Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

According to Travelocity’s annual “Traveler Confidence Report,” a majority (89%) will spend as much or more on travel in 2011 as they did in 2010. The survey of more than 1,400 Americans also found 95% of respondents will travel as much or more in 2011. Though travelers are planning to spend more, they’re also planning to spend more carefully. Sixty percent of respondents claimed to have a predetermined travel budget for 2011, up from 44% in 2010. “Judging from the number of respondents who say they intend to both travel and spend more in the coming year, the travel industry could see continued growth in 2011,” said Hugh Jones, President & Chief Executive Officer, Travelocity Global.

Better Homes and Gardens magazine recently released its 2010 Food Factor survey, conducted among more than 3,600 women across the U.S. In the new survey, Better Homes and Gardens identifies key trends relating to American women’s decision-making process when it comes to topics such as eating at home, convenience, and organic food shopping. The majority of women (52%) are still very concerned about the cost of food today and employ a wide variety of strategies to combat rising food prices. Most commonly, they eat out less often (64%), stock up on bargains (62%), use a shopping list (61%) and use cents-off coupons (60%).

By 2012, Gen Y consumers will account for approximately 40% of the car-buying population and represent a new breed of confident consumers who are independent, tech-savvy, engaged and demanding, according to a new survey by Deloitte. The new survey indicates that Gen Y consumers have an increasingly positive view of the industry on everything, from researching and shopping to vehicle trustworthiness. By providing Gen Y with an ongoing, positive customer experience that has the same amount of innovation, dedication and information found in the cars that drew them to the brand initially, manufacturers will be able to take advantage of the influence this generation has over other consumer segments.

The bedding industry is expected to enjoy modest growth in 2011, according to Furniture/Today’s Consensus Bedding Forecast. The forecast, developed with estimates from almost three dozen bedding producers, envisions unit growth this year of 3.2% with the dollar value of bedding shipments growing by 3.7%. Despite a lackluster housing market, industry analysts see some positives taking shape this year in the bedding industry. They expect business to improve as the year unfolds, and they say aggressive moves by retailers and manufacturers will pay dividends. There also is a school of thought holding that the specialty sleep segment, a premium product category, will spark overall gains at the upper end of the market.

While mobile phones continue to increase share of voice and share of image capture, the dedicated camera remains the image capture device of choice by most consumers, according to leading market research company The NPD Group’s December 2010 Imaging Confluence Study. The device with the largest percentage of all photos taken was the digital still camera, at 51%. Demographics play a factor in which device consumers choose for image capture. 13-17 year-olds reported taking 54% of their photos with a mobile phone and 36% with a camera, while Moms reported taking 40% of their photos with a mobile phone and 55% with a camera. “Imaging marketers should capitalize on the need for better and more creative editing, sharing, archival and printing,” said Liz Cutting, executive director and senior imaging analyst at NPD.”

Today’s kids are practically born wired. The internet accompanies kids wherever they go as the mobile universe continues to grow, including MP3 players, handheld video games, tablets, readers, laptops and more devices on the horizon. According to new research from eMarketer, the number of internet users in the U.S. ages 11 and under will climb from 20.2 million in 2011 to 25.7 million by 2015. “Kids represent a new generation of consumers who are more connected and reachable,” said Jared Jenks, eMarketer analyst and author of the new report “Demographic Profile—Children.” “But they grow more distracted—and hence unreachable—with every new connection. Breaking through the noise will mean speaking to them on their media and their terms.”