Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Shopper and Consumer Insights
The recession gripping the U.S. has prompted many families to eat in and to entertain at home, and in many ways, return to basics in an effort to save money.  Many analysts are predicting that the changes being witnessed in consumer behavior will be permanent.  While these changes have had a negative impact on some sectors, others have benefited by adapting to the changing times and leveraging fundamental brand strengths.  Two such sectors — canning and freezing supplies, and gardening supplies – …

Al McClain, Founder & CEO, Retail Wire
A primary theme of the high-energy general session on Day Two of the Nielsen Consumer360 conference was encouraging attendees to use the current recession as a learning opportunity, in order to build better relationships with consumers and/or reinvent business models.
From Nielsen’s James Russo, there was talk of the fact that great companies such as GE, Disney, Microsoft, and HP were started during economic downturns. And, he felt that consumers may soon be spending more, albeit with some restraint. Signs of the recession …

Our CPG world is one where technology is rapidly evolving and transforming how consumers receive, seek and use information to impact buying and shopping decisions. This makes our jobs exciting and challenging at the same time as it is harder than ever to manage the ever-changing technology landscape and almost impossible to control.

At the Consumer 360 Conference yesterday Malcolm Gladwell gave some fascinating remarks on compensatory learning. I thought it was a perfect frame for what Nielsen is doing in the area of Shopper Management. The basic message is that some people, or businesses or processes, achieve greatness through continuous and iterative improvement. That is precisely the path we are in Shopper Management at Nielsen.

Results of our new alcoholic beverage consumer survey seems to suggest that an economic hangover may be in our future. More than 5,000 U.S. consumers of legal drinking age tell us that when the recession lifts, their alcoholic beverage spending will be fairly restrained. In fact, three-quarters of consumers tell us that either when out or at home, they are not planning on changing their spending habits when the economy improves. Of the remainder, any increases will fall into the “little” and not “a lot” category.
As …

Collaboration is the theme vividly painted at The Nielsen Company’s Consumer 360 morning kick off – as attendees found themselves consumed in data illustrating a continuously changing consumer mindset, fed by an ongoing shift in consumer psychology. And the message was clear from the start: collaboration at the retail-vendor level will be key the successfully navigating this challenging, changing landscape.

The economic downturn has been a boon to dollar stores, which attracted increased consumer spending in 2008, including spending among high and middle income shoppers, according to The Nielsen Company. Nielsen’s analysis of consumer shopping habits shows consumers at all income levels shopping more at dollar stores, with high income shoppers spending 18 percent more at dollar stores in the second half of 2008 compared to the prior year. Dollar stores are outpacing major consumer packaged goods (CPG) channels among both low and high income shoppers. The …

Demographic and economic shifts over the next ten years will dramatically reshape the growth of consumer packaged goods (CPG), according to new research from Nielsen which was presented today at the Consumer 360 conference in Orlando.
Categories that are likely to experience solid growth include ethnic health and beauty products, flour/shortening/sugar/yeast/eggs, and a variety of health-related goods such as vitamins and medications/remedies.  The slowest growth categories are expected to be toys and sporting goods, breakfast foods, baby care and pet products.
In just ten years time, the face of America will change: fewer households will have …

We are very excited to welcome more than 700 CPG manufacturers, retailers and industry association representatives to Consumer 360 here in Orlando today.

This year’s theme, “Clarity through Collaboration” is designed with you in mind and we have a strong line-up of industry leaders here with us to offer insights on how you can successfully engage and win consumers in this ever-changing economic landscape.

When the economy is buzzing, most companies can afford to overlook inefficiencies or take a broader view of what their customers want. But when times are tough, as they are now, companies have little choice but to re-evaluate how they do business if they hope to continue to grow and prosper. Managers are faced with essentially two choices: cut costs or understand precisely where the most profitable market demand is and align more effectively with it. Both options are difficult, but only one can achieve both short- and long-term objectives.