Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

After suffering through 2 extremely difficult summers, amusement parks saw more visitors flock through their gates last year. And operators are expecting that 2011 will result in additional visitors and revenue as the busy season approaches. To generate this traffic, operators will likely boost their marketing budgets.

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

Despite a late Easter this year, consumers’ eagerness to spend on décor, food and even new spring apparel is not expected to be adversely affected. According to NRF’s 2011 Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average consumer is expected to spend $131.04 on everything from candy to clothes – up from $118.60 in 2010, but not quite to pre-recession levels. Total spending on Easter related merchandise is expected to reach $14.6 billion. “Due to such a late holiday, Easter promotions will last all spring long,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. Many Americans will take advantage of retailers’ spring sales to buy new clothing for the entire family. Food and candy will account for most of a consumer’s budget, bringing in $2.1 billion in candy sales and $4.5 billion in food sales alone.

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

Mobile phone games continue to grow as a market force. Just recently, Rovio, publisher of the wildly popular game, Angry Birds, announced a new round of venture funding in the amount of $42 million. And the firm’s executives reported that over 75 million versions of the game have been downloaded when both paid and ad-supported activity are included. More mobile phone game publishers will likely be marketing their offerings and as they do so, they’ll be targeting specific demographics

According to new research from The Knot Inc., “brides remain committed to planning a luxurious, memorable event and are willing to spend despite the state of the economy,” said Carley Roney, editor in chief of The Knot Inc. “In fact, approximately 1 in 5 brides are spending more than $30,000 on their wedding, and 12% of brides are spending more than $40,000.” Destination weddings are becoming more popular, and brides are increasingly using online wedding planning tools to prepare for the big day. More brides are using social media to communicate wedding details (a 78% increase since 2008) and creating/sending save-the-dates or invitations online (a 40% increase since 2008) as well as using an online RSVP service (a 31% increase since 2008) or setting up personal wedding websites (a 23% increase since 2008).