1940s New York City - a seriously cool website

Back in 1997, a copy of a 250-page document was purchased from a local bookstore. It was "NYC Market Analysis", published by four newspapers in 1943, "with photos, maps, data about each [city] neighborhood....it offers a unique window into New York [City] from another era.

"The Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center is making the 1943 profiles available to provide context for the 1940 Census records and to offer a research aid to historians and anyone else interested in learning more about New York from the 1940s..."

The Welcome to 1940s New York website displays a map of New York divided into the 116 neighborhoods that are covered in the 1943 Market Analysis.

Monday's New York Times highlights the project along with some neat then-and-now photos and Census stats.

The Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center website has more background, and Steven Romalewski, Director, CUNY Mapping Service, has blogged about the project.

I thank Steve for previewing this site at the State Data Center affiliates meeting last week.

Six EIU free/gratis reports

Marketing, sales and customer service don’t share information, according to Economist Intelligence Unit surveys. A series of surveys across six industries— financial services, technology, telecommunications, utilities, consumer goods and retail —reveals that most companies still fall short when trying to deliver value consistently in all the functions that interact with customers.

100 Leading National Advertisers: 2009 edition index

Facts and figures on US ad spending
Published: June 22, 2009 in Advertising Age

MARKETER TREES 2009
Explore the database of the 100 Leading National Advertisers Featuring U.S. ad spending, division sales, personnel, brands and agencies.

RANKINGS, ANALYSIS, CHARTS AND MORE
100 Leading National Advertisers
A ranking of the top 100 U.S. advertisers in 2008

Spending Fell (only) 2.7% in '08. Real Problem: 2009
Walmart Stores Spending up 16%; Retail Surpasses Auto as Top Ad Category, by Bradley Johnson

Video: Bradley Johnson discusses 100 LNA

U.S. Ad Spend Trends: 2008
• % change in ad spend, 2001-2008: 100 LNA
• % change in ad spend, 2001-2011 (forecast): ZenithOptimedia
• How 2008 U.S. ad spending was split by medium
• How 2008 U.S. ad spending was split by category

Verizon Tops AT&T as Most-Advertised Brand
Walmart vaults into No. 5 Spot with 66% increase in measured media spending, by Maureen Morrison

Top 200 Megabrands
By U.S. measured media spending in 2008

Total U.S. Advertising Spending by Medium
• Measured media spending from TNS Media Intelligence
• Media plus marketing services from ZenithOptimedia

Total U.S. Measured Advertising Spending by Category
Media spending totals from TNS by category for 2008

Top 10 Advertisers in 10 Media
Top spenders in magazine, newspaper, outdoor, radio, broadcast TV, cable and internet based in measured media

U.S. Advertising as Percent of Sales
For the 100 LNA by category

U.S. Market Share Leaders
Marketers in key ad categories for 2008: Automotive, retail, restaurants, wireless, beverages, beer, prescription drugs, personal care and credit cards

Nielsen trends

Recommended the Nielsen wire blog of consumer trends. Yes, THOSE Nielsen people who do the ratings. The downside; most blog post link to paid articles. Still there's a lot to learn about marketing segments here.

Rutgers Market Research Guide

From J.J. Hill library:

When someone hunkers down to do "market research" they can be embarking on about a thousand different journeys. They may focus on customers, competitors, industry data, or any number of other options - so having a guide to those options can help.

The Rutgers University Library offers one such guide, with this market research pathfinder. From commercial reports to government data and research centers, this collection (which focuses on consumer income, consumption, and demographics) highlights some of the best market research the Internet has to offer.

While a couple of the links within the guide don't go exactly where they intend to, the resource as a whole is an excellent intro to this multi-faceted research task.

3 Minute Ad Age

If you know people who care about marketing trends, they might consider spending 180 seconds checking out video news from AdAge every weekday. The June 13 post, for example, noted that as the "green" market tries to promote itself, the notion of "sacrifice" is not loved, that "environmentalism" is polarizing, and "conservationalism" is frumpy. However, the term "sustainability" is embraced better as an idea suggesting responsible consumption.