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Heir apparent? Many of today's millionaires go for broke
Drag, drop and roll (dough): Foodies create personalized cookbooks
Serving courses in urban cool
Cash rap: Campaign encourages families to “have the talk”
Call it a serious case of fiscal denial. Talking about funds is never fun. But a campaign from Nationwide, the Ohio-based insurance and financial services company, is encouraging everyone to dish about dough. “Have the Talk America” is a program created by Harvard communications specialist and bestselling business writer Sheila Heen. It includes tips, tools and quizzes to help people open up about the realities of their money matters. Funny money? It's true. The site also includes video invites from comedian Frank Caliendo. No need for an awkward ice breaker when you have a comedian to get everyone talking. Consumers are looking for honesty, transparency and guidance. A Web guide that offers ways for them to save money—and understand the difficult world of finances—is a portal to a lifelong consumer relationship. But ISM says, why stop at money. Having your brand supply education that gets people smart can be applied to a wealth of categories and topics. Expert advice allows consumers to feel empowered and more likely to make educated and committed choices—including selecting your helping brand over others.
Adrift drivers find their way with the Google gas pump
With today's sky-high gas prices, getting lost on the road is an expensive adventure. To help on-the-go consumers find their way, gas pump manufacturer Gilbarco Veeder-Root has partnered with Google to provide driving directions at the pump. The machine's internet-connected screen displays maps and info on local restaurants and motels. For those without a photographic memory, the directions can be printed through the receipt printer. To triple the pump's usefulness, it also dispenses coupons from participating retailers. The technology was introduced at a November 2007 trade show but is not yet available for purchase; Gilbarco is to announce the sale soon. From ISM's perspective, it is increasingly important for brands and retailers, across all categories, to reach out and meet their hyper-busy audience wherever they are. Enhanced convenience and secure driving directions are services that stand out.
ISM News: Foxwoods rocks the kitchen, rocks the Chef
Today's top chefs are the new celebrity rock stars. You see them on entertainment TV shows, their own cable network and the pages of tabloid magazines. So when Foxwoods Resort Casino asked ISM to develop the graphic identity for their first Food & Wine Festival, we immortalized the chef in a poster worthy of any arena band. From billboards to ads to the commemorative program book, they all highlighted the fact that the world's most celebrated chefs were performing live. And just like they do in concerts, the crowds rocked out. This year the tradition will continue, with expected throngs to be so large the event is moving into the expansive function space of the soon to open MGM Grand at Foxwoods.
Heir apparent? Many of today's millionaires go for broke
Many children of Boomer millionaires can forget about inheriting Mom and Dad's dough. Two recent studies suggest that affluent Boomers aren't planning to pass on the wealth to their kids (BaltimoreSun.com 12.10.07). Affluent Boomers are planning to live out their dream retirement years for more than two decades. The result? There's not going to be much left in the cookie jar. According to projections by Harris Interactive and American Express Publishing, affluent Boomers are more concerned about maintaining their lifestyle than they are about leaving a nest egg. It's not so much that the rich are getting greedier: People are living longer, investing has been varied and unstable and retirement is costing more than ever before. “Retirement” has changed drastically in the last decade. ISM says the golden years are no longer about rocking chairs, but about rock climbing. Boomers want to live out their dreams in the form of adventures and they want to leave a legacy to prove they lived it. For today's Boomers, legacy is less about dollars and cents than it is about experiences. Many Boomers are footing the bills for their kids' schools, cars, first homes and first babies and feel that they've earned the right to spend their retirement funds on themselves.
Drag, drop and roll (dough): Foodies create personalized cookbooks
Food lovers' countertops are often overflowing with cookbooks (each tome containing only a few go-to recipes) and loose printouts of online recipes. TasteBook lets foodies clean house. The site enables recipe hounds to create personalized cookbooks loaded with recipes from Epicurious.com, the online source for all Gourmet and Bon Appétit recipes great and small. What are the key ingredients for making a great DIY TasteBook? Users simply drag their favorite recipes into a folder, create their own cover and plunk down $35. The result is a handy-dandy hardcover book that comes with colored section tabs and removable pages for cooking made simple. With the emergence of really cost efficient, high-quality, print-on-demand technology (check out www.blur.com) ISM sees a growing opportunity to make online info real-world ready so that consumers can compile, tweak and personalize their own keepsake book.
Serving courses in urban cool
Club Monaco has some serious class and we're not talking about the retailer's fashionable duds. The upscale clothing store with outlets all over the world has taken it to the next level by offering urban studies forums at its Columbus Avenue flagship store in New York. Since opening its doors in September 2007, the store has hosted workshops on building a contemporary art collection and the impact of social media on consumer behavior. Both events were free and included cocktails, expert guest speakers from places like Sotheby's and loads of dialogue about the next level of urban chic. Guests could mingle, get art tips and scout out their next great outfit. ISM knows that consumers want experiences and environments that reflect them on all levels—visually, emotionally, intellectually. What better way to reach out and engage consumers than by offering courses and discussion forums on ideas that intrigue them? We believe that brands that help consumers design their lives do more than offer a simple solution. They create an all-encompassing lifestyle.
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By the end of 2007, Americans will consume more wine than Italians for the first time ever and will rank second only to France in overall wine consumption. This year, Americans will drink 304 million cases (3.6 billion bottles), according to the U.S. Wine Market report and will surpass France before 2015.
-- Epicurious.com 10.11.07
More consumers are deciding where to shop based on emotional needs like enjoyment and atmosphere rather than price and convenience. Thirty-five percent of consumers in 2007 said they preferred an enjoyable experience over such factors as price and convenience, compared with 30% in 2002.
-- SignOnSanDiego.com 11.16.07
Consumers are 44% more engaged in advertisements inserted in television programs they view online than they are with the ads in programs they view on a television.
-- SYS-CON.com 12.4.07
Grandparents in the U.S. spend billions of dollars on their grandchildren per year—nearly $1,700 on average on every new grandchild. First-time grandparents spend, on average, $1,882 on every new grandchild during the first year, whereas seasoned grandparents spend, on average, $1,501.
-- MarketingVOX.com 12.10.07
Competition among the world's cities is heating up for LGBTers—an affluent group coveted for its high-spending ways. Gay travelers often travel in off-season; with fewer dependents, they're less tied to the school calendar. They also have more disposable income and can afford to travel more frequently and use mid-range to high-end products.
-- Canada.com 12.9.07
In a survey by workforce solution provider Adecco, 33% of the respondents said they would be more inclined to work for an environmentally conscious company and half said the company they worked for should be doing more to protect the environment.
-- USA Today 11.26.07
Nearly 63.7 million U.S. residents traveled internationally in 2006 and “overseas” destinations (excluding Canada and Mexico) received more than 30 million U.S. travelers in 2006, a 5% increase compared with 2005. In that same period, the dollar lost 11% against the euro in 2006.
-- ForbesTraveler.com 11.1.07
A Nielsen Company study shows that beer, which 10 years ago accounted for 59% of 21- to 30-year-olds' alcoholic beverage spending, has shrunk to 47% of their purchases as wine and spirits purchases have grown in relatively equal proportions.
-- MarketingVOX.com 11.29.07
Consumers who read online product reviews are also likely to buy more while on an online retail site. In a survey, some 27% of respondents who read customer reviews reported average spending between 5% and 10% higher than those who did not read them.
-- eMarketer.com 12.10.07
An Ameriprise Financial survey found that Boomers are facing mounting financial pressure. More than nine in 10 Boomers are financially assisting adult children in at least one area, and one in six is “sandwiched,” providing assistance to both adult children and aging parents.
-- TheMatureMarket.com 11.30.07
Equestrian Services in Charlottesville, VA, is designing 10 equestrian-themed communities and has another 10 in the pipeline. The number of such communities in the United States has doubled over the past three years to at least 200, says Jennifer Donovan, a principal with the company.
-- Realtor.org 12.1.07
Sixty percent of U.S. consumers surveyed by Forrester Research said they share product advice with family and friends. Forty percent neither give nor receive advice and 6% receive advice only. The largest segment of word-of-mouth users by age was Boomers, at 44% of the total.
-- eMarketer.com 12.5.07
The average U.S. internet user now clocks about a full workday online every week. At 7.8 hours per week, that amounts to about 31 hours in a four-week month. Web use at work has increased by about 70% since 2001.
-- eMarketer.com 12.12.07
If you want to get people to act greener, the best thing to do is talk to them about saving money, not about saving the environment.
-- J. Walker Smith, Yankelovich president, USNews.com 10.26.07
Boomers control about $13.3 trillion in household investable assets, representing 53% of total U.S. household investable assets. Estimates put retiree assets at 30% of U.S. wealth in about 10 years—fivefold growth from their current 6% share.
-- InvestmentNews.com 11.5.07
Business 2.0 estimates American "sleeponomics" to be worth $20 billion a year. The market segment includes everything from the 1,000+ accredited sleep clinics (some of them at spas) that conduct overnight tests for disorders like apnea, to countless over-the-counter and herbal sleep aids, to how-to books and sleep-encouraging gadgets and talismans.
-- New York Times Magazine 11.18.07
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