Business

The National Retail Federation released its 2013 economic forecast, projecting retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 3.4 percent*, slightly less than the preliminary 4.2 percent growth seen in 2012. The subdued forecast comes on the heels of a holiday season that went head-to-head with Washington’s political wrangling over fiscal concerns, shifting consumers’ spending plans downward. In the end, holiday sales in 2012 grew 3.0 percent.

Aquent and The American Marketing Association (AMA) announced the results of their annual salary survey, “2013 Aquent AMA Marketing Salary Survey.” The survey was created to help marketers pinpoint career opportunity by calling out the highest paying cities, most in-demand jobs and the most satisfying careers based on the responses from 2,600 marketers. The survey revealed some surprises, for instance, working in the big city doesn’t guarantee a big paycheck.

In its 2013 Top 10 Technology Trends for Business report released by PwC US reveals the most significant trends in technology that are reshaping strategies, business models, and enterprise investments this year.

Ad spending rose 3.3 percent year-over-year, from January to September 2012, according to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report. Though advertisers continue to spend the most on television ads, Internet and cinema ad spend grew the most during the period at 7.7 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.

Nine out of 10 (89 percent) of consumer package goods (CPG) executives Deloitte surveyed expect their company’s sales through the warehouse club channel to increase during that time. This channel is outpacing grocery in CPG companies’ focus, as less than half (49 percent) expect grocery sales to increase during that three-year period, while one in six (18 percent) expect sales in the grocery channel to decline.

Less than one in five respondents in the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer believes a business or governmental leader will actually tell the truth when confronted with a difficult issue. This lack of confidence in traditional authority figures was continually reinforced in 2012 against the backdrop of high-profile scandals involving CEO and government officials, including former McKinsey managing partner Rajat Gupta, former Chinese government official Bo Xilai and Lance Armstrong, former chairman of the Livestrong Foundation. Available on HispanicPRpro.com

Digital and Direct Marketers are beginning the new year with a slight pick-up in the pace of new job growth, according to Bernhart Associates’ Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Hiring Report for the first quarter of 2013.

MAGNA GLOBAL forecasts media owners advertising revenues to grow by +3.1% in 2013. This is 1.4% less than our previous forecast published in June 2012 (+4.5%). The revision is mostly caused by a slow-down in economic growth and continued economic uncertainty in Europe and the US, as well as the cautionary marketing spend that took place in the second half of this year.

The global advertising market saw healthy growth during the third quarter of 2012, according to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report. Spending was up 4.3 percent over Q3 2011, to $139 billion. This gain outpaced the 2.7 percent growth seen in the first half of 2012.

Global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale announced the release of Fact-Based Branding in the Real World: A Simple Survival Guide for CMOs and Brand Managers by Dr. Rolf M. Wulfsberg, Global Director, Quantitative Research at Siegel+Gale.

Yahoo! en Español and Sony Music Latin announced a strategic partnership to develop and distribute a series of branded entertainment programs, which will premiere in early 2013.

With student debt now topping $1 trillion dollars and the cost of college far outpacing inflation, some have begun to question if getting a college education is worth it. Industries like media and advertising tend to rely on a lot of on-the-job training, and client entertaining and negotiating isn’t something most schools teach.

From televisions and smartphones to tablets and game consoles, Americans are consuming content on every device under the sun — the latest versions of which will be on display this week at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.