The number of college students seeking mental health services and accommodations has been steadily increasing over the last few years– and even though the pandemic has intensified this unfortunate trend to a seemingly critical point, it most certainly wasn’t the sole driver of the mental health crisis currently plaguing institutions of higher education today. And although it’s not just students facing struggles with depression and anxiety, this epidemic appears to be more acute in younger, college-aged people with nearly 30 percent of people between ages 18 and 25 reporting a mental illness in 2019 and 25% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed reported thoughts of self-harm according to reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the market research industry, it’s something we hear all the time from our clients – simply delivering a list of statistics won’t help them see the big picture or form a plan of action, nor will it be easy for them to remember. What will create an impact is a story, one that is thoughtfully crafted together from their data.

Consumers today have more information, options, and input in how and where they spend their money than ever before - and retaining their loyalty can prove to be a difficult challenge. Marketers are finding that consumers are growing more promiscuous with their brand choices, and the reasons aren’t limited to just one cause. Consumers are brand switching at higher numbers in order to suit their needs and brands must reevaluate the changing territory of consumer loyalty and how to maintain it, especially in light of current market disruptions. In order to overcome these disruptions and loss of loyalty, brands must be willing to uncover and understand the reasons why consumers have become less loyal.

In today’s age of invention, businesses are constantly looking for the next big idea or solution that will have consumers lining up at the register and sharing their praise with their friends and followers. But with this eagerness to hit the jackpot and discover the hottest new trend, there are sometimes missteps – new product developments that miss the mark or worse, are openly criticized across social media channels.

Even before “The Great Resignation”, the manufacturing industry had been struggling with filling open positions, with job openings increasing at double-digit rates since 2017 according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics employment survey. Post-pandemic, Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute predict that 2.1 million manufacturing positions will go unfulfilled by 2030, costing the U.S a loss of about $1 trillion in GDP. Without a drastic reversal in this downward trend, this deficiency could set the U.S. manufacturing industry back by decades.