Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends Subject: trends Fri, Aug 28 1992 Message-ID: Date: 28 Aug 92 08:57:03 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 114 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 08-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Aug. 28-30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BASEBALL MAKES PITCH FOR BLACKS: Many baseball clubs are finding that blacks aren't turning up at the ticket window. After an initial surge 30-plus years ago, African-American fans have been staying away from the nation's ballparks in droves, prompting Major League Baseball executives and individual clubs to try reversing the trend. (For more, see special Baseball package below.) CATALOGS LOSING IN ELECTION: The Nov. 3 presidential election is wreaking havoc on catalogers' holiday marketing plans. Increased mailing costs and sagging consumer confidence are already making this holiday season uncertain for catalog marketers, and the election is complicating matters. Holiday catalogs are traditionally mailed in October, but consumers often go cold on buying before a major election. `BUYING DRIES UP': The catalog mailings this year will coincide with the heaviest election campaign period. "We've seen it over and over: Two or three weeks before a high-pressure presidential election, buying dries up. Buying later resumes," says Maxwell Sroge, president of a self-titled catalog company. INFOMERCIALS SPREAD: The age of the infomercial is upon us. Those 30-minute "programs" that masquerade as TV shows while promoting a product have spread to print. Readers should beware of two new "sponsored" magazines. An article in Jenny Craig's Your Body, Your Health profiles Jenny Craig weight-loss success stories. A piece in Beauty talks about careers offered by Mary Kay Cosmetics. CORPORATE PROFITS JUMP: Corporate profits climbed 2% to a record high last quarter, the Commerce Department says. The jump in profits to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $235 billion follows an 11% increase the first quarter, the best quarterly results in four years. Economists say profits are improving despite the sluggish economy partly because companies have cut jobs and held wage increases down. HEPATITIS RISK DROPPING: Before 1986, U.S. hospital patients had a 3% chance of getting hepatitis C - a potentially serious liver disease - from blood transfusions. But since 1990, when the culprit virus was identified and blood tests devised, the average patient's risk has dropped to 0.6%, or 6 in 1,000, according to a new study. TEEN SUICIDES ON THE RISE: In a 1989 report, suicide was the second leading cause of death for 11- to 24-year-olds. The teen-age suicide rate rose 287% from 1960 to 1980, according to David Lester, professor of psychology from Stockton State College in Pomona, N.J. The struggle to grow up is usually not enough to trigger suicidal thoughts. But combined with other problems, teen-age crises can seem overwhelming. MUTUAL FUNDS STILL HOT: Mutual fund investors don't seem to know when to take a vacation. In July - normally not the industry's hottest month because more people pay attention to their tans than their portfolios - the inflow into bond funds nearly set a record, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday. Stock-fund purchases were the best since tax season. August's pace is almost as strong. TEACHERS GET MODEST INCREASE: Teachers' salaries are growing slightly. They grew about 3.5% to an average of $34,213 for the 1991-92 school year. The American Federations of Teachers reports Connecticut has the highest pay at $47,510. South Dakota has the lowest at $23,291. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BASEBALL: MEDIA CAMPAIGN TARGETS BLACKS: The baseball league commissioned the University of California at Los Angeles to study the perceptions blacks have about professional baseball. While Commissioner Fay Vincent declines to release the results, the league launched a two-pronged effort to woo African-Americans, using targeted media and grass-roots approaches. "We've got to reseed the interest, says MLB's Leon Coleman. ADS RUN IN EBONY, JET: Included in the campaign is a series of six print ads that began in the May issue of Ebony and the April 20 issue of Jet, and radio spots on the American Urban Radio Network. They're also buying time on Black Entertainment Television. At present, the league estimates blacks account for only five percent of overall ticket sales. MLB FOLLOWS OTHER MARKETERS: John Cordova, director of marketing for the Milwaukee Brewers, points out that "in the '50s and '60s, there was a large black following for the (then Milwaukee) Braves," and getting those fans back is now a matter of applying principles of target marketing. "Every major consumer products marketer in the country does it, and there is no reason why we shouldn't," he says. (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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM