Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Thu, Jul 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 04:33:09 EDT Message-ID: 07-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update July 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network COLLEGE MORE ATTRACTIVE: The percentage of people ages 18 to 24 attending college in the USA is increasing. The National Center for Educational Statistics reports 25% of young adults attended college in 1986. That rose to 28% in 1989. This year, more than 30% of those between the age of 18 and 24 are in college. EASTERN EUROPE DISCOVERS ADS: Capitalism is traveling to Eastern Europe. For Western advertisers entering new markets in the former Soviet bloc, painted trolley cars have become literal advertising vehicles. Mattel, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and M&M:Mars have painted the electric trams that crisscross Warsaw, Moscow, Budapest and Prague in ads touting Camel and Marlboro cigarettes, M&Ms, and Barbie. (For more, see special Trolley's package below.) ELDERLY POPULATION GROWING: Health care costs has helped drive the share of federal spending for the elderly from 16% to 28% since 1965. Congress projects that spending - mostly Medicare and Social Security - will reach 34% by 1995. In contrast, programs for children consumed just 5% of federal spending in 1990. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. Today: One in eight. LOW-FAT DINNERS IN DEMAND: Consumer demand for low-fat frozen dinners is accelerating. The market for frozen dinners that are low in fat and cholesterol increased 74% between 1986 and 1991, according to Find:SVP in New York City. During that time, the overall market for frozen dinners and entrees grow only five percent. BOOMERS, ELDERLY TARGETED: Baby boomers and the elderly are prime targets for low-fat frozen foods because both groups are aware of the link between nutrition and health. About 124 million Americans now consume low- or reduced-fat foods and beverages, according to Find:SVP. For more information, call Find:SVP at 212-645-4500. TV TARGETING TEENS: In a recent survey of 400 advertising and media executives, teenagers were found to be the easiest demographic target to reach during the summer, while men were most difficult. The survey, conducted by Spot Quotations & Data Inc., a TV and radio cost-tracking company, found sitcoms and classic-rock stations to be the programming that consumers tune in to most during the summer. COST OF TREATING AIDS UP: The high price of drugs has helped boost the cost of treating one U.S. AIDS patient beyond $100,000 from diagnosis until death, new data shows. That's up from $85,000 a year ago and $57,000 five years ago, says Fred Hellinger, a government economist who spoke here Wednesday at the International Conference on AIDS. NASA LAUNCHES DOWN: NASA has sent 12 vehicles into space so far this year. The space agency made a record 149 launches in the 1960s. That number dropped to 57 launches during the 1970s. Just 37 launches were made in the 1980s. ANIMATED IMAGES CROP UP IN ADS: Computers have animated Gene Kelly's image and sent it dancing across the TV screen with Paula Abdul. In the Diet Coke ad, Abdul also trades quips with Groucho Marx and shares a soda with Cary Grant. The ad is a follow-up to an ad matching Elton John with Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Louis Armstrong with technical stunts created by the same process used in the movie "Zelig." MORE OPTIONS FOR PHONE BUYERS: Another company has jumped into the video telephone business. GEC-Marconi is expected to begin selling its $700 video telephone in the USA this fall, says Mark Kellner, editor of Report on AT&T. The GEC-Marconi phone has roughly the same screen size as the AT&T's Videophone 2000, Kellner said, and displays the video image at the same rate, 10 frames per second. RECESSION INTO THIRD DIP: First came the recession, which began in July '90 and seemed to end in early '91. Then there was the disappointing stall the second half of last year to get people talking about a double-dip economy. Now there are rumblings about a triple dip. Reasons: The jobless rate has risen quickly, to 7.8% in June from 7.5% in May and 7.2% in April; and home sales have been falling since February. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON TROLLEYS: TROLLEYS ARE POPULAR MEDIUM: The trolleys in the former Socviet Bloc are a highly visible, often-seen medium in a part of the world where TV advertising is still in its infancy, says Elliot Rittenband of TDI International, the outdoor-advertising company that paints the trams. The ads, in shiny airplane paint, run a year and cost $10,500 to $12,500. BARBIE RIDES THE RAILS: Mattel's trolley ran into trouble with Budapest authorities, who found Barbie's trademark pink a little too vibrant. Since then, a committee has ruled on each tram's design. But Barbie is still riding the rails. "They don't like the colors, they don't like the execution," Rittenband says. "Barbie, they love." (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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