Consumer Lab

The report, “Kids’ Share of
Wallet,” by The NPD Group, looks at how and where mothers spend theor
discretionary income on their children and gives manufacturers and retailers of
kids’ products an inside look at those factors and how much kids influence what
is spent.

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Apparel, Entertainment Top Mom’s Spending: Survey
When it comes to discretionary spending, moms drop the most (23%) on a single category—apparel. But nearly half (48%) of every dollar is used on entertainment items, including toys and board games, leisure activities, books, music movies videos games, electronics and concerts, according to a recent report.

With consumers cutting back on spending, many retailers have decided
the best way to recapture them is to deliver a more cutting-edge
experience and trendier clothing to attract their kids. The reasoning:
Even as parents tighten their belts, they still spend freely on their
children. If kids can get their parents to drive them to stores, the
parents will end up shopping for themselves, too.

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Big retailers seek teens (and parents) - USATODAY.com
Having lost shoppers to hip specialty shops, department stores are reinventing themselves to attract both adults and their style-minded children.

J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Kohl’s are all adopting approaches — from celebrity-designed fashions to mobile marketing to better fitting rooms — to try to lure young shoppers without turning off their parents.

Experts say there are two reasons behind the switch. The first is the writer’s
strike. “There is nothing else out there,” says one. And even in a good year,
the Super Bowl beats the stuffing out of the Oscars for reaching women. But
also, there is a shift among the types of women watching the game. Baby Boomer
women are a growth audience, with women 55-plus up 25% since 2003.

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MediaPost Publications - Marketers Ready To Address 45% Of Super Bowl Audience - 01/22/2008
WHILE A WOMAN-FRIENDLY SUPER BOWL may sound as farfetched as, well, Eli Manning getting a ring, Super Bowl XLII is shaping up to be one of the girliest TV events in some time–and maybe, for some time to come.

At least, big-time marketers think so. Victoria’s Secret, which has been missing on Game Day since 1999, is back this year, using the game to kick off its big Valentine’s Day marketing effort. Procter & Gamble has bought a spot for Tide to Go, a stain remover. And Unilever will use the game to showcase a spot for Sunsilk, a hair-care product aimed at young women.

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Once seemingly invincible marquee chains like Coach, Starbucks and
Abercrombie & Fitch are settling for ho-hum growth this winter.

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Major Retailers Feel the Squeeze From Consumers - New York Times
As the nation’s merchants began poring — or weeping — over holiday sales receipts Wednesday, a surprising pattern emerged: even brands that for years have inspired the undying devotion of shoppers felt the pinch of tightening wallets.

Once seemingly invincible marquee chains like Coach, Target, Starbucks and Abercrombie & Fitch are settling for ho-hum growth this winter, after surpassing even the most rosy expectations season after season.

Though they sell very different products, at very different prices,
these companies all shared the same bragging rights. Their customers
considered them indispensable, even expressions of who they were.

But in this turbulent economy, the indispensable is becoming disposable.

The site, which targets women 18 to 44, will be ad-supported, allowing sponsors
to buy video ad overlays, ShoeTube Boutique microsites, banners, and contest and
polling efforts. So far, Nine West has signed on to promote its 30th anniversary
as well as the launch of its fall 2008 boot line.

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MediaPost Publications - Shoetube.tv Gears Up For Valentine’s Day Launch - 12/26/2007
BETTING THAT THERE IS NO end in sight for American women’s obsession with shoes, Powderhouse Productions is getting ready to launch ShoeTube.tv, a web channel devoted to nothing but shoes. (okay, there will be a little bit about boots, too.)

Programming for the site–scheduled to launch on Valentine’s Day–includes eight regular segments, says Marcy McCreary, director of new media, marketing and sales for the Somerville, Mass.-based company. “Pimp my Pump,” for example, allows women to show off their own shoe embellishments; “Walk on By” features woman-on-the-street videos shot in major U.S. cities, and “Real or Deal” invites contestants to decide whether a designer shoe is real or a knock-off.

Shoe marketers are scrambling to find the best
ways to sell shoes, now that high-priced athletic endorsers make less
sense. Some companies certainly use celebrities, says an industry
analyst, “but for most, it’s been much more about being in the right
kind of retail outlet, as opposed to athletic specialty stores.”

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MediaPost Publications - New Balance To Launch Girly-Girl Sneaker Line - 12/18/2007
ADD NEW BALANCE TO THE list of shoe marketers looking to branch out beyond performance shoes: The Boston-based company will launch NB Inside, a women’s line of fashion sneakers next fall. New Balance says its new line is key to its plans to reach $3 billion in sales by 2012. Executives say that over time they hope the new collection, with shoes priced around $125, will account for 25% of company sales.

The new strategy makes plenty of sense. New Balance, which also owns PF Flyers and Dunhams, is a brand best-known for its performance shoes, especially running, walking, and cross-training–all fairly stagnant categories of late. But the fashion category, or women’s low-performance category, is tearing it up: NPD Group says that in the 12-month period ending in October, sales of women’s low-performance athletic footwear increased 31.4% over the same 12-month period the prior year.

Victoria’s Secret is going after 18 to 25 year-olds as this year’s sales have proven to be disappointing.

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Victoria’s Secret Makes Push For Teens, College Students - WSJ.com
As Victoria’s Secret prepares for the broadcast of its annual fashion show Tuesday, the brand has made a renewed push for younger customers, including holding auditions for a college student to walk the runway amid its famous supermodels.

Sales at Victoria’s Secret have been disappointing throughout this year, hurt by a declining number of mall visitors and fashion miscues at its stores. The company has planned conservatively for the holidays, given shoppers’ worries about the economy.

Big companies are targeting sites that let users recommend products. Does this blur the line between ads and content?

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Where E-Commerce Meets Chat, Social Retailing Gains Traction - WSJ.com
As more consumers turn to “social-shopping” sites, advertisers from Nike to American Express are targeting them with new holiday ad campaigns.

Sites such as Kaboodle, ShopStyle.com and ThisNext are a blend of social networking and e-commerce. They offer product recommendations — some from the staff of the sites, some from random users — and let shoppers create wish lists, comment on items and prices, post photos and make purchases. Marketing executives say the sites are attractive because visitors tend to be focused on shopping rather than just browsing.

Disney is looking to grow its Princess franchise with a new range of products aimed at newborns.

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Disney Reaches to the Crib To Extend Princess Magic - WSJ.com
At the recently opened Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World, hordes of young girls in ball gowns jostle every day to get their hair coiffed, their nails painted and their faces plastered with make-up to imitate their favorite princess.

It’s an image that’s become classic of the Walt Disney
Co. Princess revolution. What started out in 2001 as a few princess
outfits became an overnight sensation as Disney enchanted 3- to
6-year-old girls throughout America with everything from princess
comforters and princess backpacks to princess-emblazoned sneakers.
Smartly-packaged releases of classic princess movies have helped bring
girls back for more each year.

Retailers say new looks for middle-age women are both youthful and mature.

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The Boomer Balancing Act - WSJ.com
Retailers are once again trying to target one of fashion’s most elusive markets: middle-age women who don’t want to dress like middle-age women.

Overtly courting the roughly 40 million baby-boomer
women, born between 1946 and 1964, can be difficult for retailers.
These women spend more than previous generations did at their age. Many
of them view themselves as youthful. Defunct chains like Gap’s Forth
& Towne stores and Gymboree’s Janesville failed, in part, because
many people didn’t want to shop in stores that were labeled for older
women.

But several retailers are plunging in afresh. Macy’s
Inc.’s Bloomingdale’s chain is rolling out a new department called
Quotation, which sells casual clothes aimed at 35- to 50-year-old
urbane moms and professional women. The idea is that by pitching to
boomers as well as younger women, Quotation will have a hip vibe that
will appeal to a broad cross section. Each department is positioned
next to contemporary labels like Juicy Couture, which are favored by
women in their 20s, and has a diverse range of separates.