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Andrew Davidson 
Susan Menke 
Susan Wolfe 
Lisa Hronek Archive for January, 2010
2010 Financial Services Trends – get the slides here
We had a successful webinar yesterday; thanks to all who attended! Sorry about the sound difficulties at the beginning of the webinar.
Those of you who tuned in submitted tons of great questions about our financial services trend forecasts for this coming year. I’m crafting answers today and this weekend, so I hope to have them up on the blog by Monday. Please of course, feel free to use the comments field here if you’d like to submit more questions about our predictions.
In the meantime, Mintel Comperemedia’s fabulous marketing team has created a link to the webinar recording. You can either listen to it again (or for the first time if you missed it yesterday!) or you can download the slides to peruse at your own leisure. Click here to do so.
Cruising to Haiti: responsible decision or tasteless act?
I’ve got a PR and image conundrum for you: Royal Caribbean decided to continue visiting a private port on the northern coast of Haiti immediately following the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010. Clearly a bold decision that the company likely debated both sides of before taking action, the cruise line is now in the position to defend this decision.
Critics and cruise-goers, alike, question if traveling to Haiti for some R&R is the most sensitive and responsible thing to do considering the loss and devastation that is gripping the poor nation. Is it exploitation? Is it insensitivity? Is it ignorance?
It may be surreal to consider jet skiing, kayaking or soaking up sun so close to an area still searching for missing individuals, coping with death and struggling to survive. However, Royal Caribbean has argued that its absence would only create more difficulties for Haitians and the country’s government. In addition to providing the government with a tourism fee per each passenger who visits the private island, the company also employs locals from the country and provides opportunities for vendors to sell products to visitors. In light of the recent events, the company also plans to donate at least $1 million to relief efforts.
Being a visitor of Royal Caribbean’s Labadee port multiple times, I agree with the company’s decision to continue sailing there. Many lives depend on the port for survival, and in a time like now, it’s imperative to keep money flowing into the distraught nation. I think that the benefits far outweigh the potential negatives, and Royal Caribbean’s continued investment in Haiti will only pay off for the small island country in the end.
Do you agree?
Is the iPhone’s reign over?
Mortorola and Google have created a great deal of anticipation and excitement with the introduction of two new smartphones. Could these new phones surpass the iPhone in popularity?
Positioned as products that can at the very least compete with the iPhone, Motorola’s Droid and Google’s Nexus One are aiming to become the new wireless “must-have.”
Critics’ reviews are starting to come in and it appears the Droid by Motorola is fairing better. Reviews of the Google phone have been mixed. Both Google and Motorola seem to have created certain features that have been received well, but other features seem to be missing the mark.
So what do the critics think about these phones’ ability to topple the iPhone’s reign? Doubtful. They may be mixed in their individual reviews, but critics are unanimous in the thought that neither phone has the potential to beat Apple’s influence, cool factor and hold over the consumer wireless market.
That doesn’t mean the two new phones were a total bust. It’s just hard to beat the original when the original is such an icon (think McDonald’s v. Burger King, Nike v. Adidas, etc.) Critics are saying that the Google Nexus One will draw huge interest from tech-focused fanatics, while the Motorola Droid will provide formidable competition to AT&T and Apple because it’s on the Verizon network.
Has anyone taken the leap in purchasing one of the new Android smartphones? Are you satisfied with the purchase? If you’re in tech marketing, what can Motorola and Google do to make their products more competitive with the ubiquitous iPhone?
Webinar on 2010 financial services trends
The time has come for a little self-promotion…
I know we’ve all been thinking (or is worrying a better word?) about what this year is going to look like in terms of consumer spending, saving, credit usage, lending, etc. Economists aren’t predicting anything dire for the economy, but they aren’t predicting anything great either. We’re still in a fragile state: consumers are spending, but not too much; job markets have loosened, but unemployment remains a major concern; banks are starting to pay down debt, but they still face many obstacles.
So what does it all mean? How will consumers react to the fading of the “Great Recession” and how can businesses capitalize? Which trends will have the biggest impact on the financial services consumer and how will his/her attitudes and behaviors change as a result?
These are exactly the questions I’m going to try to answer in my webinar next week: “2010 Financial Services Trends.” Please join me as we discuss next year’s biggest trends and what implications they’ll have on businesses and consumers alike.
The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, January 28th at 2pm CST. It will last an hour (including 15 minutes for questions) and it’s free. Click here to learn more and register.