5 Blogs Before Lunch

As baby boomers become seniors, they get their own television network--RLTV (Redefine Life TV)

As the number of baby boomers who offically become  "seniors" grows exponentially over the next years, we will see more and more companies targeting this still highly active group.

They are currently the fastest-growing and wealthiest segment of the population, and were least hurt by the recession. According to data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, adults over the age of 50 spent $2.7 trillion on consumer goods in 2010. Everyone from pharmecetucal companies to insurance carriers to retirement communities see the opportunity with the senior class.

Television is also a high-value area for the post 18-49 set. So it is no surprise that a cable network has arisen to provide programming for the AARP crowd. Let's face it--older folks have a lot of disposible income, and spend a lot of time watching television.

RLTV is a cable channel specifically targeting seniors, and has hired talent with whom this audience can relate. Seventy-seven year old Sam Donaldson and Florence Henderson will each have their own shows, as well youngsters like Joan Lunden, 61, and Deborah Norville, 53.  

Programming such as "Making Medicare Work for You," will find a place on RLTV, as well as reality shows like "Another Chance for Romance" and "Sunset Daze," which the Los Angeles Times calls a "Jersey Shore" for adventurous senior citizens in Surprise, Arizona. Another reality show "Family Pickle" takes a look inside New York City’s world renowned Carnegie Deli, home to "the wildest cast of characters you’ll ever meet."

"Advertisers are waking up to the fact that the 50-plus population is an audience they have to pay attention to," said Kevin Donnellan, an executive vice president with the AARP, and a producer of two magazine shows for RLTV. "We're no longer living in that era where people are thinking about their father's Oldsmobile."

RLTV was launched in 2006 and was originally called Retirement Living TV (the founder made his money building retirement communities) but recently changed to Redefine Life--a broader message to match this broad audience group.

RLTV does not boast of its distribution deals as of yet, but as cable distributors and other media outlets realize the extreme value of the senior community and its impact as part of the viewer demographic, they're bound to pick up speed.

President Obama is creating a Socialpaloza event around the State of the Union

This Tuesday night, the President of the United States will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress, and the nation.

Traditionalists might watch the address on broadcast television, and listen to network talking heads analyze every word.

Or, fans of digital and social interaction might chose to watch it online at the White House website where there will be an "enhanced version" of the speech featuring details and graphs. Immediately after the speech, the White House will live-stream a panel discussion featuring senior administration officials and a live audience taking questions from Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

President Obama is clearly our most social media savvy President ever, as he effectively demonstrated during his 2008 election campaign. He's broadly used www.whitehouse.gov, Twitter and Facebook during his first term, and now it appears he is gearing up for the 2012 election using even more social tools.

Following the State of the Union, the White House will engage in a week-long Twitter marathon involving Administration officials taking questions in a day-long, question-and-answer session, followed by a series of community-focused discussions with policy advisers and experts, with specific conversations on LGBT issues, the Latino community, veterans and seniors, among others. The week will end with Twitter Q&A's will be directed toward specific policy issues including health, education and jobs. People who want to participate can ask questions on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat, and administration officials will respond in real-time. There is also rumor of a "special online event with the president" to be announced soon.

Source: Huffington Post

Is Grandma a Binge Drinker?

"I either don't drink at all, or I drink too much."

It is a classic quote from a confirmed binge drinker--one whose primary intention is to become intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. According to the CDC, more than 38 million Americans binge drink around eight drinks in a sitting, four times per month. But, most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent or alcoholics.

Binge drinking is usually associated with teens and college-aged kids, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") just released a study revealing that adults over 65 years old binge drink more frequently than any other age group.

More young adults, ages 18 to 34 participate in binge drinking than any other age group, but it is the over-65 crowd that binge-drinks most frequently: an average of five to six times each month. The study describes binge drinking as four or more drinks for a woman and five or more drinks for a man.

Binge drinking has also been found among the baby boomers. A study published in "The American Journal of Psychiatry" in 2009 uncovered binge drinking in 22 percent of men and 9 percent of women who were 50 - 64 years old.

"Binge drinking by adults has a huge public health impact, and influences the drinking behavior of underage youth by the example it sets," said Pamela S. Hyde, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator, in a statement. "We need to reduce binge drinking by adults to prevent the immediate and long–term effects it has on the health of adults and youth."

According to the CDC, this behavior greatly increases the chances of getting hurt or hurting others due to car crashes, violence, and suicide. Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes 80,000 deaths in the US each year and, in 2006 cost the economy $223.5 billion. Binge drinking is a problem in all states, even in states with fewer binge drinkers, because they are binging more often and in larger amounts.

So, the next time you see grandma with a beer bong, ask her if she knows what she's doing.

Daylife Predicts Digital Publishing Trends for 2012

As we near the end of 2011 and look forward to 2012, Daylife, a cloud publishing platform for traditional, emerging and brand publishers is forecasting what we can expect in 2012 in the Digital Publishing scene.

Companies of all kinds know the importance of capitalizing on their content and Daylife counts these leaders as their customers: Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Mashable, NPR, USA TODAY, ESPN and many other media companies and corporations. Working in the front lines with these customers has given Daylife insight into the digital publishing industry and based on their work with their customers they are making these predictions for the future.

Here are Daylife's Six Predictions for 2012:

The Internet Will Become Hyper Personalized:

The massive maze of information known as the Internet will one day have its own apocalypse and be reborn as a new source of customized information similar to what we know as Apps today–essentially, your own highly personal internet.  2012 will be a decisive year in the move toward the personal Internet. This personalized Internet will allow users to create their own seamlessly integrated collection of education, information, entertainment, social environments and commerce experiences within a diverse range of hardware to be consumed however they choose, wherever they choose, whenever they choose. Guiding these experiences will be Siri-like assistants and semantic algorithms that ensure only the right sorts of content is reaching any given user as it’s needed.

The Enterprise CMS Will Move to the Cloud:

For years enterprises have been battling the disorganized circus that is the content marketing systems universe. From major publishing companies to marketing departments at Fortune 2000 companies, the CMS has been central to organizing and publishing, both on- and offline.  But because these have largely been server-side, highly customized and very expensive installations, the typical CMS quickly falls out of date and usually is imperfect from the moment of implementation. As more and more companies embrace the cloud for every aspect of enterprise IT operations, expect to see more major publishers and Fortune 2000 companies embracing cloud-based and open-source CMS solutions, enabling the creation of technology stacks that are flexible, constantly updating, scalable and vastly more efficient for workflow, all at a lower overall cost.

The SmartAd Will Change Advertising as We Know It:

There is a less than .1% click through rate on display ads demonstrating the ineffectiveness of online advertising, yet advertisers continue to pour millions of dollars a year into these ads. Why is that? To date, advertisers and publishers have not yet worked together to develop a more effective form of consumer engagement for a business model that is so crucial for their survival. In 2012, advertising technology will catch up with the ways in which people access the Internet (desktop, tablet, mobile), enabling the creation of ad units that are highly interactive, contextual, constantly updating and which feature topical customized content – all with increased measurability and improved ROI.

20th Century Marketing Speak Will Die:

For years companies have painstakingly drafted content for release to the public, each sentence carefully crafted and approved by CEO's, boards, lawyers, partners, customers etc.  But these days, the need to publish high volumes of information in bite-sized pieces (i.e. via tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts and the like) is challenging this highly inefficient workflow.  Moreover, consumers have a visceral negative reaction to traditional corporate marketing speak. Studies show that people respond best to timely communications that use an authentic voice–a voice that sounds “real” and “human”. Consumers are tired of carefully crafted messages and want to believe in companies whose values conform to their own.  Moreover, consumers want to engage corporate brands on landscapes that are less like traditional Web sites and are more like interactive, constantly updating destinations that are useful and have value to them.  Companies who are successful at this will be increasingly rewarded with consumer recommendations to friends, viralty, strong word-of-mouth and increased consumer engagement with the brand.

The Role of Curator Will Go Mainstream:

The role of curator was once the exclusive domain of educated experts in a field organizing a vast array of content for presentation to the public–the museum exhibit curator, for instance.  Thanks to the rise and ubiquity of social media virtually every person who spends time online anywhere in the world will become a curator. By filtering and presenting the best of the media any one person may encounter online or in the world, and sharing that across social graphs, personal blogs and broadcast mediums such as Twitter, every individual on earth is destined to become an unwitting curator.

The Media Geyser Will Be Harnessed:

Content on the Web is gushing like a geyser, and most of it is “unstructured” when removed from its original context, rendering it nearly useless across the broader Web. It needs to be refined in order for it to be valuable, findable and presentable to readers. In 2012, semantic algorithms and new architectures for better organization, distribution, and storytelling will be refined and emerge. Backend technologies will harness the best information and make new distribution models available, creating new opportunities for publishers of all sorts to better present constantly changing, always updating funnels of news, information, education and entertainment.

A Red Hot Chili Pepper and Ed Ruscha; Jason Schwartzman and John Baldessari; and Ice Cube and Charles and Ray Eames are on Pacfic Standard Time

Anthony Kiedis drives around L.A. with painter Ed Ruscha; Jason Schwartzman hangs with h a floating projection of conceptualist John Baldessari, and rapper Ice Cube giving credit to mid-century design icons Charles and Ray Eames for "doing mash-ups before mash-ups existed."

It is all part of a series of promotional videos for “Pacific Standard Time,”  a series of events at more than 60 Southern California cultural institutions and incorporating a ten-day Performance and Public Art Festival in January 2012.

Jointly initiated by the Getty Foundation and the Getty Research Institute in 2002, Pacific Standard Time brings to light the dynamic history of art in Los Angeles from the post-World War II era through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. With grants from the Foundation now totaling more than $10 million, what began as a collaborative effort to preserve the archival record of the milestones in this region’s artistic history has now expanded into a great creative landmark in itself.

 

Visa and MasterCard want to target advertising based on personal credit card transaction histories

I recently received a phone call from my bank. They suspected that my credit card was being used in a fraudulent fashion. The security question they asked? "In what county is 1552 Coastal Road." I was stymied. Then I remembered the address was of a college apartment I lived in over 25 years ago...before my mortgage, before I had credit cards, even before I used this bank. I was impressed by their sleuthing, but a little scared at the same time.

Financial intuitions have a very long arm into the personal details of our lives. And like any personal information, it can be used for good, or evil.

Here's a tale of the latter type.

Visa and MasterCard, the defacto credit card companies, want to use what they know about consumer credit card purchases to target you with online advertising. Going even deeper, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a Visa patent application published this year describes incorporating information from DNA databanks, social network websites, and credit bureaus, among other personal details, including insurance claims and online search engines activity into profiles that could be used to target people online. 

How far is too far? For financial institutions who know their consumers have little say in what they do, and how they act due to their overwhelming monopoly on the transactional aspects of our lives--the answer is "as much as we can get away with." Considering that Visa processes 45 billion credit- and debit-card transactions a year, and MasterCard collects details about the 23 billion transactions, they have a lot of data to exploit.

While it is true that the concept of anonymity on the web is a fallacy, how the holders of personal data use information about us is left up, in large part, to financially-driven corporations. How far is too far when it comes to how companies use our personal information?

Visa and Mastercard seem to think it is more than fine to use our personal data to profit by selling access to the insights they gather about people with every credit-card transaction.

Imagine if you went into a grocery store and bought snacks and pre-packaged foods? What would a fast-food company pay for that information, and the ability to market their products to what appears to be a predispositioned target? How about if you bought condoms at a drugstore, or worse yet, paid for your anxiety medication at a pharmacy? Where do you draw the line once you start exploiting consumer's personal behavior patterns?

This long-arm of consumer data by Visa and MasterCard is the first step in pulling offline data, and using it to market online.

MasterCard earlier this year proposed an idea to ad executives to link Internet users to information about actual purchase behaviors for ad targeting, according to a MasterCard document and executives at some of the world's largest ad companies who were involved in the talks. "You are what you buy," the MasterCard document says. While this document was "put aside" because of restrictions over how financial-services companies can use customer data. In otherwords, the governmental consumer protections put in place have had a positive affect, and stopped some evil-doers in their tracks--or at least forced them to search for loopholes to achieve their goals.

Clearly the financial instutions are the new cigarette manufactuers--caring little about consumer protection, and focused soley on profits, and stopped only by the law.

MasterCard is reportedly pursuing a plan to sell marketers an analysis of anonymous, aggregated data sorted into marketing "segments," such as people with a high propensity to be interested in international travel. MasterCard said its plan is "completely new to the industry" and that it still is working through the details of how it will work.

Visa is also reportedly pitching the ability to use cardholders' anonymous buying histories, in aggregate, to tailor the ads people see online.

People can remove their information from MasterCard's analysis by providing their card number on the "Data Analytics Opt-Out" page at www.mastercard.us/privacy. A Visa spokeswoman said the company provides consumers with "notice and choice for products that use their personal information."

In that consumers are nearly required to carry a Visa or MasterCard in today's society (try renting a car or checking into a hotel without one) consumers need to be aware that these companies are doing everything they can to profit off of them, with the only apparent conscious being governmental regulation.

Stay safe, dear customer.

Pivot Conference: "The rise of the social consumer" announces full program and speaker list

The Pivot Conference is scheduled for October 17th and 18th in New York City.

They now have their full program and speaker line-up. You might want to take a look, and join me and RockyMcg at the conference.

As the promoter say, Pivot is the only conference focused purely on how major brands, agencies, marketers and content creators can succeed by understanding, accessing and influencing the emerging Social Consumer.

“The experts assembled on stage will reveal how to define and support effective Social experiences,” said Pivot Host and Editorial Director, Brian Solis “The conference agenda is rich with unique content and provocative thought leadership, structured to foster deep learning, engagement, and creative thinking.  Rooted in the needs and challenges of connected customers, Pivot will explore the next big shift in Social consumer behavior.”

Don't be rude and call me on my phone--I prefer a text.

We're going to make this post short, as we know you need to get back to texting...

According to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, about one-third of U.S. adults prefer texts over phone calls to their mobile phones.

Yes, that statistic is for the 83% of U.S. adults who use mobile phones, not just for Generation Y.

The study found that 31% of adults prefer to receive a text message--which still means that over half (51%) still like a voice cal, but it does suggest a growing habit of texting over dialing.

The survey polled 2,277 adults over age 18, between April 26 and May 22, 2011.

Source: Mashable

Fizziology uses real-time social buzz to predict behavior

Imagine being able to track what drives your audience to act and to figure out what makes them to love or hate your product. Then, translate that data to future sales predictions.

A company called Fizziology is taking social buzz and using data analysis to accurately predict movie box office success and failure.

Here's how it works: They examine millions of conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs via API search, using "human sentiment analysis" and trained analysts to find trends in the conversation. The results: insight and context for clients who depend on predicting audience behaviors to gauge marketplace success.

Here are a few examples of how effective Fizziology can help studios be more precise in their predictions:

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Actual opening weekend: $90.15M
Industry estimates: $110M (22% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $95M (5% from actual)
 
Super 8
Actual opening weekend: $36.5M
Industry estimates: $27-$38M (18% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $37M (1% from actual)
 
Cowboys & Aliens
Actual opening weekend: $36.4M
Industry estimates: $45M (24% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $34M (7% from actual)

The film industry relies more than most on word-of-mouth to understand what movies will be successful, and which ones will tank. Predicting success or failure means $millions to a movie studio as they decide how much money to spend on advertising, and how many theatres to distribute a film--and where.  With Fizziology, it’s now possible to track what people are saying about a movie, to whom, and when and where they’re saying it.

“Social media is the world’s biggest, fastest and most honest focus group,” adds Fizziology co-founder Jen Handley. “Access to all of those opinions and the data that comes from it will have a significant impact on the film industry. From more accurate predictions of how movies will perform to smarter, faster marketing changes to even faster recognition of breakout talent and potential movie subjects, it will impact nearly every part of the film industry.”

Unlike standard social media monitoring services, Fizziology doesn't just use standard social media monitor, and algorithms to predict behavior, they use actual people --who can understand sarcasm, slang or symbols like <3 – to provide sales predictions & other business insights based on conversations taking place in social media.

And, In addition to  box office earnings, Fizziology can help studios understand which trailers to use in their TV buys, and to examine marketing budget ROI. They can also help predict DVD & Blu-ray sales & refine those marketing campaigns based on social media buzz.

And why just limit this to the film industry? Imagine the possibilities.

If it's Tuesday, it must be the World Innovation Forum

Continuing our roadtrip to Internet Week, and "5 Conferences Before Lunch," we'll be spending the morning at the World Innovation Forum in New York City. We'll be listening to Zappos' Tony Hsieh spekaing on Innovation Culture, Daniel Pink on Creativity and Motivation, and Roger Martin, and Roger Martin on Design Thinking. You'll hear from us later today should we be inspired. For direct access, go here for the live Webcast (fee for viewing).

The World Innovation Forum theme is "Connecting Innovation to Growth and Profitability" and  is sponsored by HSM who also put on the World Business Forum in October.

Brian Solis to Pivot Conference

The producers of the Pivot Conference have announced a new Editorial Director and Host for their annual marketing conference.

The inagural conference, held last October in New York City, was led by tech-conference legend Chris Shipley with a focus on how to market to Generation Y.

This year, the conference organizers have chosen social media author Brian Solis as editorial lead, and a different mission for the conference.

Last year, Shipley put-on an extremely well-organized conference that unfortunately lacked an insider's connection to the intended audiences--brand marketers, agencies, and Generation Y.

All can be forgiven in that Shipley is not a member of either community.

This year, the conference pivots shifts its direction to be focused on helping brand marketers and their agencies bridge the gap between the buying and influencing behavior of "Social Consumers"--the latest buzz-phrase wafting through the social media-frenzied world.

In Solis they have a guru in social media who has demonstrated a skill on the speaking curcuit, as an author, and social media agency executive.

While not a brand marketer or agency media buyer or big-agency strategist, Solis should have the "Social Consumers" at heart as he plans the new conference.

"There are many conferences that present marketers with case studies, best practices and panels on social media. And while learning from these experiences is important, Pivot is different," Solis is quoted in a statement. "This conference is not just about following the examples of others, but rather finding the inspiration to blaze a new trail for everyone to follow. And that makes Pivot better.”

Ari Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor at this week's Web 2.0 Summit

If you are interested in the future of media, publishing, technology, marketing, content vs. distribution, namedropping, humor, hubris, and celebrity, you may just enjoy listening to Ari Gold Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor at this week's Web 2.0 Summit:

The cultural practices of American Muslims are beginning to be acknowledged by Corporate America

There are an estimated six to eight million Muslim Americans--roughly the size of the Jewish American population. They, like many in our melting pot, are a mix of immigrants and natural born citizens.

Culturally, there are religious-norms among practicing Muslims that Corporate America is just beginning to recognize, and cater to. Companies are also listening to research that indicates that American Muslims may (as a stereotypical group) be less influenced by price and value, more aware of brand names, and more gender-specific.

Marketing Daily reports that brands like Best Buy, Ann Taylor, ESPN, Verizon and U.S. Healthcare are beginning to advertise on Muslim-oriented websites such as hijabtrendz.com and chillyoislamyou.com, while Hallmark sells Eid cards for the end of Ramadan.

"Best Buy even included the phrase 'Happy Eid' in a holiday flyer that also mentioned Christmas and Hanukkah last year," S. Saad Ahmed, director of sales and strategy for the Los Angeles-based Muslim Ad Network, tells Marketing Daily, "which was definitely a kind of olive branch to Muslim Americans."

Food is an obvious marketing opportunity for companies. Ahmed says that, "While the Halal market is roughly equivalent to the $200 billion Kosher market, there are no big brands reaching out to them."

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The strict guide lines ensure that all ingredients trace back to their raw sources and production procedures. Many products sold in American stores fit into the Halal guidelines, but few are marketed as such.

"You've been Spiced, bro"--Old Spice goes rogue, with a little douchbaggery

Some of you may be familiar with the real-world viral game featuring a Smirnoff Ice called "Getting Iced."

If a bro (yes, that's the correct demographic term for those who partake in such games) hands you a Smirnoff Ice, you have to get on one knee and drink the whole thing. But if you happen to have your own Smirnoff Ice, you can block the Icing, and the bro who tried to Ice you has to drink both bottles.

It has been described as a form of "street theater"

And, it has been good for the Smirnoff brand, who it has been suggested, started this whole thing as a guerrilla marketing program.

And now, with the popularity of the new Old Spice Man phenomenon, bro's have a change of getting "Spiced" as well as "Iced"

The rules of the game are the same--if a bro hands you an Old Spice Body Wash, you have to get on one knee and pour the gooy (but manly) liquid all over your body. But if you happen to have your own Old Spice product, you can block the Spicing, and the bro who tried to Spice you has to shower himself with both bottles.

To be sure, the videos of "Spicing" currently posted to Bros Spicing Bros are staged, but consider these mock Spicings as simply a seed program for what's sure to be the next viral game.

As for me, this whole guerilla effort has made me a little paranoid.

Pivot Conference: To get to know the "Emerging Consumer"

If you're a marketer who is charged with understanding the style, attitudes, technologies and preferences of the 18-34 year old consumer, you may want to check out Pivot Conference scheduled for October 17-19, 2010 in New York.

Known as the "emerging consumer," this age group starts making purchasing decisions for the first time, and brand associations that will last a lifetime.

I've just been invited to attend, and am looking forward to the intimate conference (of around 500 marketers). The conference is being headed up by Chris Shipley--perhaps best known for running DEMO for the past dozen years or so.

"Not since the 1960s have brand managers been as separated by generational differences from their target consumers. Today's emerging consumer is compelled by a global social consciousness which is amplified by media," says Chris Shipley, executive producer of the Pivot Conference. "We created Pivot to highlight the shift in lifestyle and buying behavior that brand marketers must understand to succeed and get that next promotion."

Miller Lite continues to equate masculinity with great taste

Since the early 1970's Miller Lite has been successful with marketing that uses masculine pro sports players and other macho figures of the day in an effort to sell to the key beer-drinking male demographic.

Miller's "Great Taste...Less Filling!" advertising campaign was ranked by Advertising Age as the 8th best advertising campaign in history.

Miller Lite continues to celebrate macho light beer drinkers in it's latest campaign: "Taste Greatness" 

But times have changed, and Miller's ads targeting male drinkers are only a fraction of the strategy, according to Brandweek.

MillerCoors is also introducing product innovations that it hopes will give consumers another incentive to drink Miller. Among those innovations is Miller Vortex, a bottle with interior grooves that creates a vortex as the beer is poured. The product began hitting shelves last month.

U.S. Military goes after the hearts and minds of Afghans with an effort led by a former P&G marketer.

Here's a marketing challenge for you: Win over the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan with a message from the U.S. military.

The army's weapon? Lt. Col. Allen McCormick, who is deploying the marketing expertise he gained at Procter & Gamble and other U.S. companies to target Afghan citizens.

The U.S. military partnered with a Kabul-based ad agency, Lapis, to promote peace in Afghanistan with spots running across radio, television and outdoor.

"Traveling by helicopter throughout a combat zone in body armor to hear a response to an RFP is a big change from New York, Chicago or L.A.," said Lt. Col. Allen McCormick.

From Advertising Age: "The [U.S.] military does two of three things well -- they know who they want to reach and what they want to say, but they don't know how to say it," said Mr. McCormick, who is chief of information operations and psychological operations (PSYOP) for the U.S.'s combined joint task force in eastern Afghanistan.

The ad campaign has three themes, each backed by radio, TV, print and billboards.

1. The "Guardians" campaign is designed to improve the image of the Afghan army
2. The "Governance" effort is to help rebuild Afghanistan with the tagline, "The future of Afghanistan is in your hands"
3. "New Afghan, New Afghanistan." is to inspire hope in the future.

Source: Advertising Age

How to capture a $700 billion market: AdweekMedia’s Gay & Lesbian Consumers Conference

AdweekMedia is producing a conference in June targeting brand marketers, media planners, and market researchers interested in gay and lesbian consumers, and how to reach this $700 billion audience.

"Leading experts will share real-life case studies, exclusive research, and groundbreaking ideas to help you position your business to reach the $700 billion gay and lesbian market across a broad array of fields from travel and technology to fashion and music and much more."

More at AdweekMedia

Twitter and blogs are not for Millennials

In a Pew Research Center study designed to gauge the online habits of America's "millennial generation," a demographic group considered a bellwether of future technology trends, it was clear that blogging and Tweeting are not part of their daily lives.

The number of teenagers and young adults who blog has dropped in half over the last three years.

Amanda Lenhart, one of the report's authors said one reason for the shift might have come from the rapid ascent of Facebook over MySpace to the top of the social media charts in the past year. The MySpace format encourages members to blog, while Facebook instead features short status updates.

And teens who Tweet? Forget about it. Twitter, has failed to catch on with the vast majority of younger teenagers, according to the study.

Only 8 percent of online teens said they had ever used Twitter. Teens clearly preferred sending text messages - 66 percent - to tweeting. And with Facebook, Twitter may just be too much of the same.

The study also found:

-- 59 percent of young adults owned a video game console like a Microsoft Xbox or Sony PlayStation, and 22 percent owned a portable gaming device like a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS. The percentages were even greater for teens - 80 percent had a game console and 51 percent owned a portable.

-- Almost 4 in 5 teenagers, 79 percent, owned an iPod or MP3 player.

-- Of teens, 62 percent went online to get news of current events or politics.

-- More young adults, 66 percent, owned a laptop computer than a desktop, 53 percent.

And 81 percent of young adults who went online did so wirelessly, compared with 63 percent of adults age 30 to 49 and 34 percent of adults 50 and older.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Americans aged 8-18 consume 10 hours and 45 minutes of media per day

According to a recent Kaiser Foundation study, Americans aged 8-18 have increased their media usage since 2004.

That's not much of a shocker.

The shocker is that it found that this age group consumed 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media per day in 2009-that's up over 2 hours per day from the 2004 study.

According to the study, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).  And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours

It is that combination of the mobile device, the personal computer, and television that swallows up most of their lives.

Whether they're multi-tasking or sequentially consuming media, it goes to show marketers that finding ways to dialog with consumers through media devices is alive and well-as long as you know how to communicate to this highly suspicious, media-savvy group.

Those marketers who deliver transparent, honest, community-based communication will have a leg up on this group. And those who understand how to be in-service to their customers, and know how to foster (but not control) word-of-mouth efforts will be the real winners.

Source: The New York Times and the Kaiser Foundation

Americans Spend 8+ Hours A Day Watching "Screens"

The average American adult is exposed to 8.5 hours of "screen time" a day--computer screens, TV screens, cell phones, video games, GPS units, etc.

This, according to a new $3.5 million study from the Council for Research Excellence, a group of top media researchers, funded by Nielsen.

The study showed adults ages 45 to 54 were the heaviest users of all electronic media, spending an average of 9.5 hours a day.

The study followed 350 test subjects and tracked their viewing instead of using the traditional method of allowing subjects to report on their media consumption.

Overall, Americans are exposed to just more than five hours of live TV per day compared with 15 minutes of DVR playback and 2.4 minutes of computer video.

The study confirms similar findings in earlier reports but uses a more statistically reliable method of observation in which researchers followed 476 people for two 14-hour days and recorded all of their media usage and daily activities.

More at The Council for Research Excellence, USA Today, The New York Times

Conference Review: The Economist’s Seventh Annual Marketing Forum

While seemingly everyone else was at South by Southwest this week, I had the opportunity to attend The Economist’s Seventh Annual Marketing Forum, held this year at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco.

I enjoy attending conferences. But, given the cost and time (opportunity cost) it takes to attend, I tend to be pretty demanding, and critical if things don’t go as expected. This week, I had an exceptionally good experience, and I wanted to share it with you.

Conferences and forums have the opportunity to inspire, inform and provide networking opportunities. The Economist managed to achieve all three.

As a marketer, I found it inspiring to hear from top CMO’s from Wells Fargo, Denny’s, Virgin America, Nickelodeon, Del Monte, Frito Lay, OfficeMax, etc. etc. etc. Speakers like Y&R’s John Gerzema and professor Ward Hanson gave context to trends and opportunities. The conference was well-paced, informative and was honest in their understanding that a key component to any conference is networking.

Martin Giles, Senior Business Correspondent for The Economist was the host, and was exceptionally good and guiding the discussions, although when the topic of ROI and optimizing marketing budgets was discussed, he, and the panelists, seemed out of their element and lacking the ability to discuss innovative approaches to ROI in today’s environment. It was, without a doubt, the low-point of the conference.

But, overall, the agenda was clearly grounded in the fundamentals of The Economist’s editorial base—the discussions of how a recession affects pricing, emerging markets, and relationships between CEO and CMO were deftly handled.

Over the next couple of days, I’ll try to share some of the information and insights I gleaned from the conference.

Seven Ways American Idol Has Impacted The World

Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik offers seven ways in which "American Idol" has impacted TV and the larger world, including making TV "more commercial than ever," uniting black and white viewers and influencing how networks schedule their top shows.

No. 1: Shifted when networks broadcast our favorite shows
No. 2: Brought black and white audiences together
No. 3: Helped introduce young people to voting
No. 4: Made TV more commercial than ever
No. 5: Resurrected the variety show
No 6: Crowned the 10 o'clock news a winner
No. 7: Influenced how we "judge" politics

P&G CEO Says "the Consumer is Boss"

The CEO of P&G says, "What the consumer's complaining about gives us opportunity to learn what we can do better.

Consumer feedback early in the product development process -- and employee visits to consumers' homes -- has tightly woven the role and satisfaction of the consumer into this successful organization. P&G is taking notice of its customers, and it is paying off.

From the International Herald Tribune:

Simplistic-sounding, even a little hokey, his "the Consumer is Boss" mantra for P&G employees has worked. Sales, profits and stock price have climbed as the maker of such products as Pampers diapers, Crest toothpaste and Olay skin care has rebounded and grown in the eight years since Lafley was promoted to run a venerable company that was in a skid.

Facebook Use Not Socially Acceptable in Saudi Arabia

There are estimated to be more than 30,000 Facebook users in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, there are powerful folks in that kingdom who are none to happy about that.

One voice comes from Saudi preacher Ali al-Maliki who has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation.

"Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending on food," he said.

As a result of this cultural conflict, a young Saudi Arabian woman has been murdered by her father for chatting on the social network site with a man.

Social customs and religious rules oblige women in Saudi Arabia to cover their head and figure with a veil so that men are not distracted by the female form.

More than 6,500 people have signed the online petition in a bid to stop access to the network from local internet servers.

More at Arab Media and Society

Patrick Dempsey To Have His Own Avon Fragrance

Elizabeth Taylor, JLo, Britney Spears, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Hudson and Patrick Dempsey.

The actor known as Dr. McDreamy on ABC's Grey's Anatomy. seems like the off man out in this list. In fact, he's the only man on this list of women who have their own branded fragrance.

Avon has just announced that it will partner with actor Patrick Dempsey to make a men's fragrance.

Seems like more proof of the blurring line between men and women in the U.S. beauty market.

Imagine "Burt Reynolds for Men" or "Cary Grant's Steamy Cologne" launched in decades' past. There would not have been a feasible market for such a product.

But times have changed, Metrosexuals have assimilated into mainstream America, and beauty products have become the norm in men's medicine cabinets and DOB kits throughout the country.

The Grey’s Anatomy star has signed a multi-year contract, estimated between $5-$6 million, to launch his own men’s fragrance for the cosmetics giant next November.

From PopCrunch:

“We are thrilled to partner with Patrick Dempsey—an incredibly accomplished actor who has achieved such broad appeal because of his genuine authenticity, charisma and style. This will be arguably the strongest franchise in the company’s history,” Avon CEO Andrea Jung says.

“We’re extremely impressed with both his on and off screen accomplishments, and have a shared commitment to giving back to communities in ways both big and small.”

And forty-two year old Patrick sounds equally pleased to be joining the Avon family, saying in a statement on Monday:

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity for me to work with Avon—a brand I have long respected as a global powerhouse with a lot of heart and soul. The brand reaches every corner of the globe with more than just high quality products—it creates economic empowerment for women through its earning opportunity, and has an excellent reputation for corporate philanthropy through their Avon Foundation.”

Incidentally, his wife, Jillian Dempsey, has been Avon's global creative color director since 2006

February 08, 2008: teafragging

Either to prove to myself how out of touch I may be, or to ensure that I stay up to date with all consumer trends, I read a daily email from the fine folks at Urban Dictionary.

This morning's urban word of the day has me feeling truly out of touch:

February 08, 2008: teafragging

It's [teabagging], but in video games. When playing online or split-screen in a
First person shooter game, and you've just [frag]ged someone, you walk over the
opponent's digital carcass, and then press the crouch command repeatedly to
embarass the victim while he or she respawns.

It is truly embarassing, and should only be done by professionals. This means
you need to earn some respect before you teafrag somebody, or else you will face
the wrath of the victim.

1: "Da**it! I just got teafragged by some [noob]!"

2: "That was me, stupid!"

1: "F**k."

FCC Finally Decides That A Scene from NYPD Blue is Considered Indecent

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has apparently taken nearly 5 years to decide whether a nude scene during the long-canceled "NYPD Blue" is considered indecent.

5 years!

The governmental agency has proposed a $1.4 million fine against 52 ABC Television Network stations for a scene where a boy surprises a woman as she prepares to take a shower. The scene depicted "multiple, close-up views" of the woman's "nude buttocks" according to an agency order issued late Friday.

FCC's definition of indecent content requires that the broadcast "depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities" in a "patently offensive way" and is aired between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

From The Washington Post:

"The law is simple," FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate wrote in a statement yesterday. "If a broadcaster makes the decision to show indecent programming, it must air between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This is neither difficult to understand nor burdensome to implement."

The question is, if it is so simple, why did it take the FCC 5 years to rule?

Interestingly, the FCC was very quick to call Janet Jackson's breast exposure as indecent. I guess different body parts require varying levels of scrutiny.

Talking Jesus Dolls Now Available At Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has announced that it will begin carrying Christian-themed toys from One2believe.

The toys are based on Christian bible stories. For example, there's a set of 3-inch figures based on Daniel in the lion's den for about $7. A 12-inch talking Jesus doll is about $15. And 14-inch Samson or Goliath action figures are about $20.

Religious products have become a multibillion-dollar business, but until now, most religious-themed toys have sold successfully only in specialty religious stores, not at mass-market retailers. So, Wal-Mart's launching the One2believe line only in stores where high volumes of bibles are sold.

From the One2Believe website:

This program represents a huge opportunity for the faith community as it is the first time a worldwide retailer has opened-up shelf-space for a strong Bible-based toy product, like Tales of Glory! However, this is only a test-run. In fact, Wal-Mart will only have Tales of Glory in about 500 stores and only for a limited time (August through January). They have temporarily made the product available, and are waiting to see the response from their consumers. The success of this program is up to us… we need to take advantage of this amazing opportunity!

This is a chance to let our voices be heard. By supporting this program we can send a message to other retailers and toy makers letting them know that we, as a Christian community, are truly concerned about the toys that our children play with! We are aware of the influence that toys have on our young children’s impressionable minds, so we would like to see more God-honoring options available. It’s a “Battle for the Toy Box”!

Please pass this exciting news along to your friends, family and church congregation, especially to parents and grandparents. Encourage them to go to their local Wal-Mart store on August 18th and ask about Tales of Glory toys.

While pushed as an alternative to the likes of Bratz and Spiderman, the Christian-based products appear to support a high-level of violence (see photo included in this post). Let's hope One2Believe's "Battle for the Toy Box" doesn't turn into a bloody Christian Jihad.

No word yet on when Wal-Mart will feature Buddha, Mohammed and Ganesh action figures.

More at USAToday

Women: An Untapped Audience For American Airlines

American Airlines is targeting women travelers. They've created a website, will be making changes to planes and travel clubs, all with the goal to boost revenue by $94 million a year by growing the female demographic.

From Reuters:

"We obviously have a vast interest in women," said Peggy Sterling, AMR vice president of safety, security and environmental. "There is an untapped resource."

The Web site features articles and tips for women on travel safety and security. It also encourages feedback and suggestions from women. A recent redesign of American's 767-300 business class included changes such as lower storage bins that may appeal to women.

American has other dedicated websites that cater to Spanish speakers and to gay and lesbian travelers. One airline expert said he expects more airlines to follow American's example as a means to bolster ridership.

Wii is Beating Xbox and Sony Playstation's Butt

From young-males to grandmas, Wii is the way.

Nintendo has had run-away success with the Wii. The company focused on making game play easier, more intuitive and more appealing to a mass market. And, they've been eating the lunch of Micorosft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. They've hit a cord with the audience outside of the young-male audience which is usually the only audience for such games.

Reuters is reporting that the Wii outsold the new Microsoft and Sony consoles in January and February and is generating its own buzz with everyone from nuns to cancer patients to toddlers to residents of retirement homes.

There are Wii parties and Wii bowling contests. Players, who often look quite silly and occasionally injure themselves in fits of overzealous play, upload video of their Wii antics to a variety of technology Web sites like GameTrailers.com and Google's YouTube.

"I thought it was tremendous," said Ted Campbell, 77.

There are even reports that people are using the Wii for weightloss. One Wii owner has reported that, in just six weeks of play, he had dropped 2 per cent of his body fat rating, thanks to the console's motion-sensitive control scheme that rewards active movement when directing in-game characters.

Wii is the way.

eBay Reaches Out To Younger Audience Via Social Networking Sites Bebo, Facebook and Maybe MySpace

With the majority of Ebay's users now 35 to 44 years old, the auction site is looking to locate its next big audience, and is turning to teen social networking sites to find them.

eBay is working with teen site Bebo and college-aged social networking site Facebook in an effort to lure a younger audience to its marketplace. It is being reported that they are in talks with MySpace.

Internally, eBay is looking at ways to leverage the social-networking phenomenon. EBay Research Labs, formed in 2005 to research new technologies, is examining how eBay could let its buyers and sellers join communities on its Web site based on their interests and buying habits, just as high-school students on MySpace might create groups around a common interest like a rock band.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the tie-ups with young Web companies may not only help eBay attract a younger audience. They also are a test for eBay's effort to use partnerships to pull in traffic from other Web sites.

From The Wall Street Journal:

EBay could now be looking to attract new Internet users as they come online. EBay's visitor traffic dwarfs that of MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo -- it attracted 80.7 million unique U.S. visitors in January, compared with 61.5 million for MySpace, 19 million for Facebook, and 3.6 million for Bebo, according to comScore. But the social-networking sites, which have been around for just a few years, are growing quickly among a coveted younger audience that sees the sites as a new front door into the Web. Today, only 38% of eBay users are 12 to 34 years old, compared with 46% of MySpace users, 55% of Facebook users, and 69% of Bebo users, according to comScore.

Working with social-networking sites "establishes eBay as the resource to find what you want -- a used iPod, for example -- and gets [young users] aware early," says Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst at JupiterKagan Inc.'s JupiterResearch. Still, she notes that young people actually spend less money online than their older counterparts, as they have less disposable income

.

New York Bans The N Word, whether you end it with an "a" or an "er"

In New York, a state legistlator is floating the idea of banning iPods in city crosswalks. Now, a New York City council committee has approved a symbolic ban of the racial slur known as the N-word, putting New York in the middle of a national debate over whether the term has evolved into acceptable slang.

From New York's Newsday:

"I'm hoping this is the beginning of a move forward to a place where the use of the N-word is simply unacceptable," said Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), the chief sponsor of the resolution. "So many people have been quietly seething about this for a long time. It's time to bring it into the open."

The ban, which does not carry the weight of law, is among several passed by lawmakers across the country who say they are disturbed by the casual use of the epithet, and those who argue that its prevalence in music and movies, particularly when spelled with an "a" ending rather than an "er," has softened its meaning.

GQ and Cause Marketing: Brand Building With A Social Conscience.

GQ magazine, marking its 50th anniversary this year, is launching a charitable project called the Gentlemen’s Fund. The project is an example of cause marketing, where a brand forges ties with a philanthropy or charity. Stuart Elliott writes on this morning this topic in an article titled: GQ Hopes To Make The "G" Stand for Generosity.

Cause marketing is becoming an increasingly powerful branding tool for companies wishing to connect with younger Americans--a generation that demands more of a "soul" from the brands it associates with.

The magazine says the idea for the fund stemmed from an article that ran in the December issue of GQ, “The New Rules of Charity,” which suggested “that this new generation of guys wants to be involved and find a way to make a difference.”

The initiative is centered on a Web site that is planned to go live today, thegentlemensfund.com. It will also involve the GQ Mobile text-messaging service and events at stores like Saks Fifth Avenue.

Another example of cause marketing is the (Product) Red campaign, supported by Apple, Gap and Motorola, which raises money for programs to prevent and treat AIDS.

People You Should Know: Tapping into the Hispanic Market

There are over 50 million hispanics in the United States--second only to Mexico in Spanish-speaking populations. Like all demographic descriptions, there is no single way to target such a large demographic. But one thing is for sure, it is important to distinguish between the younger, mostly bilingual generation and an older generation that is more comfortable with Spanish-language media.

Hispanic consumers have one of the largest disposable incomes of any minority group, and the U.S. Census Bureau predicts 29% growth in the Hispanic population in the next eight years, vs. 9% generally.

From USA Today:

According to George San Jose, president of The San Jose Group of Chicago, "many of these Hispanic consumers do not yet have any strong brand loyalty because they tend to be younger than the general U.S. population." San Jose knows what he is talking about. His company is one of the top three Hispanic marketing companies in the U.S.

Time to get to know how to market to a Spanish-speaking, and culturally-hispanic audience.

Adults 17-35 Find Most Advertising "Annoying"

Microsoft and Starcom recently commissioned Millward Brown to study Adults 17-35. It concluded that a sizable percentage of this demo are insistent about not being marketed to. The study, "Lifestyles of the Ad Averse" revealed that roughly 10% to 15% of respondents in that age range find most advertising "annoying," and actively seek out media that contains little or no advertising.

From Mediaweek:

Brace yourselves, ad agency folks. Despite the love and pride you feel for your slick 30-second spots, your flashy rich media banners, your brilliant media placement strategies—there are people out there that don’t like your work all that much, and they’ll do whatever they can to avoid it.

Teen Behavior: They're More Thoughtful Than We Thought, But Still Influenced By Peers

A new study finds that teens spend more time weighing risk than adults and in fact often overestimate the odds of a bad outcome. But the desire for acceptance among peers wins out in the decision-making process of a young mind.

The study implies that even though they take drugs, have unprotected sex, ride with drunken drivers, and pretend to be asleep when it's time to do the dishes, they understand more of the potential consequences of these actions that we thought.

According to a study by Cornell University researcher Valerie Reyna and Frank Farley of Temple University, compared to adults, teens take about 170 milliseconds more weighing the pros and cons of engaging in high-risk behavior. Adults scarcely think about risk, perhaps because they think they recognize risk intuitively. Teens, on the other hand, take time to mull the risk vs. benefit equation. The results were published in the September issue of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest

From LifeScience.com:

Teens often decide that the benefits of risky behavior immediate gratification or peer acceptance—outweigh the risks, Reyna said. She figures its better to teach teens some "gist-based" thinking skills, such as putting risks into general categories rather than lecturing with specific data and details.

God, Homer Simpson and The Economist

I thought you might enjoy an article from the Economist, sent to me by a friend. As market researchers, behavioralists, and as those who's livelihood rests on understanding consumer's perceptions, I hope you get a kick out of this research:

From The Economist (paid content):

The complexities of a simple, and almost universal, belief

WHEN Homer Simpson opted out of church once, staying home to watch football and eat waffle-batter, he dreamed that God peeled off the roof of his house and appeared, furious, in the TV room. According to a new survey, 31% of Americans see God that way. He (always he) is wrathful and ever-watchful; He wants his followers to stop sinning, and thinks government should be promoting Him. In the South, 44% of people go in fear of His lightning bolts.

The survey, by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion in Waco, Texas, via Gallup, found four broad views of God in America. Homer's Authoritarian God is the most popular. There then follow, in descending order of intrusiveness, Benevolent God (23%, rising to 29% in the Midwest), who still gives orders but will forgive, rather than smite; Critical God (16%, but 21% in the relativist East), who watches the world but does not intervene; and lastly Distant God (24%), a cosmic force without interest in human matters. This God is especially popular in the wide open West, with its huge views of the stars.

Baylor is a Baptist school with a strong evangelical slant, but only 15% of Americans call themselves evangelicals. Many more (47%) prefer the fervent “Bible-believing”. About 11% profess no religious ties at all; but 63% of those still believe in a higher power, and only 5% dare embrace the title “atheist”. Belief in God, or some equivalent force, comforts more than 90% of the population. And 19% agree that “God favours the United States in international politics”.

Something to Talk About. Cell Phone Use Highest in Los Angeles and Miami

The folks at Verizon Wireless conducted a survey on cell phone use in major cities. Not surprisingly, people in Miami and Los Angeles chat on their cell phones more than any other Americans, with folks in Detroit, El Paso and Las Vegas following close behind.

The survey reports that people in Miami make and receive an average of 298 calls a month -- an average of 9-10 calls daily -- while Angelenos talk second most, averaging 260 calls per month.

Interestingly, consumers on the East Coast, notably New York and Washington, came out low on the list, possibly in part because hand-held cell phones have been banned while driving there for some years. New Yorkers were 11th and Washington did not hit the top 30.

Something to think about when planning your next cell phone advertising media buy.

12 going on 25. Those of an Impressionable Age

From The New York Times: "Savvier than their predecessors about trends, brand names and quality — and hipper about the image they hope to project — many teenagers are unabashedly style-struck. Accordingly, merchants and trend watchers predict that many teenagers will be investing sums, which previously have gone to electronic gadgets, on wardrobes that are meant to be the envy of their peers."

Is One of the "Two Americas" Slowing their Spending Behavior Patterns?

Daniel Gross at Slate writes of the slowing of high-end retailing habits of the upper-middle class.

In The Rising Cost of Living Well, Do longs lines for Frappuccinos really explain Starbucks' disappointing results? Gross suggests that poorer than planned performance at Starbucks, Whole Foods and others points to a change in behavior patterns of the upperwardly mobile disposable income crowd.

From Slate: "In the past few years, analysts have noted the phenomenon of Two Americas Shopping. Retailers that cater to the working class (Wal-Mart, Dollar General, Burger King) have seen sales grow below the pace of the economy at large while those that cater to yuppies, bobos, food snobs, extreme consumers, and dandies—in short, the better-off—have thrived. But now, even as the ultrarich continue to shop as if money grows on trees, there's mounting evidence that rising inflation, slow wage growth, and higher energy prices are pinching the upper-middle class. In recent weeks, several of the publicly held companies that cater to the mass affluent have reported disappointing results."

User Privacy Breach Yields An Inside Look at AOL Users.

C|Net News.com reports that "AOL's publication of the search histories of more than 650,000 of its users has yielded more than just one of the year's bigger privacy scandals. The 21 million search queries also have exposed an innumerable number of life stories ranging from the mundane to the illicit and bizarre. For its part, AOL has apologized for a researcher's disclosure of the massive database and has yanked the file from its Web site. It was too late: The database already had been mirrored."

C|net News.com compiled some data profiles from the AOL search logs. Here is one sample:

AOL user 311045 apparently owns a Scion XB automobile in need of new brake pads that is in the process of being upgraded with performance oil filters. User 311045, possibly a Florida resident, is preoccupied with another topic as well:
how to change brake pads on scion xb
2005 us open cup florida state champions
how to get revenge on a ex
how to get revenge on a ex girlfriend
how to get revenge on a friend who f---ed you over
replacement bumper for scion xb
florida department of law enforcement
crime stoppers florida

More at C|net News

Fun-Loving, Free-Spending "Grups"

Marketers have a new audience segment to scrutinize: "Grups" are a new psychographic group of thirtysomethings and fortysomethings whose buying habits are more like twentysomethings with a lot more money.

The term "grup" was coined in a New York Magazine article, and comes from a "Star Trek" episode featuring a planet run by wild children trapped in perpetual youth. The children call Captain Kirk and his crew grups, short for grown-ups.

From New York Magazine: "He owns eleven pairs of sneakers, hasn't worn anything but jeans in a year, and won't shut up about the latest "Death Cab for Cutie" CD. But he is no kid. He is among the ascendant breed of grown-up who has redefined adulthood as we once knew it and killed off the generation gap."

For this demographic, work-life balance is often more important than a middle management job and company car. Reuters reports that "Grups' favorite activities might include going to see an unsigned guitar band, hanging out in hip bars and the occasional club, maybe jetting off to India or Brazil for a few weeks summer sun and heading to the slopes to snowboard each winter. The crucial difference these days is that the older generation aren't consuming to appear younger, they just aren't growing old like their parents," said Dylan Jones, editor of GQ magazine. "We are already seeing 60-something men who buy the same clothes, listen to same records, see the same films and browse the Web in exactly the same way as 20-somethings."

But even grups admit they cannot stop time, and some acknowledge that one day they may have to pass the Xbox to their children, spend Saturday night watching TV game shows instead of clubbing, and swap their hooded tops for what some might call more age-appropriate cardigans.

But not just yet. Market-away dear friends.

AOL Launches "MySpace for Millennial Males" with Lat34

AOL has launched a new Web site courting skateboarders, snowboarders and other action sports athletes that lets users send in their own videos. Billed as a kind of MySpace for 12- to 34-year-old male BMX-riders and snowboarders, Lat34 is named after the company's Los Angeles location (at Latitude 34 degrees, Longitude 118 degrees).

Lat34.com, is a joint venture of AOL and video production company Fusion Entertainment. In the Washington Post, CEO Jeff Rowe is quoted: "Our whole focus is blending traditional media values with ... social networks, instant messaging, blogs and wireless."

Generation Next. Millennials on the rise.

They tend to move back home after college. They aspire to volunteerism, do not intend to be tied to one corporate job for their lifetime and behave more like true global citizens than any previous generation. They grew up hooked on technology, support gay rights as a basic human right and ignore racial differences. They are The Millennials. They are Generation Next.

I've blogged about Millennials before, in Millennials will be key to what's hot and what's not, Marketing Merlot to Millennials and Millennials now outnumber baby boomers. Now what? Those who study generational behavior, especially in young people, say this group is one to watch.

If you are interested in learning more about this group or plan to market to this audience, I encourage you to check out a couple of resources. First, in The "Millennials" Come of Age, USA Today does a nice job of characterizing the lifestyle of this powerful and consuming generational group. And an even more valuable resource is the Generation Next website. Judy Woodruff of PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer has launched what is growing to be an informative, interactive community site for all things Gen Next:

"Generation Next is about the 42 million 16-to-25 year olds who watched the Twin Towers collapse, who saw two high school students slaughter their peers in Colorado, who grew up online and who are better educated than any other generation in history."

Generation Next, America's emerging decision-makers and leaders. Check them out.

TED's TALKING TO THE MASSES. Ideas worth spreading

For those whose invitation request to the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has been accepted, you have the opportunity to pay the $4400 fee and to participate in the conference where the world's most creative and leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration.

For those not attending, TED has serveral ways to access the excitement, inspiration and energy of the conference. I encourage you to visit the TED website, read the TEDBlog and most valuable, sign up for TEDTalks, and download and listen to the inspirational speeches from the conference. It is nearly as good as being there (OK, not really). Today, download Al Gore, David Pogue, Sir Ken Robinson, Tony Robbins, Majora Carter and Hans Rosling.

From TED's website: "Each year, TED hosts some of the world's most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. The talks they deliver have had had such a great impact, we thought they deserved a wider audience. So now, for the first time, we're sharing them with the world at large... Each week, we'll release a new talk to inspire, intrigue and awaken the imagination. For best effect, plan to listen to at least three, start to finish. (They have a cumulative effect.) If you have a curious soul and an open mind, we think you'll be hooked...

And, if you are so inclined, I encourage you to register for this amazing gathering of creative minds.

At the Intersection of Muslim, Jewish and American Culture: Pizza

The melting pot of Jewish, Muslim and American cultures is ending up in the frozen food aisle of your local Safeway in the form of a frozen pizza.

It seems perfect that at the intersection of these three cultures is an assimilated version of an Italian appetizer.

Two new frozen pizzas, one kosher, one halal have been recently introduced. The kosher version attempts to reach a broader audience than those who keep kosher. The halal version tempts Muslims who wish to embrace an American tradition.

Gryfe's Kosher Bakery is developing a pizza made with soy milk cheese and veggie pepperoni. Perfect for the vegan and lactose-free diets of a growing number of Americans. Midamar Corporation is introducing a frozen pizza too. Theirs has real cheese and pepperoni made from halal beef that is raised and slaughtered according to Muslim dietary laws.

Gryfe's hopes that non-Jews will want to go kosher-vegan. Midamar is betting that Muslim Americans are ready to go Italian-Islamic.

Quoted in The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription/article fee) the founder of Midamar whose father immigrated to Iowa from Lebanon says "We've had immigrants accuse us of 'distorting the culture' by feeding kids halal pepperoni, but your children are going to grow up in this country. You cannot deny them American food"

Like the hundreds of other cultures in our country's past...from the Irish and Polish, to Italians and Germans, to the Vietnamese and Koreans, here's true generational assimilation at work.

The Power Generation. Boomers just seem to sweeten with age

Here's more fodder for the discussion of the growing power of the graying power-elite. Marketers historically have aimed their messages at younger audiences, citing their buying clout and willingness to spend, spend spend. But the aging baby boom generation is changing the rules of marketing by making retirement the sweet spot for marketers. Where marketers once targeted the diaper-generation, should we now be focused on the "depends" generation? Stuart Elliott continues the dialog of how marketers are Seeing green in the Graying of America in his article for The New York Times: Flower Power in Ad Land:

"...advertisers of automobiles, financial services and packaged goods are reconsidering their fixation on youth. The reason is the aging of that generational pig in the python, the baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964. The size of that market, 76 million, makes them difficult to ignore. And as boomers begin to write 6 at the start of their ages, they seem to be embracing the consumer culture as ardently as when that first digit was 5, or 4 or lower."

Asian consumers have a thirst for high-end merchandise from brand-name U.S. outfits

Businessweek reports that "Nothing says "cool" like $100-plus Nike sneakers to the Beijing student who -- like millions of Chinese youths -- is finding the high-priced kicks increasingly affordable. Big brand names in consumer goods are frenetically setting up shop in major cities throughout Asia, emphasizing lifestyle. In Standard & Poor's view, demand for status symbols, like luxury Western brands, is high throughout Asia's bustling cosmopolitan centers, as the consuming population expands rapidly."

The Babies of the Baby Boomers are growing up and they've got the buying power to prove it. But, do you know how to market to them?

Teen buying power is increasing daily. And, teen's brand-prefernces seem to be changing at as frequent a rate. The babies of baby boomers will possess $192 billion in purchase power in 2006. And believe me, they will go shopping and they will have the power to use mom and dad's visa card. What do they want? Uniqueness, community and peer references.

According to Forbes.com: Reaching today's teens means meandering through more individual tastes and preferences. Homogeny and old group stereotypes are out, individualism and authenticity are in. Being cool now means shunning what's "cool."

The key to going after those dollars according to the chief analyst of NPD Group? "Playing to teens' interactive desires by involving them in the marketing process: 'They're engaging the brand rather than endorsing the brand.' says Cohen: "It's not so much that the brand as we know it is dead, but the way it's communicated has changed"

"You reach them by connecting them with each other, both live and virtually," Clark says in Forbes.