Business
Inflation? Brands need empathy and consumer understanding
Inflation worries consumers because their income won’t buy as much. It worries businesses because it squeezes their margins. The first thing to recognize is that brands cannot promote their way out of trouble. Starting a price war erodes margins faster, re-educates consumers about where the price point should be in a category, and immediately destroys value.
Retail Spending Continues as Spending on Activities Rises
U.S. consumers have started to spend on in-person experiences again, but the pull-back on general merchandise retail spending that is expected to coincide with it has not played out. At least, not yet. Experiential spending reached 91% of 2019 levels, as of the end of 2021, but general merchandise retail spending remained elevated 19% above pre-pandemic levels, according to The NPD Group. Some diminished demand has been evident, with retail unit sales declining in nine of the first ten weeks of 2022, when compared to last year. However, revenue rose in excess of 5% in four of the same ten weeks.
College Board & Telemundo award College Scholarships
The College Board and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises announced last week on Telemundo’s national morning show Hoy Dia the scholarship recipients of this year’s College Board and Telemundo Academy Triunfadores campaign designed to guide Spanish-speaking families through the college planning process. Students earned opportunities for scholarships by completing any or all of a series of key college planning steps through BigFuture, the College Board’s free college planning tool
The Immigrant Archive Project collects the stories of coming to call the U.S. home [PODCAST]
The Immigrant Archive Project, a collection of oral histories from the nation's immigrants, will be housed at the Library of Congress. NPR's Debbie Elliott speaks to archive founder Tony Hernandez.
U.S. Online Audio Listening Grows and Podcast Habits Reflect a Return to Work and School [REPORT & INFOGRAPH]
Seventy-three percent of the U.S. 12+ population (an estimated 209 million people) have listened to online audio in the last month, up from 68% in 2021. This jump was primarily driven by listeners age 35+, as the number of those age 35+ who listen to online audio monthly increased by 13% year over year. Weekly online audio listening also rose to 67% of the U.S. 12+ population, up from 62% in 2021.
UNC-Chapel Hill and Winston Family Foundation launch national center to study effects of technology, social media on child brain development
A new research center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will examine the long-term effects of technology and social media use on teen social and emotional development
Financial Issues Top the List of Reasons U.S. Adults Live in Multigenerational Homes [REPORT]
Multigenerational living has grown sharply in the U.S. over the past five decades and shows no sign of peaking.
Author Talks: Where are the women who are missing from the workforce?
In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti chats with Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code and an activist for women’s economic empowerment , about her new book, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think) (Atria/One Signal Publishers, March 2022). Working mothers are burned out, and companies are losing the unique value they bring to the table.
FACE, HIGHEST CUBAN-AMERICAN RECOGNITION, GOES TO ADVERTISING INDUSTRY LEADER DAISY EXPÓSITO-ULLA.
FACE (Facts About Cuban Exiles) handed its 2022 Awards in Miami, at the Coral Gables Country Club this morning, where the highly respected organization honored advertising industry leader Daisy Expósito-Ulla; nationally recognized financial consulting, accounting and litigation business figure Antonio “Tony” Argiz; and publisher-philanthropist, attorney Alberto Ibargüen.
We Are Speaking Different Languages
I once wrote a popular tweet that listed ten words that are used in every advertising meeting, even though nobody really knows what they mean. I only mention the popularity to indicate that there was quite a lot of agreement with the list. Anyway, I had a look for it, but it’s buried too far beneath my thousands of tweets despairing of Boris Johnson, so here’s an attempt to recall the magic ten with an additional one for good luck. By Ben Kay
Women Are More Likely to Consider Buying from Brands with Good Track Records on DEI
Brands today are keenly focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives both internally—with strategies to ensure a more equitable and diverse workforce—and externally, with consumer-facing initiatives to create products and advertising that are more inclusive of a diverse America. And a big part of America’s diversity is female.
2016–2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
The U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics from the 2016–2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Following pandemic-related data collection disruptions, the Census Bureau revised its methodology to reduce nonresponse bias in data collected in 2020.
The U.S Ad Industry Stages a Remarkable Comeback from Covid-19
Lockdowns during the height of the pandemic were devastating to the U.S. ad industry, as they were for the economy and society as a whole. But advertising has made a remarkable recovery with growth now nearly in line with spend projections from before the emergence of Covid-19.
The CMO Survey: The latest results [REPORT]
The 28th edition of The CMO Survey examines the issues top of mind for marketers including the latest focus for marketing activities, spending, jobs, and performance.
1 in 5 Black Americans Find Black History Month Promotions Offensive [What The US Hispanic Market can LEARN]
As February comes to a close, brands big and small have concluded the discounts, sales, and promotions they launched to commemorate Black History Month 2022. While these promotions are ostensibly meant to celebrate Black history, do Black people believe that the promotions are held in good faith, with the intention of supporting the Black community?
Brand Allies: Seeing Multicultural Consumers As People First, Not Dollar Signs [PODCAST]
Multicultural marketing is finally being embraced as a necessity, not a nice-to-have. Marketers have traditionally been interested in marketing to diverse audiences around the release of Census data when they realized the changing demographics of American consumers.
The five zeros reshaping stores
Shoppers are reshaping the retail landscape faster than ever before. Nearly 40 percent have switched brands or retailers during the pandemic, and more than 80 percent have new shopping behaviors. More than half of those who used a new channel or service such as “buy online, pickup in store,” for example, said they would continue the practice post-COVID-19. As such, the omnichannel consumer has never been more powerful. They make purchases 70 percent more often and spend about 34 percent more than people who shop exclusively in store
US in-store card users will be more than 90% of population by 2023
The forecast: US in-store payment card users will represent 91.0% of the population by 2023, with 68.6% being debit card users, 60.2% being credit card users, and 17.1% being prepaid card users.
Today’s Hottest Films Prove to Be Culturally Relevant with Multicultural Audiences, Yet Still Fail to Be Recognized by the Academy Awards
ANA's AIMM (Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing) released their first ever Oscar's Inclusion & Relevancy Report analyzing how the nominated films resonated with traditionally underrepresented audiences.
58% of Hispanic Home Shoppers are Buying Their First Home
A new survey released by Realtor.com in conjunction with The National Association for Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) found that 58% of Hispanic American home shoppers are looking to buy their first home.
