New U.S. Census to Reveal Major Shift: No More Joe Consumer†

Ad Age White Paper 2010 America Uncovers the Marketing Implications

Advertising Age, October 12, 2009 — The 2010 Census is expected to find that 309 million people live in the United States. But one person will be missing: the average American.

"The concept of an 'average American' is gone, probably forever," demographics expert Peter Francese writes in 2010 America, a new Ad Age white paper. "The average American has been replaced by a complex, multidimensional society that defies simplistic labeling."

How to Turn Research into Innovation Gold

You did the interviews, got the photos, and compiled the reams of data. Now what? A Steelcase experience could guide your next innovation project

BusinessWeek, July 1, 2009 — Throughout the winter of 2006, the long, white walls of the room assigned to Steelcase's (SCS) health-care research team looked like a scrapbook.

The four-member group based in the Grand Rapids (Mich.) headquarters of the office furniture giant was studying the experience of cancer patients, and had spent months interviewing and photographing doctors and patients in oncology units at nine hospitals across the country. Hundreds of the thousands of pictures they'd taken lined the walls, along with almost as many Post-It notes. There were collages, created by cancer patients to express treatment as it is, and as it should be, and interview transcripts and traditional market research in stacks on the conference room table.

Standing before all of this... continue reading

Food Firms Cook Up Ways to Combat Rare Sales Slump†

Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009 — The packaged-food industry has long touted itself as recession-proof. Strapped consumers are shattering that assumption, setting off a frenzy in the nation's supermarket aisles and cooking labs.

In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spending on food fell by an inflation-adjusted 3.7% from the previous quarter — its steepest drop in 62 years, the Commerce Department said. So, food giants are racing to adapt to what they believe is a lasting shift in eating and shopping habits.

Fluevog's Open-Source Footwear†

Harvard Business Review, March 5, 2009 — In lean times, there's nothing more valuable than a great new product idea. Why not invite your customers to share their creativity with your company — and turn the best ideas into actual products! That's what legendary shoe designer John Fluevog has done, with a project he calls open-source footwear.

CMOs Stuck Around Even Longer in '08†

Embrace of Technology, Business Objectives Helps Increase Tenure Again

Advertising Age, January 26, 2009 — The Dow may be down, but things are looking up for CMOs.

Marketing chiefs are embracing new technology and doing a better job of synchronizing their departments' efforts with overall business goals, and as a consequence their tenure is increasing.

McCann Offers Peek at Lives of Latin America's Poor†

Interpublic Unit Forms Bodega Division to Tutor Clients in Marketing to the Region's 'Emerging Consumers'

Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2008 — During presentations at McCann Worldgroup's office in Bogotá, Colombia, staffers have taken to letting a chicken loose to hunt and peck around clients' feet.

In Mexico City, the big advertising agency hired a local merchant to install racks of potato chips and otherwise transform its conference room into a bodega, or corner grocery store. Clients lunch on tacos served on a plastic table mat.

The point of these exercises: to give big marketers some insight into the lifestyles of Latin America's low-income consumer.

As Water Sales Dry Up, Nestlé Pans Soda†

Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2008 — Concerns that bottled water is a bad choice for the environment have cooled sales of the hot-selling product. But Nestlé, the world's biggest bottled-water producer, is trying to persuade consumers they should worry more about another drink: soda.

As the Lines Blur, Digital Agencies Are Taking Lead†

Today Agency-of-Record Status Can Go to Anyone; Just Ask Tribal or Tequila

Advertising Age, October 27, 2008 — Digital agencies are not only being invited to pitch brands as agencies of record — increasingly, they're winning.

Just last month, Tribal DDB was selected to lead global brand advertising for web security firm McAfee. Said the company's CMO, David Milam, at the time: "McAfee evaluated a number of agencies, and the team at Tribal DDB demonstrated strength in every aspect of their business. Not only did Tribal DDB have a number of great creative directions but, more importantly, they backed them up with strong strategic insights."

How to Market During a Downturn†

CMO Roundtable: Execs on Maintaining Budgets, Changing Marketing Mixes and the Challenges of 2009

Advertising Age, October 27, 2008 — Just days before the Dow suffered its largest single-day point drop ever Sept. 29, Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom sat down with three top CMOs to talk about marketing in a recession. On hand were Ranjana Clark, senior exec VP-CMO of Wachovia Corp.; Tom O'Toole, CMO and chief information officer of Global Hyatt Corp.; and Mark Chmiel, exec VP-chief marketing and innovation officer at Denny's Corp.