According to a new analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data by the Pew Research Center, graduates who received a bachelor's degree in 2008 borrowed 50% more than their counterparts who graduated in 1996, while graduates who earned an associate's degree or undergraduate certificate in 2008 borrowed more than twice what their counterparts in 1996 had borrowed. In 2008, 60% of all graduates had borrowed, compared with about 52% in 1996.

According to a preliminary outlook by PQ Media CEO Patrick Quinn at the Customer Engagement Technology World show, digital out-of-home (OOH) advertising spending, including digital place-based networks, billboards and signage, grew 14.9% in the first half of 2010 and is on pace to grow 14.8% for the full year to $2.07 billion.

According to comScore, holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November - December 2010 holiday season, more than $17.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw four individual days eclipse $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.028 billion. Tuesday, November 30 was the third heaviest online spending day on record. Wednesday and Thursday also reached high levels, although growth rates for the season subsided in the latter half of the …

According to a recent study by the Custom Content Council in partnership with ContentWise, branded content initiatives are considered by marketers to be more effective than any other leading form of advertising and marketing. The study shows that content spending is the second highest ever, at $1,366,605 per company. Print represented 43% of the total spending, while electronic and other accounted for 35% and 12%, respectively. The number one reason for using branded content is customer education and retention, says the report.

A new StrongMail survey in late November, conducted by Zoomerang, reflects the attitudes of business leaders in regards to their planned marketing budgets, priorities and challenges for 2011. The data reveals an optimistic marketing outlook, with half of businesses planning to increase marketing budgets, and another 43% keeping them steady. And, for the second year in a row, email marketing and social media marketing remain the top targets for increased spend.

Advertisers are rolling out their holiday-themed ads, many of which are sure to feature a cartoon reindeer or other festive animated character. However, recent research from the Nielsen Company suggests that, although marketers have a lot to gain with animated ads, they may be sacrificing audience engagement with commercials that don't resonate as well with savvy consumers.

Results of a recent Harris Poll of 3,084 adults show that 53% of Americans say they are planning to purchase toys as gifts this year while two in five say they will not, and 7% are not sure. As might be expected, almost three-quarters of those in a household with children (73%) say they will purchase toys as gifts this year.

A recently released a study Hearst Television shows that local television news is more effective in engaging viewers' attention to advertising than other TV program genres and competitive media. The primary objectives of the study, says Frank N. Magid Associates, is to determine the key attributes to be used for television advertising sales based on the performance of local TV news relative to other genres and other media platforms.

According to the Liberty Mutual "2010 Responsible Giving Survey," fielded for Liberty Mutual and The Responsibility Project by Ketchum Global Research Network highlights, Americans are becoming more charitable in their giving habits this year. Findings show that 81% of Americans appreciate charitable donations given on their behalf in lieu of a physical gift and 74% would volunteer their time to charity as a gift if they thought others would value this type of responsible giving.

According to a new eROI study titled, "Email Marketing, On the Go," the new inbox is always on and always moving, and quickly becoming one of the more challenging aspects of marketing. With the rapid growth of mobile device usage, increased portability of email addresses to mobile clients (using POP3 or IMAP), the report addresses the need to gain a deep understanding of when, where and how subscribers are reading and interacting with marketing communications.