Few countries have developed as rapidly as Vietnam has over the last decade – its growth has averaged 7.5 percent per year since 2000.  But the economic downturn has affected almost all countries to some degree.  Will the global recession derail the extraordinary progress Vietnam has made?  Nielsen has prepared a study “Boom or Doom in Vietnam in 2009?” to look at this very question.
Success has bred confidence: Vietnamese are the 9th most confident consumers in the world. And opportunities clearly remain, with AT Kearney rating Vietnam as the most …

The NCAA Tournament, March Madness, is one of the most celebrated sporting events in the U.S, providing a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach a wide and relatively affluent audience.
Nielsen’s Guide To March Madness, tracks a range of consumer and media information surrounding the event including advertising trends and demographic reach of the multi-week event. Ad buys for CBS’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament have risen steadily over the last five years – from $434 million in 2004 to $580 million in 2008 – a surge of almost 34 percent.  …

According to a new Nielsen study, 40 percent of consumers surveyed use vitamins and dietary supplements, with North Americans and Asians leading the world in usage (54% and 43%, respectively).  The highest levels of usage were found in the Philippines and Thailand, with 66 percent of consumers saying they take vitamins, although not every day.  56 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed said they take vitamins or supplements, with 44 percent saying they take them daily.
The primary benefit of taking vitamins and supplements, according to more than 60 percent of those …

In a further sign that the economic downturn is more widespread than any before, Russian consumer confidence dropped 6 points in February 2009 from November 2008, when it dropped 16 points from September 2008, according to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index.  The issues causing Russians nervousness mirror those found in other countries: growing unemployment, high inflation, devaluation of national currency and the burden of easy credit obtained during the “optimistic” years.  Maintaining employment is the key concern, with only 20 percent saying their job prospects were good, while 75 percent were …

Even though news of the peanut butter salmonella outbreak has subsided, peanut butter sales continue to decline.
During the four-week period ending February 21, 2009, sales of jarred peanut butter fell to $87.2 million, down 2.3 percent from the same period in 2008.  41.8 million pounds of jarred peanut butter was sold during the current four-week period, down 13.3 percent for the same period a year ago.  Pounds sold is at the lowest point of the three-year span Nielsen has tracked the total U.S. Food/Drug/Mass (including Walmart) Stores channel.
“While most brands …

A jar of mayonnaise or a package of tea is a straightforward product.  But if manufacturers market those products in the U.K. the same way they do in the U.S., they are probably making a mistake.  Nielsen has compiled the following “shopper truths” from around the world to help consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers successfully navigate consumer shopping behavior:

Same category, different market: often requires a different shopper strategy — While some universal truths exist within categories across borders, success of activation strategies …

Unlike past recessions, few countries have been spared from the economic downturn.  Nielsen’s top industry thought leaders recently discussed how shopping patterns around the world have been affected by economic conditions, how consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are adapting to the new marketplace realities and what lies ahead.
The participants were Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen U.S.; Jonathan Banks, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe; James Russo, Vice President of Marketing, Nielsen U.S., and; Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe.  Key themes were:
Consumers: It does …

Although the gas price rollercoaster has slowed down in recent months, and prices have returned to reasonable levels, our weakening economy is impacting how consumers are thinking about where and how they shop and buy, similar to how they claimed to be reacting when when prices were at record highs continues, according to a new survey from Nielsen.
The overall state of the economy has dropped consumer confidence to historically low levels and caused consumers to continue to reduce driving. To deal with gas prices, consumer claims in the areas of …

Despite the fact that many Americans have cut back discretionary spending, sales of 3 liter (3L) premium wine casks – better known to some as “boxed wine” – showed double digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a new Nielsen study.
With a growth rate of 32 percent in the last 13 weeks of 2008, premium wine casks outpaced all other wine categories, and there remains room for significant growth going forward.
On a full year basis, premium wine casks grew 31 percent, compared to 4.4 growth for table …

With a reported eight deaths and several hundred others sickened, the peanut butter salmonella outbreak is among the most serious food safety crisis in recent years.  It is not surprising that sales of peanut butter has dropped off in the last four weeks.
Nielsen tracks sales of a variety of peanut products at thousands of food, drug and mass merchandise stores (excluding Walmart) across the country. Here are the facts:

Nearly $32 million worth of prepackaged peanuts, including bags, cans, jars and …