Confession: I’m 47 years old and my Instagram feed is filled with posts from college students. No, I’m not trying to relive my youth (though, I must admit it IS a fun trip down memory lane) - I have a high school senior getting ready to apply to college.

When launching a new product or marketing campaign, the first question that must be answered is, “Who is my target audience?” Most brand leaders and marketers use demographics to identify their audience - objective data like gender, age, income, and marital status - and for some brands, this may be enough. A large cosmetics and skincare company for example could simply target women and still do quite well in reaching their buyers. But what if this skincare company wanted to launch a new, luxury vegan-ingredient product line? They would still likely reach their buyers using their current demographic targeting, but would also waste dollars reaching buyers that don’t have a preference for natural products and are not willing to pay a premium for them. Gathering subjective data like values, goals, and attitudes helps narrow down the target audience - and budget - to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing efforts. 

The sudden spike in online shopping in the early days of the pandemic has some experts maintaining that eCommerce’s penetration of usage was propelled ten years into the future in a matter of a mere three months. (McKinsey). People who had never shopped on digital platforms had no choice but to purchase online as stores, restaurants, and warehouses shut down. In the first year of the pandemic, e-commerce sales rose by 43% -  $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020 - according to the U.S. Census report. It’s clear that perceptions about online shopping have shifted dramatically across all generations as more people are now open to it than ever before.

The SCOTUS ruling to end Roe v Wade and a federally-guaranteed right to an abortion has left prospective and current college students reconsidering where they want to spend the next four years of their lives. As state legislators begin to determine how to proceed with this new ruling, those within institutions of higher education face ramifications for their students, campus health centers, and how they educate and train their medical students. 

With anxiety around the COVID virus on a downturn, shoppers were back to hitting the stores in person again earlier this year - until, of course, inflation hit a 40-year high this spring. Retail sales were less than expected in April and fell by 0.3% in May. As summer heats up and consumers grow anxious to return to leisure travel again, experts predict consumers will pull back on big-ticket retail items, like electronics, appliances, and clothing in order to afford rising gas and food costs. As prices increase with the temperatures, consumers will have to make some sacrifices and it looks like the retail industry may bear a lot of the brunt of impending customer spending cuts.