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Summer camp may be off the calendar this year
MeGlobe: Instant messaging, instantly translated
Consumers focus reading glasses on digital-print tools
While the touch of pulp isn’t going away, the rise of reading via electronic devices is luring in tech-savvy consumers. The last word (so far) in the e-print reader arena is the Amazon Kindle. The $359 device was a big hit for the online retailer when it debuted in 2007, and initial sales are promising. Kindle owners can download (wirelessly, at the touch of a button) any of over 200,000 titles and subscribe to auto-updating blogs and publications like the Washington Post and Time. While most bibliophiles aren’t ready to devour an entire novel via smartphone, the thirst for information and connection in small doses is keeping consumers glued to mobile screens. Applications like Stanza and the Kindle app for the iPhone and Viigo on the BlackBerry are finding a mobile audience eager for digital print content that’s specifically designed for quick perusal on small screens. According to the analysts at the Bivings Group, more than 60% of the top U.S. newspapers now offer some type of mobile news service, and the increase in content designed for viewing on mobile devices helped raise page views for the New York Times from 500,000 in January 2007 to more than 30 million in December 2008.
In the last six months of 2008, over ten pubs, including US News & World Report, The Christian Science Monitor, PC Magazine and two of the major newspapers in Detroit have scaled back or ended print editions in favor of a focus on mobile formatting. Major publishers like Random House have aggressively expanded their e-book catalogs—including options to buy on a per-chapter basis for reading in bite-size chunks. The Google Book Search project has scanned over 7 million out-of-print, public-domain and current titles into a digital format that’s available for viewing by the general public. Even gamers are getting in on the action: Nintendo and HarperCollins teamed up in December 2008 to educate thumb mashers with the 100 Classic Book Collection optimized for the DS portable game system.
Is paper content headed for the bonfire? Not even close. But ISM understands that consumers are expecting content to further expand into multimedia formats. The big question: If it’s on the page, why isn’t it also on the screen? ISM sees the key factors for the emergence of digital copy as convenience and connectivity. While some consumers are turning toward dedicated e-readers, many prefer to read via mobile device or computer. ISM finds that the commonality between all users is the desire for a functional and simple experience. Mobile users want content fast and functional. Excess graphics, large file size or convoluted layouts get in the way of consumers getting the info and getting on with the day. While Big Media continues to figure out a viable biz plan for making online content pay off, one thing is certain: Consumer desire for access to digital content will only increase. The experiment on payment choices (ad supported? subscription? micropayment?) continues. Stay tuned. With everywhere connectivity growing (thanks to the expansion of WiFi and 3G), consumers want content to come to them—not the other way around. Expect Millennials and particularly Gen We to embrace and demand everything digital.
Who reads contracts before signing? Almost no one.
Two academic studies describe a disturbing fact: The vast majority of consumers will sign almost any contract without reading it first. In a 2009 study published by NYU, a contract used in the study required signers to do push-ups, to stay in the room until dismissed, and to apply electrical shocks to other participants. 95% of the respondents signed the contract after looking at it for an average of two seconds. An Israeli study published on the Social Science Research Network finds that most people feel they don’t have the time to read entire contracts, it will be too onerous to change contract terms, or too costly. Business transactions that involve a contract are threatening to consumers for lots of reasons. Still, it’s surprising how few people actually read before they sign. ISM thinks that making contracts easier to read and negotiate, and empowering consumers to read and review them is a tremendous opportunity to begin closing the “trust gap.” ISM believes companies should start to view this as an important customer touch point and an opportunity to innovate in ways that can enhance customer confidence and loyalty.
Summer camp may be off the calendar this year
While parents are loathe to cut spending on their kids, summer camp appears to be on the chopping block as the Great Recession deepens. Bunk1.com, a website that books registration for hundreds of summer camps, has documented a 10-15% drop since 2008. Private residential camps can be especially expensive, running into thousands of dollars. But the American Camping Association says more than 75% offer financial aid. Camp directors are expecting more apps for aid and trying to offer shorter stays. ISM believes parents are looking for less costly options, from day camp to a modest family vacation, as they try to insulate their kids from economic hardship. This would seem to be an opportunity for the travel industry to create ways to leverage facilities, experiences and offerings so that they can fill the “camp” void and deliver opportunities for parents and kids to come together (and gain quality alone time) in interesting and unique ways.
MeGlobe: Instant messaging, instantly translated
Cross-cultural communication just got simpler thanks to MeGlobe, an instant message translator and chat community that breaks down linguistic barriers on the fly. The free web-based subscriber service supports over a dozen languages for rapid IM translation via complex algorithm. The user types in their native tongue and the text then shows up on the other end of the conversation in the designated language of the receiving party. Recently out of beta testing, MeGlobe supports Yahoo, AOL AIM and MSN chat protocols, so there’s plenty of ways to tap into the universal language of cyber chat. A potentially huge boon for companies with overseas divisions, MeGlobe streamlines the communication process saving time and money—two things that make the bottom line happy. The impact of transglobal cyber friendships springing up between strangers previously divided by language could make the planet even more of a small world after all.
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Barna Group research shows that 32% of all adults consider themselves to be “mostly conservative” on social and political matters, while 17% claim to be “mostly liberal.”
-- Barna Update 3.29.09
According to a report from retail consultancy Retail Forward and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the habits learned during this economic crisis have the potential to permanently alter the mindset of consumers. The vast majority of shoppers who are changing their near-term shopping behaviors say they plan to continue them as the economy improves.
-- Reuters.com 3.23.09
The population of the U.S. corrections system is more than 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 adults.
-- Pew Center on the States 3.2.09
According to analysis of Scarborough data, Hispanic Internet users are 21% more likely to download digital content than the average adult online.
-- PRNewswire 3.19.09
Foodservice managers find that when trays are eliminated from all-you-can-eat dining halls, diners take less food and therefore waste less. Philadelphia-based Aramark Higher Education reported that schools saw a 25% to 30% drop in food waste per person when trays were removed.
-- RIMag.com 12.1.08
At 15% of the population, the non-religious are now the third biggest grouping in the U.S., after Catholics and Baptists, according to the American Religious Identification Survey. The bulk of this shift occurred in the 1990s, when they jumped from 8% to 14% of the population.
-- Sunday Times U.K. 3.15.09
According to a survey by Platform A, shoppers ages 18 to 24 are most likely to use online coupons, with 51% indicating they are “very likely” to use coupons they find online. The findings are notable because that age group has not traditionally embraced the old-fashioned method of cutting coupons out of newspapers.
-- SupermarketNews.com 4.1.09
In a survey released in February, the National Garden Association’s research director, Bruce Butterfield said he anticipated a 20% annual increase in first-time household food gardens.
-- NYTimes.com 4.1.09
Geisinger Health System is succeeding by doing less, but better. It offers a 90-day warranty on elective heart surgery, promising to get it right, for a flat fee, and paying if complications arise. The federal government is studying Geisinger’s model as a way of reducing errors and costs.
-- Washington Post 3.31.09
Americans are eating more hamburgers and fewer steaks as the economy wallows in recession, and that has led to huge losses at U.S. feedyards that fatten the cattle for steaks. Each week $100 million is lost as feedyards from Nebraska to Texas sell cattle at well below production costs.
-- Money.CNN.com 2.27.09
Despite pressure to reduce costs, 45% of employers report increasing communication about their wellness and employee assistance programs to highlight available services that can help employees with issues brought on by the economic downturn, according to a Buck Consultants survey.
-- Workforce Management 3.19.09
Lower-income shoppers are more interested in good values than in sale items. Further, retailers have enormous untapped opportunities to target these shoppers with value-based private-label products and messaging.
-- MediaPost.com 2.27.09
Retailers will need to recognize that future growth will come from tailoring existing stores to specific customer segments and local markets as opposed to adding stores. They need to adopt more creative strategies such as breaking the 80/20 rule with more limited editions and small runs to generate shopper excitement.
-- Lisa Feigen Dugal, Pricewaterhouse Coopers U.S., ProgressiveGrocer.com 3.23.09
48% of all online shoppers plan to spend less in 2009, but 61% of those reluctant to make certain purchases can be positively influenced by online shopping resources, according to a study from Bazaarvoice and richrelevance.
-- BazaarVoice.com 2.23.09
Consumers are not buying based on price alone. Instead, they are relying more on their perception of value when deciding which brands to stay loyal to during the recession. In fact, consumer expectations regarding brand value went up 20%, according to the 2009 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.
-- Brandweek.com 2.28.09
Chef Tom Colicchio will turn the front section of his restaurant Craftsteak in New York into “Halfsteak,” a spot for casual cuisine, smaller plates and lower prices, including half orders of steaks for under $15.
-- CrainsNewYork.com 2.11.09
19% of employers are planning to stop offering health benefits over the next three to five years, nearly five times as many as the 4% who said they were planning an exit strategy last year, according to a Hewitt Associates survey.
-- Workforce Management 3.6.09
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