Just as consumers finish digesting the bad news about the traditional American diet and its links to chronic physical disease, more studies are emphasizing the importance of brain food. It’s not about fruits and vegetables but about stimulating brains cells that may have been dozing since high school chemistry class. Consumers must be getting the message because the market for brain fitness software rose from $100 million in 2005 to $265 million in 2008.

Since the advent of interest in Sudoko, the math game, marketers have built an entire industry around brain fitness and begun to sell a variety of solutions to help U.S. consumers stay mentally sharp. Now SharpBrains, a research concern, has started to categorize companies selling products and services in this industry.  At the top level, SharpBrains notes that there are three major client groups for businesses selling in this industry:

• Consumers
• Continuing care retirement communities
• Insurance companies

Segments in this industry include:

• Driving fitness
• Working memory training
• Speed of processing training
• Cognitive training

Whether you are working with clients who sell driver training programs to insurance companies or computer-based cognitive training programs to assisted living facilities, the brain fitness industry is projected to experience rapid growth in the next few years. Remind your clients that advertising their products to businesses and consumers now could garner them an early lead in this expanding market.

[Source: SharpBrains release, May 2009]