Opinion pollsters enjoyed a remarkable spot in the limelight tracking polls are separate surveys conducted each night in the US presidential elections. Although the final results of the election were still unclear at the time of going to press with this issue, Larry Gold draw some conclusions as to the role the opinion polls played in this turbulent election.
Coca Cola has long been in the list of the world's top brands, its bottle an icon and its markets transversing the world. This is no accident. Coca-Cola is a familiar brand at every bar, street corner vendor and supermarket throughout the globe. Its drinkers form a 'tribe' that has no boundaries. And, from the moment visitors enter a Coca-Cola building they are met, not only by screen saver, glasses, floor covering and decoration in the familiar red and white design, but even sculpture in the form if the famous bottle. What part does market research play in ensuring that the brand retains its premier position in an ever more competitive global market?
More than 1000 professionals from all over the world attended ESOMAR's 53rd Annual Congress, which was held in Vienna. Bob Lederer reports on a dynamic event mirroring exiting times for the global marketing and research industry.
Before it is considered to be strong, a brand has been through quite a lot. The process from conception to full maturity may take years, and it must be developed and monitored carefully. The Internet would seem to be diametrically opposed to the concept of brand strategies. It builds brands overnight and kills them just as quickly - so much for carefully planned operations.
Latin American economies sprang to life in the '90s, as witnessed by an unprecedented growth in consumption. John Price, from InfoAmericas, looks at what ended this spectacular gold rush and sheds some light at how to mine the rich marketing opportunities that still exist.
The growth in international research fuelled by globalisation, multi-trading, and ICT is well-documented. Levitt's classic thesis on globalisation and market homogenisation has been tempered by increased concern with diversities and cultural differences and people's wishes for personalisation and individualism. But the spread of free market economies throughout the world, the technological ability to conquer time and space, and the fact that all the most valuable brands are marketed internationally, means that international research will continue to expand.
Advertising Age, a prominent weekly advertising magazine in the US, in its 27 March issue, ran a full-page employment ad headlined 'Join the Research Revolution. Be part of Greenfield Online's Explosive Business Growth'. The ad listed and described at least 22 job openings, most of which require prior market research experience.
When considering the long-term effects of advertising, Internet advertisements can only be seen as part of an integrated media mix, re-enforcing messages that have become ingrained in memory. But the Net is an immediate medium and short-term effects can be measured. Assessing the effectiveness of advertising on the Net, should be part of the measurement of the whole communication mix.
In a new book The grocers: the rise and rise of the super-market chains the authors Andrew Seth and Geoffrey Randall report an estimated 3% of an average adult life will be spent in a supermarket. "The store themselves partly reflect, and patently drive, significant shift in social patterns- the irresistible growth of self-service, new global foods availability and sourcing; new feature, storage and display techniques; car-borne shopping; out of town centres and the decline of urban as well as rural high streets". This dynamic sector accounts for 4% of total research spending.
Hewlett-Packardâs award-winning advertising campaign shows a car breaking down and an onboard computer automatically rescheduling flights, updating hotel bookings, calling home, calling a breakdown truck and a relief hire-car- all in one transaction. Another advertising feature describes a "a thirsty Finnâ who âpoints his mobile phone at the drinks dispenser and a bottle of the real thing drops out just as its price pops up on his phone bill. Meanwhile Swedish car drivers, understandably unwilling to wind down the window on a freezing day, use their phones to instruct the car wash about which program they want. The charge then appears among their monthly phone call".
For the first time ESOMAR is holding a Conference on Ethnic Marketing. Delegates will examine the rich dynamic cultural heritage with ethnic communities bring to society as whole, resulting in cultural behaviour which is absorbed, and which democratises life styles and attitudes and produces fountains of creativity.