2008: Staying In Is The New Going Out
Americans are spending more time in front of their computers and televisions. The reach and frequency of TV, Internet, and time shifted TV use increased notably in 2008, as consumers on tight budgets opted to save money by staying home. 

2008: Economizing Strategies Go Digital
In 2008, 20% of consumer discussions online referenced strategies for managing grocery budgets.  Visits to price comparison websites were also up significatnly this year. 

2008: Private Label Reigns Supreme 
As the economy worsened, consumers continued to shift dollar and unit spending to private label products.  The result: private label shares hit all time highs in both units and dollars at year’s end.  Private label dollar sales averaged about 10% growth in the five four-week periods near the end of the year.  Meanwhile, unit sales growth accelerated, averaging 4% to 5% growth.  In comparison, branded products saw 3% average dollar sales growth and 3% unit sales decline. 

2008: Value Trumps Variety, Convenience
“Value” categories and brands saw greater growth in 2008, compared to the previous year:
- Spam: dollar sales up 14% vs. year ago 
- Ramen Noodles: dollar sales up 30% vs. year ago
- Dry Pasta: dollar sales up 25% vs. year ago
- Bulk Rice: dollar sales up 38% vs. year ago
- Margarine: dollar sales up 21% vs. year ago
- Canned Vegetables: dollar sales up 9% vs. year ago
- Frozen Vegetables: dollar sales up 7% vs. year ago

2009: Retail Stores Close, Consolidate
“A rising tide raises all boats” — the opposite exposes weaker businesses.  The grocery channel may be “recession resistant,” but no channel is “recession proof.”  In 2009, expect further consolidation in retail outlet ownership, as flawed businesses go to the wall or are selectively gobbled up at low prices by “retail winners” looking to expand their presence in key neighborhoods and markets.

2009: Premium Brands Lose Ground; Genetic Modification Gains New Acceptance
In 2009, consumers will become more discerning and discriminating, and the premium charged for more expensive lines will be questioned more frequently.  This will retard the growth of some organic and fair trade products, and maybe even increase acceptance of genetically modified products. 

2009: Food Waste Reduction Is A New Priority
With food waste running at 30% in the U.K. and 40% in India, consumers and manufacturers will make greater efforts to reduce avoidable losses in 2009.  Look for growth of the frozen food category, and smaller portions in food service and single-serve ready meals.

2008 was a newsworthy — albeit, topsy-turvy — year for marketers and researchers. Importantly, social media evolved from experimental sideline to a mainstream attraction. Twitter saw huge growth rates, Barack Obama rewrote the rules of digital marketing, and user-engagement, and “service is marketing” Zappos.com re-wrote new rules for building brands and rewiring e-commerce. Facebook trended upward, MySpace held steady, and reputation-broker Wikipedia continued marching to the top of Google search results.

Brands like Tide used social media to squeeze extra value out of Super Bowl ads, and Comcast (full disclosure: a Nielsen client) parlayed service scorn into a fundamentally different service/engagement model (still a work in progress).

Fortified by corporate blogs and Twittter handles, dozens of other companies launched “social media” teams, while CEOs like Howard Schultz used CGM (e.g. MyStarbucksIdea.com) as the centerpiece of its turnaround strategy.

Retailers like Wal-Mart turbocharged their web platforms with user-reviews – many of which ironically challenged “green claims” of  featured products, while Facebook introduced “add water and stir” fan-sites that were often as inviting to activists as to brand loyalists.

Industry groups like the IAB created social media committees, the ARF put unstructured “listening” at the top of the 2008-09 agenda, and for the first time WOMMA managed to nab the likes of IBM, Kraft, Unilever, Intuit, Hershey’s, and other big fish at its annual conference — a “coming of age” for word-of-mouth marketing.

On a personal level, I somehow managed to crank out a book that I’m quite proud of, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000″ (Doubleday), and I certainly hope it continues to inspire constructive conversation on issues and developments similar to the ones I outline below.

Marketing Campaigns that Inspired
- Obama Web Strategy – Empower everybody, nurture advocacy; even small acts can grow into big acts
- Apple Genius Bar – Service is the new marketing
- MyStarbucksIdeas.com – Maybe fans get product development better than the brand.
- NBCOlympics.com – creating a cross-platform “ecosystem”
- New York Times “Comments” – Reader engagement creates new source of value
- Zappos Ads in Airport Security Boxes – Hey, if the shoe fits!
- P&G Mommy Blogger Event – Power Moms matter…as much, perhaps, as traditional media

Best Thinking on CGM/Social Media
- Scott Cook “User Contribution Systems” (Harvard Business Review, Fall 2008)
- New York Times – “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy” (9/5/2008)
- Peter Kim’s Social Media Marketing List
- Business Week cover story, by Jena MacGregor – “Consumer Vigilantes” (Spring 2008)

Digital Communities that Raised the Bar
- Intuit Community
- Dell Computer
- Nike + Social Network
- BlackBerry Owners Lounge
- MTV Community
- WebMD
- Bank of America’s Small Banking Site

Bloggers and Influencers Who Made a Mark in 2008
- Arriana Huffington & Huffington Post Team
- Forrester’s Jeremy Owyang
- Dooce.com (Top Mom Blog)
- Gaurav Mishra (Mumbai commentary)
- Xeni Jardin (Boing Boing)
- Pete Cashmore (Mashable)
- B.L. Ochman (Blog + Twitter)
- Twitter Social Media Commentator Chris Brogan
- Comcast’s Frank Eliason (via Twitter)
- Michael Arlington (Tech Crunch)
- Ford’s Scott Monty (via Twitter)
- Power Mom Jessica Gottleib
- Steve Rubel (consistently on the mark…for a very long time)

Viral Videos that Stimulated Our Thinking
- Tina Fey on SNL – The power of both WOM and cross-platform promotion
- Yes We Can! (Obama) – Original music + celebrities = viral video
- Vote Different (Clinton) – What’s old is new again
- Wassup 2008 – Update of a classic
- Tide Stain Super Bowl – What happens before and after the game is crucial
- ”You.S.A 2008” – customized viral videos

Blogs that Inspired
- Patagonia Blog -  200% authentic, reflects the cause-driven soul of the company
- Southwest Airlines – Better than free peanuts
- Garmin Blog - GPS navigation in action
- GM – Unbeatable Google juice
- Marriott’s CEO Blog – The power of executive personality
- Delta – Friendlier face to an industry with ‘issues’

Key Lessons in Defensive Branding
- Facebook “Fan” Sites: Activists also like to “express” themselves
- MotrinMoms – Power moms matter, and “social media” twitterers are a force to be reckoned with
- All Brands – When times are tight, be careful with “luxury” or “premium” messaging…even to the rich
- Whole Foods – The digital trail is difficult to erase when mistakes are made (or changed)
- Kobe Bryant/Nike – If forced to fake it, does it really pay out?

Products that Stole the 2008 Conversation
- YouTube in your pocket: Flip Camera, Kodak Zi6
- So long keyboard, hello touch!: T-Mobile/Google G1, Blackberry Storm, HP’s TouchsmartPC
- Still shaking things up: iPhone, Wii

2008’s Blazing Innovation Trail
- Ning – Create your own social network…really!
- Twitter Grader – Twitter Grader measures the power of a Twitter profile
- Twinfluence – Another Twitter influence tool
- Twitter Search – Search Twitter for content
- Twemes – Find hashtags for topics
- Tweetbeep – Monitor Twitter by keyword
- Friendfeed – Discover and discuss interesting stuff that your friends find on the Web
- TagCrowd – Create your own tag cloud from any text to visualize word frequency
- Zuula – A convenient way to get search results from all the top search engines
- One Riot – A social search engine that finds the pulse of the Web
- Search Engine Site Validation Service – Validate the code on your site for search engines
- Google Keyword Tool – Use Google to find relevant keywords: Keywords = Branding
- Yammer – Twitter for enterprise
- Hulu – NBC and News Corp’s video site
- GasBuddy – Cheap gas anyone?
- Pandora – Free music for everyone

Must Read Business Books
- The Ownership Quotient (HBS Jim Heskett, Earl Sasser)
- Groundswell (Li, Bernoff)
- Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online
- Open Brand (K. Mooney)
- Marketing to the Social Web
- DigiMarketing
- Speed of Trust (Stephen Covey)
- Personality Not Included (Rohit Bhargava)
- Tipping Point (Yes, still relevant)
- Meatball Sundae (Seth Godin)

Activists & Activist Sites Who Retained (or Grew) Their Bite
- The Consumerist
- PETA
- Save the Internet Coalition
- EFF
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Bobosphere

Read Pete Blackshaw’s predictions for new media and marketing developments in 2009 in the December installment of his regular Ad Age column.

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.

William P. Young’s ”The Shack” was the top-selling fiction book through November 30.

Among non-fiction books, “A New Earth,” by Eckhart Tolle was the top-seller.

The audio version of Tolle’s “A New Earth” was the top-selling audio book of the year.

Top 10 Book Sales: Adult Fiction

Top 10 Book Sales: Adult Non-Fiction

Top 10 Audio Book Sales: Adult and Juvenile

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

It’s official: Americans love their carbs.  The Bread and Baked Goods category ranked number one for 2008 — both in terms of consumer purchases and retail sales.  According to Nielsen, 99% of U.S. homes purchased bread/baked goods at least once during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008.  The Bread/Baked Goods category raked in $18.3 billion in sales through November 1.  Other popular CPG categories include paper products, snacks, and carbonated beverages.

Scarborough Research, a joint partnership with Nielsen and Arbitron, also reported on the top U.S.  markets for online shopping.  Washington, D.C. and San Francisco ranked first and second, respectively, with 39% and 35% of adults spending $500 or more online in the past year.  Nationwide, 25% of adults reported spending $500 or more online in the past year.

Top 10 Consumer Packaged Goods Purchased by U.S. Homes

Top 10 Consumer Packaged Goods Sold in U.S. Retail Stores

Top U.S. Markets For Adults Who Spent More Than $500+ Online Last Year

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

Sony’s Playstation 2 was the top game console of 2008, claiming 31.7% of all measured console minutes, according to Nielsen.  The Xbox 360 and Wii ranked second and third, respectively, with 17.2% and 13.4% of all usage minutes between January and October of this year.

Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft” was the most popular PC game title of the year, drawing an average of 0.723% of all PC gamers per minute between January and October 2008.

Among mobile gamers, “Tetris” was the top game for Q3 2008, in terms of share of revenue. 

Top 10 PC Game Titles: U.S.

Top 10 Mobile Games By Revenue Share: U.S. – Q3 2008

Top Video Game Consoles By Usage

View the press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Forbes.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

Google was the most popular website with U.S. Internet users, drawing the largest audience (120 million unique visitors per month, on average) through October 2008.

As of 2008, the most prolific content downloaders in the U.S. live in California, according to Scarborough Research, a joint partnership with Nielsen and Arbitron. The San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose market had the highest percentage (32%) of adults who had downloaded podcasts, video games, music/other audio clips, movies, videos, or TV programs in the past month.  The San Diego and Austin, Texas markets tied for a close second place (31%).  Nationwide, 24% of adults have downloaded online content in the past month.

Top 10 Websites: U.S.

Top U.S. Markets For Content Downloaders

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

Motorola’s RAZR V3 series handset was easily the most popular mobile phone in use in the U.S., as of Q3 2008.

In October, more than 15.2 million American mobile Internet users visited Yahoo! Mail, making it the most popular mobile Web destination that month.  Google Search, which drew more than 10.5 million mobile Internet users in October, ranked second. 

Among master ringtones — 20-30 second excerpts of recorded songs — “Lollipop,” by Lil Wayne, featuring Static Major, and “Low,” by Flo Rida, featuring T-Pain, were most popular.

Top 10 Mobile Phones In Use: U.S. – Q3 2008

Top 10 Mastertones

Top 10 Websites Accessed Via Mobile Phone: U.S. – October 2008

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” was the top selling album of 2008, according to Billboard and Nielsen.

Keys also had the most listened-to radio song of the year, “No One,” which drew 3.08 billion radio listeners between November 12, 2007 through November 16, 2008. 

“Low,” by Flo Rida, featuring T-Pain, was the most downloaded song of the year, through November 16.

According to Scarborough Research, a joint partnership with Nielsen and Arbitron, MP3 players are most prevalent in Washington D.C., where 40% of adults live in households with at least one player.  Nationwide, 30% of adults live in homes with MP3 players.

Top 10 Albums

Top 10 Most Listened-To Radio Songs

Top 10 Most Digitally-Downloaded Songs

Top U.S. Markets: Adults Living In A Household With An MP3 Player

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

Procter & Gamble was the top advertiser, spending more than $2.3 billion on traditional media advertising in the U.S. through September 30.  General Motors and AT&T rounded out the top three advertisers.

Among the year’s most-liked commercials, ads by the NFL, Budweiser, and Geico were most popular with American audiences. 

Product placements by CVS (on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), TRESemme (on “Project Runway”), and El Pollo Loco (on “Flipping Out”) were most popular with viewers.

NBC’s “Biggest Loser” featured the greatest number of product placements (6,248 occurrences) of any broadcast TV program, through November 30.

Top 10 Advertisers – U.S. Spending – Traditional Media

Top 10 Best-Liked TV Commercials

Top 10 Most-Effective Product Placements (Brand Opinion)

Top 10 Broadcast Network TV Programs – Product Placement Activity

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

FOX’s “American Idol” was the top TV program of 2008, according to Nielsen.  Tuesday night broadcasts of “American Idol,” through December 7, drew 15.5% of U.S. TV households, on average, while Wednesday night “American Idol” broadcasts drew an average of 15.3% of all TV households.

Viewers with DVR access gave NBC’s “Heroes” the biggest bump any primetime program received in 2008.  The average TV audience for “Heroes” increased by 35% when timeshifted viewing within seven days of a program’s original air date was factored into Nielsen’s ratings.  FOX’s “Fringe” and ABC’s “Lost” also drew large audience boosts — +26% and +25%, respectively — from DVR viewers.

The 2008 Superbowl, which drew 43.1% of all U.S. TV households, was the most popular single telecast of 2008. 

Top 10 TV Programs – Regularly Scheduled

Top 10 TV Programs – Single Telecast

Top 10 “Timeshifted” Primetime TV Programs

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.