I'm kicking off a brand new section on this blog - Guest Post. The intent here is to find emerging experts in various domains, not necessarily from Finance & Economy, and provide them a platform to express what they feel most passionately about...as long as it follows the basic tenets of being Simple and Applicable.
This Guest Post is from Arun, a good friend who has taken some time out of his busy schedule to give me an interesting piece to share with all of you. You'll find his details at the end of the article. So here goes our first Guest Post...Thanks Arun !
The Business Of Resolution
It was the 28th of December, an exceptionally cold evening in Boston going along the expected lines. David, Mark and I were frittering away time at Karen’s, following the latter’s invite to what she called an ‘exotic’ dinner. I was more hopeful than curious, as I badly wanted some fiery Paneer tikka masala and Tandoori Roti, but I was getting ready to delude the host with my ‘That was exquisite’ praise (It wasn’t my first time after all!). My hope was butchered when I found Quesadillas and Tacos. Mexican and exotic? I'm telling you, people have to use words more carefully, just so that you don’t raise hopes. So the acclaim went on, animatedly!
Post dinner the caboodles were kicking back by the fire place and the conversation was again along expected lines. (Something about this evening was so predictable!) Year-gone-by-problems, Anticipations…you know what I mean right? And then abruptly something unexpected happens.
David: Mark, so any New Year resolutions this time around?
Mark: Well not really.
David: What do you mean? How can you not have New Year’s resolution? (Flabbergasted!)
Mark: Well…You know, I really haven’t thought about it.. I guess…You know…Maybe…. (Almost apologetically with the look of a kid caught stealing candies)
The comments that followed almost crucified Mark instantly for the baleful sin of not having thought of a New Year’s resolution. As much as I was empathetic for Mark’s misery, I was glad that I got away without any damn resolutions.
Cut to the 31st of December. It was time for possibly the most hyped and over rated New Year eve party – the crystal ball drop at Times Square New York. Because my idea of a great new years eve is not blasting my urinary bladder (Folks who have been there will tell you why!) in acute East Coast winter (-8 C for the record) in the middle of a million inebriated demented lunatics, I was chilling at home and watching the ‘party’ live on TV.
The ad aficionado that I am, my focus was more on the ad intervals than the ‘party’. To my surprise, Chantix (A Nicotine patch brand from Pfizer) was running their ad slots back to back. Pharma ads apart from being incredibly expensive (due to their lengths related to legal compliance) are usually not placed midnight. For a while, I thought it was a misadventure of some godforsaken media planner. But then I was surprised even more, when ads related to legal agencies offering to help one get out of debt appeared, again back to back. And then it hit me, and almost immediately astounded me! Quitting smoking and getting out of debt are 2 top resolutions Americans make and marketers were trying to milk the opportunity right there! So this resolution thing is that behemoth of a business!
Picture this. GSK which spends a whopping $15 Million only on the promotion of their smoking cessation product, Nicoderm, generated a sales of more than 1 million boxes just in the month of January last year in the US. If online search traffic on Google is anything to go by, look at the worm below:
(click for a sharper image)
From a low of 20 index points on the 26th of December, the query volumes for the keyword ‘Chantix’ (Pfizer) touched a peak of 90 points on the 3rd of January. This despite all the news of Chantix incited violence doing rounds!
The next most popular resolution – getting fit, is another money spinner. Gyms see the greatest membership growth in the first three months of the year, with approximately 12.4% of new members signed in January, 9.5% in February and 8.7% in March. Overall, Gyms, Health & Fitness Clubs posted 3.2% growth in 2010, reaching revenue of $25.09 billion.
The next most popular resolution – getting fit, is another money spinner. Gyms see the greatest membership growth in the first three months of the year, with approximately 12.4% of new members signed in January, 9.5% in February and 8.7% in March. Overall, Gyms, Health & Fitness Clubs posted 3.2% growth in 2010, reaching revenue of $25.09 billion.
Additionally, Weight Loss Services are expected to grow 1.9% to reach $3.87 billion. ‘Planet Fitness’ the chain of basement gyms that I patronize, ran a $10 per month campaign until the 12th of January, that’s cheaper than a jug of beer at a decent bar. Oops we are talking fitness here! I almost suffocated in my gym the first 2 weeks, when the place was packed like sardines in a can!
It’s not the gym alone, people do anything to lose the flabs gained over the year. Even ‘demanding’ (strenuous?) tasks like popping pills, using ‘fat burning’ belts, lie down mats with poking pines (Search Acushakti on Google) and wacky ways like applying creams, tans and hypnosis! Look at the ‘how to lose weight’ graph for the last 30 days:
It’s not the gym alone, people do anything to lose the flabs gained over the year. Even ‘demanding’ (strenuous?) tasks like popping pills, using ‘fat burning’ belts, lie down mats with poking pines (Search Acushakti on Google) and wacky ways like applying creams, tans and hypnosis! Look at the ‘how to lose weight’ graph for the last 30 days:
(click for a sharper image)
The traffic spiked up from a low of 40 points around Christmas to an incredible high of 90 around the 3rd January. Additionally, unlike quitting smoking, losing weight does not seem to lose steam that soon!
Managing one’s personal finance seems to be another problem people battle against. Household revolving credit debt declined for the first time in 20 years in 2009, and is expected to decline even further in 2010. Furthermore, the personal savings rate will hit a 16-year high in 2010, as consumers continue to focus their efforts on managing their balance sheets.
As a result of this, the Financial Planning & Advice industry is expected to expand 4.1 percent, increasing to $39 billion. Portfolio Management companies are also expected to experience strong growth, expanding 33.4% and a huge part of this growth is inclined towards the first quarter of the year.
New Year Resolution industry is wider and broader than we imagine. Think about a certain average Joe deciding to spend quality time with family starting January 2011. This can mean more holidays (Impacting the travel industry), more movies, more eat-outs and more anything as quality time just means better life.
Another angle is what I would call ‘Cumulative effects’. Joe who decides to join a gym opts for better diet which means demand for healthy food goes up. Joe needs sweat shirt for his gym leading to more cumulative effects. Joe needs an MP3 player / Ipod for a groovy work out. The domino effect is mind boggling!
No wonder then marketers agree to part with heaps of moolah to cash in on the resolution craze. Like people who wait until the next year to meet their goals, start a project or reform a habit, marketers keep their budget apart to influence these vulnerable minds precisely when and where its most delicate.
As for Mark, maybe he should resolve to think faster from next year!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arun Varma is a Boston-based digital media professional who previously worked with Google. He is a contributor columnist to Socialnomics.com, one of the top 10 social media blogs in the US as ranked by the PC Magazine. He enjoys conceptualizing and hosting business quizzes and is all set to complete his MBA from HULT International Business School.
Arun Varma is a Boston-based digital media professional who previously worked with Google. He is a contributor columnist to Socialnomics.com, one of the top 10 social media blogs in the US as ranked by the PC Magazine. He enjoys conceptualizing and hosting business quizzes and is all set to complete his MBA from HULT International Business School.
Follow him on Twitter @varmaarun
Feedback: arunvarma100@gmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment