Business

Across the board, marketing budgets worldwide are set to surpass increases seen last year, as a positive economic outlook convinces companies to up their investment in outreach.

Deloitte released its inaugural “Business Trends 2013” report outlining eight trends expected to be crucial strategic drivers for global business. The report is intended to help executives bolster strategic planning efforts, become more interconnected with customers and stakeholders and find opportunities for innovation and growth.

Immigration from Latin America (and specifically Mexico) has slowed and changed drastically since 2005. An analysis by Pew has shown that about the same number of Hispanics immigrate as return to their countries, creating a net zero growth of immigration as recently as 2012.

It is with great regret that we announce the sudden passing of Miguel Sanchez, most recently of the West Coast office of Televisa Publishing & Digital, on March 18, 2013.

Carat published its first forecasts for worldwide advertising expenditure in 2014, combined with its latest forecasts for 2013 and 2012.

The Best Retail Brands report ranks the top 50 U.S. retail brands by brand value, as well as the top retail brands from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South East Asia, and the United Kingdom. The report is produced by Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

According to sources, Jack Hobbs / Executive VP of Sales of Univision Radio has resigned his position at Univision Radio to join Spanish Broadcasting System. Mr. Hobbs enjoyed a very successful career at Univision Radio offering cross-platform opportunities.

BIA/Kelsey forecasts local media advertising revenues to climb from $132.5 billion in 2012 to $148.8 billion in 2017, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3 percent. In its newly released U.S. Local Media Forecast (2012-2017), the firm reports national brands accounted for 32.1 percent or $42.5 billion of the $132.5 billion spent on local media advertising in 2012. National’s share of local ad spending is expected to grow to nearly $51 billion by 2017.

Apple is innovative, Walmart has presence, Facebook is engaging, but if you want to know what the most influential brand in the United States is, turn to Google. No, not to ask the question, but rather, it is Google itself that is the Most Influential Brand in the United States. This seemingly all-encompassing Internet entity has topped the list in the recently revealed findings of a new study conducted by Ipsos called The Most Influential Brands in the United States 2013.

In the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) conference recently held in Paris, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum (WEF) panel focused on ethics and the role of traditional media in the digital age. When everyone has the ability, says the report, to blog, tweet and publish, traditional media have a greater responsibility to provide ethical, credible journalism.

According to a new survey of 100 retail chief financial officers by BDO USA, LLP, 30 percent of CFOs say U.S. expansion will be their priority growth tactic in 2013. Expanding retailers like Apple and H&M will continue to look for Class-A store locations in high-traffic spots to afford better access and convenience for customers. In addition to store expansion, CFOs also say improving merchandise assortment (24 percent) and e-commerce and mobile commerce (22 percent) will be top growth tactics this year.