For more than a year, the U.S. consumer hit by the recession has changed the way he or she shops: a focus on value for money has led to some dramatic shifts in behavior that some say will last far beyond the current economic environment.  With 80 percent of Americans saying they were stressed due to the economy, savvy retailers and consumer goods manufacturers have shifted their marketing to appeal to consumers watching their money more closely.  But have those ads been successful?  Nielsen IAG examined 67 such ads from …

Senators McCain and Obama spent about the same on Olympics TV advertising — between $5 and $6 million, Adweek reported Monday.
But McCain got much more bang for his advertising bucks, according to an analysis by Nielsen IAG.
Nielsen’s survey of 1,600 likely general election voters who watched the Beijing Games found that McCain’s Olympic ads more effectively communicated a basic message, were recalled by more viewers, and triggered a larger intent-to-vote increase among viewers than ads run by Obama’s campaign. 
On average, the two McCain ads that were surveyed — “Celebrity” and “Washington’s …