Global advertising rose 8.8 percent year-on-year in Q1 to total USD 118 billion based on published rate cards, as advertisers spent more on television and continued to invest in booming consumer Asian and Latin American markets.

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.

Smartphones continue to grow in popularity. According to Nielsen’s May survey of mobile consumers in the US, 38 percent now own smartphones.

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.

At the closing main room event at Consumer 360 in Orlando, which focused on innovation and branding, Fortune’s Adam Lashnisky moderated a discussion between, Bob Lutz, retired Vice Chairman of GM, and author Malcolm Gladwell.

In its journey to rebuild its brand in a differentiated and relevant manner, Walgreens has achieved milestones that offer other retailers important lessons in brand building. Kim Feil, CMO, Walgreens describes the practices that helped rebuild the brand.

Identifying clear paths to purchase in the context of consumer demand and advertising was the focus of a Nielsen panel discussion led by Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large at Fortune Magazine.

The American consumer is changing. Uneven population growth, a growing base of older consumers with new needs, changes in household spending, a declining percentage of households with children and particularly increased ethnic diversity mean that manufacturers and retailers need to rethink how they invest their marketing dollars.

At Nielsen’s Consumer 360 client event in Orlando Florida, Paul Swiontkowski and Kim Stanford from Microsoft shared how they efficiently delivered television ads to the viewers most likely to respond to Microsoft’s message.