Business

The biggest advertisers of 2008 came from a variety of categories, but the TOP TWENTY list was certainly driven by ads for Television and Cable TV, Automotive Sales and Service and Fast Food. This list was compiled from monitors in 77 Radio markets, 35 TV and Cable markets and 40 Newspaper markets were surveyed in the USA from Jan 1, 2008 to December 14, 2008.

The Nielsen Company released a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008. The Nielsen Company delivers and integrates the most comprehensive media and marketing measurement systems in the world.

With Americans lining up for deals on Black Friday and surfing the web on Cyber Monday, the holiday shopping season is officially in full swing. Consumers today have access to more information and more ways to shop than ever before – including online, via cell phone or in physical stores. According to a new study by Harris Interactive, a global leader in market research, shoppers consult an average of four resources on their path to purchase. Most consumers begin their research online, but ultimately make their purchase in a brick-and-mortar store.

Total measured advertising expenditures in the first nine months of 2008 declined by 1.7 percent as compared to the same period in 2007, according to data released today by TNS Media Intelligence, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Ad spending during the third quarter of 2008 was off 2.0 percent versus last year, despite a positive stimulus from the Summer Olympics and political elections.

The 14th Annual Top 10 PR Blunders List, compiled by San Francisco’s Fineman PR, features bailed out big shots, political snafus and a clueless Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

In 2009 we look for relatively weak ad growth in the U.S. The extra large ad demand from political contests will nearly all disappear. The extra ad spending tied to the 2008 Summer Olympics in China will not be present, and drains on consumer incomes and confidence are likely to worsen if unemployment rises as presently expected. There are a few positive forces that may kick in during 2009, but not many.

They will have growing consequence for media and advertising, and many of them are already rocking your world! And if they aren’t agreed upon as absolute fact, they are prompting serious and emotional debate. Interactive is at the root, and it’s heralding a new era that is challenging all the old assumptions of media economics.

The mass exodus of Baby Boomers from the workplace has already begun. According to the US Office of Personnel Management, between 2006 and 2010 Boomer retirement will have robbed American companies of nearly 290,000 full-time experienced employees. While the financial crisis has forced some to postpone retirement for a couple extra years, we can’t count on the majority of them to be fully contributing members of the workforce much longer.

The 7TH largest global corporation, financial services leader ING, has identified San Antonio as one of the most robust growth markets in the country to focus Hispanic efforts in 2009. Due to its large and growing Hispanic population, strong Hispanic business community and economic stability, ING will focus efforts through a partnership with the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SAHCC) to further economic development in the San Antonio community.

When times get tough, the tough go back-to-basics. Expect a no-frills philosophy to kick into high gear in 2009, reflecting not just a consumer mindset, but one that is paramount to retailers and manufacturers alike, who are looking for growth in a downturn economy.