Posted by Elena del Valle on July 18, 2012
Click to enlarge
Photo, chart: U.S. Secretary of Education
Targeting migrant students and their families? You may be interested to know that the U.S. Department of Education awarded $5.9 million to 14 grantees in nine states for education for high school and college students migrant or seasonal farm workers, or the children of such workers. The five-year grants are awarded under the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) through the Department’s Office of Migrant Education said to serve 5,000 HEP and 2,000 CAMP students annually.
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
“The students helped by HEP and CAMP are some of the most motivated learners in America,” said Arne Duncan, United States Secretary of Education. “These grants will help hardworking farmworkers and their families obtain the quality education that they need to compete in the 21st century global economy.”
The purpose of the HEP grants is to help migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and members of their immediate families obtain general education diplomas that meet the guidelines for high school equivalency established by the state in which the HEP project is conducted. The program helps migrant youth gain employment or placement in an institution of higher education or other postsecondary education or training via counseling, job placement, health care and housing for residential students.
CAMP grants support students who are migratory or seasonal farm workers, or the children of such workers, during their first year of undergraduate studies and to continue in postsecondary education. The mission of the Office of Migrant Education (OME) is to “provide excellent leadership, technical assistance, and financial support to improve the educational opportunities and academic success of migrant children, youth, agricultural workers, fishers, and their families.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 27, 2012
African Americans, Hispanics adopting mobile shopping behaviors – click to enlarge
Photos, chart: Network Communications
With the increasing popularity of smartphones (mobile phones that combine the features of a cell phone and a computer) and mobile devices marketers want to know if mobile buying behaviors are prevalent among the owners of these gadgets. Estimating that smartphone penetration is nearing 50 percent in the United States, in February 2012, The Integer Group and Marc Research surveyed 1,200 people online, in English, as part of an ongoing shopper behavior study.
One of the salient findings of their survey was that African American and Hispanic shoppers who participated in the survey appear to adopt shopping technologies at a faster rate than Caucasian (non Hispanic white) respondents. Among survey takers 18 percent of African American shoppers and 16 percent of Hispanic shoppers said they use their mobile device to make purchases compared to 10 percent of non Hispanic whites.
Martin Ferro, senior account planner, Velocidad
One in five African American shoppers (21 percent versus 13 percent of Caucasian shoppers) said they use their phone to read product reviews and maintain shopping lists, and one in five Hispanic shoppers (20 percent versus 13 percent of Caucasian shoppers) said they use their mobile device to compare product prices. The researchers believe that in spite of lower smartphone penetration among African Americans and Hispanics than Caucasians, the two ethnic groups, and women shoppers in particular, are using mobile phones as shopping aids.
“Basic mobile communication through SMS and mobile websites should be the points of entry. Mobile marketing to multicultural shoppers is a huge opportunity,” said Martin Ferro, senior account planner, Velocidad, a Hispanic promotional, retail and shopper marketing capability of The Integer Group.
Ben Kennedy, group director of Mobile Marketing, Integer
The survey also revealed that nearly as many shoppers said they are using coupons from email and e-newsletters (49 percent) as said they are from the Sunday paper (57 percent). Respondents in households with children seemed more likely to overcome adoption barriers of digital technologies in favor of shopping solutions.
“Digital shoppers are just shoppers,” said Ben Kennedy, group director, Mobile Marketing, Integer. “Digital shopping tools are illustrative of the continued blurring of the on- and offline spaces. Today’s reality is that shoppers use whatever tools they have on hand to make them smarter, savvier shoppers.”
In the surveys, consumers were asked about their shopping attitudes, shopping behaviors, and economic outlook as well as the criteria shoppers use to select retailers, which in-store stimulus is most likely to drive purchase, and factors that might lead shoppers to leave an aisle empty-handed.
The Integer Group is a large promotional, retail, and shopper marketing agency, and a member of Omnicom Group Inc.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 20, 2012
Sugar consumption children and adolescents 2005-2008 – click to enlarge
Chart source: CDC/NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2008, CDC.gov
Restaurant owners, food makers and sellers listen up. Insufficient exercise, fatty and sweet foods were among the top concerns of Hispanic respondents to a November 2011 survey question by Mintel, a consumer, product and media intelligence company, about poor health.
Other concerns included eating too many processed foods as well as foods with too many calories or too much salt. The results of the survey of two thousand adults were released in Attitudes Toward Sodium US February 2012, a report by Mintel. The survey did not indicate if the respondents planned to take any action to modify their exercise regime or eating habits.
While Hispanic households spend less than mainstream households in general due to the larger size of Hispanic households (3.3 people compared to 2.5 people in the average non Hispanic home) Hispanics spend as much on groceries as the average household, according to Who We Are: Hispanics Second Edition (see Book outlines Hispanic population major characteristics).
It’s not clear whether the beliefs expressed by the Mintel survey takers are based on facts or perceptions and whether they apply only to adults. A study that used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey examined sugar consumption of United States children and adolescents between 2005 and 2008 (see Consumption of Added Sugar Among U.S. Children and Adolescents, 2005–2008 at CDC.gov and Mexican-American children eat less sugar than peers, says new study on NBC Latino) and indicated that Mexican American children “eat a smaller percent of calories from added sugars than their non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black peers.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 18, 2012
Melinda Lee, director, Getty Images Music
Photo: Getty Images Music
Getty Images, a leading creator and distributor of still imagery, video and multimedia products, as well as a provider of other forms of digital content including music with business customers in more than 100 countries, hopes to sell music to executives in the Hispanic advertising industry which the company’s executives believe represents more than a $5 billion industry. Getty marketing staff believe Spanish-language indie music is a “significant and largely unknown super-genre” that is growing “immensely in popularity and penetrating mainstream markets.”
Getty Images Music in partnership with MuuseMe is targeting United States content creators who service the Hispanic programming and advertising industry, the local Spanish language market, Latin America, Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries. The content creators in the United States represent about 75 percent of their target audience, according to a spokesperson.
“We’re committed to offering an affordable solution to this growing market, so that it can continue to grow without budgetary or creative limitations,” said Melinda Lee, director, Getty Images Music by email.
“The forward thinking team at Getty Images Music really gets what we’re trying to do here at MuuseMe,” said Rob Filomena, co-founder, MuuseMe. “Their international network allows us to offer our content partners multi-platform placement opportunities, and stay at the forefront of an important cultural trend by creating the first ever Spanish-language Indie production library.”
Getty Music has over 200,000 tracks. Through the partnership it will acquire an additional 3,000 tracks for a total of 10,000 Spanish language tracks when combined with its existing Spanish and Latin American catalog with Spanish-language indie music and indie bands that have Hispanic influences to be licensed through single and multiple track licenses, blankets and customized offerings by project. Price will be project and use based.
“We are promoting this highly valuable offering through media outreach efforts, on Getty Images digital platforms, social media and through our global sales and marketing force. We already know that our existing clients need this music so we are committed to getting the music to them,” said Lee in response to a question about channels the company is relying on to promote its new product line.
Examples of tracks that are available in the new collection include Plastics Revolution (Mexico), La Bien Querida (Spain) and Palenke Soultribe (Colombia). In addition to Getty Images Music’s existing Spanish and Latin American catalog with Spanish language indie music, the offering also includes English language indie bands that have Hispanic influences; and well-known Spanish and Latin American artists who are breaking into the United States market, according to Lee.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 13, 2012
Direct mail credit card offers – click to enlarge
Chart: Mintel Comperemedia
Some researchers believe credit card offers are a reflection of the economic health of the country. In June 2011, there were 497 million credit card direct mail offers nationwide, a healthy number. By April of 2012 the number was down to 260 million, reflecting a 33 percent drop in direct mail offers for new credit cards between April 2011 and April 2012. In other words in April of this year, United States households received an estimated 260 million credit card offers while a year earlier they received 390 million offers. This may be the lowest estimated monthly mail volume tracked in the past 25 months, according to Mintel Comperemedia.
“Issuers have adopted a more cautious approach due to an uncertain economic environment. The latest downturn likely reflects a pause in activity rather than signifying a permanent reduction in direct mail,” said Andrew Davidson, senior vice president at Mintel Comperemedia. “Credit card direct mail volume will be significantly lower in 2012 than 2011. For credit card issuers this is a great time to be in the mail. The mailbox is less cluttered and it is easier to get consumers to notice your message.”
Because direct mail offers for credit cards are cyclical mailings likely reflect market trends and Dow changes, and since other marketing channels, such as online and social media, are not replacing direct mail the mailings are likely to return to high levels once the economy recovers, he believes.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 11, 2012
The Scent of Departure Paris
Photos: The Scent of Departure
Ever want to visit Singapore, Budapest or Istanbul but didn’t get a chance? Or perhaps you visited those exotic cities and want to reminisce about your trip? A new perfume line, launched in 2011, promises scent lovers the essence of those cities and 17 others including three in the United States in a $45 1.7 ounce bottle. If blood orange, sweet orange, lemon, yellow tangerine, pink grapefruit, lotus flowers, freesia, lilac, orange jump, white musk, blonde wood, vanilla, and caramel remind you of Miami you are in luck. Those are the ingredients in the line’s Miami eau de toilette fragrance.
Caramel can also be found in New York if the perfume makers are to be believed. In addition to caramel they made that city’s namesake fragrance with green and crispy apple, juicy apple, lotus flower, jasmine, lilac, rose petal, caramelized apple, white musk, and vanilla. Tokyo on the other hand smells like lemon, bergamot, green stem, lotus flower, freesia, ozonique flowers, peony and white musk, according to them.
This could be a good time to introduce such a line, allowing it to be in place for the year’s Christmas holidays which, according to Mintel, is when most perfume buying takes place in the country. Perfumes and products with fragrances seem to be popular among United States consumers. In a survey last year, many (29 percent) domestic consumers said they bought someone a fragrance (25 Stocking Stuffers from Mintel, Holiday Shopping U.S. July 2011 and Seasonal Chocolate U.S. August 2011 Mintel survey reports). In 2005, the average annual consumer spending of Consumer Units (there were 2.5 persons per Consumer Unit; Consumer Unites appear in 000s) on cosmetics, perfume and bath products was 132.31 (Household Spending 12 Edition), the highest segment by far of the Personal Care Products category.
Magali Senequier and Gerald Ghislain
Gerald Ghislain, perfumer, and Magali Senequier, his creative partner, used the IATA (International Association of Travel Agents) assigned three letter airport codes for 20 cities to name The Scent of Departure line which, according to a company spokesperson, is made in Paris, France. They selected cities they had visited and liked for the line targeted at “men and women who love to travel or discover trendy and atypic products,” according to the spokesperson. Prior to this line they launched Histoires de Parfums.
The fragrance is contained in a slender glass bottle sporting the letters for that city with a design inspired by a luggage tag with the three IATA code letters of the city that it represents. The initial scents are: Paris (CDG), London (LHR), Milan (MIL), Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC), Keflavik (KEF), Istanbul (IST), Budapest (BUD), Vienna (VIE), New York (NYC), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Dubai (DXB), Abu Dhabi (AUH), Doa (DOH), Singapore (SIN), Tokyo (TYO), Hong-Kong (HKG), Seoul (ICN) and Bali (DPS). The company plans to sell the line at airports, large retail stores, Henri Bender in New York and at its website, thescentofdeparture.com.
The Scent of Departure Los Angeles
If as Jennifer Dublino, chief operating officer, Scent Marketing Institute, said “Scent is particularly important to Latinos, even more so than to other cultural groups,” (see Scent Marketing Connects to Hispanics on a Deep Cultural Level) this new line could appeal to Latino consumers in the United States and Latin America.
It is noteworthy that the three cities in the United States included in the line, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City, have some of the largest pockets of Latinos in the country. Some might wonder if the inclusion of well liked cities like Paris and London will make up for the absence of Latin American cities in the line. Will the oversight displease United States Latinos? Will Latinas who, according to Dublino, use fragrance products much more frequently than non-Latinas because they are an important part of their feeling of femininity, respond to the marketing concept of the line?
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 6, 2012
H1N1 3D graphic representation of a generic influenza virion’s ultrastructure
Illustration, graph: Dan Higgins, CDC
In spite of all the commotion around exotic diseases like the West Nile Virus, H1N1 flu, salmonella and others that have received extensive media coverage infectious diseases account for a fraction of deaths in the United States. Sellers of funeral services, insurance, health care or end of life related products may be interested to know that world wide 56 million people die every year many from cardiac disease or cancer. Those two causes of death accounted for more than half (63 percent) of all deaths in 2008, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the United States, about half of the adult population has a chronic condition like diabetes. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention), the top five causes of death in 2009 were heart disease (599,413), cancer (567,628), chronic lower respiratory diseases (137,353), stroke (128,842), and accidents (118,021).
U.S. Causes of Death 1980, 2008 – click to enlarge
In 2008, 139,241 Hispanics died; the top 10 causes of death for Hispanics in Health, United States, 2011 (Table 26) , the most recent CDC report, were: diseases of heart (28,951), malignant neoplasms (28,851), unintentional injuries (11,080), cerebrovascular diseases (7,121), Diabetes mellitus (6,544), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (4,091), chronic lower respiratory diseases (3,949), homicide (3,331), influenza and pneumonia (3,176), and Alzheimer’s disease (3,005).
In OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, (the United States is an OECD member) nearly one quarter of the population (22 percent) will be 65 years old or older by 2030. In contrast young people in developing countries are more likely to die from infectious diseases. If they survive into middle age the common killers, cancer or cardiac disease, become the more likely causes of death.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 4, 2012
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Graphic: HispanicMPR.com
Are you marketing or selling a new product in the United States? Speed may be of the essence. For 40 years innovation has, at least in part, fueled our growth in the United States. In the 1990s, rapid innovation made it possible for our economy to grow at a quick pace and prompted the creation of new jobs while old ones were lost due to higher production efficiencies and cheap labor costs overseas. Recently, that process appears to have broken down. While the flood of jobs to developing countries continues the pace of innovation has slowed and the amount of time during which manufacturing and selling new products remain profitable within our country is shorter, according to Pinched.
Knowledge, business know-how and research and development become less valuable more quickly today than they did 15 years ago, according to economist Michael Mander (see A Massive Writedown of U.S. Knowledge Capital at innovationandgrowth.wordpress.com). Some people believe improved and inexpensive international communication and a diverse international workforce have played a prominent role in the loss.
The more people, companies and countries have access to knowledge the less valuable it becomes. As communication has improved so has the flow of information and knowledge, reducing the value of the knowledge more quickly in the countries where it was developed (often the United States and Europe) and shifting the know-how to other countries with greater efficiency than in past decades, say the experts.
Too much red tape and corporate power has dramatically decreased new inventions (see Patent attorney explores reduction of inventions in America). With fewer inventions patented and a faster rate of knowledge capital depreciation (which results from the expenditures of an organization that have led it to increase efficiency over time according to Paul Strassman at Strassman.com) the importance of our skilled scientists and business professionals has grown, these economy analysts believe. Is it possible that developing marketing plans and timelines to match the changing marketplace may make a big difference in extending the timeline of profitability and keeping knowledge capital depreciation in check?
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 30, 2012
Multinationals Job Domestic and International Growth 1999-2008 – click to enlarge
It used to be that the pace of innovation kept employment numbers strong in the United States. As some jobs became obsolete and migrated overseas workplace evolution and new technologies resulted in the creation of new jobs that outpaced the losses. Over time, as innovation slowed, more jobs migrated out of the country than were created and access to cheap international human resources and continuous corporate desires for profit continue to fuel the trend with few or no tax consequences to stem the job losses.
In 2007 multinational companies employed 19 percent of the private sector workforce, earned 25 percent of private sector profits and paid 25 percent of private sector wages. For all their impressive presence and efficiency these companies were not noteworthy on the job creation side, according to a 2010 McKinsey Global Institute report cited in Pinched.
In the last 20 years, multinationals have been responsible for 41 percent of labor productivity in the United States corresponding to only 11 percent growth of employment in the private sector. The production cycle many relied on meant initial production in wealthy nations with abundant innovation that eventually moved to countries with lower labor costs. In the United States, hardware manufacturing and data processing jobs shrunk when both were expected to grow.
At the same time, and especially during the Great Recession, companies pushed for greater efficiency, driving staff to work longer hours and accomplish more with less. Some developed new processes and methodologies and others accomplished their efficiency goals by squeezing more hours and labor out of employees who feared for their jobs and way of life in a declining economy. These strategies have led to greater stock value for publicly traded companies and higher profitability for many companies overall at the expense of jobs lost that will likely never be recovered. Fewer jobs lead to a slower economy with consumers holding back and focusing on savings. This is especially true when prospective employees are trapped where they are living due to the lingering housing bubble.
An example of the trend is that between 1999 and 2008 multinationals in the United States cut back domestic employment by 1.9 million while boosting foreign employment by 2.4 million, according to economist Martin Sullivan (see Pinched and U.S. Multinationals Moving Jobs to Low-Tax, Low-Wage Countries at Tax.com). At the same time, the figures that reflect a domestic decrease in jobs do not appear to include loss of revenue domestically for individuals who suffered salary and benefits cuts by their multinational employers.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 22, 2012
Graphic: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
As we struggle in our day to day lives few of us stop to ponder the big picture. Are we happy? What does it take to have a good life? Is it education, money, a good balance of work and life, safety? Policy makers ask additional questions such as, do men and women want the same things when it comes to living well? Do people in different countries, even neighboring countries, share views about the common elements that lead to a high quality of life?
In 2004, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) began to explore meaningful ways to establish quality of life. For the past two years the OECD has been looking a quality of life issues beyond just economics and gross domestic product (GDP) with the mission to “develop better indicators for better policies for better lives.”
Last year, for the first time, it released the results of its Better Life Index (BLI) in which researchers examined 11 indicators among 34 members of the organization including the United States and: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.
To date one million visitors from 184 countries have visited the website to find out about the quality of life in the nations profiled. OECD staff looked at and shared their main findings about 11 Better Life Index dimensions: housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, civic engagement, health, life satisfaction, safety, and work-life balance in 34 countries with the goals of developing good policies, allowing people to compare results, empower the public and make the information accessible. Those curious to know how their country compares with others among the 34 nations can see the latest results which become available today at http://oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
The top three drivers of well being were education health and life satisfaction and, according to their findings, there were only minor goal differences by gender. Across the board men work more and earn more. At the same time, women live longer, study more, are more social and in some countries are happier.
This year, Denmark had the highest life satisfaction and the highest work life balance, Switzerland was the country with the best health results, Finland showed the highest results in education, and Japan the highest results in security. The United States had the best ranking for income and housing.
Last year, 173,862 people visited the site from the United States; the cities with the highest participation were in descending order, New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Portland, Austin, and Boston.
The data used for the report came from the OECD or National Accounts, United Nations, and national statistics offices. Some were sourced from the Gallup World Poll, a division of the Gallup Organization that conducts public opinion polls in 140 countries around the world.
The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
