Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

During the past two decades, the expansion of the information technology (IT) products and services generally moved in one direction – from the workplace to the consumer market. As consumers have grown increasingly comfortable with technology, more products are being rolled out to this market first. As consumers introduce their employers to the latest IT trends, marketers to expand their ad campaigns to include the enterprise market earlier in the product life cycle.

Consumer electronics (CE) is a big category for the Back-to-School (BTS) season which will be underway in a few short weeks. The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is forecasting a smaller rise in CE spending this year. And a new report indicates that bricks and mortar stores will not have the entire CE spending pie to themselves.

The digital age is affecting more than how America communicates, it is also shaping parent-child relationships in striking new ways. Barna Group recently completed a study about the influence of technology in families and discovered parents are just as dependent on technology as their tween and teens. While many assume that families are fed up with technology, by nearly a two-to-one ratio parents think of technology like computers, cell phones and video game systems as making their family life better rather than worse (32% to 18%).

Technology firms that are developing new hardware and software applications would do well to market to the key group of consumers labeled Tech Fast Forwards by Ogilvy & Mather analysts. These consumers purchase technology at a higher rate than average. In addition, they influence a wide circle of friends and family members, especially their children, which comprise the next generation of technology purchasers.

According to a new survey from ABI Research, some 24% of the respondents indicated that their highest-priority purchases over the next six months would likely be of HDTVs (24%) and Blu-ray players (17%). About 60% of the households surveyed said they already have one HDTV. Prices for HDTVs have fallen quite a bit, and many households are now replacing their second- and third-string televisions. In terms of “critical/very important” factors in planned purchases, price was either the most cited or second-most for most devices.

As smartphone functionality continues to rapidly expand, consumers are making the devices a key part of their daily lives. A new survey shows that more consumers say “their smartphone is their life.” The popularity of many smartphone features is good news for some marketers, not so good news for others. And consumers also indicate they have a few concerns about this technology.