Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Oct 27, 2009
Kids' Cereals Pour on the Sugar and Sodium (USA Today)
Here is a scathing research report that has some marketers in the U.S. scurrying for cover. Not only is it produced by a credible research center, it also has the resources to be well publicized (it was picked up by many media outlets). The report titled Evaluating the Nutrition Quality and Marketing of Children’s Cereal by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University challenges the marketing activates of major cereal manufacturers by looking at how they direct their marketing campaigns (see more about this research at this website). The results are not pretty for the manufacturers. The full report offers excellent insight into how cereal is marketed including a look at how promotional activities take place through television, in-store and Internet.
The average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads a year on TV. Most are for types with the worst nutrition ratings.
The report calls for U.S. government regulation for how cereal is promoted to children. What is the likelihood that this will happen?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Oct 22, 2009
Marketers Salivating Over Smartphone Potential (USA Today)
We posted last week about how marketers are finally seeing the light when it comes to mobile commerce, well here is another story addressing the same issues. Except this story gets more specific on how users are shifting from computers to mobile devices for accessing social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. While marketers may be salivating, there are still many questions remaining on the real potential these devices (and these social network sites) hold for generating revenue for marketers.
The number of people who use social networks from their smartphones skyrocketed 187%, to 18.3 million unique users, in July, compared with the same month a year earlier, says Nielsen. Social networking is among the fastest-growing activities on mobile devices, along with search and checking news, says Jon Stewart, Nielsen's research director for technology and search.
Up to this point social networks have not shown the ability to generate much revenue considering the number of people who access these sites through their computers. Will access through mobile devices change this?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Oct 21, 2009
Flu Worries Pump Up Sales Of Hand Sanitizer (NPR)
Many marketers spend most of their time worrying about factors they control, such as product and pricing decisions. But an area of marketing often receiving less attention but whose influence can be significant is the external environment in which a product and company operates. These environments tend not to be controllable by the marketer. Here is a good example. In this case an external factor (a health issue) is greatly impacting demand for certain products.
Look around the campus at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and you can see why the folks at Gojo are so busy. There are hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere. The school has been hit with more than 565 cases of flu since classes started in August.
What other types of products and services will benefit from this external factor? What products and services are likely to suffer?