*Consumers Respect Profitability: A study conducted by MS&L Worldwide and GfK Roper Public Affairs indicates that between 70% and 80% of global consumers understand and
embrace the idea that successful companies and organizations, despite their broader social and community obligations, need to focus on maintaining profitability first and
foremost. Among the findings:
-
In all six countries, consumers ranked profitability and doing things "right" as the top two values that make companies successful.
-
A large majority of Americans (84%) believe the phrase "leading company" typically refers to companies that are the most innovative when it comes to new ideas, products or
services.
-
Consumers consider the manner in which a company handles a crisis or problem to be an indication of a company's general values.
Source: MS&L Worldwide
*Boosting Employee Productivity to Reverse Downturn: The Conference Board released a report concerning the growth in global business operations and its resulting dependability
on off-site employees. As signs of an economic turnaround remain elusive, business leaders are becoming more focused on increasing employee productivity. The goal of the research
was to identify effective ways to address the organizational and managerial challenges of managing distance employees. Among the findings:
-
60% agreed that managing same-site employees is easier than managing distance employees.
-
80% believed that the extra costs of enabling employees to work at a distance do pay off.
-
Five common practices emerged among effective distance teams: in-person meetings; clear agreements on accessibility; good use of group software; adequate company support;
and clearly defined roles for members.
-
The study states that distance managers must be superb at three competencies--cultivating relationships, focusing on outcomes and developing employees.
-
53% of managers surveyed reported spending more than an hour a week developing relationships with distance employees, whereas only 18% of employees believed that their
managers spent that much time with them.
-
90% of managers and 70% of employees said "the phone" and "in person," respectively, were the most effective communication tools for building distance
relationships.
Source: The Conference Board
*Legacy Media and New Media Meld: According to the third annual U.S. Media Myths & Realities survey by Ketchum and the Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, the
melding of media means that content deliverables once owned by a specific medium are now found on nearly all platforms, creating a participatory and fragmented media landscape.
Among the survey's findings:
-
26% of consumers use social networking sites, compared to 17% in 2006.
-
The usage of blogs nearly doubled (24% in 2008 compared to 13% in 2006).
-
59% of consumers used search engines in 2008, compared to 61% in 2006.
-
Among influential consumers, the 10% to 15% of the population who initiate change in their communities, 32% read blogs written by journalists (vs. 8% of the general
population).
Source: Ketchum & Annenberg strategic PR Center
*Back to Basics: According to The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Analytics second annual survey of the Top Marketing Trends for 2009. The results of
which indicate that, on the whole, marketing executives are going back to basics by reapplying focus to retaining customers and market research. Major findings included:
-
In a survey of the most important buzz words and trends the top three results were Customer Satisfaction (79%), Customer Retention (76%) and Marketing ROI (65%).
-
Of the 62 identified marketing concepts, the terms considered the least important were Faith-Based Marketing (4%), Six Sigma (5%) and Game Theory (5%).
-
The issue of global warming showed the largest decrease in importance dropping 14 places in the rankings.
-
Seth Godin was listed as the favorite marketing guru for 2009, but Jim Collins' Good to Great remained the number one business book.
Source: MENG & Anderson Analytics