According to a new Teen+Brands study by Viacom's The N channel, nearly half of teens surveyed said they tend to stick with a few of the brands they really like, but, 52% felt, "Brands are created by marketers just to get more money." Rahda Subramanyam, VP of research and planning for MTV Networks kids and family group, said "This generation is highly aware not just of brands but marketing strategies. Overt marketing techniques are not going to work."

comScore recently released its qSearch Internet Yellow Page search rankings for Q1 2007, which revealed that Yellow Book Network was the fastest growing property with an 85-percent gain in searches over Q1 2006, while Yahoo! Sites was the market leader, accounting for 22.4 percent of IYP searches.

According to new research from Focalyst, though virtually all members of the Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) are portrayed as wealthy by the media and in advertising, only a few Boomers are truly affluent, and of these "elites" only one third relies on outside advice when making financial decisions.

A McKinsey study entitled "Serving the new Chinese Consumer," reported by Diana Farrell, Ulrich A. Gersch, and Elizabeth Stephenson, is significant in its breadth, as well as its clarity in viewing the social and commercial opportunities for marketers worldwide. Instead of a viewpoint of what can be sourced from China, the study focuses on the needs of the Chinese consumer and the change in household wealth in the next 20 years. A Research Brief cannot do it justice, but can serve as a catalyst for those interested in preparing for future opportunities in China.

The latest BIGresearch study, and light-hearted analysis on the State of the US Consumer in June 2007, says that when it comes to today's consumer, it's difficult to figure out which way is up. It gets even more perplexing when the voices of consumer experts, Wall Street analysts and media talking heads chime in.

According to the The Radio Advertising Bureau, local revenue, comprising over two-thirds of total Radio revenue in 1st. Quarter 2007, showed a 1% increase. While national, representing one-fifth of total Radio revenue, was off slightly, non-spot and network both showed healthy increases to offset the national drop and bring Radio's total revenue growth in at 1% over the same period last year.

According to a recent Harris Poll, in a survey of adults in five European countries, Australia and the United States, readership of major daily newspapers today ranges from a low of six percent of adults in Great Britain and Italy to a high of 13 percent in Spain and Germany. The number one source for each country is TV network news. Looking five years into the future, the lowest percentage of adults who indicate that major daily newspapers will be their source for news and information is in Great Britain and Italy (4% each) while the highest percentage is among …

A recent survey by International Communications Research, commissioned by Pitney Bowes found that 73 percent of consumers prefer mail for receiving new product announcements or offers from companies they do business with, as compared to 18 percent for e-mail. Mail was also preferred by 70 percent of respondents for receiving unsolicited information on products and services from companies with which they are not currently doing business.

A recent study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), looking at the key factors driving video advertising success, used a variety of ads featuring everything from consumer packaged goods and financial services to airlines and pharmaceuticals, and four ad attributes, testing 96 combinations for how they impact key advertising and brand metrics.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project February-March 2007, written by Senior Research Fellow, Deborah Fallows, spam continues to plague the internet as more Americans than ever say they are getting more spam than in the past, but are less bothered by it than before. Users have become more sophisticated, and 71% use filters offered by their email provider or employer to block spam.