Packaged-Goods Offers Your Phone Can’t Refuse

The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry tries very hard to let you know just how necessary its products are to your life. These days, though, golden-glow, soft-focus TV spots about the wonders of laundry detergent aren’t going to keep you captivated. Appealing to the one object that commands your undivided attention might, however. Which is exactly where the CPG industry is planning a massive advertising assault. On your mobile device.

Read More

Microsoft Banks on Xbox One as More than Just a Game System

With the recent announcement concerning its latest gaming machine, Xbox One, Microsoft seems to be after one thing and one thing only: To become the major go-to device in your home when it comes to playing games and taking in entertainment. With sales of video games experiencing some softness, though, is Microsoft’s bet on consoles a wise investment? Or a desperate attempt to control market share?

Read More

Are Fashion Stars Overhyped and Overexposed?

In an age where fashions change quicker than spoiled-rotten athletes re-framing their ill-worded tweets, media exposure is a tricky game of guessing just how much nitroglycerin to use to get noticed. But not so much as to cause a deadly explosion. What’s the point of being a fashion star – like, say, Joseph Altuzarra — if no one knows who you are?

Read More

Authenticity Gap

Midwest PR and marketing agency FleishmanHillard decided to find out the difference between what consumers expect from companies and what they actually experience. The resulting study, entitled “Mind the Gap”, looked at 20 different industry categories in the U.S., Germany and China. Do consumers care if a company comes across as authentic and genuine? Does sincerity always carry the day?

Read More

What’s Next (Issue) for Magazine Advertising?

Magazine publishers keep scrambling to find the right combination of digital/print/video content that promises to keep readers engaged. And, more importantly, advertisers paying big bucks. What are magazine publishers pushing these days? What’s merely a gimmick and what looks to stick around? Is digital magazine publishing on a course to drive away print forever?

Read More
Knockoff Shades

Is Luxury Merging Back in Style?

Mergers and acquisitions activity (M&A) in the U.S. has “jumped significantly” over the last year or so, with a number of large consumer packaging companies selling off non-core operations and brands. M&A also appears to be on the rise in Europe, particularly in the areas of jewelry and fashion. Does the end-consumer look to benefit from corporate’s rush to buy and sell?

Read More
Going Out of Business Proudly Displayed

Will Price Always Trump Brand, and Do Marketers Need to Care?

Are consumers chucking brand loyalty overboard in favor of getting the best deal possible on a product or service? Or are they simply responding to expanded product lines, increased promotional opportunities and economic realities – the same way people always have and always will? And does anyone need a marketing guru to explain it all?

Read More

Cosmetic Packaging Outlook for 2013: Fair to Partly Rosy

Visiongain, a provider of business intelligence, predicts that the world cosmetics packaging market looks to grow in 2013 – in developed markets and emerging ones. At the same time, the fair trade movement in cosmetic packaging also looks to gain some traction. What accounts for this seemingly contradictory scenario? Why are societies around the globe, even economically challenged ones, ready to make cosmetics a buying priority?

Read More
Spongebob & Wonka Bar

Separating Fit from Fat – Junk-Food Advertising Aimed at Kids

The Canadian province of Quebec banned fast-food advertising to children in TV and print – 35 years ago. With more than a third of kids and teens today considered to be overweight, should there be a ban on junk-food ads aimed at the under-18 crowd? Isn’t it high time that the U.S. government did something about food companies and their “pester power”? Or will nutrition recommendations from the likes of SpongeBob continue to rule the day?

Read More

© 2024 Pierce Mattie. All rights reserved.