Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

As the home improvement industry continues to recover, specialty retailers (such as storage and organization) are making significant gains. Online shopping has also seen significant growth, with dollar sales up 15% over 2009. Online now represents five percent of all home improvement sales, but is even more important in the specialty channel, representing 20% of those sales, with kitchen and bath specialty stores leading the way in the 12 months ending September 2011.

Food marketers have their work cut out for them when it comes to grabbing a portion of the consumer’s meal budget. Consumers are spending more time than ever before on buying and eating food. Targeting consumers as they begin to contemplate their next eating event is one way for marketers to grow market share.

The typical hotel focuses on two segments of the travel industry: business and pleasure. The corporate travel budget has recovered somewhat since the recession ended, but hotel operators are using new tactics to get more from business travelers. This includes introducing a suite of services designed to assist the business traveler.

eMarketer estimates that by the end of 2011, 33.7 million Americans will use a tablet device at least monthly—a rise of 158.6% over 2010, the year the iPad was released. Analysts predict the number of users will rise to nearly 90 million, or 35.6% of all internet users, by 2014. The iPad, which has clearly led the tablet market since 2010, will continue to do so throughout the forecast period, though its share will be slowly chipped away by competitors, such as Amazon’s new Kindle Fire.

Political ads can account for over 50% of spot TV placements as an election cycle nears its end. Because of this focus on a single media format, prices rise, shortages exist and consumers quickly tire of the rhetoric streaming through their TVs. Some agencies are encouraging their political advertisers to consider alternate forms of media for the 2012 cycle.

According to new research from Kline & Co, 47% of U.S. consumers believe natural over-the counter (OTC) remedies are as effective as traditional OTCs. With the growing popularity of natural remedies and the large number of retailers that embrace the market segment, the market is set to maintain healthy growth rates over the next five years and is forecast to reach nearly $750 million by 2016. By contrast, the traditional OTC market is forecast to grow as little as 3% per year.