Last year a study was released that shared Americans think they are healthier than they really are. Many in the study wanted to lose as many as 25 pounds without gastric sleeve, but thought they were healthy.
When asked why this is, psychologists may point to something called illusory superiority, or the idea that lots of Americans think they are above average in many skills. People will often give themselves higher scores for positive traits and rank others lower. Read More

Chipotle is at it again. “Farmed and Dangerous” is a new web series to be aired exclusively on Hulu. The premise is that a new animal feed is made directly from petroleum, a product used in much industrial farming. The new product cuts out all the growing steps by having animals eat feed made from petroleum. “Acceptable side effects” include spontaneous combustion of the animals that eat the new feed. Oops. Check out the trailer here. Read More

I recently attended a webinar about how everything is now health related . The idea is that every brand and service is somehow connected with health, mental or physical. Or at least it should be. Then I saw an article that shares connecting with wellness, responsibility, and empowerment are how to reach Millennials in 2014.
Certainly 2013 had a focus on the Affordable Care Act and its impacts that are already spilling into 2014, but has this translated to a need to discuss everything in terms of health? Read More

There is an interesting trend in our office. All our smokers have either fully transitioned, or are in the process of transitioning, to eCigarettes or eCigs. With all the news about legislation to quell “vaping” in public, we are clearly not the only ones.
Since eCigs are truly a trend, and research is showing increases in their use, I wondered how people were talking about it in social media. Places like Twitter, Facebook, and personal blogs. Read More

It truly is the little things. They make people feel something and then remember you. As a person, as an organization, and even as a brand this is true. I was reminded of this fact by a recent holiday stunt by WestJet out of Canada. They had Santa ask travelers what they wanted for Christmas and then made those wishes come true. There was clear joy in the faces of gift recipients.

WestJet did something relatively big. Read More

31% of people will be out shopping this weekend, and another 31% are considering it

Almost a quarter plan to shop on Thanksgiving day
69% plan to shop on Black Friday
44% plan to shop on Small Business Saturday

Cyber Monday should break some e-commerce records
Shoppers, on average, will spend $737.95 on gifts this year
Women are more likely to shop with a budget
Tech purchases over this weekend are being called “the new Thanksgiving weekend tradition”
For many, Read More

The idea is that consumers move to being shoppers very quickly and due to new ways of shopping, we need to rethink how we talk about consumers. That today we are experiencing a marriage of consumer and shopper mindsets. There is some truth to this. As technology has changed, people are better able and more quickly move to a shopping phase compared to the past.
Example: I run out of dog food and I open my Amazon mobile app to order the next bag without paying for shipping because I am a Prime member. Read More

There has been a noticeable trend in advertising to focus on the happy that different brands can elicit. It makes sense when our larger social issues have been real downers (thinking about the economic downturn, among others). If I can be happy from drinking a Coca-Cola, if even for only a few minutes, that is a small cost item to help think happy thoughts. But have we reached a tipping point of happy overload? Read More

Only 29% of people feel brand names offer a better quality product, this is down from 43% in 2010
54% of people feel quality and spending as little as possible are most important when shopping for everyday items
56% of people feel that brand name packaging is more attractive than private label Read More

Different articles and reports about Moms and their smartphone habits have been crossing my desk lately. By combining information from several sources, a clear picture forms of how smartphones are currently a big part of life for many moms. Read More