Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

The advent of online shopping has upended many supply chains. Consumers can now download music directly from a musician’s website instead of going to a traditional retailer. Experts are predicting the same market transformation could take place in the book publishing industry. Instead of perusing books in the aisles of a brick and mortar store, consumers can download e-books from author sites directly to digital readers. Where do these changes leave the CPG industry? Will the middlemen be cut out?

There’s nothing like the latest obesity reports to make consumers pay fresh attention to what they’re eating. This week’s release by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that obesity has increased in over half of U.S. states. And for now, 38 states have obesity rates that exceed 25% of the population.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Real Estate Agents/Agencies. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

* Baby Boomers are a key group. Approximately 26% of Baby Boomers plan to move to a new home.
* In 2009, as a result of Internet home search(es), 28% of buyers found the agent used to search for/buy their home. Buyers who used the Internet during their home search were more likely to contact a real estate agent than those who didn’t use the Internet.
* There was a 4% decrease in the number of home buyers who reported using a real estate agent in 2009 compared to 2008.

One of the major causes of continued market turmoil is economic uncertainty. In the extended period of uncertainty we’re now experiencing, investors have been slow to make decisions and even slower to commit capital to new projects. This hesitation is impacting the advisor-client relationship even for high level strategic financial advisors.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Ice Cream Shops. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

The restaurant industry continues to struggle with slow sales. Technomic recently reported that the family-style segment holds a sweet spot to counter sour consumer attitudes about the current economic conditions. Is there anything fine dining operators can do to improve their position?