LOOKOUT
IDEAS AND TRENDS ON THE HORIZON FOR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS
MANY RETIREES are choosing to live in developments that are built for older people but situated on or near college campuses and have some degree of campus affiliation. College-linked retirement communities are available at 60 campuses nationwide, such as the University of Michigan and Cornell. Experts say this will become more commonplace as the nations' estimated 76 million baby boomers reach retirement age. Residents are permitted to attend classes and cultural events on campus, have access to university healthcare services and gerontology experts, and generally learn and live side-by-side with college students.
COMING TO A HEART-SHAPED BATHTUB near you:The familymoon. With so many second marriages (nearly half of all unions are now remarriages), many new couples are choosing to take the whole family along on their post-wedding getaway. The popularity of familymoons has been a bright spot for the beleaguered travel industry. An expanding list of hotels and resorts are introducing kid-friendly honeymoon specials. This is all part of the changing nature of the honeymoon itself. With more couples living and traveling together before marriage, they are increasingly bored by the traditional approach to honeymoons. Says consultant Rebecca Grinnals: "Gone are the days when people looked at the honeymoon as, 'Let's get away from it all.'"
WHILE CORPORATIONS IN FINANCIAL straits have been hitting the brakes on artwork during these tough economic times, office landlords are picking up the slack, displaying art in building lobbies and exteriors. These property owners are driven by a competitive market for tenants. Nationwide, the office vacancy rate has hit 16.3%, the highest since the end of 1991. "Landlords are finding it important to distinguish their buildings one from another" explains Barbara Koz Paley, CEO of Art Assets LLC, an art consulting firm. Instead of buying art, a growing number of landlords are leasing it. Such leases, which typically run for three years, cost about 20% of the price of purchasing such works. The lease is not only tax deductible as a business expense, but can be passed along to tenants as part of the operating costs for common areas of the building.
ASPIRING ACTOR ATHENA FREEDLANDER is currently motoring around the country in a yellow truck with an eight-foot fish on top, coaxing kids and adults to show their best fish faces. The tour is all in the name of Swedish Fish, and is part of a marketing campaign to promote Cadbury Schweppes' chewy red candy. It is one of a growing number of product tours that will crisscross the nation this summer, as marketers try to cut through the clutter and reach out to consumers with a personal touch. The Gone Fishin' Tour exemplifies the trend: loyal customers can interact with the brand in a lively setting, while new customers get to sample the product.
THE CREATIVITY OF B-TO-B ADS is so poor as to constitute a crisis, contend the principals of The Dave and Alex Show, a marketing communications company. Dave Goldenberg and Alex Isley reviewed nearly 200 print advertisements in six b-to-b magazines. Using consistent criteria, they identified nearly 80% of the ads as poor. The most common critiques: no creative concept; dependence on trite analogies and cliches; and the ever popular category of "blather." "The most astounding discovery was that more than a fifth of the ads made no creative effort whatsoever," says Goldenberg. "If you believe the studies showing creativity increases effectiveness, then advertisers are leaving money on the table."
THE NEW FEDERAL TAX BILL HAS SOME pro-growth provisions that did not get much publicity during the debates. These include a new 50% bonus depreciation provision for capital equipment such as prepress, printing, publishing and converting machinery. The new law boosts from $25,000 to $100,000 the amount that smaller businesses can expense for buying such equipment, and then provides an additional 50% bonus depreciation provision which accelerates the write-off. Says Regis Delmontagne, President of NPES, the association for suppliers of printing, publishing and converting technologies, "The legislation, unequaled in recent history, should help stimulate the market for new equipment purchases by firms that have held off making capital purchases. It's a win-win situation for suppliers and users."
THE NATION'S RESTAURANTS HAVE HIT a new low. The industry is grappling with its most prolonged downturn in more than two decades, with more total jobs lost than in either the hotel or airline industries. Hard hit eateries, including some of the country's best restaurants, are trying to lure diners with lower prices, revamped menus and gimmicky events. The downturn hasn't hit all parts of the industry equally. Fast-food and casual sit-down chains continue to gain market share, albeit at a slower rate than they did in the late 1990's.
ONLINE RETAILERS BROKE EVEN LAST year, as internet merchants collectively made enough money to balance out the losses of those still in the red. That according to Shop.org. The best news for retailers is that a healthy majority of online sellers finally reversed their history of losses last year. Not all web merchants are created equal, though. Catalog retailers with web sites remain the most profitable and, last year, internet sellers with physical stores turned a profit as a category. Online merchants without stores and without mail-order catalogs are still losing money.