Though holiday sales this year have been reported to be the weakest in 17 years, TNS Retail Forward forecasts 1.5% growth, compared with 1.2% in 1991, for the holiday fourth quarter in the key holiday retail segments combined. A new Mediamark (MRI) Omnibus study finds that 62.3 million adult consumers will begin holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, while thirty-six percent of holiday shoppers say they begin shopping between Thanksgiving and December 15th And, not to be forgotten, more consumers plan to celebrate Halloween this year (64.5% vs. 58.7%), with the average person spending $66.54 on the holiday, up from …

According to a new Epsilon CMO Survey, Chief Marketing Officers at many of the biggest brands in the nation are seeing a major shift in the marketing landscape. 63% of the 175 marketing executives surveyed see an increase in their spending on interactive/digital marketing while 59% report a decrease in traditional marketing spend.

The 2008 Cone/Duke University Behavioral Cause Study, released recently by Cone and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, confirms that cause-related marketing can exponentially increase sales, in one case as much as 74%, resulting in millions of dollars in potential revenue for brands.

According to Arbitron's September Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings, African Americans and Spanish-dominant Hispanics have the highest radio listening levels of all demographic groups, and continue to propel urban and Spanish-language stations to the top in major US markets, including New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

A poll recently released by the Consumer Reports National Research Center shows that 82% of consumers are concerned about their credit card numbers being stolen online, while 72% are concerned that their online behaviors were being tracked and profiled by companies. Although 68% of consumers have provided personal information in order to access a website, 53% are uncomfortable with internet companies using their email content or browsing history to send relevant ads, and 54% are uncomfortable with third parties collecting information about their online behavior.

According to Archstone Consulting, results of its 2008 Holiday Gift Card Survey predict that, in reaction to the faltering economy, consumers will spend less on gift cards in Holiday 2008 and will also shift their gift card spending towards household necessities such as groceries, and gas, or small indulgences such as dining at restaurants.

According to the findings of the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, almost 60% of Americans interact with companies on a social media Web site, and one in four interact more than once per week. The survey finds that 93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media, while 85% believe a company should not only be present, but should also interact with its consumers via social media.

According to eMarketer's recent prognosis for online video advertising, the market will take until 2010 to surpass the $1-billion mark, while beyond 2010 huge additional sums will go to online video advertising each succeeding year. The report concludes that more trusted video content to sustain advertising, and more large advertisers seeing enough scale to enter this market in a big way, will support that growth.

According to the e-tailing group's recent Cross-Channel Shopping Study, "buy online for pickup in-store is definitely becoming more a part of stores' culture," according to Lauren Freedman, President. "Customer adoption coupled with growth among key multi-channel merchants embraces cross-channel customer convenience." A primary appeal is free shipping to the store which 96% now offer vs. 92% last year. Merchants that stock products centrally need more time to ship goods to the store. This impacts same day pickup, now available from just 54% of those surveyed vs. 73% last year.

According to a new business travel survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), 36% of the respondents said they'd be spending more on business travel next year, 33% indicated they'd be spending less, and 31% said they'd be spending the same.