversations between executives than any other marketing tool.

A survey of 700 executives found that word of mouth has the biggest influence on business purchase decisions. Those word-of-mouth recommendations happen face to face far more often than online, according to the survey.

Would you be willing to watch a 30second advertisement on a vending machine to get a free drink? According to a vending machine operator Apex Corp, soon, “thirsty Japanese customers will be able to drink coffee or other non-alcoholic beverages at a low price or even for free — as long as they watch a 30-second advertisement on the vending machines.” Apex said it expected to roll out the service to “turn its machines into a new medium for advertisers, who will pick up the partial or full cost of drinks” next month.

Source: www.weirdasianews.com

Mobile Magic:

Solar-Cell Phone LCD

The spring 2007 survey of U.S. and U.K. executives found that 50% are highly likely to buy a product or service based on word of mouth; 49% pass on what they’ve heard to others.

The executives said that word of mouth has more than twice as much influence on their purchase decisions as advertising, direct mail or press coverage. That includes (in order): recommendations from colleagues or friends, conversation with a salesperson, participation at marketing events, conferences and tradeshows, and last, the Internet.

Fully 75% of these influential conversations happen in person; only 3% are conducted via e-mail, with text messaging and blogs/online chat each accounting for just 1%, the survey found.

“The study provides clear directives about the influence of word of mouth in the B-to-B space and the need to engage decision-makers face-to-face,” says Laura Shuler, chief strategy officer and president U.S. of Jack Morton.

“Marketers need to provide a hands-on experience with the brand in a setting that’s conducive to two-way dialogue.”

Charging gadgets is not only an inconvenience, it’s a drain on our resources and environment. Various solar chargers have been around for a while now, but they’re either bulky and awkward or too expensive to be practical. Luckily, there may be an improved option for getting off the grid and into the sun in the near future - Motorola was just awarded a sweet patent for putting a solar-cell underneath an LCD on a mobile device, allowing it to show a display and recharge simultaneously.

Executives are chatty in their off-hours, too, making brand recommendations much more frequently than the average consumer. Business execs average 118 conversations (with 102 brand mentions) about products and services each week. The average for general consumers: 100 conversations, with 77 brand mentions.

Source: www.treehugger.com

Source: www.promomagazine.com

These “super influencers” could serve as a channel for brand-building among consumers, said Keller Fay CEO Ed Keller.

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Definitions: “Being Space” vs. “Brand Space” BEING SPACE: Commercial living-room-like settings in the public space, where catering and entertainment aren’t just the main attraction, but are there to facilitate out-of-home, out-of-office activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, and so on.

BRAND SPACE: A space that capitalises — in the broadest sense of the word — on consumer expectations set in motion by BEING SPACES. Think literally accommodating consumers outside the home and office, becoming a relevant and useful part of their daily lives, offering them surprise, discovery, empathy, transformation. A place to lounge, hang out, try things out, work, or relax. Or all of this at once?

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Dashing Diva:

The Starbucks Approach

The United States has approximately 58,000 nail salons, most of which are “mom and pop” stores owned by Vietnamese and Korean immigrants. Claiming to be the first branded nail chain in the United States, Dashing Diva hopes to become the Starbucks of nail salons, creating a strong brand and offering customers an experience that’s different from other nail salons.

While most nail places sport a hygienic but basic look, Dashing Diva has invested heavily in design, making it a marketable venue for bridal showers and Sweet Sixteen and birthday parties. Customers are treated to girls’ night every Thursday and Friday evening, sipping free cocktails in the “Pink Pedicure Lounge” while having their toes done, and weekend morning treatments come with complimentary bagels and coffee. Men and young girls are catered to with Racer and Little Diva manicures. The chain also has an advantage on the supply-side: Dashing Diva is an affiliate company of KMCExim, the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial nails.

Source: www.dashingdiva.com

Niche Market:

Broken iPods Recycled

A month ago, Apple announced that it has sold over 100 million iPods worldwide. Unfortunately, they don’t last forever, and tempting new models are always just around the corner. Which is where buymybrokenipod.com comes in. The young start-up offers consumers a very simple way to sell their broken or unused iPods: after indicating which model they’d like to sell and what condition it’s in, the website gives an instant price-quote. Send it in, and payment is transferred via PayPal within 24 hours after the iPod has been received.

There are alternatives: used or broken iPods could be sold on eBay, where hundreds of Apple’s music players are listed for sale for parts or refurbishing.

But many consumers can’t be bothered with finding out how to list a product, and don’t want to deal with potential customers. Buymybrokenipod.com provides an effortless alternative. How do they make money? The iPods are usually sold in bulk to small businesses who fix them for a living, replacing cracked screens, expired batteries and dead hard-drives, and reselling them to consumers. Generally, iPods received by buymybrokenipod.com are in good condition.

The company takes pride in extending the lives of dead or used iPods, and keeping them out of landfills. According to Mother Jones, electronic waste accounts for 2 percent of America’s trash in landfills but 70 percent of its toxic garbage. This great concept makes it easy for consumers to get money for something they’d otherwise leave in a junk drawer or throw away. One to set up locally, or extend to other products?

Might not make you rich, but it can definitely be a good business on the side.

Especially since iPod sales don’t seem to be slowing down ;-) Source: www.buymybrokenipod.com

Trend Report 5.16.07

New Cookie: Iced with Guilt

You are what you eat. And when you scarf an Andrew Andrew cookie, there’s no second-guessing involved. Nutrition facts are printed right on the icing, so you know exactly how much to feel guilty about: “260 calories, 110 of them from fat” (yikes).

The full-disclosure cookies — authentic in every detail, from serving size (21 oz.) to sodium content (120 mg) — are the brainchild of New York creative duo Andrew Andrew.

While the cookies are very real, don’t expect to find them at the local supermarket. Andrew Andrew products are available only at indie retailers (try New York’s Lower East Side), usually for a very short time.

What this means to business...

Andrew Andrew takes Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup can one step further with an iconic label you can actually eat.

Some smart cookie should bring these edible mashups to a larger market as a pop-savvy snack for Millennials.

Source: www.iconoculture.com.com

Obit magazine:

It’s Just the Beginning

Obit magazine is counting on Boomers’ bottomless narcissism to continue into perpetuity.

Founded by Bob and Barbara Hillier, publishers in Princeton, NJ, the glossy monthly hopes to inspire the living by telling the stories of the recently deceased.

Originally scheduled for a February 2007 launch, the first issue is being delayed to mid-year 2007.

The trend is catching, even among publications that have traditionally avoided grief pages: The New York Sun and The Wall Street Journal added obituaries to their newspapers in 2007.

What this means to business...

The same population bulge of Boomers that is fueling Viagra and AARP may be able to breathe life into a magazine of obituaries.

By publishing serious stories about inspirational lives, Obit will appeal to consumers’ desire for more meaning in life — not to mention their perennial interest in the biographies of interesting people. Consider it the ultimate Merit BadgeSM of a life well-lived.

Source: www.obit-mag.com

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Sweet Celebrations: Honoring All Moms

Most Americans (89 percent) honor “mom” in some way on Mother’s Day, but interestingly, the definition of “mom” and those we honor has expanded over the years. According to the Fourth Annual Lenox Gift-Giving and Etiquette survey, mothers are the most frequently recognized people on this day (61 percent ); However, grandmothers (23 percent), favorite aunts (23 percent) and others (29 percent) also get their due. In fact, dispelling the stereotype of the overbearing mother-in-law, 32 percent of those studied find it in their hearts to thank them also.

Trend Report 5.09.07

Happy National Pet Week!

May 6 – 12, 2007

Source: www.katc.com

Daily Dose:

National Pet Week was founded by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Auxiliary to the AVMA in 1981. Since then, National Pet Week has become popular not only across the United States, but across the world. National Pet Week’s website (www.petweek.org) states that the goals of this celebration are “to promote responsible pet ownership, celebrate the human-animal bond, and promote public awareness of veterinary medicine.”

Moments with Mom If form holds, Mother’s Day will once again be the busiest Sunday of the year for telephone volume. But the traditional holiday phone call to mom may not have the pop it once had — not because fewer sons and daughters remember to call, but because more are already talking to mom every other day of the year.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 42% of adults say they see or talk with a parent (usually, it’s mom) every single day. Back in 1989, just 32% of adults said this.

This rise in daily communication between adult children and their parents is a byproduct of a modern communication revolution that has made phoning less expensive and more convenient, according to a recent Pew Research Center report.

Back in 1989, when long distance telephone calls were more costly and cell phones were exotic devices, just 8% of adults maintained daily contact with a parent or parents who lived in a different town. Today, nearly triple that number — 22% — do.

One thing is clear from the Pew survey: mothers sit at the epicenter of most families’ communication network. Among adults with both parents living, the Pew survey found, people are much more likely to have the most contact with mom (61%) rather than dad (18%), with the remainder volunteering equal contact with both.

The Pew survey also found...

• Daughters keep in closer contact with

their mothers than do sons. Some 70% of adult women say they have the most contact with mom rather than dad, while 50% of grown sons say the same.

• Among racial and ethnic groups, more blacks (72%) than Hispanics or non-Hispanic whites (59% each) report more contact with mom than with dad.

• Nearly everyone reports warm feel-

ings about their mother — 87% of adult children say they feel “close” to rather than “distant” from (11%) mom.

Just 74% say they feel close to dad.

(This disparity may explain why, according to AT&T, Father’s Day is the heaviest day of the year for collect calling.)

• These feelings of closeness to mom

do not vary by race, gender or age — or even physical proximity. Some 92% of those who live in the same household or town as their mother say they feel close to her — but so do 88% of those who live farther away than that.

In light of all this, it’s no wonder that so many millions of extra phone calls will get made this Sunday. But remember, sons and daughters: your Mother’s Day call home may not be quite the special event it once was. So would it kill you to send flowers?

Source: www.pewresearch.org

Of all life’s joys that we celebrate — birthdays, graduations, marriages, holidays — do any bring as much pure happiness as pets? Birthdays can be depressing because you’re another year older. Graduations mean you’re entering into the “real world”. Marriages bring the stress of planning the perfect day. Holidays often mean traveling and in-laws! Pets bring unconditional love and loads of smiles. Pets truly deserve a whole week of parties and celebration.

Pets in the U.S. Stats and Facts

• According to the 2007–2008 National

Pet Owners Survey, 63% of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 71.1 million homes.

• In 1988, the first year the survey was

conducted, 56% of U.S. households owned a pet as compared to 63% in 2006.

Breakdown of pet ownership in the U.S. Number of U.S. Households That Own a Pet

Bird Cat Dog Equine Freshwater Fish Saltwater Fish Reptile Small Animal

(millions)

6.4 6.4 38.4 38.4 44.8 44.8 4.3 4.3 14.2 0.8 4.8 6.0

Source: www.appmacom

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13th

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Celebrate: Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo, a national holiday in Mexico, celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained men of the French Army. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican Army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Often confused for Mexican Independence Day (which is on Sept. 16), Cinco de Mayo has increasingly become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

Source: www.rtoonline.com

Toy Trend:

Increasing Influence:

Mattel long has diversified its doll lines with Hispanic versions of its classic toy. Since 1980, it has responded to a growing Latino market by producing 10 Latina Barbies.

The U.S. Hispanic population continues to grow in numbers and influence, fueling another year of anticipated doubledigit growth in spending by marketers.

For 2006, TNS Media Intelligence forecasted a 12.9% growth in Spanishlanguage media, compared to 4.9% for all U.S. media. Validating this optimistic outlook, TNS reported 14.2% growth in first quarter 2006 spending in Spanishlanguage media.

Diversified Dolls

Its 11th — Cinco de Mayo Barbie — makes its debut for the May 5 Mexican holiday that commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

Though not widely celebrated in Mexico — it marks Mexico’s victory over the French — more and more, it’s celebrated by Mexican Americans as a day of cultural pride. It’s also a big day for companies to market products and services to the burgeoning demographic.

And a Mega Media Shift

Hispanic Facts: Mexico Amor

Nearly 10% of the United States’ population is made up of people of Mexican heritage. Cinco de Mayo is THE holiday in Mexico and is also widely celebrated in the U.S. in areas with a concentrated Hispanic population.

26.8 million - Number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin in 2005. These residents constituted 9 percent of the nation’s total population.

16.9 million - Number of people of Mexican origin who lived either in California (10.4 million) or Texas (6.6 million). People of Mexican origin made up more than one-quarter of the residents of these two states. (The total for California and Texas combined is less than 17 million because of rounding.)

36% - Among households where a householder was of Mexican origin, the percentage consisting of a married couple family with their own children younger than 18.

All these Barbies have another thing in common regardless of their diversity: their measurements. In human form, they would be 7 feet tall, have a bust size of 44 inches, a 17-inch waist and hips that lie at 40 inches.

Source: www.mysanantonio.com

Trend Report 5.02.07

1.1 million - Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. This includes more than 300,000 who have a graduate degree.

Cinco de Mayo Barbie wears a ruffled red, white and green dress, the colors of the Mexican flag.

Raven-haired Cinco de Mayo Barbie will sell for $19.95 at retailers nationwide as well as in the Barbie Collector catalog.

25.5 - Median age of people in the United States of Mexican descent. This compares with 36.4 years for the population as a whole.

Cinco de Mayo Barbie is a member of the Barbie Collector Pink Label “Dolls of the World” series, and its theme this year is “Festivals of the World.”

Meanwhile, Latinas, who come in all colors, sizes and shapes, are more likely to fall in the average category as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is 5-foot-3 and 152 pounds.

4.0 - Average size for families with a householder of Mexican origin. This compares to 3.2 people in all families.

Latino Love:

Stadium Sponsorship

Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the U.S., is bringing the taste of Latin America to historic Yankee Stadium this season, as it becomes a new sponsor of the celebrated franchise. The endeavor is indicative of the growing popularity of Latino food and its culture in all aspects of the American experience.

Source: www.pr-inside.com

$35,464 - Median household income in 2005 for households with a householder of Mexican origin.

69% - Percentage of civilians 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force. The percentage was 66 percent for the population as a whole.

50% - Percentage of householders of Mexican origin who owned the home in which they lived. $332.4 billion - The value of goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2006. Mexico was our na-

tion’s third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China.

Source: www.census.gov

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Nice stuff that comes for free, gratis, nada; from Metro and The London Business Daily (to launch later this year) to Smart Car rentals plastered with advertising (as featured in the upcoming issue of Springwise’s newsletter) to (one day) Ryanair tickets, to Wikipedia to, well, most of the Net’s content. FREE LOVE can obviously be devastating as it moves consumers’ expectations towards a total unwillingness to pay for alternatives. Your alternative?

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Adios PayPerPost

Complimentary Copies: And Ad Amor

Americans age 55 and older will buy 1 in every 5 new homes in 2007 — $103 billion worth — according to National Association of Home Builders research. About 7% of those new homes will be bought in communities designed for the 55-plus crowd.

Source: New Brunswick Home News Tribune | 3.22.07

Eating habits in cars vary by generation.

73% of Millennials eat snacks in the car and 48% eat full meals. In contrast, 42% of Boomers say they don’t eat snacks while driving and 71% say they don’t eat meals while driving.

Source: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Survey, Business Wire | 1.21.07

“PayPerPost versus authentic blogging is like comparing prostitution with making love to someone you care for deeply. No one with any level of ethics would get involved with these clowns.”

Source: Jason McCabe Calacanis, Cofounder Of Weblogs Inc., On The Trend Toward Bloggers Writing About Products For Pay, Los Angeles Times | 3.9.07

Trend Report 4.25.07

Nice Stuff for Nada:

Definition: “Free Love”

Free Facts:

An innovative Japanese company is offering university students free photocopies. This free love is made possible by printing ads on the back of the copy paper, which is slightly thicker than normal to prevent ads from shining through. For JPY 400,000, advertisers can have their message printed on 10,000 sheets of paper.

There’s a vast and growing community of videogameplaying baby boomers and their parents, especially women. Anxious about the mental cost of aging, older people are turning to games that rely on quick thinking to stimulate brain activity. A step slower than in their youth, they are using digital recreations of bowling, tennis and golf.

Tadacopy machines have been placed at a few dozen campuses, and are a big hit with students. The company was founded by students at the universities of Keio, Chuo and Hosei, who installed the first free copy machine in April of last year.

Nice one for student entrepreneurs to set up in other countries! You’ll make some extra money, your fellow students will thank you, and local advertisers will be able to reach a targeted audience in a novel way.

Like any good free love concept, it’s a win-win-win situation.

Source: www.nytimes.com | 3.30.07

Source: www.tadacopy.com

Zero Cents Per Minute

Due to launch in the UK in a couple months, Blyk aims to change the way the mobile telecoms industry works.

The company describes itself as a pan-European free mobile operator for young people, funded by advertising. Free and advertising being the key words here.

Blyk will operate as an MVNO or mobile virtual network operator, meaning it will buy wireless services from an existing operator and resell them under the Blyk brand. Or, in this case, give them away. While several mobile players are dabbling in free minutes or free digital content for users willing to view ads (see: Xero Mobile, Amp’d and Virgin Mobile’s Sugar Mama), Blyk intends to take a different approach. The service will be entirely free, and targeted to a fairly narrow age group: 16-24 year olds.

When they sign up for Blyk, users need to fill out a detailed questionnaire that includes questions about their interests. Which potentially makes things very interesting for both advertisers and users. Advertisers can market to very specific groups, and users are more likely to be engaged by advertising if it’s highly relevant to them.

The business model is similar to free daily newspapers or most of the Internet’s content: consumers offer some attention in return for free goods and services. And advertising on a medium that users have with them every waking hour makes sense, especially if it can be targeted to a very narrow audience. As spending on marketing and advertising over wireless networks is expected to increase sharply over the next few years, this is one to watch!

Source: www..com

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Trend Report 4.18.07

Good Question: Paper or Plastic?

FACT: It takes wood, oil and coal to make paper bags, while plastic bags use

natural gas, oil and coal. Plastic is an oil derivative and since oil is a finite resource it seems like a good idea to avoid plastic.

FACT: It takes a lot more energy to produce a paper bag. In fact, making 2 plastic

bags uses 13% less total energy than 1 paper bag, and making 2 plastic bags produces 72% fewer pollutants than one paper bag.

FACT: Also, because the paper bag is heavier it takes more energy to transport

it, and because it’s bulkier it would take up more room in the landfill.

FACT: Both bags are recyclable, but consumers tend to toss out the plastic

much more often than the paper. Therefore, paper is not a bad choice if you recycle.

Source: www.wcco.com

Global Warming:

As Serious As Terrorism

Greenest Place in America: New York City

In what can only be considered a Consider: tidal wave of public opinion, a new Yale • The state of New York “uses less research survey reveals a significant energy, on a per capita basis, than shift in public attitudes toward the any state in America.” environment and global warming. Fully • The average New Yorker “generates 83 percent of Americans now say global less than a third of the carbon emiswarming is a “serious” problem, up sions that the average American from 70 percent in 2004. More Ameridoes.” cans than ever say they have serious concerns about environmental threats, And here’s why: such as toxic soil and water (92 per- • Yes, it houses 8.2 million citizens cent, up from 85 percent in 2004), and uses an enormous amount of deforestation (89 percent, up from 78 energy to do so. Its electrical load, percent), air pollution (93 percent, up more than 12,000 megawatts, is as from 87 percent) and the extinction of large as all of Massachusetts. Yet wildlife (83 percent, up from 72 percent because the buildings are dense in 2005). and thus more efficiently heated and cooled, and because 85 percent of all trips in Manhattan are on foot, bike or transit, New York City uses dramatically less energy to serve each of its citizens than does a state like Massachusetts.

Eco-Chic Consumers: “LOHAS” vs. “Naturalites”

The LOHAS consumer — that’s lifestyles of health and sustainability, in case you’ve been under a rock — now represents a $228.9 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services, which focus on “health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living,” according to lohas.com. And while this group is admittedly smug (you know them by their “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks” or “Prius Owners Against the War” bumper stickers) they are growing. The Natural Marketing Institutes estimates that LOHAS market includes 35 million U.S. adults, or about 16%, and that it was about $209 million in 2005.

An even bigger segment of the population — 25% of U.S. adults — are what NMI calls “Naturalites.” While they don’t think of themselves as politically committed to the environmental movement nor driven to purchase eco-friendly durable goods, they are extremely focused on health, constantly looking for natural and/or organic consumer packaged goods, especially when it comes to foods/ beverages.

This, despite the fact that buildings Most dramatically, the survey of 1,000 (heating, cooling, lighting) count for adults nationwide shows that 63 per- more than half of the average U.S. cent of Americans agree that the Unit- citizen’s use of energy. (i.e., forget ed States “is in as much danger from hybrid cars — if you really want to environmental hazards, such as air pol- save the earth, get some double-pane lution and global warming, as it is from windows or, like Malcom Gladwell’s terrorists.” It reveals growing concern father, a geothermal system for cooling about dependence on Middle Eastern and heating your home.) oil, with 96 percent of the public saying Source: www.sciam.com Source: www.mediapost.com this is a serious problem. As a result, the public overwhelmingly supports increasing the use of alternative energy, • Minneapolis was ranked 2nd best in the nation for recycling in a national survey including solar and wind power, as well

by BioCycle magazine and Columbia University’s Earth Engineering. as investing more in energy efficiency.

• Minneapolis is #9 out of 72 cities according to the Earth Day Network’s The survey indicates that while 70 per“Urban Environment Report.” cent of Americans believe that President Bush doesn’t do enough for the • Homestore.com named Minneapolis one of “The Top 10 Greenest Cities in America,” one reason being that 60% of downtown workers get to work some environment and should do more, many other way than driving alone. citizens are ready to act on their own.

Seventy-five percent recognize that • St. Paul is #4 on The Green Guide’s “Top 10 Green Cities in the U.S.: 2006.” their own behavior can help to reduce global warming, and 81 percent believe • SustainLane ranked Minneapolis 2nd in bike commuting, with 2.3% pedaling to work. it is their responsibility to do so.

Source: www.globalstrategygroup.com • Minnesota uses more solar power than any state in the Midwest. (LivingGreen.org)

So How Green Are We? Minnesota Scores!

EARTH

DAY is April 22, 2007

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Trend Report 4.11.07

Fun Tax Facts: What’s Your Sign?

More Geminis, Libras and Scorpios over-withhold on purpose.

●

● More

Cancers, Scorpios, and Sagittarians don’t know how much to withhold.

Libras expect the largest refunds ($2200) and most of them plan to use it to pay debts. ●

Source: www.saveorspend.com

America’s Top Model: Certified and Struttin’

The Energy Policy Act of 2005, the new national energy law, provides valuable federal tax credits for consumers who purchase fuel-efficient hybridelectric vehicles.

Who gets it? The credit is available to the original purchaser of a new, qualifying vehicle. If a qualifying vehicle is leased to a consumer, the leasing company may claim the credit. Many currently available hybrid vehicles may qualify for the tax credit.

What vehicles qualify? Hybrid vehicles that use less gasoline than the average vehicle of similar weight and that meet an emissions standard.

How much is the credit? You can get a tax credit ranging anywhere from $250 for a Chevy Silverado 2WD Hybrid Pickup to the top hybrid model credit of $4,000 for a Honda Civic GX. Source: www.nrf.com Days Spent Laboring to Pay Taxes in 2006

116

IRS Wants You

Top Tax Trends:

Tax Facts 2007:

Hoping to get a little extra padding in their wallets from Uncle Sam, most consumers filed their taxes early this year. The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2007 Tax Returns Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, found that nearly two-thirds of consumers (62.2%) filed their income taxes this past January and February. One in five (21.9%) plan to file in March and close to one in six consumers (15.9%) plan to wait until April to file their taxes.

Over Withholding:

E-File and Early

“Many people look at their tax refunds as ‘bonus bucks’,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Retailers begin to offer special sales and promotions as early as May, knowing that it is hard for consumers to resist spending at least a small portion of their refunds.”

When it comes time to file, one-half (50.1%) of consumers will be logging on to their computers and filing their taxes online.

In addition, one in three (33.9%) will be using computer software to prepare their taxes.

Source: www.nrf.com

Minutes Worked in an 8-Hour Day to Pay Taxes vs. Other Spending

Are You an Over or an Under? ● More than half (58%) of Americans

expect a tax refund this year and 17% don’t know if they’ll get one.

By comparison, 74% of taxpayers actually received a refund in 2006.

● People

may underestimate the amount of their tax refund. Survey respondents expect to receive an average of $1,641; the average refund paid by the IRS in 2006 was $2,264.

● Somewhat contrary to recent news

stories about negative savings rates, nearly one third (32%) plan to save their refund.

● Nearly half (46%) plan to use their

refund to pay obligations like debts or car repairs.

● One of the primary reasons respon-

dents expect a refund is purposeful over withholding (26%).

Under Withholding:

● An IRS repayment plan will be the

method of payment for 21% of surveyed taxpayers who expect to owe.

● Taxpayers not expecting a refund

think they’ll have to pay $1,133 more in taxes.

● More than one third (34%) of those

who expect to owe do not know how they will pay.

● The majority (60%) of those who

expect to owe taxes this year do not plan to make any changes in ’07 to try to “come out even.”

Source: www.saveorspend.com

Source: www.taxfoundation.org

The deadline to file your taxes is April 17, 2007

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Move over Peter Cottontail, Americans say that chocolate and candy bunnies far outrank live rabbits as the most desired Easter gift. A whopping 82 percent of respondents said they would prefer a chocolate or candy bunny for Easter, while only 4 percent said they would prefer a live rabbit.

Source: www.candyusa.org

Campaign:

Fun Facts

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century and remain among the most popular treats associated with Easter.

Easter Egg Dye Gets Its First

90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year.

Each day, five million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter.

Easter is the second top-selling confectionery holiday behind only Halloween.

88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids.

My bum hurts!

What?!?

For the first time in the 125 years Paas Easter Egg Decoration Kits has been in business, the company is getting its first TV commercial. The 15-second commercial will debut on cable networks like ABC Family, Food Network, Hallmark and Lifetime.

The commercial’s focus centers around the family traditions of dyeing Easter eggs together. A boy helps his little sister learn how to turn a white egg blue.

Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25 feet high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame. Source: www.candyusa.org

Trend Report 4.04.07

Easter Sales Are Hoppin’ According to NRF’s 2007 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 79.5% of shoppers are planning to celebrate Easter and are expected to spend an average of $135.07, up 11 percent from last year’s $121.72 per person. Total holiday spending is estimated to reach $14.37 billion.

Spending is expected to increase across the board, with the average shopper planning to spend: • • • • • •

$26.03 on a new spring outfit and $37.56 on food for their Easter meal $18.53 for candy $20.61 on gifts $9.63 for flowers $7.63 on decorations

NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin says, “Easter is a critical time for apparel retailers... looking to the warmer weather to help stimulate the sale of spring apparel.”

16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter.

76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first.

Retail:

Candy Land USA

Easter:

Paas launched a print campaign last year and will reuse those ads in women’s and general interest magazines this year. Last year’s print campaign rang up at $700,000 and the company is increasing this year’s ad budget to $1.1 million for both print and TV. Source: www.adage.com

Retailers have already begun stocking their shelves in anticipation of Easter sales. Department stores will be a popular shopping destination, with 22 percent more consumers planning on shopping there this year than last year (36.8% vs. 30.0%). Discount stores will see the most traffic, but not as much as last year (57.2% vs. 59.6%). Other popular locations for Easter shopping include: • • • •

Specialty clothing stores (6.7%) Specialty stores (23.7%) Online (12.7%) Catalog (5.6%)

Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch, observes, “With a focus on apparel, shoppers are once again turning their attention toward department stores to see what’s in for spring.”

Shoppers between the ages of 25-34 will spend $147.47 per person this year.

• Second is the 45-54 age group at $144.13 per person • Then 35-44 year olds at $139.36 • Finally,18-24 year olds spending $137.30 each Source: www.centerformediaresearch.com

Did You Know?

There are over 200 unofficial PEEPS® Web sites!

Source: www.marshmallowpeeps.com (above) Source: www.cnn.com (left)

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Trend Report 3.28.07

Another American Epidemic

Debt is fast approaching a disturbing way of life.

For consumers who can’t break free, it’s often an unhappy existence. If Maxed Out shocks viewers out of their credit stupor by showing them a frightening image of themselves, perhaps they’ll walk away wiser and more willing to grab control of debt. Hailed as both hilarious and disturbing, Maxed Out puts the credit industry and consumers’ debt-laden lifestyles under the same microscope that recently magnified topics like global warming and fast food.

Source: www.maxedoutmovie.com

Product Packaging: Magazine on a Bottle

uWink Bistro:

Where Food & Technology Meet for Dinner What do you get when the founder and former CEO of video game giant Atari and the amusement-themed children’s restaurant Chuck E. Cheese takes on modern dining? Entertainment and restaurant visionary Nolan Bushnell has launched uWink Bistro, an innovative restaurant concept that combines modern comfort food with at-the-table entertainment.

At uWink, customers place orders on touch screen terminals right at their tables. There are no waiters or waitresses, but rather food runners who deliver meals and beverages. Need a refill on your drink? Extra dressing for your salad? Touch the screen. But that’s not all the high-tech tables offer. Customers at uWink can enjoy games, table-to-table trivia tournaments, movie trailers, Internetbrowsing and more while they wait for and enjoy their meals. Bushnell’s team isn’t skimping on the food, either.

The menu features upscale bistro fare made with fresh ingredients.

The first uWink Bistro opened its doors in October 2006 in the Los Angeles area. Franchises are already being offered in 36 U.S. states, and plans are already in the works to offer them internationally. Could this new digital dining experience spark a trend?

Source: www.uwink.com

Zero Waste: How It Works

Definition:

HOBBYNOMICS

“Consumers producing, contributing, adding, and suggesting for non-monetary reasons, leaving economists (and well-known brands) in shock. If only they would reap the benefits from understanding that increasingly, contributing in constitutes status for creative individuals.”

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Signs of Changing Times: 1:512

The number of times the phrase “green design” appeared in U.S. newspapers and wire agency reports in 1990 versus the number of times it appeared in 2006.

Around this time last year, Web site Springwise.com featured a new Australian magazine contained with the label of a bottle of mineral water. iLove claimed to be the world’s first magazine on a bottle, offering girls on the move something to read with their water to go. Now, Coca-Cola Belgium will be the first soft drink company to use the Mag azine on a Bottle concept. On Product Publishing, which created the innovative labelling technology, worked closely with Coca-Cola Belgium to adapt the labels to Coke’s iconic curvy bottle.

The first bottles of Coca-Cola Light with GLAM*IT mini-mag attached will be on the shelves in April 2007. Published by Sanoma, GLAM*IT is a Belgian fashion and beauty magazine targeted to a young, female audience. Which makes for a good fit with Light/Diet Coke buyers. As stated by Mie Van der Auwera, editor of GLAM*IT: “Adapting editorial content for another brand is only credible if brand values mutually match.

In the case of Coca-Cola Light and GLAM*IT that was no problem. That’s why it results in a powerful communication tool for both brands.” The removable 24-page magazine is a ‘light’ version of GLAM*IT, featuring typical content for the mag, but reduced to fit the bottle.

In lieu of traditional gifts, Joshua Houdek, 32, and Kristi Papenfuss, 35, plan to ask guests at their “zero waste” wedding for 250 guests to sign up for renewable energy and reforestation projects to counteract their energy consumption or to donate to environmental groups.

Joanna Wojtalik, OPP’s inventor, explains the concept’s goal: “On Product Publishing is all about broadening and targeting content delivery by using the mass market reach of an FMCG distribution network. The OPP label allows Coca-Cola to place more content directly on its product and thereby enhance the relationship its consumers have with the brand at the point of purchase.” More FMCG publishing to follow?

Source: New York Times, 2.11.07

Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Source: ReadyMade, 2.3.07

← Zero Waste Wedding

Now playing at the Lagoon Cinema

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Trend Report 3.21.07

Definition: “CROWD CLOUT” CROWD CLOUT: “Online grouping of citizens/consumers for a specific cause, be it political, civic or commercial, aimed at everything from bringing down politicians to forcing suppliers to fork over discounts.”

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Top 5 World Forecasts:

One Billion Dollars:

According to the World Future Society, here are the top five forecasts for the next 5 to 25 years:

Well, for a second this seemed like a shocking piece of news:

Forecast #1: Hydrogen fuel cells will be cost competitive by 2010. The cost of power via fuel cell is dropping rapidly—from $600,000 per kilowatt-hour in the 1970s to $1,200 today. By 2012, fuel cell power is expected to cost around $400 per kilowatt-hour. It would then be competitive with every type of power. Fuel cells will power cars and allow each home to have its own nonpolluting electricity generator.

“MTV owner Viacom Inc. sued the popular video-sharing site YouTube and its corporate parent, Google Inc., Tuesday, seeking more than $1 billion in damages on claims of widespread copyright infringement.

YouTube Gets Sued Again

For the next 5 to 25 years

Forecast #2: The era of the Cyborg is at hand.

Researchers in Israel have fashioned a “biocomputer” using the DNA of living cells instead of silicon chips. This development may soon allow a computer to connect directly with a human brain.

Viacom claims that YouTube has displayed nearly 160,000 unauthorized video clips from its cable networks, which also include Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon.”

After a little digging around however, it turns out that Google could show up on Viacom’s front door with a truckload of $100 bills and not miss a beat.

Forecast #3: By 2015, New York, Tokyo and Frankfurt may emerge as hubs for highspeed, large-capacity supersonic planes.

NASA’s X-43A Scramjet recently flew at 7,000 mph (nearly ten times the speed of sound). These hyperspeed planes will whisk passengers across continents in the time it takes most people to drive to the airport.

According to their fourth quarter and fiscal year 2006 financial results, they have over $11 BILLION in cash and investments that they’re sitting on. Now that’s how you make a boatload of money in advertising: One click-through at a time.

Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Fast Facts: In the Home

Forecast #4: Schools based on classrooms and a human teacher will dwindle over the next 25 years.

Why sit in a classroom when you can visit virtual worlds and experience your subjects? An “avatar,” a personalized interactive guide, will answer all of your questions and help you pose new ones.

Forecast #5: Speculation in hydrogen energy stocks could create an investment bubble, as happened with the Internet.

When investors see the huge potential of hydrogen energy, the stocks of companies with promising technologies may skyrocket to unsustainable levels.

BLDP FCEL MDTL

Sources: www.wfs.org http://energy.seekingalpha.com

Youth bedroom furniture is expected to be one of the five furniture categories with the greatest sales growth between 2005 and 2010, according to Easy Analytic Software Inc. With estimated sales of $4.6 billion in 2005, youth bedroom sales are projected to hit $5.7 billion in 2010, a 24.5% increase.

Source: Nashville Tennessean, 2.4.07

At the Store

According to the Food Marketing Institute, meat was the most shoplifted item in America’s grocery stores in 2005.

Store detectives speculate that these meatlifters feel entitled to have steak instead of hamburger on occasion, as a reward for their hard work.

Source: www.slate.com

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Trend Report 3.14.07

U.S. Irish Ancestry

St. Patrick’s Day invokes the spirit of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland who is credited with introducing Christianity into Ireland. Observed as a religious occasion in Ireland, the more secular American celebration recognizes the contributions of the Irish to American life and Irish-American pride.

• 34 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry (almost nine times the population of Ireland itself – 3.9 million).

• Massachusetts claims the largest concentration of people of Irish ancestry in the United States with 24 percent. Irish is the leading ancestry group in Massachusetts, Delaware, and New Hampshire.

Source: www.census.gov

Work:

Online:

Retail:

While some may partake in the wearing o’ the green, parade-watching and eating corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day, others elect to drink in the festivities.

Just as the Fourth of July has fireworks and barbecues, and Halloween is nothing without costumes and candy, St. Patrick’s Day will always mean shamrocks and beer.

Thanks to Google Trends, we already know what’s going to happen on St. Paddy’s day.

No sooner than retailers say goodbye to Cupid, they say hello to little green Leprechauns as stores everywhere stock up with St. Patrick’s Day gear.

According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2007 St. Patrick’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, consumers will spend an estimated $3.76 billion on St. Patrick’s Day. The average consumer is expected to dish out $34.89 celebrating the holiday compared to last year’s $27.94.

One in Ten Drink on the Job

CareerBuilder.com’s latest survey, ”Drinks on the Job,” found that some workers start the festivities while still on company time. One in 10 workers say they participate in after-work happy hours on St. Patrick’s Day while another 1 in 10 admit to having an alcoholic beverage on company time on the holiday.

Drinking while on the job extends beyond holidays, too. One in 5 workers — 22 percent — say they have gone out for an alcoholic beverage during a regular workday at some point in their careers. Ten percent of workers report a more habitual pattern, stating they consume an alcoholic beverage with lunch during the workday at least once a week.

In Search o’ the Irish

Early in the day, lots of people are going to think about eating some Irish food.

Then later, they will seek out an Irish pub...

where hopefully, they will be able to listen to Irish music,

Who’s in the drink?

Men reported a higher tendency toward drinking during the workday. Eleven percent of men say they’ve had an alcoholic beverage on company time on St. Patrick’s Day, compared to 8 percent of women.

while enjoying a pint of Guinness,

which in turn will lead to many versions of Irish drinking songs.

Source: www.cnn.com

Source: www.google.com/trends

Seein’ the Green in ’07

“With St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Saturday this year, Americans will be in the mood to celebrate,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “In addition to traditional retailers, St. Patrick’s Day will provide a great opportunity for restaurants and bars to see sales increases.”

This year, nearly onethird (30.5%) of consumers stated they planned to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by attending a party at their favorite restaurant or bar. However, another third of consumers prefer a quiet evening at home, with 33.9 percent staying in to make a special dinner. Though the most popular way consumers plan to celebrate is simply by wearing green (82.6%), some consumers are going all out: nearly 17.0 percent of consumers will attend a private party and 22.2 percent will decorate their home or office.

Young adults intend to spend the most on St. Patrick’s Day this year, with the average 18–24-year-old planning to dish out $40.12. Second to young adults are the 25–34-year-olds who will spend $39.04, followed by the 35–44year-old age group at $36.56.

Source: www.nrf.com

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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The New Daylight Saving Time

At 2 a.m. on March 11, groggy Americans will turn their clocks forward one hour, marking the beginning of daylight saving time (DST).

Trend Report 3.7.07

PopUrls:

“Dashboard for the Hive Mind”

From 1986 to 2006 this has been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but starting in 2007, it will be observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, adding about a month to daylight saving time.

Source: www.infoplease.com

Interactive:

Video Hacking

Connectivity:

Open Creative Communities

Richard Florida of CreativeClass.org points us to a “must read” essay by Mark Kuznicki on Open Creative Communities where he tries to outline the communities that are evolving with help from the connectivity of the digital age.

He says:

On the heels of the MySpace widgets fiasco (the ban of all non-MySpace widgets on users’ pages earlier this year), Lifefilter points us towards “Streaming Video Hacks”. Applications which allow users to personalize their videos with effects, animations, graphics, and text.

The example provided at Lifefilter definitely needs a lot more work (and maybe also a name change). But with our increasing options for video sharing and online editing, maybe it’s a sign of things to come?

“These communities live in a hybrid virtual- and place-based geography.

They are hyper-creative and produce some phenomenal artifacts of human ingenuity and culture. They are open, in that the barrier to entry is not a membership fee or a geographic line in the sand or a common ethnicity. The barrier to entry is creative citizenship, and you are either a citizen and a participant or you are not, based on your individual relationship to that community’s interests, practices, proximity and values.

Source: http://lifefilter.blogspot.com

Web N+1

(Note: Web N+1 was cleverly coined by Steven Pemberton.)

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Here’s how to use it. On one page you can scan the latest headlines of what the web collectively thinks is either popular or interesting. A simple mouse over the headline will cleverly reveal a small box of expanded text on the article. If you want even more, a click will open the original entry in the filter. In five minutes you can scan 18 social site sources thoroughly. You can get an excellent feel for what is new and what is worth following up on (a small amount of overlap between sources helps).

The design of PopUrls is brilliant. There are two flavors, black on white or white on black. Function drives form, buttons are minimal. It feels like a well-designed command post for a concise debriefing.

Online Trend: To stick with the online revolution: if you feel the online world is evolving so fast that it’s hard to tell your web 0.2 from your web 2.0 — tough luck! 2007 will see a broad debate on what constitutes web 3.0, web 4.0 and who knows, even web 5.0. So as the web 2.0’s user-generated avalanche continues, instead of logging off, grab the online bull by the horns and educate yourself about as many Web N+1s as you can.

Quick tip: Start by (re)reading everything by Kevin Kelly, who has been correct in predicting the “Next Big Online Thing” over and over again.

When it comes to the shift from offline to online, the predictions are out there, we haven’t seen anything yet, and you have no excuse not to know about it.

In case you haven’t discovered this for yourself yet, PopUrls.com is a single page that replaces the need to directly read Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Furl, Slashdot, BoingBoing, NewsVine, Metafilter and all the others that you subscribe to. This one page encapsulates up-to-the-minute headlines from 15 consensus filters, and top thumbnail images from the social sites Flickr, YouTube, and Google Video. The hive mind on one screen.

...A new world is emerging, beneath the surface of the old. It is a world of open creative human communities that are both global and local; multidimensional and interconnected with one another.

It is a world increasingly based on a reputation economy, where authority is earned and accumulated through social media along with other traditional avenues of social interaction. It is a world fueled by a peer production paradigm and a reputation economy that interacts with the industrial capital economy, a world where creative innovations will fuel future growth and human development.”

Source: www.popurls.com

Market Fact:

Mark goes into great detail about the drivers and pillars of these communities, and is a worthwhile read for any of you who are trying to build networks and communities.

Rebecca Lindland, an automotive industry analyst at Global Insight, has concluded that a driver who buys a Honda Accord hybrid, which can cost some $3,000 more than a regular model, will need 10 to 12 years to break even in fuel savings, assuming the price of gas remains within the $2.50 to $3 range.

Source: http://creativeclass.typepad.com

Source: www.msnbc.com

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All of the world’s intelligence and experience, fully networked, incorporating not only the usual suspects like gurus, professors and scientists, but the experiences and skills of hundreds of millions of smart consumers as well. With the “shortage of talent” that every brand on every continent seems to fear in 2007, tapping into THE GLOBAL BRAIN seems a, well, no-brainer. This year, expect many corporations, small and large, to aggressively court the 1% of the most creative and experienced individuals roaming the globe.

Source: www.trendwatching.com

A Novel Idea

The new Lexus branding strategy is turning out to be quite a page-turner.

Not surprisingly, focus groups revealed that the Lexus driver also happens to be an avid reader. Recognizing the customer’s desire for both words and highquality automobiles, Lexus has teamed with publishers to find an author who could write a compelling detective story that positioned the LS 460 as a character in the plot. The result is not only an unconventional piece of marketing, but an astonishingly good read.

Written in a classic noir style with a contemporary edge, the three-installment mystery short is being published in the Lexus quarterly magazine, which is sent to owners, the last part coming this spring. It’s also available, with interactive features, on the company’s website.

Trend Report 2.28.07

Web Roundup:

Definition: “THE GLOBAL BRAIN”

Product Placement:

Direct Mail:

Print + E-mail = Attention

According to the Vertis Communications Customer Focus Direct Mail study, 85 percent of women ages 25–44 read printed direct mail marketing pieces, despite the influx of electronically generated advertisements throughout the past decade. Additionally, the study reveals that 53 percent of all women surveyed ages 25–44 who have access to e-mail, read e-mail advertisements, consistent with the 54 percent who did so in 2005.

The study found that marketers can increase the effectiveness of their direct mail campaigns by offering exclusive deals and coupons. Seventy-two percent of total adults surveyed said they have replied to direct mail containing a “buy one, get one free” offer. And, 63 percent of all adults indicated they have responded to direct mail collateral offering a percentage discount on merchandise, up from 54 percent in 2005.

Jim Litwin, vice president of market insights at Vertis Communications, said, “While technology has significantly affected the way we work, (and) communicate ... on a daily basis, ... some types of technology, such as e-mail marketing, (are) most effective when ... used in conjunction with traditional methods of grabbing consumers’ attention.”

Source: www.mediapost.com

StumbleUpon

Has a knack for finding websites that match their user’s interests and those of others with similar tastes as they “stumble” around the Net. In the same way that it matches users with likeminded websites, StumbleUpon’s technology also pairs online ads with targeted demographics and interests.

Slide Slide has developed customizable and easily assembled slide shows of photos that can be embedded in a blog or a MySpace page, sent out in an RSS feed, and streamed to a desktop as a screensaver.

SoonR Access your home or office PC from your mobile phone. SoonR allows you to use your phone to pull up and search data on your desktop — everything from Word docs to Photoshop files.

AdMob AdMob offers a place to buy ads for delivery to cell phones. That market is set to explode, and AdMob — which says it has sent out nearly a billion ads in less than a year — is poised to become its middleman of choice.

Rearden Commerce Rearden Commerce sells a Web-based “virtual personal assistant” application that smoothly integrates hotel and flight reservations, meetings, and other events into your daily agenda. Some 150 companies and 500,000 employees use Rearden’s software.

SimulScribe Finally, an effective way to convert voice mail into scan-able text. SimulScribe transcribes voice mail messages and shoots them to your mobile device as text or e-mail messages. Targeting corporate customers, SimulScribe will integrate the service into company voice mail systems.

Source: http://money.cnn.com

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Technology & Adventure: GPS Cache Hunt

Geocaching could be just the tonic for kids (young and old) — especially videogame-loving, recliner-ridden ones — who need to get outside for some fresh air, exercise, and a more tactile experience with real-world technology. What exactly is it? The name, which combines the prefix geo, Greek for Earth, with cache, a place for concealing something, gives a bit of a clue, but not much. In a nutshell, the term refers to a type of treasure-hunt game — in its most rigorous form, more of a sport, really. Among the clues provided, you get GPS coordinates — the most important information — for the general location of some trove, which can range from a micro-cache, such as a tiny rolled-up log book inside a magnetic spare-key container, to large boxes or watertight/airtight buckets full of various kinds of trinkets.

Source: www.geocaching.com

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Trend Report 2.21.07

Big Technology:

Extending the Offering: The Onion TV

Multi Touch Screens

We’re witnessing smaller publications embrace online audio-video content as an extension of their offering. The latest whispers are that the team behind satirical newspaper The Onion are about to launch a number of Web TV channels offering moving image versions of headlines like ‘Actual Expert Too Boring For TV’.

Source: www.theonion.com

Party Trend:

Function Fatigue:

How do you Iron Chef?

Fancy Phones Too Complicated Do you utilize everything your phone has to offer? If you haven’t the foggiest idea where to begin, you’re not the only one. According to a recent study by the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience:

Wondering whose cuisine reigns supreme? Parties That Cook’s Kitchen Challenge Cooking Party — so far, only available in the Bay Area, Chicago and Los Angeles — sets up a combination competition/dinner party for cutthroat foodies.

Each team gets an hour to make a protein, vegetable and starch. The Parties That Cook staff makes appetizers and dessert, does an introductory demo and serves as both coaches and judges.

They also provide the equipment, ingredients and recipe ideas.

“Function fatigue” was the No. 1 complaint of mobile phone users, according to the survey of 15,000 consumers in 37 countries. It was conducted in late 2006 and was partially funded by Palm, a maker of mobile devices...Manufacturers have become so enamored of cool features — including cameras, recording devices and video-streaming capabilities — that they have lost sight of the fact that many consumers just want good voice reception.

The survey pins consumers’ feelings of being overwhelmed on retailers poorly explaining things and a lack of demos.

Iron Chef-style dinner parties are on the rise because they’re fun, interactive and challenging. Outsourcing the dirty work is a major convenience for partiers who just want to get to the good stuff.

But with a minimum cost of $2,300 (20 people @ $115), Kitchen Challenge Cooking Parties probably draw the interest of only corporate team builders and affluent foodies.

Source: www.iconoculture.com

Also, a recent article in the New York Times talked about how new technology is enabling advertising on cellphones, but if people can’t figure out how to use all the nifty functions on their phone, how are they going to be able to consume all the ads?

Source: www.usatoday.com

DIY Publishing: PDF Zines While the future of the ebook may not be in PDF format, all hope is not lost on zines and other short form publications.

PDF-mag is a collection of PDF magazines from all around the world. Probably the best benefit of the PDF format is the ability to print out a nicely laid-out zine and put it in your pocket for quick-reading on the train, bus or elsewhere on the go. Something you can’t really do with a blog.

Source: www.pdf-mags.com

Check out this new demo by Jeff Han, a researcher at NYU, of his giant multi touch screen. It’s like the iPhone on Ecstasy.

The video demonstrates some neat selection features, such as interactive menus and point-to-zoom technology.

The NY Daily News recently reported that his company, Perceptive Pixel, will start installing big versions of the screen for “film studios and other operations where people can use them as high-tech blackboards to brainstorm on projects.”

The death of the mouse might be sooner than you think. Rumor is these screens will come to market as early as later this year. Imagine giving a PowerPoint presentation, then this guy gets up and starts digital finger painting with his fancy “world class” technology...

Source: www.nydailynews.com

Tiny Technology: Hitachi’s Tracking Dust

Hitachi has developed new RFID chips that are 0.05 x 0.05 mm square and will be on the market in two to three years.

These chips will work like other RFID chips which can be tracked as they pass sensors. These chips will have a 128-bit ROM for storing a unique 38digit ID number. They’re so small they can be hidden in a piece of paper or they could be sprinkled over you and you’d never know...

Source: www.pinktentacle.com

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Generation We: From Crawling to Social Networking As technology moves faster, so does the culture. As a result, new “generations” are created more frequently. The latest to be formed in the wake of Gen Y is Generation We, according to CNET.

Trend Report 2.14.07

eBay Education:

A Year of College Tuition

First there was Generation Me - those are connected teens with their own cell phone language - but Generation We is the newest group, a term coined by Iconoculture. Defined as those below the age of 11, members of Generation We are communicating with each other much faster than previous generations, thanks to technologies, like broadband, that are becoming standard in households.

Source: www.cnet.com

Wii Workout:

Definition:

With gaming console Nintendo Wii’s initial release came reports of people hurting muscles and experiencing soreness due to the physical exertion caused by playing virtual games such as bowling, tennis and baseball. Apparently, that was just one side of the coin.

Increasingly, consumers are participants instead of passive audience members. While this megatrend manifests itself in a variety of ways, it can be summed up in one word...

The Latest Fitness Craze?

At first, Nintendo dodged the reports of injuries, saying the Wii was not meant to be an exercise tool. However, that hasn’t stopped people like Michael DeLorenzo from losing nine pounds in six weeks thanks to the Wii, according to Time magazine. DeLorenzo has a book deal in the works about his Wii Workout and he’s teamed up with Traineo.com, a social fitness networking site, to feature his new regimen.

Even more amazing is that the Wii is now being used by medical researchers to treat children who suffer from hemiplegic cerebral palsy, a condition that can paralyze one side of the body.

The Wii is also helping others bounce back from illness.

With studies showing that active videogames, such as the Wii and Sony’s EyeToy, can burn three times more calories than traditional games, Nintendo has since embraced the phenomenon.

“This huge fitness craze was more than we anticipated,” said Wii spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan.

Source: www.iconoculture.com

“MINIPRENEURS”

“MINIPRENEURS”: a vast army of consumers turning entrepreneurs; including small and micro businesses, freelancers, side-businesses, weekend entrepreneurs, web-driven entrepreneurs, part-timers, free agents, cottage businesses, seniorpreneurs, co-creators, mompreneurs, pro-ams, solopreneurs, eBay traders, advertising-sponsored bloggers and so on.

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Innovation:

Second Life, YouTube Top Surprises Marketers say that the most surprising media innovation in 2006 was the rush to advertise in the Second Life virtual community, with 77% of those polled by the American Advertising Federation admitting they didn’t see that trend coming.

The second biggest surprise was the rise of YouTube. Third was the popularization of “mash-ups,” or Web content that originated with more than one source.

There is an interesting item up for bid on eBay…an entire year of tuition, room, and board at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Apparently, the bidding started Saturday, February 3, with the price now up to $16,200 (as of 3:30 pm on 2/7/07).

Tuition, room, and board at this university usually cost about $23,000, so this eBay bid is setting someone up to grab a major bargain.

In a Q&A press release on the school’s website, university official Mike Colaw says the university is doing this in order to get some attention, which is clearly working quite well. Local news sites KTUL, KOTV, and KFOR have all picked up the story, as well as CNET, MSNBC, and TechNewsWorld.

Despite the financial deal this auction is giving one lucky student, it isn’t a complete free ride. The winning person must meet all application requirements, and must have filled out all appropriate financial aid paperwork in order to be eligible to win the prize.

What a creative way to get the word out about a small college. Using such this sort of marketing technique seems like an effective way to break out of the mold and get attention from new sources.

Source: www.ecommercetimes.com

Market Fact:

Fast Food Nation

Marketers now earmark on average 15% of their media budgets for nontraditional outlets, according to the survey of about 1,000 ad industry leaders.

73% of those responding said they now allocate up to 20% on emerging or innovative media.

Americans put an estimated $51 billion worth of fast food onto their credit and debit cards in 2006, roughly 30% of all money spent in quick-service restaurants. According to Visa, the average credit ticket in a fast-food restaurant was $11.15.

Source: www.brandweek.com

Source: www.marketwatch.com

Please send Trend Report story ideas and comments to kcarlson@periscope.com

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YouTube-like video sharing sites that not only allow users to upload and share videos, but also let them interact. Like tagging certain segments, hyperlinking different areas within the video, and better searching within videos.

Imagine being able to roll over and find out what brand of lipstick Lonelygirl15 is wearing. YouTube’s good enough, but is there an opportunity for a company to come in and do for videos what Flickr’s done for photos? “Do more with your videos?”

Source: www.cscout.com

Valentine’s Day Spending to Grow 20% The National Retail Federation said that it expects Americans to spend $16.9 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, with the average consumer shelling out $119.67 - up from $100.89 last year. And 63.4% of consumers plan to celebrate the holiday, whether it’s with a pricey gift or a simple text message.

(Last year, Verizon Wireless reported a 20% surge in text messages, including plenty of “I LUV U,” “U R MINE,” “I M URS,” and “XXOO”s.)

But romance is definitely hotter when you’re young.

The NRF survey found that those in the 25-34 crowd plan to spend the most - at $164.32 - and those between 18 and 24 plan to spend $143.39, close to double last year’s $81.89. Among the 45 to 54 demographic, spending is expected to fall to $107.81, from $128.78 in 2006.

On average, men spend almost twice as much as women: $156.22 compared to $85.08.

But when it comes down to the wire, the average American male still goes for the four V-day standbys: Flowers (58.3% of American men will make some kind of floral purchase), dinner (53.1%), candy (49.2%), and jewelry (27.6%).

Valentine’s Day continues to be the No. 1 holiday for florists, says the Society of American Florists--capturing 35% of holiday transactions and 34% of dollar volume.

Last year, that translated into 189 million roses, and men purchased 74%.

Source: www.mediapost.com

Trend Report 2.07.07

Do Agencies and Marketers Walk-the-Talk?

Interactive Online Video Trend:

Countdown to Cupid:

Surf and Turf:

WiFi Hits the Road

According to a new strategic leadership study conducted by Louws Management Corporation, while 80% of 711 advertising and marketing professionals surveyed said they are strongly aware of their company’s brand positioning, only one fourth of them “...can clearly articulate (their) company’s brand position to... clients, customers or prospective clients.” This includes 30 percent of senior management, notes the report. The study makes several critical observations regarding the use of advertising tools that would lead to strategic solutions for clients.

Dichotomies observed in the responses include such findings as:

Finally, the rolling office gets WiFi. Autonet Mobile’s Autonet Mobile Unit brings mobile, wireless, high-speed Internet access to vehicles. The $400 unit (plus $50 monthly service charge) plugs into a cigarette lighter. Pretty much turn it on and that’s it for operation. Multiple wireless devices can tap the secure network simultaneously.

Coverage area includes 95% of U.S. roads.

Autonet is partnering with Avis Rent A Car to offer the service to Avis customers by March 2007. And all for the low, low price of $10.95 per day.

• 41.5%

of respondents agree that strategic thinking is a lost art, but 89% feel that their agency provides proactive strategic brand and marketing leadership.

• Almost 90% of respondents indicated

they have a creative brief for assignments, but 37% felt that they were used “sometimes, rarely or never.”

• 40% of respondents do not have a

media brief for media buying and planning assignments, but of those who do have one, 66% said that they “sometimes, rarely or never use it.”

• 80%

of respondents said that their agency does not offer formal training on how to write a brief and 45% said their company has no formal strategic planning and development training for employees. For those who do, 50% train once a year and 25% train occasionally or sporadically.

What Does This Mean to Business?

Road warriors really, business travelers of all stripes - are hungry for seamless access to their digital lives; WiFi wherever keeps them connected.

And so, another mile marker is passed on the road to the totally connected car.

Source: www.iconoculture.com

180 million

Number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion.

(This total excludes packaged kids’ valentines for classroom exchanges.)

Source: Hallmark research

• 85% of all respondents say that they

have a strategic process, but half say they sometimes or never use it. And, 75% agree that their strategic process does not result in measurable results.

The author feels that these findings are particularly significant because of the high level of top agencies and senior management responding, noting these response demographics:

• • • • • •

33 agency respondents in the top 50 13 agency respondents in the top 150 29 agencies were over $1 billion 5 agencies were between $400 - $999 22 agencies were between $100 - $399 80% of all respondents identified themselves as Senior Management.

Source: www.louwsstrategicmarketing.com

You can view IFILM’s 6th Annual Super Bowl Commercial Showcase at www.ifilm.com/superbowl

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They’ll Get Your Data Whether You Like It Or Not

There’s a lengthy article in the NY Times that highlights many of the ways marketers gather data about you without your knowledge. Some you might know, others may surprise you. For example: When you seek a loan, the credit bureaus notice and they put you on a “trigger list.” The information that you are a ripe prospect is then sold to other lenders in as little time as 24 hours. Suddenly, other lenders are calling.

Source: Your Money. NYTimes. Jan. 20, 2007

TeleFlip

This program allows you to send messages from a computer to any cell phone. You just type in the recipient’s cell phone number, followed by @teleflip.com, into any e-mail program, then type a brief message. The recipient gets your e-mail as a text message. I tried this out with my own cell phone, and it only took about 7 seconds for the message to reach my phone.

iJigg

Digg meets music. On this site, you can listen to, vote on, and share songs, but don’t expect to download them. You can only listen on the iJigg site.

Out of Home:

MINI Tests Personalized Billboards Last year, you read about how all the pieces were already in place to create Minority Report style billboards that address shoppers by name. Today, fiction has become reality in a test run

by MINI: “The idea is simple, first give MINI USA some irreverent information about yourself (nothing too personal).

MINI USA then sends out a special keyfob (4-6 weeks after sign-up) that identifies you to each of the Motorboards you pass. When the boards detect that you are about to drive by, they deliver a personal message based on the information you originally gave.”

Source:http://digitalsignagenews.blogspot.com/

Helvetica Film Update:

TagMaps

This service combines Yahoo! Maps with Flickr. Just type in a location and float your mouse over a spot on the map, and any Flickr pictures tagged with that location show up on the right -hand side of the map. You can also embed TagMaps in your blog.

Would you make an extra effort to switch to a “Terror-Free Oil” gas station?

Selection

Votes

Absolutely not! 6%

Unlikely 2% I don’t know 4%

Likely 18% Definitely!

397 176 254 1,248

71% 4,985 7,060 votes total

Poll powered by Pollhost. Poll results are subject to error. Pollhost does not prescreen the content of polls created by Pollhost customers.

Three gas-chains in the US are planning to market their oil as terror-free.

Terror-Free, Sinclair Oil and Flying J gas companies have teamed together to promote their gasoline as fuel that doesn’t sponsor terrorism (i.e. come from the Persian Gulf).

According to Treehugger.com, only two other companies outside the group are worth buying from (Hess & Yukos) and that 43 other companies (including Shell, Esso and BP) “finance terrorism by importing oil from the Middle East.”

In a poll on their site 70% of respondents (over 4,500 people) voted that they’d definitely use such a gas station if it was in their ’hood.

The first gas station will be in Nebraska in February.

3-D Digg

View and surf Digg stories in 3-D flash.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what the point of this is or how it works, but it is pretty cool nonetheless.

Trend Report 1.31.07

Terror-Free Oil

Here’s a quick roundup of some nifty little Web apps: Ever wonder what links get the most traffic on your webpage or blog? When you type your URL into Visual Page Rank, this tool shows you the Google page rank for your site and all the links you provide.

World:

Web Roundup: Visual Page Rank

Font Shop International has released their list of The 100 Best Typefaces of All Time. Guess who’s Number 1?

There are clips online now from the upcoming Helvetica documentary. Also, Director Gary Hustwit will be posting film updates, outtake footage, photos, and random news items throughout the 2007 screening tour on the Helvetica blog. Looks great, can’t wait!

Source: www.helveticafilm.com

Print:

WSJ to Offer Smelly Ads The Wall Street Journal plans to offer scented ad units (inserts) in the regular issues of the paper, write AdAge and Media Life. The paper’s publisher suggested experimenting with the smell of new money. A killer idea for a financial services ad.

Source: www.adage.com

Source: www.treehugger.com

Study:

57% Use Online Drugstores Around six in ten web users - or 57% - say they’ve made purchases from online drug stores, while 32% report making purchases at least monthly, according to new research by research firm Questus. While the online purchasers outnumbered the brick-and-mortar-only consumers, a significant proportion of consumers - more than four in 10 - fell into the latter category. Why? Fiftyseven percent said they didn’t want to wait for their products to arrive, 48% said it was easier to go to a store, and 47% cited high shipping costs. For the report, Questus surveyed 525 adults from its research panel.

Source: www.mediapost.com. Jan. 26, 2007

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Starbucks is a Network

Trend Report 1.24.07

The New Consumer:

“More people visit a Starbucks every week (40 million) than watch the highest rated TV show (20 million), we are a network.” ~ Howard Schultz on Charlie Rose, January 17th, 2006

On the show, Schultz suggests Starbucks will continue to push into the entertainment space, focusing on emerging artists in music, film and documentary. He sees the company’s role in entertainment as introducing people to things slightly outside of mass commercial culture. Some of this content will be available for consumption over the instore Wi-Fi network.

Technology:

Media Shift:

Engineers at Microsoft have developed a prototype advertising system that uses a small video camera and facial-recognition software to try to determine a viewer’s gender and select an appropriate ad to display. The system is intended for use with large video screens in public places, such as shopping malls. It’s one of the projects being pursued inside Microsoft’s adCenter Labs.

A new website - launched in Nov. ’06 - is positioning itself as a way to make media buying, planning and placement “easy and affordable by offering the user lots of real-time buying options.”

The Future of Advertising?

“I really believe that the future of the entire advertising industry is sitting in this room,” said David Jakubowski, general manager of Microsoft’s overall adCenter advertising system.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see...

Source: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/

More Niche Networking: Fashion’s New IQONS

Media Buying Made Easy?

Media Wombo offers media at a glance, including rates and packages, according to the company. Media buyers who know their budgets and a bit about their target audiences can log on from any PC with web access and buy media advertising time or space in the categories of television (cable, broadcast or satellite), radio, print (newspaper or magazine), Internet, and billboards and other outdoor media (transit shelters, mall kiosks, etc.).

Media Wombo positions itself as a great source for small businesses and media buyers, alike. If it works kind of like an eBay for media buyers however, could this rise of a new “media buying exchange” ignite a trend toward DIY media buying by clients and, if so, what impact could that have on the role of our media buying counterparts?

Today’s consumers create their own playgrounds, their own comfort zones, their own universe. They have combined the ‘empowered’ and ‘better informed’ and ‘switched on’ consumers and have become something profound, something that is now being dubbed “MASTER OF THE YOUNIVERSE.” At the core of this new generation of consumers is control and the belief that human beings want to be in charge of their own destiny. Or at least have the illusion of being in charge.

And just because they can now get this control in entirely new ways, aided by an online, low cost, creativity-hugging revolution that’s still in its infancy, young and old (particularly the young) consumers now weave webs of unrivaled connectivity and dig instant knowledge gratification. They exercise total control over creative collections, including their own creative assets, assume different identities in cyberspace at a whim, wallow in DIY, customization, personalization, and co-creation to make companies deliver whatever and when ever on their own terms, and so on.

Source: www.trendwatching.com

Health Fact:

“If current trends continue, 50 percent of U.S. kids will be overweight by 2010.” ~ International Journal of Pediatric Obesity

Source: www.mediabuyerplanner.com

Intentional or not, MySpace has become a platform for emerging musicians to get their music out to the masses. Now, the fashion industry wants in. Enter IQONS, a new social networking site for aspiring designers that is dressing up the social networking model in new clothes.

Launching this month, the site aims to “provide a platform for everyone in the global fashion industry and create the world’s first truly interconnected ‘fashion ecology’. Member profiles include lists of their favorite designers and brands, showcases of their work, links to other sites and a “guestbook” to get comments and build an “entourage.”

Judging by the members currently on view in the Avant-Première version, the site will be attracting a range of members - from up-and-coming designers and models to agencies and established artists. Their “15 Minutes of Fame” page has featured people like Butokai, a hand model, Susie Bubble, the UK-based fashion blogger and Purple, a Paris-based fashion magazine.

Source: www.iqons.com

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Trend Report 1.17.07

Definition: “TRYSUMERS” “TRYSUMERS: Freed from the shackles of convention and scarcity, immune to most advertising, and enjoying full access to information, reviews, and navigation, experienced consumers are trying out new appliances, new services, new flavors, new authors, new destinations, new artists, new relationships, new *anything* with post mass-market gusto.”

Source: http://www.trendwatching.com/briefing/

Trend:

Social Networking For Foodies Recently I have stumbled upon two new social networking websites, BakeSpace and FoodCandy.

Both of these sites are targeting the growing community of foodies.

Politics: MyState of the Union

On Tuesday, January 10, MySpace launched a contest for users called “MyState of the Union,” where MySpacers submit 60 second videos that express their views on the current state of America and what changes they think need to be made.

FoodCandy includes syndication of foodie blogs, and BakeSpace The contest seems to be structured has recipe search and cooking dissimilar to that of American Idol - a pancussion forums. These sites offer el of celebrity/expert judges judge and the niche social networking that nominate videos, but other MySpace MySpace and others do not. It will users ultimately choose the winner. be curious to see if more social The panel of networking will break judges is made more into niches like “2007 is going to be a big year up of politicians fashion, sports, etc. for political engagement on including former MySpace and this kicks things Sources: Senate Majority www.bakespace.com off in the right direction.”

Leader Dr. Bill www.foodcandy.com ~ Tom Anderson, president and founder of MySpace, Frist and John commenting on MyState of the Union contest Podesta, the former White House Chief of Staff, as well as political bloggers Markos Jaguar’s digital agency, Global Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos and Beach (www.globalbeach.com), is Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online. creating a stir with the first stage of the Jaguar Design Briefings, a The winner will be announced on compilation of online videos, phoJanuary 22, the day before the Presitography and words that capture dent delivers his own State of the Union various themes of the future deAddress, and will receive an allexpenses paid trip to Washington, DC. sign direction for the brand. Each monthly briefing will focus on a different core design concept. The first edition, Vivid, showcases the new concept car from Jaguar - the Source:www.myspace.com/mystateoftheunion C-XF.

Design:

Jaguar Design Briefings

Market Fact:

Advertising at newspaper Websites rose 23% in Q3 2006 compared with the same period a year earlier but print advertising declined 2.6%, resulting in an overall decline of 1.5%. www.keycast.com/keycast/jaguar/jaguardesign

Source: Newspaper Association of America

New Gadget: Apple iPhone Ok...It’s been confirmed. The iPhone is for real. At exactly 9:41am last Tuesday, Steve Jobs presented the iPhone at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco to an eager crowd, to say the least.

The iPhone will combine three products into one seamless apparatus: a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching.

In order to fully integrate the previously distinct tools, Apple has developed some brilliant new technology to get the job done such as: Multi-touch Apparently the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse, using just your fingers, you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page.

OS X - The handheld device runs on OS X, providing access to true desktopclass applications and software, including rich HTML email, full-featured web browsing, and applications such as widgets, Safari, calendar, text messaging, Notes, and Address Book.

Built-in Advanced Sensors It automatically detects when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape, automatically changing the contents of the display to the proper landscape ratio.

It also detects when you lift the phone to your ear, immediately turning off the display to save power and preventing inadvertent touches until it’s moved away.

So...it has an iPod, a phone, and the Internet...Ohhh man! How badly do you want one of these babies!

Source: www.engadget.com

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Trend Report 1.02.07

SNAPSHOT OF AMERICA

OUR MONEY

The The Statistical Statistical Abstract Abstract of of the the United United States States 2007, 2007, released released last last month month by the the U.S U.S Census Census Bureau, Bureau, contains contains facts facts and and figures figures on on just just about about by every every facet facet of of American American life. life. It It gives gives us us a a peek peek at at topics topics such such as as our our nation’s economy, government activities, what we do with our free nation’s economy, government activities, what we do with our free time, time, what what kind kind of of education education we we have, have, what what we we eat eat and and how how we we spend spend our money.

Here are a handful of interesting figures to give our money. Here are a handful of interesting figures to give you you a a snapshot. snapshot.

Surveys Surveys show show American American households households spent an average of $43,392 spent an average of $43,392 in in 2004 2004 on on everything everything from from the the mortgage mortgage or or rent rent to to entertainment and healthcare.

Here are entertainment and healthcare. Here are some of of the the major major categories categories with with the the some average average spent spent on on each: each:

OUR FREE TIME

Where Where our our money money goes goes

Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment, $2,218 $2,218 $2,218

Housing, Housing, $13,918 Housing, $13,918 $13,918

Food Food Away Away from from Food Away from Home, Home, $2,434 $2,434 Home, $2,434

Television Television and and other other media media use use

Health Health Care, Care, Health Care, $2,574 $2,574 $2,574

On On average, average, an an adult adult will will spend spend more more than than two two months months of of his his or or her her time time this this year watching television, according to the projections based on surveys and year watching television, according to the projections based on surveys and media media use. use. Average Average hours hours and and (dollars (dollars spent spent per per person): person): Watching Watching television television ($282.92) ($282.92) Listening Listening to to the the radio radio ($4.68) ($4.68) Using Using the the Internet Internet ($138.83) ($138.83) 190 190 190 190

1,555 1,555 975 975 975 975

Reading Reading a a newspaper newspaper ($48.97) ($48.97) Reading Reading a a book book ($91.27) ($91.27)

Percentage Percentage of of adult adult Internet Internet users engaging in each type of Internet activity:

106 106 106 106

Watching at home, videovideo or DVDor Get news Watching a at DVD Watchinga movie a movie movie at home, home, video or($151.09) DVD 84 84 84 84

Playing Playing videogames videogames ($36.13) 82 82 82 82

Seeing a Seeing a movie movie at at a a theater theater ($39.11) 12 12 12 12

HOPING FOR THE JACKPOT

Americans Americans hoping hoping to to win win big big spent spent more more than $47 billion in 2005 to play various state state and and multi-state multi-state lottery lottery games. games.

About one-third of that went to local governments, while the rest was spent on prize prize money money and and administrative administrative costs. costs.

Buy a product

Other, Other, $11,100 Other, $11,100 $11,100

Transportation, Transportation, Transportation, $7,801 $7,801 $7,801

WHAT WE DRINK

HOW WE USE THE INTERNET

179 179 179 179

Food Food at Home, Food at at Home, Home, $3,347 $3,347 $3,347

How many gallons?

The The average average person person drank drank about about 389 389 cans cans of regular soda in 2004, if you do the math on on U.S. U.S. Department Department of of Agriculture Agriculture figures figures on beverage consumption. Below are how select select beverages beverages stack stack up up in in terms terms of of gallons* per person consumed: gallons* per person consumed:

72% 67%

Make travel reservations 63% Do research for school or or training training

57%

Send Send instant instant messages messages

47% 47%

Banking Banking

41% 41%

Play Play online online games games

36% 36%

Download music

25% 25%

Participate in an online auction

24%

Use an online social or professional networking site

11%

Bottled Bottled Bottled Water Water Water 23.2 23.2 23.2

Regular Regular Regular soda soda soda 36.5 36.5 36.5

Milk Milk Milk 21 21 21

Beer Beer Beer 21.6 21.6 21.6

Coffee Coffee Coffee 24.6 24.6 24.6

Diet Diet Diet Soda Soda Soda 15.8 15.8 15.8

Wine Wine Wine 2.3 2.3 2.3

*It takes takes about 11 11 cans of of soda or or six 20-fluid-ounce 20-fluid-ounce bottles of of water to to equal one one gallon. *It *It takes about about 11 cans cans of soda soda or six six 20-fluid-ounce bottles bottles of water water to equal equal one gallon. gallon.

INVESTING IN THE HOME

The total spent on home improvements and maintenance, maintenance, by by year, year, for for owner-occupied owner-occupied housing units nationwide (in billions):

$140.0 $140.0

Improvements Improvements

Maintenance Maintenance

$126.6 $126.6

$120.0 $120.0

$109.5 $109.5

$100.0 $100.0 $77.8 $77.8

$80.0 $80.0 $60.0 $60.0

$53.5 $53.5

$40.0 $40.0

$25.50 $25.50

$20.0 $20.0 $0.0 $0.0

'95 '95

'00 '00

'04 '04

'05 '05

http://www.census.gov/compendia.statab/ http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

'95 '95

$22.40 $22.40

'00 '00

$26.60 $26.60

'04 '04

$32.90 $32.90

'05 '05

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Trend Report 12.15.06

WEB 3.0 A recent Mediapost article about Web 3.0 explains the effect that ‘semantic search’ will have on the way we use the web. Get to grips with it now, it’s coming faster than you think. As author Cory Treffiletti points out, we’ll be able to enter things like: ‘I want to take a vacation, on a beach. I need things to do for my three kids and I want to be able to eat great seafood. I don’t want to spend more than $3,000 and I would like to be gone for 6 days.’ Your search results would then reflect exactly this, including child care packages and restaurants in the area. We’ve had enough of letting search dictate to us.

Bring on the revolution!

(Source: http://blogs.mediapost.com/spin/?p=926)

Online Advertising: Just How Bad Is Click Fraud?

A $500 million to $1 billion problem, depending on whom you ask.

In a front page article in The Washington Post, ‘Click Fraud’ Threatens Foundation of Web Ad, staff writer Sara Kehaulani Goo discusses the mechanics of click fraud, the new forms of click fraud — the fast growing “pay to read” and “pay to click” rings of individuals and companies around the world — and the new lawsuit against Google.

Some figures from the article worth filing away: · Google and Yahoo own 70% of all web searches in the U.S. · About 40 percent of all Internet ads are clickable text ads (the advertiser only pays when the ad is clicked on) · Thirty-nine percent, or $1.04 billion, of Google’s 3rd quarter revenues derived from affliate networks, website that allow Google text ads · Click fraud hurts mortgage,

insurance, real estate, legal and travel businesses the most (Source: ‘Click Fraud’ Threatens Foundation of Web Ads. Washington Post. 10/22/06)

Film: Helvetica

Hospitality Trends:

Fast Facts:

Zagat Survey recently released the results of its new 2007 America’s Top Restaurants Survey. The guide, covering 1,389 eateries in 42 major cities, is based on 21 million meals experienced by over 123,000 surveyors.

This year, 94 percent of businesses will throw a holiday celebration, according to executive search firm Battalia Winston International. That’s a 7 percent increase from 2005.

Zagat 2007 Restaurants Survey

The Office Holiday Party :

(Source: Kathy Gurchiek. Businesses serving more holiday spirits at 2006 parties. www.battaliawinston.com.

12/14/06)

It reflects a banner year for restaurant goers nationwide: Not only are resSURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: Car Facts: taurant openings 50% of Millennials · US diners eat out more and spend more with far outpacing and 46% of Gen prices up 2.8% closings, but the Xers would consider · Service is no.

1 complaint, but tips grow anybuying or leasing a past year’s +2.8% way new, clean diesel overall average car. · Asian cuisines, hotel dining, and sustainably increase in meal (Source: Technology Forum grown foods are on the march. cost is below the and Mercedes-BenzUSA survey. PR Newswire. 10/19/06) +4% rise of the Consumer Price Index. There is good Holiday Highlight: news for restaurants too in that people Although they’ve been are going out and spending more than doing battle at the ever, especially at the high end of the shopping malls to find market where inflation was +6.9%.

(Source: www.htrends.com 11/06) the perfect gifts, 51% of respondents to a Rasmussen Reports survey about holiday shopping say they find this time of the year joyful. Thirtynine percent (39%) say it’s stressful.

(Source: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. www.rasmussenreports.com. 12/4/06.)

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. It is currently in post-production and is slated to begin screening at film festivals worldwide starting in early 2007.

(Source: http://www.helveticafilm.com)

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DID YOU KNOW? According to a new Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll, 19 percent, or an estimated 23.3 million people, haven’t used the gift cards they received last holiday season. The same survey showed that despite the abundance of unused gift cards, 60 percent of consumers plan to purchase them this holiday season. According to TowerGroup, a research and advisory firm in Needham, Mass., nearly $8 billion is lost annually due to unredeemed, expired or lost gift cards.

Trend Report 12.06

Campaign Execution: Absolut LOMO

(Source: Consumer Reports. Retailers Improve Gift Cards. 11/06)

New Products: Enviga Calorie-Burning Tea to Melt Off That Extra Holiday Weight?

Coca-Cola and Nestle will roll out Enviga in test markets in the Northeast US next month. The carbonated green tea-based beverage is supposed to be able to actually burn calories. Its blend of green tea extracts is said to boost metabolism, burning 50 to 100 calories.

(Source: www.enviga.com)

DIY Projects: Inlaid Wood Veneer

If you are looking for a new wall finish that exudes decadence and luxury, you’ll want to check out inlaid wood veneer.

The Marquetry Inlaid Wood Veneer is opulent and entrancing…and not badly priced. Maya Romanoff has made a speciality of using unusual materials to make exotic wall coverings. The Marquetry Veneer uses micro-thin pieces of Pawlonia wood on a paper backing.

The pattern is laser cut and then hand inlaid using traditional marquetry techniques.

Social-Networking:

(Source:www.trendir.com/archives/000638.html)

YouTube on V Cast

Further cementing a long-standing association with art, Absolut have launched the Absolut LOMO photography competition. ‘Lomography’ is a process of photography which emphasises spontaneity over control – two of the ten rules of the discipline are ‘don’t think’ and ‘be fast’. Four categories – Absolut Bottle Shape, Artwork, Companion and Freestyle - give structure to this user-generated art project. All of the entries are hosted online on a beautifully designed ‘wall’ through which users can browse.

Who better to attempt to impose order on the chaos than a brand built on artistic reinterpretation of an iconic logo?

Any of you ‘creative types’ up for a LOMO challenge? www.absolut.com/lomo (Source: Contagious Magazine 11/27/06)

Market Fact:

Shoppers will use the Internet for an average onefourth (28.9%) of their holiday shopping this year and 47.1% plan to make at least one holiday purchase online.

National Retail Federation 10/30/06

Starting in December, Verizon Wireless V Cast subscribers will be able to watch a limited selection of videos available on the YouTube video-sharing site. In addition, V Cast users will be able to upload their own videos to YouTube on-the-fly. Content-licensing deals such as this could provide YouTube with an important source of revenue.

Consumer-Generated: “YouTubers” A ‘Mick Bianchi’ took a whole collection of YouTube diary videos and mashed them all together. The result?

Sweet, poignant, telling... .

(Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXwarrIYLJ4)

(Source: LeClaire, Jennifer. TechNewsWorld. 11/28/06)

15 Websites That Changed The World:

· eBay.com · wikipedia.com · napster.com · youtube.com · blogger.com · friendsunited.com · amazon.com · smashdotcom · salon.com · craigslist.com · google.com · yahoo.com · drudgereport.com · myspace.com · easyjet.com (Source: Naughton, John. The Observer (UK). August 13, 2006.)