Economic power is clearly moving east. According to the International Monetary Fund, GDP is expected to grow within the BRIC countries 61.3 percent between 2008 and 2012, compared with just 12.8 percent for the G7 nations. Today, global consumption patterns clearly favor developing markets and in Russia, the growth potential is tremendous.

Russia is a huge economic powerhouse with significant room to grow. Its growing middle class, high education level and developed technology infrastructure make it ripe for opportunity. But innovation myths about Russia are impacting full growth realization.

More consumers are online talking about fresh and unprocessed foods when it comes to healthy eating, and a segment of health enthusiasts are setting trends on ingredients and spices.

Just when some positive economic reports and improving consumer confidence news are picking up, rising gas prices in North America could take a toll on consumer spending power, shifting consumers back to staying at home and shopping for value until prices subside.

64% of adult Internet users who follow a celebrity also follow a brand – five times more likely to do so than all adults online.

The stats still show that women do the majority of shopping in the U.S., but with men facing a higher unemployment rate than women, more men are at home than in the past and in many cases, they are taking a more active role in household duties.

Inflation is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the world, but, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia. But while prices rose 7.9 percent in 2010, household spending increased at an even faster rate – up 19.3 percent in major cities and 18.5 percent in rural Java.

Overall timeshifting by U.S. TV audiences increased significantly in the third and fourth quarters of 2010, with the average American watching nearly 10 and a half hours of timeshifted TV at the end of the year.

According to the latest Chinese New Year (CNY) Gala Show cross-platform study, while TV still played a major role in this special occasion, consumers used other media platforms much more than during the last Chinese New Year’s Gala show.

Given the recent economic slowdown in developed markets, the ‘value-conscious’ shopper is more visible across store aisles than every before.