Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

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.

A new study recently polled more than 38,500 American consumers about more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands to reveal which brands Americans are likely to reach for when they are hungry. Find out why Chobani, Lays and Oreo were deemed Brands of the Year in their respective categories.

Did you know that only 17 percent of Facebook members reside in the United States? That means that consumer goods brands must move their digital reach into global markets to capture the other 83 percent. Heres a look at which consumer goods brands already lead in Facebooks top 10 countries.

While a fickle economy forced many retailers into challenging periods of deep discounting, some top retail brands have stayed above the fray. In a recent survey of Americans about brands across several retail segments, Walgreens emerged as the first ever drugstore brand of the year; Target stores was top-ranked for second straight year; and Woot.com replaced Groupon as the best daily deal web site.

Consumer goods marketers are still wrestling with fundamental questions when it comes to digital investments: How much should I spend on digital? Where should I spend it? What will be the value of my investment? Jerry Lohse, Senior Director, Accenture Interactive, answers these questions and more.