I’m in Delhi these days, not really on vacation since I’m continuing with my work, but just being in a different location from where I usually work, makes it feel like a vacation of sorts. It kind of reminds me of when we used to take a vacation home rental place and be on vacation in a non-traditional way. It makes a lot of sense to take a full home or condo when one goes on family vacations, rather than stay separately in hotel rooms.
These days, dads are much more involved in purchasing decisions for their children, according to a study by Smarty Pants, a market research and strategy firm. In their study, of 750 fathers with kids between the ages of infancy and 12 years, it was found that both parents make joint decisions for most purchases and for certain products, it is the fathers who take the primary role in decision making.
According to the survey, it was found that 24% of dads said that they were the main decision makers for electronic purchases, 20% for recreational or sports equipment and 18% for video games. Other areas where they played roles were travel and vacation, sit-down meals, fast-food meals, movies, groceries etc where they influenced the decision 14-16% of the time.
The study also reported how fathers these days spend more time with their children, more time than their fathers spent with them. The average time spent with children during the week was 5.2 hrs and 6.6 during the weekend. Interestingly, 50% of fathers surveyed felt they were “much better” fathers than their fathers had been and 40% felt they were about the same as their fathers.
Marketers haven’t totally caught onto this trend and for the most part still aim products towards the mother who traditionally made the purchasing decisions for children. According to Wynne Tyree, President of Smarty Pants,
Marketers of electronics, tech products and video games, for instance, are clearly missing “low-hanging fruit,” says Tyree. “These younger dads grew up using video games, computers and Walkmans, and they tend to be more interested than the moms in helping their kids select these kinds of entertainment products.”
Just read an article about a possible purchase of Applebee’s by Ihop. I have lots of fun memories of visiting the Applebee’s in the mall in Manhattan, KS when I was in college and visiting the restaurant on 95th street in Kansas City (Lenexa, I think it was!), when I worked at Kmart and lived in Merriam. The last time I ate at Applebee’s was a couple of years back in Providence, RI and I was quite frankly disappointed with the result. They had introduced a new Cajun platter and lots of other Cajun style dishes, but it wasn’t up to the mark.
While I’m reminiscing, I do miss eating at Carlos O’ Kelley’s and Margarita’s too. Tex-Mex food was my absolute fave in those days and these two places served up some of the best stuff. Well, there were some more authentic places close to downtown Kansas City, but one didn’t end up going there too often. I do remember one enormous canteen style place that served good food, but have no idea what it was called. There was also another quaint Mexican food joint off 75th st, across from where Old Navy and all was (or still is!) that had some really great authentic cuisine.
It’s been ages since I have gone back to the Kansas City area (2000 to be exact) and I really miss the city and hope to be back someday!
Blockbuster has announced that it will be offering lower priced plans to compete with online rental service Netflix. Charges will be $1 less per month for customers who order movies online. Ironically, the company’s CEO spoke of increasing rates last year. Netflix is the undisputed leader when it comes to home entertainment, but now might also have to reduce its rates to compete with Blockbuster. The movie home rental business is expected to grow more than 40% this year and competition is only going to get tougher. Customers will now be able to get 3 movies at a time for $16.99 in Blockbuster’s Total Access plan. The plan that is will affect Netflix’s business is Blockbuster’s $4.99 deal for two online movie rentals a month.
“Whether it is on demand or going online, or going to an actual store, people’s thirst for movies is continually growing and now they have even more choice with how they access the entertainment,” Mukul Krishna, global manager of digital media practice at Frost & Sullivan, told the E-Commerce Times.
With retailers increasingly focusing on their in-house labels, branded product manufacturers are getting very competitive. While the major brand names are still given display space, it is usually the private labels of a retailer that get highlighted at the front of the store with maximum signage. For a lot of customers, there are simply too many brands to keep track of and prefer to have fewer but better brands. Private labels started out as a cheaper alternative to branded products, but as the quality, packing and marketing of these products improved, so did their sales and the retailer’s profit margins.
“If you’re a brand, you’re either right or your gone,” said Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, which specializes in shopping trends. “It’s that simple.”
Don’t you just love taking surveys? Some of the ones I have taken for business related blogs that I read are really very interesting and make me think quite deeply of my responses. But that’s exactly what a good survey should be, lots of answers for the surveyor and lots of new questions raised for the surveyee (is that a word?) . And I’m not talking about the questions that the surveyor is asking, but the ones that are raised by answering those very questions. I completed a survey on how bloggers find their information (which I wrote about one post back) and that’s what brought on a spate of questions!
Everything depends on communication systems these days. We’re all connected to our cell phones, Internet and other communication tools 24/7 and this aspect of business has taken on a powerful role in determining the success of a business. Telecom Consulting is in great demand these days and will continue to grow in the future as well. It’s the way of doing business in the future and as companies expand on a global format, telecommunications will continue to play a vital role in the company’s fortunes.
Just completed an interesting survey for Marketwire that I read about in The Blog Herald. The topic of the survey was how bloggers gather information for their blogs. I use a variety of sources, but the bulk of my information comes from online newspapers and magazines. I have written some posts from Press Releases (including the post before this one….talk about coincidences!!) and I think I will be using these resources more, although only for products and companies that I am familiar with, so that I don’t get a one-sided review (as in a glowing one!) of the product/company/service. Blogs are becoming quite mainstream these days (although, I still don’t have anyone in my entire friends and family circle who has created a blog!) and even if not everyone will create theirown blog, they do end up reading others blogs at least. The concept is only going to grow further, although it will become more fine tuned and niche, I feel.
Hilton Hotels announced that the company had formed a strategic partnership with Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton(LVMH) brands Acqua di Parma, Guerlain and Spa Chakra for an exclusive spa service and boutique products. This agreement will have an impact on Waldorf-Astoria Hotels, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and some of the other selected hotels across the world. According to Pamela Baxter, president and CEO of LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics for North America, “The goal of our alliance with luxury hotel spas is to match up the right LVMH brand with the right luxury hotel or resort. The Guerlain Spa within The Waldorf-Astoria and Acqua di Parma at Conrad Hotels & Resorts are fine examples of this strategy.” Spa Chakra will be providing the design and operations consulting services to Hilton Hotels and will also operate leased spas in some locations, including those at the Waldorf-Astoria. Hilton Hotels will be investing around $200 million to develop 70 spas, which with its current 65 spas will give it a total of 135 spas by end 2009.
