Global concern about climate change has taken a back-seat to other environmental issues such as air and water pollution, water shortages, packaging waste and use of pesticides, according to a new Nielsen report.

There is no doubt that U.S. store brands benefited greatly from the Great Recession of 2008-2009. The quality of today’s store brand offerings coupled with more value-conscious consumers looking to stretch their dollars ignited a sales boom. In the U.S., private label sales increased 1.8 share points from the end of 2007 to the end of 2008 to reach a 22.3 percent market share.

Global online confidence declined to its lowest level in six quarters to 89 as economic recovery hit a stumbling block and recessionary jitters again reverberated around the world, according to Nielsen’s quarterly Global Online Consumer Confidence Survey.

With 82 percent of Americans online, 93 percent owning mobile phones and 155 million using Facebook, access to digital technologies is officially pervasive, yet retailers still spend an estimated 60–70 percent of their marketing budget on printed ad circulars.

Millions of dollars are spent developing and launching new products each year, but the reality is only 10 percent will succeed. While this has been the accepted norm and considered the “cost of doing business,” a new approach unveiled by Nielsen improves the likelihood of new product success to 75 percent.

Women across the world are expanding beyond traditional roles to influence decisions in the home, in business and in politics, creating a massive opportunity for marketers to better connect with them.

Understanding purchasing and media habits of the rapidly growing multicultural market the next big challenge/opportunity facing marketers and brands today.

Global consumer confidence rose two points in the first quarter of this year to an index of 92 driven by record confidence gains in the Middle East/Africa following social and political unrest in the region and strong-performing Asia Pacific economies.

Undoubtedly on the minds of many Vietnamese are the surging prices for food and other goods that the country has experienced over the last 12 months.

Canadians are much more confident about their finances and the economy than Americans, but that doesn’t mean they are spending with abandon. More than half of Canadians believe that the country is still in a recession and they continue to carefully watch how they spend. Retailers and consumer-packaged goods manufacturers who know how to connect with consumers will emerge ahead of the rest.