General Mills (GIS) champions brand champions---also known as brand personas---for each of their labels. The company says that giving their target consumer a face, name, worldview, habits, likes and dislikes helps them to guide where the brand should go, what it should be, what role it plays in consumers’ lives.

Carbonated beverages are a long way from losing their fizz says Coca-Cola (KO), announcing profits of 14% and sales growth of 9% during 3Q 2008. Coke Zero and a revitalized approach to marketing have contributed to the positive numbers says CMO Joe Tripodi.

Not so much for Pepsico (PEP); the company is reportedly embarking on a three year, 1.2 billion makeover in an effort to regain lost market share.

Roto-Rooter considered a PR program to  fund Joe the Plumber’s schooling so he could become certified, but scuttled it because they were already getting all the publicity they could handle. The company has been flooded with local media organizations wanting to interview a ‘Joe the Plumber’ in their locality.

Walgreens (WAG) is touting its in-store Take Care Clinics, in a 33-market advertising campaign, as an affordable, time efficient alternative to doctor’s offices and emergency rooms. The rapidly expanding retail clinics provide new revenue opportunities for drug chains including CVS, Albertson’s and Rite Aid.

Bank of America (BAC) is reaching out to customers jittery about the financial crisis with messages communicating “security, stability, and using the word ‘guaranteed,’” says Businessweek blog Brand New Day. Private banking clients can participate in conference calls with Bank of America’s economists, and the company has a “war room” where BOA economists and “chief thinkers” respond to news headlines and explain the impact on customers.

Gap Inc. (GPS) told its investors last week of plans to create smaller stores and close units over the next 3-5 years to increase productivity, says Chain Store Age. The company also outlined marketing objectives for 2009, which include driving traffic to Gap store locations, driving traffic, increasing differentiation and fine tuning the product mix at Banana Republic, and aligning Old Navy marketing more closely to its young moms target.

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Do you know how consumer attitudes toward the economy can potentially impact the effectiveness of your marketing tactics?

Is the US in the midst of a recession? Maybe, maybe not, according to whom you believe. What’s more important for marketers to know is that US consumers, including those earning more than $100K per year, are cutting their spending based on mounting inflation fears and concerns about housing, says a recent comScore study.

For more info on current consumer attitudes about the economy take a look at the information from comScore below; it provides some datapoints to think about as you plan your marketing for the remainder of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

comScore Study Reveals All Consumer Income Segments Cutting Back as Inflation Fears and Housing Concerns Intensify

Majority of U.S. Consumers Using the Internet to Find Better Pricing Information for Purchases

RESTON, Va., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq:SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a study examining recent changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions about the state of the U.S. economy. The study showed that consumers in all income segments are cutting back on spending due to concerns about the economy, and that they were doing so to an even greater extent in July 2008 than in April 2008. While spending cutbacks are being reported by a greater
percentage of people in the lower income brackets, concern is also catching up with the highest income bracket -- which showed the greatest increase in cutback over the time period analyzed.

"These findings illustrate how this economic downturn has eroded consumer confidence among all consumer income groups," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Even those consumers with the highest income are
increasingly feeling the negative impact of economic factors and are changing their buying behavior accordingly."

    Top Economic Concern by Household Income Segment

"While all U.S. consumer income segments have been showing strain from rising prices for some time, it's particularly troubling that the upper-income segment, which represents fully 30 percent of all consumer
spending, is now also showing a rapidly increasing concern about the downturned housing market," added Mr. Fulgoni. "This raises the specter that this important group will further cut back their discretionary spending and cause overall consumer spending growth rates to slow even further."

With consumers increasingly cost conscious, many are turning to the Internet for pricing information. The survey findings revealed that nearly three out of four consumers believe the Internet has made it 'a lot easier' or 'somewhat easier' to find better, more useful pricing information.   

Question: To what extent has the Internet allowed you to find better, more useful pricing information?
   

Here's something for healthcare brands to think about:

The increasing cost of medical care, growing numbers of uninsured or underinsured Americans, the global outsourcing of record-keeping and x-rays, the recruitment of doctors and nurses from other countries, and the increasing quality of hospitals in other countries is paving the way for the growth of medical tourism says The Economist. They report that Americans can save as much as 85% by 'shopping around’ for medical care and that the number of Americans traveling for care will grow from 1 million in 2007 to 10 million in 2012, costing American hospitals $160 billion in annual business.

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG),  has teamed up with the Medical Tourism Association, an international, non-profit association made up of the top international hospitals, insurance companies, healchcare companies, medical tourism companies, etc., to launch an initiative to offer medical-related travel into Latin America. Expect more of these partnerships as costs mount in the US and interest grows in cost effective alternatives.

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