Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

The gradually improving economy has some business sectors cheering. But the good news hasn’t extended to all types of businesses. For example, consumers have been slow to return to casinos. The American Gaming Association’s (AGA) new G2E SmartBrief survey points to strategies that casinos are taking to try to improve business.

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

* Theme (adventure, wine and food, photography) and holiday trips are popular among travelers. A current popular theme is cooking, which often includes seminars, demonstrations, classes, and appearances from celebrity chefs.
* While U.S. embarkation was down in 2009, the percentage of U.S. resident passengers was up 1.5%, due to Americans purchasing foreign-bound cruises (particularly European) on North American cruise lines.
* When planning a vacation, cruisers are most influenced by destination Web sites (39%), word of mouth/referrals (33%) and cruise Web sites.

One way to determine whether we’ve reached the end of a recession is to study consumer attitudes about money. Over the past year, I’ve blogged about how consumers are using less credit card debt. Another take on consumer attitude can be found in how people are investing. Q & A Research recently polled consumers on this topic and found reason for optimism. But there’s also concern regarding the outlook for full service brokerage houses.

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

Consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for green products. Now they have an opportunity to show their green side by using utility meters that serve as two-way communication devices. Until recently, smart grid and meter programs have been limited to pilot programs as utility companies worked out the kinks in the system. But the latest research shows these programs will be widespread across the U.S. next year.

Purchasing auto insurance online has become a well-established practice. Now that consumers have grown comfortable with that process, they are looking to make other insurance purchases online. A new comScore report shows that the property insurance industry may be the next sector poised to make big gains online as people look for an easy way to purchase coverage for their homes or apartments .