YouTube “Listening” Decreases in 2020

Americans are spending less of their total listening time with YouTube in 2020, and YouTube as an audio-only source is reaching fewer Americans in 2020, according to two updated datasets from Edison Research.

Innovation And Technology Will Lead Brand Growth [REPORT]

A great majority of marketers believe that future brand growth will be tied to marketing innovations and technology, but many of them spend little time learning how to utilize either of those tools, according to a new ANA report.

Plotting the course for 5G innovation [REPORT]

Will 2020 be the year of 5G wireless networks? Many consumers and businesses think so, but we’re also witnessing the first signs of disillusionment. Explore three stages of infrastructure-led 5G innovation, along with 5G infrastructure investment opportunities in the United States, to promote deployment, adoption, and commercialization.

‘Latinx’ And Gender Inclusivity

Latinx was originally formed in the early aughts as a word for those of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don’t want to be identified by gender. More than likely, there was little consideration for how it was supposed to be pronounced when it was created. Nevertheless, people have attempted to assign some pronunciations to it. The most common way to pronounce Latinx is the same way you would Spanish-derived Latina or Latino but pronouncing the “x” as the name of the English letter X. So you get something like \luh-TEE-neks\.

Real Talk: Should We Just Stop Using the Word ‘Latinx?’

There’s been a lot of debate over the term Latinx. What exactly does it mean? How is it different from Latino or Hispanic? Is it positive? More inclusive? Elitist? The term itself and its popular usage especially by Millennials has sparked a lot of debate and started conversations about identity, gender and ethnicity. It seems like this term isn’t really going anywhere any time soon, but considering the wide range of opinions on the matter, should we just stop using the word ‘Latinx’ altogether, or are there some merits for this more encompassing term to describe the Hispanic community?  What is Latinx?

100 Most Valuable Global Ranking reveals growing power and influence of technology [REPORT]

The world’s most valuable brands have seen their total brand value increase by 5.9% despite the economic, social and personal impacts of COVID-19, according to the 2020 BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking released by WPP and Kantar. The total brand value of the Top 100 global brands reached US$5 trillion, equivalent to the annual GDP of Japan. It has increased by 245% since 2006, when the total brand value first reached US$1 trillion.

Anticipating Consumer Needs – Today & Tomorrow [REPORT]

When was the last time you reconsidered your approach to consumer monitoring? Your usual methods of tracking consumer trends may work well under typical, everyday market conditions—but these are not everyday market conditions.

Latino Podcast Listener 2020 [REPORT]

When it comes to Latinos, there is no shortage of audio consumption among our community. As we are about to see, the same is true for podcast listening. The irony, however, is in the shortage of resources available to the Latino podcasting market. This strong consumption — paired with a lack of research – merits a formal look into the podcast listening terrains of the Latino listening world. This is exactly one reason why we teamed up with leaders in the audio space to conduct a study that will provide insights into the podcast listeners and non-listeners of our often simplified, but truly complex, ethnic group.

The Trials of Facebook

It’s a bit of a business this blogging lark. You write a piece on Facebook and the various companies who have decided in one shape or form to pull funds from the platform, only for Mark Zuckerberg to change the rules thus rendering out-of-date most of what I’d written. If you see him, have a word with him for me, would you? Thanks.  By Brian Jacobs

REQUIEM FOR THE TOTAL MARKET …WE HARDLY KNEW THEE [INSIGHT]

United by their mutual skepticism about attempts to define “Total Market,” indeed wary of the concept itself, Pedro de Córdoba /  Eventus  and David Morse /  New American Dimensions began a regular correspondence via e-mail and text about a month ago. The following is a distillation. [We previously published this article on 4/25/2015 and is worth republishing]

The End Of Total Market—It’s Time To Try A New Approach

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, most of us are trying to understand how to honor this critical moment in our country and evolve. The consequences are many and will continue to impact us as individuals, and as business leaders.  By Isaac Mizrahi –  Co-President of ALMA

Forget ‘The Agency of the Future.’ Fix ‘The Agency of Today’

‘The Agency of the Future’ gets a lot of attention in the press and at industry conferences. ‘The Agency of the Future’ partners with its clients, solves brand problems through enhanced creativity, provides digital/integrated solutions, attracts the best industry talent, and competes with consulting firms. It is a wonderful dream that will be realized only if ‘The Agency of Today’ is fixed. This is not happening.  By Michael Farmer

Digital Media Trends [REPORT]

Before and since COVID-19 hit, consumers loaded up on paid media subscriptions and sampled free services. As costs, competition, and subscription fatigue grow, their choices today could shape the industry for the next decade.

How the LGBTQ+ community fares in the workplace

Corporate America has played an important role in the progress of LGBTQ+ rights over the past two decades, with many companies making public gestures of support. Hundreds of major consumer brands have become regular sponsors of annual Pride events. A record 206 major corporations signed an amicus brief in the spring advocating for the Supreme Court’s June 2020 decision protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from workplace discrimination. Companies are also increasingly making business-critical decisions about recruitment practices, employee-resource groups, and marketing that embrace LGBTQ+ rights.

Understanding organizational barriers to a more inclusive workplace

For our recent McKinsey Global Survey on the topic, we approximated inclusion by combin­ing survey respondents’ reported feelings of authenticity, belonging, and comfort participating in the workplace.  Our survey research finds that respondents of all backgrounds encounter barriers to feeling included—and that women, respondents who are ethnic and racial minorities, and those who identify as LGBTQ+ encounter additional challenges.

Which small businesses are most vulnerable to COVID-19—and when

As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic comes into sharper focus, the position of the nation’s small businesses appears, overall, to be particularly bleak. By mid-April, according to a report from the Facebook & Small Business Roundtable, about a third had temporarily stopped operating, and by mid-May more than half had laid off or furloughed employees. Our analysis of several surveys of small businesses suggests that before accounting for intervention, 1.4 million to 2.1 million of them (25 to 36 percent) could close permanently as a result of the disruption from just the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizing for Success

The approaches Aetna, Anheuser-Busch, IBM, and others take to keep their teams’ marketing capabilities sharp

This Year, Next Year: U.S. Mid-Year Forecast [REPORT]

The June 2020 U.S. mid-year forecast is marked by declines in consumer and advertising spend across the board. The COVID pandemic sharply transformed the economic expectations from growth as recently as mid-March to the worst economic decline since the peak of the Great Depression in 1932. That’s according to consensus data as of mid-May tracked by Refinitiv that called for a 5.7% inflation-adjusted decline in economic activity.

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