In October, as global financial markets plunged amid multiple bank bailouts, U.S. consumers showed marked caution at the cash register, focusing their purchases at food, drug, and mass merchandiser stores on basic necessities: food, medicines, and other household items.
Edible essentials, like bread, milk, cheese, and fresh produce, were among the top retail categories for October, according to Nielsen. 
Discretionary items like carbonated beverages, candy, and snacks were also among the top sellers in October — but most of these categories showed year-over-year unit and dollar sales declines.
Top Categories: October 2008 (Dollar Sales: Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales)

Rank
(by 2008 Dollar Sales)
Top Food/Drug/Mass Merchandiser Sales Categories
(October 2008)
Dollar Sales:
4 …

New technologies have revolutionized the way brands are marketed — today’s consumers have more information on brands, and companies, in turn, have more information about their consumers. 
But according to brand guru Kevin Lane Keller (photo at left), E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, one key marketing strategy remains unchanged. 
“The most important message for marketers these days is to make sure they have a deep, rich understanding of consumers and how they think and feel about brands and their products and services,” Keller …

Baby boomers are beginning to retire from the U.S. workforce, but according to Nielsen, their buying power remains strong.
Households with baby boomer members — born between 1946 and 1964 – account for nearly $230 billion in sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) products and represent 55% of total CPG sales, a new study by Nielsen and Hallmark Channel reports.
The research, which examined the CPG spending power and brand loyalty of baby boomer households, found that baby boomer households’ share of sales is 5 points higher than their share of population, according to …

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a CoverGirl tie-in with the CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” was the most recalled new “hybrid” ad during the four weeks between October 27 and November 23, 2008.
Hybrid Ads include customized ads, branded promos, vignettes, interstitials, and micro-series where sponsor messaging is combined with program or entertainment content.
Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, a hybrid ad’s sponsor.

Rural American households spent more than twice as much on canning and freezing supplies, 47% more on automotive products, and 38% more on tobacco and accessories than average American households during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008, according to Nielsen.
“Plain Rural Living” households — a Nielsen Spectra lifestyle segment that includes households in small towns and rural areas with the lowest population densities — account for 21% of all American households.  These households represented 43% of canning/freezing supplies product dollar sales, 31% of automotive product dollar sales, and 29% of tobacco and …

According to data from Nielsen IAG, an Apple ad, in which “PC” offers “Mac” a cupcake to raise money to repair Vista, was the most recalled new “traditional” ad during the four weeks between October 20, and November 16, 2008.
Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, an ad’s sponsor.

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a Macy’s ad, in which celebrities confirm the existence of Santa Claus for a little girl, was the most liked new “traditional” ad during the four weeks between October 20 and November 16, 2008.
Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

Oprah Winfrey’s influence — sometimes referred to as the “Oprah Effect” — has propelled countless individuals, products, and ideas into the public sphere.
That influence may even extend to her personal trainer, Bob Greene, whose “Best Life” program endorses consumer products that promote healthy living.
According to a recent Nielsen report, products featuring Greene’s “Best Life” seal of approval on their packaging easily outsold traditional food and beverage products. 
In 2008, brands endorsed by “Best Life” generated a 9.2% dollar sales increase, year-over-year, while all food and beverage products increased by just 4.6% …

The Warner Bros.’ seasonal comedy “Four Christmases” topped the weekend Box Office for the second week in a row,  taking in an estimated $16.8 million in Friday-Sunday grosses.
Summit Entertainment’s vampire film “Twilight” took in an estimated $13 million to reclaim second place from Disney’s CG-animated feature “Bolt”, which earned an estimated $9.7 million to finish third.
Below are Box Office totals for the weekend of December 5-7, 2008, from Nielsen EDI.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS
(MILLIONS)

1
Four Christmases
WARNER BROS.
$16,755,478
$69.4

2
Twilight
SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT
$13,046,722
$138.4

3
Bolt
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
$9,796,149
$79.4

4
Australia
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$7,050,261
$30.9

5
Quantum of Solace
SONY PICTURES
$6,752,390
$151.6

6
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
PARAMOUNT
$5,079,120
$165.7

7
Transporter 3
LIONSGATE
$4,668,898
$25.5

8
Punisher: War Zone
LIONSGATE
$4,271,451
$4.3

9
Cadillac Records
SONY PICTURES
$3,445,559
$3.4

10
Role Models
UNIVERSAL
$2,574,460
$61.6

Source: The Hollywood …

Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft” dominated Nielsen Games’ ranking of the most popular PC game titles for October, claiming more than 62% of the total PC game minutes played during the month. 

Rank
Top 10 PC Game Titles:
October 2008
Publisher
Share
Avg. Mins
Per Week
TMP%

1
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
12.509
546
62.280

2
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Blizzard Entertainment
1.890
328
4.751

3
Half-Life 2
Vivendi Games
1.917
288
4.301

4
Spore
Electric Entertainment
2.234
268
4.220

5
Bookworm
PopCap Games
3.074
133
2.716

6
Cake Mania 3
Sandlot Games
4.260
138
2.709

7
Virtual Villagers: The Secret City
Wild Games
1.567
204
2.456

8
Chessmaster Challenge
PlayFirst
8.856
47
2.123

9
Halo: Combat Evolved
Microsoft Game Studios
2.005
165
2.105

10
Build-a-Lot 2: Town Of The Year
HipSoft LLC
1.661
183
1.668

Source: Nielsen Games
Share is the percentage of the gaming audience measured that played the title
Overall TMP% represents the percent of total minutes played …