Agency

Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe that the U.S. media is making the economic situation worse by projecting fear into people’s minds.

The U.S. Census Bureau projected the Jan. 1, 2009, total U.S. population will be 305,529,237 — up 2,743,429, or 0.9 percent, from New Year’s Day 2008.

According to a recent analysis of BIGresearch’s SIMM database by Prosper Technologies, wide gaps exist between how ad dollars have been spent versus what consumers say works best when it comes to buying a car. The Prosper analysis and media allocation model utilizes the SIMM Survey of 17,231 consumers to determine “what” and “which” media forms are most influential to consumers for buying a car, the consumption of the media, and pricing of various measured media.

Most of the branding articles that you read are happy, glowing tales of how an agency rebranded a client and turned them into a superstar brand with double-digit growth. Well, this is not one of them.

A Client’s Perspective, which offers insight from agency clientele about their marketing strategies during a sluggish economy and why lack of sales can mean increased opportunity for marketing agencies.

At the turn of the last century, the retailer John Wanamaker famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

The overall advertising environment in 2009 was fairly gloomy with slashed budgets and revised strategies to address the new reality. However, that didn’t stop the industry from evolving, and the lessons learned will likely pay-off in the year ahead. For example, advertisers started to look at the need for accountability metrics beyond the simple “click-through” and on to campaign-specific performance. They also started to embrace burgeoning social networks and consumer generated media to bring consumers closer to a product or brand.

It all begins with aging. U.S. fertility rates have fallen by 44% since the peaks of the Baby Boom and are projected to continue to fall by another 12% over the next several decades. Falling fertility, combined with rising life expectancy and the large Baby Boom generation just nearing retirement age, equates to an aging population.

Gloom or Boom?

While consumers around the world are more confident about the year ahead, Americans still seem relatively unconvinced there will be drastic improvement.

Purchasing decisions in 2010 will be affected by factors such as brand innovation, retailer assortment, proliferation of store brands, and healthy eating preferences.