Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

While brides still know best and are sticking to their budgets, the 2012 “What’s on Brides’ Minds” survey uncovers new trends that are beginning to take shape, such as sharing resources. For the last two years, more than a third of brides (38% in 2011, 36% in 2010) have considered buying a second dress to wear for the wedding reception. While brides continue to cut back, they are less likely to cut spending on reception essentials including venue, decor and alcohol.

According to NRF’s 2012 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average person celebrating the holiday will shell out $126.03, up 8.5% over 2011 and the highest in the survey’s 10-year history. Total spending is expected to reach $17.6 billion. Discount stores are expected to see the most traffic, but tablet owners will also make a mark; more than half of all tablet owners (53.8%) will use their device to research products, compare prices, redeem coupons, look up retailer information or purchase products.

According to a new survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, 173 million people will watch the game Sunday, February 5, the most in the survey’s eight-year history and up from an estimated 171 million in 2011. Consumer spending for the Super Bowl will reach an all-time high, too, with the average game-watcher expected to shell out $63.87 on related merchandise, apparel and snacks, up from $59.33 last year. Total Super Bowl spending is expected to reach $11.0 billion.

While consumers continue to rely on traditional money-saving methods – like clipping coupons – many are using digital tactics to help save money. For example, 39% of MarketPulse survey respondents downloaded coupons from manufacturer websites in Q4, while 37% downloaded coupons from retailer websites. Retailers need to communicate with both traditional and digital media to reach these ‘downturn shoppers.’

According to a new report from Jefferies & Company Inc., the coffeehouse segment is poised for a banner year due to rising same-store sales, more stable coffee prices and a boom in consumer packaged goods revenue led by price increases and “K-Cup” individual-brewing sales. As supermarket sales of ground coffee continue to grow, analysts also predict a sales growth of between 8% and 10% for the coffeehouse segment in 2012.

According to new consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, 69% of households in the United States have at least one high definition television set, up from 17% in 2006. Over the past five years, 52% of US households adopted HDTV. In addition, 21% of all households purchased a new TV set in the past 12 months, and 19% of all households plan to purchase a new TV set in the next 12 month.