Local Market Research

While social media use has grown dramatically across all age groups, older users have been especially enthusiastic over the past year about embracing new networking tools. Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled-from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010. As social media becomes an even more integral part of the marketing landscape, marketers are realizing the importance of a social strategy. Social media allows marketers to plan their social activities on a long-term basis rather than focus on one-off experiments. And as marketers continue to invest in social media, its share of marketing budgets is expected to rise. In fact, a recent survey by King Fish Media find that 75% of the companies surveyed with a social strategy said they plan to increase their investment in the next year.

AAA has projected the number of Americans traveling this Labor Day holiday weekend will increase 9.9% from 2009, with approximately 34.4 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home. Last year, 31.3 million Americans traveled during the Labor Day holiday. The 2010 Labor Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, September 2 to Monday, September 6. Trips by automobile are expected to increase in popularity with 91% of travelers, or 31.4 million people, reaching their destination by driving. Median spending is expected to be $697 this Labor Day, nearly $50 more than last year when median spending was estimated at $650. Dining (63%); shopping (47%) and visiting with friends and relatives (43%) were named as the three top primary activities by travelers this Labor Day weekend.

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

* HDTVs are poised for large growth: While 65% of U.S. homes have HDTVs (compared to 13% in 2009), more homes are now purchasing HDTVs as secondary sets.
* Advertisers should take note of consumers’ interest in online shopping for electronics: Approximately 49% of consumers shop for electronics via the Internet, an 8% increase from 2005.
* A future opportunity for these retailers is demand for 3D TVs: 25% of U.S. online adults plan to buy a 3DTV within three years.

On September 12, 2010, Grandparents Day will reach its 31th anniversary. Like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, it’s a time for family celebration, and a chance to honor the important role grandparents play in children’s lives. Today, an increasing number of grandparents have assumed daily responsibility for their grandchildren. According to AARP, 4.5 million children are being raised in households headed by grandparents. Today, approximately 2.6 million grandparents are responsible for most of the basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, clothing) of one or more of the grandchildren who lived with them in 2008. These grandparents represented about 41% of all grandparents whose grandchildren lived with them. Of these caregivers, 1.6 million were grandmothers, and 983,000 were grandfathers.