In a recent Mintel presentation on Consumer Trends for 2010, there was an emphasis placed on the concept of Balance, and specifically our need to find balance between the low-end necessities we purchase and those few indulgences we still allow ourselves despite the recession- because we’re only human after all.
Right?
I recently read the Nancy Gibbs column in Time magazine entitled ‘The Happiness Paradox†and it sort of got me thinking. From a quick look online, there are literally hundreds of books on the uplifting subject of happiness and hardly a day goes by without the results of another study being launched on the topic.
But the basic question posed by the Time article remains – namely, why is it that Americans appear to be happier in this recession than they have been in previous ones? (more…)
This Friday, as one of our trusty strategists (thanks Doug!) was heading out on an early flight to focus groups, he happened to catch a live segment being done by the Today Show on the rapidly successful service called Groupon.
Back in September, Sterling Brands released our annual Cultural Pulse, highlighting the hottest cultural trends for the upcoming year and (more…)
Recently, Sterling Brands marketing buffs and all around Branding and Design aficionados- Rochelle Fainstein and Anna Roseberry- were published in the online magazine: Shelf Impact!
“…RRP’s implications for brands in terms of consumer loyalty are huge. Consumers will come to admire brands that follow the RRP suit, regarding them as good for the environment and good for their wallets.
Brands that think inside the big box will be scooped up more exclusively by retailers, thus pushing individual-pack competitors off the shelves, or at least to the side. Free-standing packaging that often comes in display-ready form makes it a no-brainer for retailers to place RRP products on aisle end-caps, increasing a brand’s visibility.”
The performance of the three major US automakers over the past 12-18 months sees the companies arranged neatly into the good, the bad and the ugly. And considering that all of them were confronting the same extreme marketplace conditions, it’s more than interesting to see how the three are coping.
