Few sectors of the economy have been as tarnished during the global recession as banks and financial institutions.  With the closure of some well-known industry names and the billions in losses racked up at others, it is understandable that consumers may feel some nervousness when it comes to the stability of their banks.  The fact is, however, that most banks are secure, and to communicate that fact, they have increasingly shifted the focus of their advertising to brand building.
According to a new report from Nielsen UK, total UK ad spending …

Starting March 30, experts from The Nielsen Company will participate in the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) convention and expo in New York City. During the event, Nielsen Wire will provide updates, overviews and excerpts of key presentations and sessions.
Listening And Social Networks
Jon Gibs, VP Media Analytics, will be facilitating a Listening Zone Learning Presentation focused on social networking, citing the importance of fostering a listening environment. The presentation will feature new data from Nielsen Online’s social networking study and demonstrate how brands are getting the most out of their …

Using dial meters to track their approval in real time, a group of self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents rated President Barack Obama’s March 24, primetime press conference. Responses were generally split down party lines on major themes and interestingly on the AIG exchange between CNN’s Ed Henry. Those who identified as Republicans spiked with the question and dropped at the President’s response, Democrats dropped at the question and spiked at the President’s terse “I like to know what I’m taking about…” response.
Video: Obama And CNN’s Ed Henry

Other Findings

Based on …

By Julie A. Enzweiler, Automotive – Research Director
One might assume that the unemployment rate at a state level would show a strong negative correlation to the likelihood to purchase a vehicle in the next six months, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Michigan had the highest unemployment rate at 11.6% in January 2009; however, these residents are slightly over-indexing for the likeliness to purchase a vehicle in the next six months. It’s very interesting that Mississippi is the most likely state to purchase a vehicle and …

Every day, shoppers walk into a store to find that the price of a favorite item has gone up.  These price increases drove dollar growth for retail sales within food, drug and mass merchandisers to 3.6 percent in the 52-week period ending 1/24/2009, although sales slowed in the last quarter.  Much of that growth, however, was driven by inflationary pricing as both retailers and manufacturers raised prices due to rapidly escalating commodity costs.  Every department – except general merchandise – showed dollar …

At a time when financial institutions are pulling back on their advertising, a new study from Nielsen IAG shows that consumer confidence in the long-term health of these companies is dramatically influenced by advertising and marketing efforts.
When asked about their own banks, insurance companies and investment firms, 55% of respondents who said they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having “complete confidence” in the financial health and soundness of their financial company and only 18% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company. However, among those …

Advertising expenditures dropped 2.6% overall last year, according to data released today by The Nielsen Company. “Given the state of the U.S. economy, a decline in ad spending was expected, but it’s not as bad as it could have been,” said Annie Touliatos, VP of Sales Development for Monitor-Plus, Nielsen’s ad tracking service. “The campaign season and the Summer Olympics were two big events that had a tremendous impact on advertising, especially on TV buys.”
The automotive industry’s ad spending fell hardest in 2008. The industry slashed its spending by almost …

While uncertain economic conditions have forced most marketers to cut back their budgets, they can take a number of steps to compensate for fewer available dollars and maintain the effectiveness of their campaign.  By moving beyond the use of traditional media age/sex demographics and having a clearer understanding of what networks and programs best reach actual brand targets, marketers have an opportunity to change their mix.  These new schedules can diminish the impact lower marketing budgets could have on a brand’s in-market presence.
Nielsen conducted a recession analysis that replicated the …

Ken Cassar, Nielsen Online
For our March 11 webinar, “Retail Recession Realities,” I’ll be recommending coping strategies for retailers dealing with the ongoing economic crisis. The news has gone from bad to worse in the past six months, but there are approaches retailers can take to survive the lean times and even come out ahead when (dare I say it?) the economy recovers.
The Web offers opportunities for growth like no other channel. Quick case in point – readership of traditional offline newspapers has declined significantly of late, and with it, the …

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 …