Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

U.S. smartphone penetration is nearing 50 percent, so its no surprise that the adoption of mobile shopping tools has been rapid. But a new study says that African Americans and Hispanics are adopting new shopping technologies at a faster rate than Caucasians, marking mobile marketing to multicultural shoppers as a huge opportunity.

Multi-award winning Producer and Digital Marketing Expert Van Vandegrift and his team in Hollywood have been behind some of the most successful online and in-store digital shopper marketing campaigns for major CG brands, including Hefty, Bisquick and Sunsweet. Here he counts down the top five ways to engage consumers with social media.

A survey from NYU found that more than half of consumers called their experience of communicating with brands via social media "disappointing" or "mediocre." The survey measured sentiment across eight different industries to rate the best and worst in social customer service. Get the results here.

More than 200 consumer goods executives convened this week for the 2012 Consumer Goods Sales & Marketing Summit. Here's a behind the scenes look at the insights revealed on hot topics, like effective retail partnerships, brand penetration, social and mobile marketing, and more.

New products generated 10.5 percent of net revenue in 2011, up from 7.4 percent in 2009. And as Kraft Foods plans to divide into two independent public companies, the company's R&D team has a robust development pipeline that's already delivered more than 70 new products in the past year.

CGT Editor Alliston Ackerman gives you a sneak peek into the trends and topics discussed in this month's issue.