Media Sales Today

Americans increasingly consider connectivity a need versus a want, with spending on ‘computer information services’ and cell phone services seeing strong growth over the past several years, despite stagnant incomes. As newer products and services become ‘necessities,’ spending on other products and services suffers.

While the economy remains tough for many Americans, we tend to make room in the budget for things that are important, according to new data from the American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, with food topping the list.

Ssshhhhhhh, I got top-secret, confidential access to Mom’s, er I mean, Santa Claus’ Master List for the holiday season! If you’re super stealthy, you can use it to pitch your clients all the right reasons to advertise with you. But only if you’ve been naughty — woops, there I go again — NICE this year.
According to the Marketing to Moms Coalition’s “Moms Holiday Spending Trends 2009 Report,” the word in the aisles is spending will remain the same as last year! Wait, it gets better for your retail clients — moms with older children actually plan to spend more this year! The results are based on answers from 1,225 moms with children younger than 18 living at home.

Ahhhh. One of my favorite times of the year. Back to school. Notebooks in every color, pens just waiting to let the ink run wild on a legal pad, new backpacks for throwing around. I will admit it: I am a total nerd for school supplies. I like to walk into Staples or Office Max or Target this time of year just to admire the neatly stacked binders, the endless rows of packaged pencils, calculators, paper clips — oh my! Just the SMELL of all things new and plastic takes me back to that butterflies-in-the-belly feeling of a new school year, new teachers, new subjects, new friends, new crushes approaching.

Bad news first: Direct mail spending dropped 3% in 2008. That equates to $56.7 billion. It’s the first recorded drop in 60 years for the U.S.

Good news now: Mass mailings are a thing of the past. Smaller, targeted direct mail campaigns are a thing of the future. Marketers still want to use direct mail, just in a more effective way.