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CareGifting offers another way to show support for the ill
A sandwich Boomer by any other name is still financially squeezed
YouTube plans to share revenue with power contributors
E-mail your family pics straight to the frame
Kids suffer from “nature-deficit disorder”
“Go outside and play” isn’t something you hear much anymore—and that’s not such a good thing. Attendance at state and national parks in Pennsylvania is way down, especially among young people, reflecting a national trend (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 5.17.07). High-tech gadgets and high-def TV are only partly to blame for “nature-deficit disorder,” as some experts call it. Aggressive marketing by retailers and the entertainment industry make a day at the mall much more alluring than a hike in the great outdoors. Pennsylvania’s not taking the lack of activity lying down. The Governor’s Outdoor Conference, convened in March 2007, brought officials and outdoor experts together to brainstorm better ways to market Mother Nature to kids. For years, sociologists have carped about kids spending too much time indoors. From ISM’s perspective, with childhood obesity on the rise, those concerns may no longer fall on deaf ears. It’s hard to compete with mega retailers and pro sports (not to mention Hollywood), but putting smart heads together is a good start. Props to Pennsylvania for taking the marketing bull by the horns.
FLEXPETZ fetches dogs for part-time owners
Leased cars. Vacation condos. And now, timeshare dogs. FLEXPETZ lets dog lovers who don’t have the time or space to be full-time pet owners make playdates with dogs from breed-rescue shelters. FLEXPETZ members pay $40 a month, plus a daily fee, and can reserve their dog of choice online. But before part-time companions start tossing Frisbees to Fido, they must go through mandatory training with a certified FLEXPETZ handler. Launched in Los Angeles and San Diego, FLEXPETZ is expanding to New York, San Francisco, Boston and other major cities here and abroad. Members can rent a dog at any location and enjoy a romp in the park wherever they go. ISM knows that all dog lovers can’t care for canine companions 24/7 so renting a favorite breed for a few hours or several days is a great option for consumers who travel a lot or live in buildings that don’t allow dogs. Full-time owners can’t always take the family pet along on vacations or business trips. FLEXPETZ helps them get their dose of doggy love even if Fido has to stay behind. Adding this service to travel websites can’t be far behind.
CareGifting offers another way to show support for the ill
Caregiving we know about. But CareGifting? It’s both a concept and an e-tailer created by CareGifting.com to help consumers show their support for ill or recuperating loved ones. The concept of CareGifting is a call to celebrate, comfort and connect when family and friends are in need. The site’s co-founders worked in healthcare and believe such support speeds healing (CareGifting.com 5.07). Site users can download a CareGifting Circle doc with tips on forming support circles of friends to handle an ill pal’s needs by preparing meals, shopping for groceries and doing yard work. CareGifting, the company sells a selection of natural and organic gifts aimed at promoting healing. Products are gathered into collections—contained in reusable bags—for specific health issues. Choices include the new mom’s Afterglow collection, the Staying Strong cancer collection, the caregiver’s Graceful Gabriela/Gabe collection and the Calamity Kate/Calvin collection for accident victims. The site also offers kid-friendly collections, and customers can peruse gifts according to ailments and situations, choosing among categories like stress, grief, depression and surgery. Flowers? Get-well cards? ISM thinks they’re still OK. But we feel CareGifting’s gift-basket revamp offers a more unique and personalized way to show compassion. Not only do the gifts and actions stand out, but by outliving carnations they keep showering consumers with love day in and day out.
A sandwich Boomer by any other name is still financially squeezed
What do you call Boomers who financially support both offspring and aging parents? Sandwich Boomers, of course. ACNielsen and think tank Age Lessons, however, have christened the cohort with the moniker “pivot spenders.” According to a survey fielded by the duo, 22% of Boomers are financially helping a parent, while 24% are giving some form of financial assistance to an adult child (age 18+) who’s not in college (ACNielsen.com 5.4.07). The areas where Boomers lend a monetary hand include groceries, housing, healthcare, apparel and vehicle costs. And wealthier Boomers tend to dole out more assistance. Age Lessons says pivot spenders may account for the popularity of club-store shopping—it’s where pinched Boomers can bag thrifty bulk goods to share with offspring and parents. From ISM’s perspective, whether you call this Boomer squeezed. Pinched. Sandwiched. Or pivot spender—the lifestyle needs remain the same. This savvy consumer aims to stretch available dollars as far as possible to ensure that loved ones on both ends of the age spectrum are cared for. It’s certainly an audience and a reality that needs to be on your radar.
YouTube plans to share revenue with power contributors
Becoming the next Star Wars kid could soon mean more than eternal infamy; it might be a meal ticket as well. YouTube has announced that it will share revenue with the content producers whose videos hit it big. YouTube already gives Big Media (like Sony BMG and CBS) a slice of the YouTube ad dough. But now the site’s founders plan to share some scratch with the little guy, though they’ve yet to release details on who will be eligible to draw checks and how many zeros those babies will have. Rival videosharing sites already cut deals with small-time content creators. Metacafe pays contributors $5 for every thousand times their vid’s viewed. The way ISM sees it, while plenty of amateurs blog, vlog and share their creations to connect and have fun, many media makers are saying “Monetize me” and asking for a share of revenue. Google has scored in the past by empowering content creators to make dough off their creativity. It’s just a matter of time before video makers find ways to get paid for their media.
E-mail your family pics straight to the frame
Your grandma has one, your infant has one, and you’ve got seven—so why not get an e-mail address for your digital picture frame as well? The eStarling digital photo frame allows users to e-mail their snaps straight to the frame, no need to stop at a computer along the way. In addition to e-mail functionality, the WiFi-enabled digital frame can use RSS feeds to display photos from a user’s Picasa account or Flickr photostream. The nifty, hyper-connected peripheral is simple—there’s no PC required post-setup—but it ain’t cheap. A $250 price tag ensures only the most affluent of wired grandparents will be e-mailing in their g-kids’ digital mugs. From ISM’s perspective, the tech may morph and the tools may change, but consumers’ desire to capture and preserve memories of family and friends isn’t going away any time soon. They’re on the hunt for convenient, simple ways to access those memories. Computer peripherals that are simple to operate and do one function very well fit into connected older Xers’ and Boomers’ lifestyles.
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A majority of U.S. women (57%) report that they have experienced a significant increase in stress over the past five years. Almost all women surveyed (91%) indicate that if they could find 10 minutes of free time daily to alleviate stress, it would improve the rest of their day.
-- National survey conducted on behalf of Johnson & Johnson, PRNewsire.com 5.9.07
According to an iGR study, 50 to 70% of 12- to 14-year olds have their own cellphones. It also found cellphone market penetration among those age 15 to 17 is even higher, and a significant percentage of 5- to 9-year olds now have their own cellphones.
-- Tekrati.com 5.7.07
The divorce rate in the United States has dropped to 3.6 divorces per 1,000 people—the lowest level since 1970, according to figures released recently by the National Center for Health Statistics. That downward trend has continued steadily for the past 25 years.
-- Eagle-Tribune 5.14.07
60% of teens use text messaging, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll. In the first quarter of 2007, Verizon Wireless tracked 22.3 billion messages, more than double the number in the same period in 2006.
-- Bloomington Pantagraph 5.14.07
The continued growth in the use of travel goods in everyday life led to record travel goods sales during 2006. Sales of travel goods like luggage, backpacks, travel/sports bags and business cases/computer bags contributed to the estimated $20.7 billion in 2006.
-- Report from Travel Goods Association, PRNewswire.com 5.8.07
According to a National Coffee Association study, daily consumption of coffee surpassed that of sodas in 2007 for the first time in more than 15 years, with 57% of Americans drinking coffee every day compared with 51% for sodas.
-- San Diego Union-Tribune 5.6.07
Refuting the idea that web surfers jump around and don’t actually read much, the EyeTrace07 survey by the Poynter Institute found that people who use the internet to read the news have a greater attention span than print readers. Online readers read 77% of what they chose to read while broadsheet newspaper readers read 62% and tabloid readers 57%.
-- PhysOrg.com 3.31.07
67% of the total U.S. population is over 40, 67% of the U.S. Muslim population is under 40. Also, 67% of U.S. Muslims have a college degree, versus 44% of the general population. The U.S. average income is $42,000; 66% of U.S. Muslims earn over $50,000 and 26% over $100,000, according to Allied Media Corp.
-- Adweek 4.30.07
Marketing to Muslims carries some risks, but ignoring this group, estimated to be about 5 million to 8 million people in the United States with a spending power of $170 billion, would be like missing the Hispanic market in the 1990s.
-- International Herald Tribune 4.27.07
On any given day, about a quarter of Americans skip breakfast and one in eight skip lunch, but 90% treat themselves to a snack, according to the International Deli-Dairy-Bakery Association.
-- Los Angeles Times 4.30.07
When more than 500 Californians were shown lists of four dishes served at chain restaurants by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy and asked to identify the ones with the most fat, least salt and fewest or most calories, 68% chose the wrong item every time.
-- Los Angeles Times 4.18.07
More than 59 million people (37.6% of all active internet users) visited newspaper websites during the first quarter of 2007, a record number that represents a 5.3% increase over the same period a year earlier.
-- Custom analysis by Nielsen/NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America, MediaPost.com 5.1.07
Skimpy savings are increasingly common among those in their middle years. In a 2006 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, about a third of workers age 35 to 44 said they had salted away less than $10,000 for retirement.
-- Money 5.07
“I think of watching network newscasts as something my parents do. I can’t imagine my friends sitting down to watch an actual network newscast at 6:30 because we’re doing other things at that time. It’s a lot quicker to go online. I customize my news.”
-- U Penn senior Jen Jablow, 22, Philadelphia Inquirer 5.13.07
21% of managers believe “I’m working from home today” really means “I’m taking it easy today,” according to new annual research from Mitel; 37% think that if allowed to work from home, staff will use working hours to carry out personal activities or arrange their social life (30%).
-- Workforce Management 5.8.07
Consumers want vehicles that are more fuel-efficient but they are not enamored with hybrids. When asked whether their next vehicle would be a hybrid, 80% of online consumers in a recent survey responded “no.”
-- CarGurus.com, an online automotive community, Detroit News 5.2.07
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