This month, Landor Associates released its 2012 trends forecast that focused on marketing trends that will affect brands in the coming year. Many of the insights from the forecast focused on four key areas — stories, extensions and expansion, mobile, and change. Topics like smartphones, tablets, apps, China, and baby boomers are covered in this forecast, which sheds light on the big marketing trends coming for brands in the new year. Read more
BLOG ARCHIVE: ALL POSTS FOR December 2011
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New Year’s Eve Survey: More Celebrate New Year’s Eve than New Year’s DayNew Year’s Eve is a big celebration for many Americans. Many go to parties or events, or just stay in and watch the ball drop in Times Square. How many people really do something to celebrate, and is New Year’s Eve really more popular than New Year’s Day? |
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Rebranding Stories that Made Waves in 2011Rebranding was a popular topic in 2011, and many companies undertook significant rebranding initiatives. Some of those rebranding efforts were successful and others had trouble gathering consumer buy-in. Fortunately, there were more successful rebranding initiatives in 2011 than failures in terms of building positive consumer sentiment. Read more |
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Healthy Eating Survey: Many Americans Have Tried DietingHealthy eating is a lofty goal for many Americans. Whether utilizing an official diet plan, counting calories, buying organic food, or otherwise, it seems many people are often trying to improve their eating habits. How many succeed in making the change, and which techniques have they tried? |
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Top 5 Branding Stories of 20112011 is coming to a close, so it’s time to look back at some of the branding stories that made headlines and got people talking over the past 12 months. From the death of a brand champion to the launch of a new social network that could affect search results, it was a year of big changes with effects that are certain to last for years to come. Read more |
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Gift Returns Survey: Most Have Returned or Exchanged ItemsAfter the holiday season, thousands of Americans head back to the mall to return the gifts they received that just weren’t quite right. How many Americans think it’s really worth it to brave the exchange line, and why do they decide to do so? |
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2011 Google Zeitgeist Features Buzzworthy BrandsEach year, Google releases the annual Google Zeitgeist report that is meant to reflect the “spirit of the times” through web search terms. Which terms were the fastest rising and fastest falling in the world and in the United States during 2011? Entertainers and newsworthy events ranked high in 2011, but so did some buzzworthy brands. Read more |
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Sale Survey: Americans Love Great DealsAmericans love a good bargain. So it’s no surprise that many flock to stores to take advantage of sales and discount, but is there such a thing as too many sales? And how much do Americans actually buy on sale? |
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Happy Holidays! AYTM Market Research Holiday Discount‘Tis the season to celebrate and with the holiday spirit abounding all around us, we are offering a special holiday gift on your next AYTM Market Research panel survey. Just use promo code CheersAYTM25 before January 31, 2012 and receive an instant $25 discount when getting insights from AYTM’s built-in panel of respondents. Read more |
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Brand Identity Trademarking 101 – Part 4: How to Register a TrademarkTime for the final part of the Brand Identity Trademarking 101 series where you’ll learn how to register a trademark for your brand identity elements. If you missed the previous parts of the series, follow the links to read them now, so you understand what a trademark is, what can be trademarked, and how to choose a name to trademark. Read more |
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Holiday Entertaining Survey: Most Americans Have Hosted Holiday PartiesWith the holiday season in full swing, many Americans are preparing to attend and host parties with family and friends. Entertaining has become a huge industry, and for good reason. Food, decorations, games, gifts and much more must be ready in order for holiday parties to be successful. How many people are actually up to the task of hosting their own gatherings, and how many attend them instead? |
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Brand Identity Trademarking 101 – Part 3: How to Choose Brand Elements to TrademarkIf you missed the first two parts of the Brand Identity Trademarking 101 series, which discussed what a trademark is and why it’s important as well as what can be trademarked, follow the preceding links to catch up. In Part 3, you learn how to choose brand identity elements to trademark so you maximize your chance for success both in obtaining trademark protection and developing a brand identity that accurately reflects your brand promise and resonates with consumers. Read more |
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Targeted Advertising Survey: Many Worried About Privacy ViolationsAs the way we communicate changes, the way companies advertise have to adapt to stay relevant. Many companies have begun targeting their online ads to users who may be more likely to show interest in their products, based on their past internet usage. Some say this might be a violation of privacy, but others argue that it just makes good marketing sense. What do the customers think? |
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Brand Identity Trademarking 101 – Part 2: What Can and Cannot Be TrademarkedIn Part 1 of the Brand Identity Trademarking 101 series, you learned what a trademark is and why it’s important to your business. Now, it’s time to learn about what you can and cannot trademark, so you can start brainstorming and researching ideas to develop brand identity elements that you are able to legally protect. Read more |
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Branding Design Survey: Design is not Most Important Aspect of BusinessBranding is an important part of marketing, but how much do consumers say it really affects their buying decisions? Could a design element dissuade a potential customer from patronizing a business, and could it also do the opposite? Some consumers weighed in on just how important a company’s branding design is. |
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Brand Identity Trademarking 101 – Part 1: What Is a Trademark and Why Is It Important?Trademarks legally protect an important part of your brand equity — the core elements of your brand identity. Imagine you invest a lot of money into creating your brand name, logo, and slogan. You advertise them, use them on packaging, and more. Suddenly, a competitor launches in your marketplace using the same (or a very similar) brand identity. Consumers are confused and your sales suffer. This scenario wouldn’t have happened if you trademarked your brand identity elements. Read more |
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Branding And How It Works In The Social Media AgeFacebook has more than 800 million active users with more than 200 million added in 2011. Twitter now has 100 million active users every month with visitor growth up 60% this year. Social media has become a pervasive part of culture and digital life all around the world. It’s essential that brands understand how their fans and customers interact with them on Facebook and Twitter if they hope to leverage these great platforms and grow their businesses. Read more |
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Detour Ahead! Don’t Get Led Astray By Leading QuestionsWhen you are doing an online survey project, you are on a road trip, of sorts. You are charting a route to a desired destination: accurate, objective insights about your target market. Unfortunately, you need to avoid the faulty detours that can put you off course. Read more |
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Cable TV Survey: Many Still Holding onto Some Traditional MediaAs time goes by, the way Americans consume media continues to change. Print newspapers and traditional radio are already on the way out, but some researchers are saying there might be another prominent media type that’s becoming more obsolete by the day – cable TV. |
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Angry Birds Success Follows the 3 Core Steps of Brand BuildingRecently, AYTM released an Angry Birds Addiction infographic that shows just how popular Rovio’s Angry Birds game has become (follow the preceding link to check it out). As a new Forbes interview with Rovio Entertainment’s General Manager of North America, Andrew Stalbow, reveals, that popularity is the result of strategic brand building. Read more |
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Facebook Timeline Survey: Many Still Unsure About New FeaturesFacebook is beginning to roll out its new user interface, Timeline, which will allow users to chronicle their lives by adding important dates and past photos. It will eventually replace the current interface for all personal profiles, but for now certain users have the opportunity to sign up for the timeline feature and try it before it replaces the current profile setup. |
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Pricing Strategy: Finding Your Price with Market ResearchOne of the most difficult decisions to make when launching a new product is determining a price. You don’t want to leave money on the table by undercharging, but you also don’t want adversely impact demand by overcharging. Finding the balance between too low and too high can be tricky, and doing the survey research for these decisions can be even harder. After all, we can’t just ask, “Would you rather pay $2.50 or $2.80 for this tube of toothpaste?” That is why a comprehensive pricing strategy is so important. So how do you get that sort of information? There are several possibilities. |
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Search Engine Survey: Many Search for Anything and EverythingSearch engines are a huge part of daily life for many Americans. Google has become a widely-used shortcut to a vast network of information on everything from quantum physics to celebrity news, and many people are taking advantage of having all that information just a few clicks away. |
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Building Brand Loyalty – Part 4: Strategic and Tactical ExamplesSo far in the Building Brand Loyalty series, you’ve learned what brand loyalty is, why it matters to your business, how to build it, and how to keep it. In the final part of the series, you learn about strategic and tactical examples that you can use to build brand loyalty with your customers. Read more |