An expecting father’s nightmare

My wife and I are expecting our first child in June. (Something that helped inspire me to create WhatisAverage.com; see the FAQs for the full story). When I started telling people that we’re expecting, they’ve invariably asked, “Do you want a boy or girl?” Of course, my answer is, “We just want a healthy baby.” However, after seeing the responses of females ages 13 to 17 in a recent survey, a boy bias is started to take hold of me.(Picture compliments of impawards.com)

I recently partnered with Peanut Labs to conduct a survey of over 4,000 males and females, ages 13 to 44, across the United States. We asked, “What do you want for the holidays?” Since it was a fill-in-the-blank survey, there was a wide variety of answers. There were many wholesome answers like “a healthy baby,” “a husband,” and “time with my family.” But, liberated by the anonymity of the survey, others admitted they were longing for ”a divorce,” "I hate the holidays," or “sex.”

Of consumers who asked for something sexual for the holidays, females ages 13 to 17 made up 52% of the respondents—more than any other age group. The next closest group was males ages 25-34 (19%). While I’m a realist living in 21st century America, I’m not sure any parent likes to contemplate their teenager being active at such early ages.

Perhaps there‘s a double standard when it comes to fathers being far less comfortable with the notion of a sexually active daughter than a son. Regardless, females age 13 to 17 are standing out, which this leads to this week’s follow-up survey for parents or expecting parents: “Would you care or be afraid if your teenager was sexually active?”

I’m guessing the survey will find I have plenty of company in being anxious about this topic. If not, it may make me lean toward having a female age 35 to 44 right away--that group asked for sex the least and replied with wholesome answers the most.

Remember: The survey answers are anonymous, but I encourage everyone to register prior to answering so I can report back on how different demographic groups feel about this question. Are fathers more worried about it than mothers? What percentage of teenagers responded we shouldn’t be worried? Stay tuned.

Santa Slashes Costs with WhatisAverage.com

The U.S. Postal Service recently spared its Letters to Santa program, but the program may soon be obsolete—thanks to the growing popularity of WhatisAverage.com’s “What do Tweeners want for the holidays?” survey.

I recently spent Thanksgiving with my 10-year-old brother and shared the concept of WhatisAverage.com with him. When I explained how—among other things—the site lets gift-givers know what people want for Christmas, he immediately asked, “So Santa could just go to your site and see what to get me?”

I told him I hadn't thought about it that way, but that, theoretically, he was correct, provided that the gifts he wanted were among the top 10 results. I spent the rest of the night answering questions about my marketing campaign, feeling as if I was back in the boardroom refining our 2010 sales plan. He couldn't wait to share this new phenomenon with the world—well, at least with the other 10-year-old boys who want the same thing he does for Christmas. (Above picture is property of Letters from Santa)

It's great news for Santa—talk about a productivity booster! Instead of having to pore over millions of letters, he can now surf the web and find all the data he needs, neatly arranged and graphically displayed. Santa will also be happy to see the survey results include many requests for gift cards and other items that can be easily purchased online—another opportunity for Santa to cut labor costs. Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service may find children abandon letter-writing as WhatisAverage.com lets them communicate their wishes with a click of the mouse.

Alright…it’s time to come clean. My little brother didn't really say “Santa.” He said, “Grandma.” But the point is the same—WhatisAverage.com gives lets him anonymously suggest gift ideas to family members who haven't quite been able to keep up with the latest Tweener fads.

Looking for gift ideas? Browse my previous post, “Would you rather be remembered or appreciated this holiday?” and check out the top 10 results for “What do Tweeners want for the holidays?”

Would you rather be remembered or appreciated this holiday?

Everyone has received a random present that has either been: re-gifted, thrown away, or put straight into the attic (for us pack rats), but without thinking, you do remember the person who got it for you when remembering the present. Some family members give you the same present every year thinking that you like it, and consequently, you may be re-gifting the same present every year to another friend, family member, or white elephant gift exchange. It seems as if the holiday season comes around, you begin shopping, and that one family member always comes to mind because you remember the random present they sent you one Holiday or begin to chuckle at the idea of getting another bath and body works holiday pack when you still haven't got one use of last year's package. Picture courtesy of USAWeekend.com


As I look at the results of what people want for the holidays, allow me to help you out by letting you in on the top items requested this year: electronics, clothes, and gift cards. These are the top answers across most ages groups and demographics (see all results on WhatisAverage.com for further detail and breakdown by age group and demographic). Since most recipients are that vague when explaining what they would like for the holidays, I find gift cards to be a good gift. Furthermore, since very few stores carry all of those under one retail roof, Visa Gift Cards and Amazon.com gift cards could be in high demand this year. With a gift card, you may not be remembered, but at least you will be appreciated.

I'm sure you would like to try to get them something personal to go along with the gift card, but you know it's a re-gift, trashcan, or attic spot just waiting to happen. Think to yourself, do you ever remember the person who gave you a gift card for the holidays? Sure you do, just like you remember what the message was on the Christmas card the gift card came in, but aren't they often the most appreciated thing you receive? I find it difficult to directly ask for anything, but I have no problem spending that gift card selfishly when no one is looking.  So it posses the question, “Would you rather be remembered or appreciated this holiday season?”

If you are looking for “to be remembered” ideas, I've listed some very popular items I've found to be requested in surveys, but just can't quite crack the top 10. They may be on the outside looking in, but definitely honorable mentions and a little more personable than gift cards if you don't mind the possible attic spot waiting to happen.

• Weeworld and Meez are online gaming communities that are very popular among males ages 13-17.
• Skinny Jeans were very popular for females ages 13-17.
• For males ages 25-34, a new TV and video games dominated the wish list, but if you happen to know a hobby he has, look at specific accessories in that area. Hunting gear, fishing gear, golf equipment, and workout equipment were requested quite a bit.
• Books were a favorite among females ages 25-34 but just missed the top 10. James Patterson and Dan Brown books seem to be very popular. If you know they enjoyed the Twilight Series books, check out The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris (True Blood Series on HBO).
• A camera, a new TV, and clothes dominated the results for males ages 35-44. There were many other answers and this was the most diverse group among the survey recipients. I would recommend a nice sweater, pullover, pajamas, or shirt of their favorite professional or collegiate team.
• While I've been told it's not good for husbands to buy wives items like a vacuum cleaner or microwave as presents, females ages 35-44 did request kitchen items like a food processor or “kitchen gadget” quite a bit. Diamonds, jewelry, and clothes were the most requested item for this group. 

Follow up survey: “Would you rather be remembered or appreciated this Holiday?”  A friendly reminder, no one on the site can see any answer you put to a survey.

Shareholders of Palm, Best Buy, and Aeropostale may be singing holiday cheer while Verizon, Sears, and Saks shareholders might have reason for Bah Humbug

In the final weeks of the holidays last year (December 8 to January 5), Palm's stock price (PALM) more than doubled. The company recently caught my attention when I read the results of our latest “What do you want for the holidays?” survey. The Palm Pre surfaced as one of top cell phones consumers requested. Some of the speculation in the last year’s soaring price may been tied to the launch of the new low end Centro at $99 or it could have been the slight hint of positive news coming from the Motley Fool.

While past performance is not an indicator of future performance, the holidays are here again and Palm has released the Pre, available for just $79 on Amazon.com, or $20 less than the Centro last year. On top of that, Motley Fool has issued another favorable review. As if that weren’t enough, now we have a survey showing the Pre ranks higher on consumers’ wish lists than Verizon’s heavily advertised PDA and smart phones (Samsung, HTC, and Droid). This strong second-place showing for Palm could translate into greater demand for Palm’s shares, which stood at $11.67 when the market opened on Monday, December 7 .

The survey reflects the opinions of 3,800 consumers ages 13 to 44 asking “What do you want for the holidays?” Here’s how they responded when asked

• 18% indicated they wanted “A new cell phone” without specifying which model
• Among the respondents who did name a specific phone, the iPhone was a runaway winner, named by 77% of these consumers
• Approximately 8% put the Palm Pre atop their list—more than the Motorola Droid, HTC Hero, HTC Droid, and any Samsung phone, which cumulatively tallied only 3% of the responses 
• "Clothes" grabbed 45% of the responses and are the gift consumers want most for the holidays. 
• “A new TV” is the next most favored item at approximately 34%. 
  

In the same trading period mentioned above (open on December 8th 2008 to close January 5th 2009), a few other stocks caught my attention: Aeropostale (ARO up +4.5%) and Best Buy (BBY up +25%) on the positive side and Verizon (VZ was down -4.47%), Sears (SHLD was down -13.92%), and Saks (SKS was down -19.71%) on the negative side.

While, Best Buy and Wal-Mart (WMT dropped -3.5% during this period last year) will probably dominate the new TV market now that Circuit City is out of the picture, Aeropostale may lead the way in the retail stocks. Of those respondents asking for “clothes” who named a particular clothing store, Aeropostale was the most requested clothing store at 36% followed by Hollister, American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and then Hot Topic.

One thing is clear: If husbands, wives, parents and children buy what their loved ones really want for this year’s holiday season, these companies should post solid sales results for this quarter. I’ve published the full list of stocks I researched for this analysis. Please feel free to share and post comments.

To be fair to the companies listed in this blog, the follow up survey:

• Which clothing store are you most likely to shop at?
  
• Which new cell phone would you like to have?

(Click on picture below to enlarge)

Remembering Our Military During the Holidays

I recently polled a group of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Baghdad, Iraq regarding some great last minute gifts to send overseas and the results were somewhat surprising. It is the holiday time here in the United States and while the Armed Forces will be working, a lot of them will still celebrate Christmas when they can. Unfortunately, there is no where for the troops to purchase the common Christmas items you and I enjoy like decorations, music, and even Christmas cookies. Little Christmas decorations to put up in an office/bunk were one of the most requested items. While CDs in general are always good gifts for the troops, CDs playing Christmas music were also requested. Along the same theme, Christmas Cookies, Chocolate covered pretzels, and chocolate in general surfaced as great gifts. The summer time is difficult to send anything that will melt; however, I was assured this time of year is safe for chocolate. Some other great gift ideas that surfaced can be found on the current survey, “What should I send the service men and women overseas?” I was surprised at how little things can make a big impact, there are a lot of great gift ideas for under $5.

Grocery stores (Industry Index of Public Companies) could have some potential gain and positive marketing from the results of this survey. Whenever I check out at the grocery store, there is a basket of small items from $1-$5 available for purchase at the end of the checkout. I'm asked if I want to purchase the item of the week at the end of the checkout line, just like I'm asked if I want to super size my meal after ordering fast food. I am not sure what the close rate is on the item of the week; however, if they switched it up for the final weeks of Christmas with items from the survey to be sent to the troops “Any Soldier” box, I would imagine the close rate would soar, much like their close rate when soliciting donations at the beginning of breast cancer awareness month. The final step to the process would be a delivery to USPS at the end of the week and building a small additional margin into each product sold to cover the new flat rate costs for overseas shipping. Everyone wins in this scenario; 1) The Consumer gets a very easy way to donate 2) The Service Men and Women get items they want 3) The Store makes a marginal profit of all the items sold.

WhatisAverage.com is donating 100% of the proceeds of this survey to the Fisher House, an organization that provides free or low cost lodging to veterans and military families receiving treatment at military medical centers. I choose Fisher House because the same group of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines recommended them based on a survey of their fellow officers and enlisted. Regardless if you send an item that you purchase through the survey to a soldier overseas, the proceeds that WhatisAverage.com collects will go to Fisher House.  This means if you want to purchase items like Chocolate Pretzels, Christmas Decorations, Christmas CDs, or any item listed on the survey, you could purchase them through the "What should I send the Service Men and Women overseas?” survey and still contribute to a worthy cause. 

Generational Gap to the Future

As I begin to picture the future of online shopping and what I hope WhatisAverage.com can be apart of, I see a world where consumers never see or hear live TV or Radio advertisements for new products but instead consumers filter out big business advertising campaigns and rely solely on a survey of thousands of like minded people for the best, most reliable product purchase. If an Uncle is searching for music to give as a gift to his Niece, the Uncle can sample similar demographic groups as the Niece and filter the survey group respondents down to whether or not they've ever heard The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd before accepting their response on which new mp3 to purchase. And when the Uncle does find the most recommended mp3 with their desired filters applied, he can upload it to his Niece's itunes with a note scrolling across her iPhone saying, “Merry Christmas from Uncle Jack, this is what good music sounds like” every time she plays it. It makes me wonder, what were the holidays were like prior to streaming music and online product recommendations?

I think of a time when consumers hadn't yet uncovered the business behind current so called consumer recommendation magazines and industry performance awards. It was a time before "75% of people don't  believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements" and when people relied solely on advertising campaigns and magazines for the best idea of what new appliance to purchase or gift to get for their family members during the holidays. It was the time before “a person like me” was the most relied source for a product recommendation. It spurns the follow up survey for this week, “What did you get for the holidays prior to the invention of the Internet, Online Shopping, and Gift Cards?”

A look at the TV Series, Mad Men, gives us a look into the 1960s advertising world and the influence advertising companies used to have over consumers and large corporations. Now, the world is seeing much more innovation arising from small companies due to large firms' problems being hand-cuffed by incentives to executives and employees, single minded focus on current customers versus new markets, and risk adverse to new projects that may not generate sufficient return on investment.  It makes me wonder what does the future hold for advertising giants and will bloggers, social media, and start up consumer to consumer recommendation services (like WhatisAverage.com) make them obsolete? One thing is certain, with the rise in broadband users, adoption of social networking, and improvements in technology, the advertising giants will continue to have challenges holding on to advertising revenue market share.

Thanks for reading the inaugural WhatisAverage.com Blog. The goal of the blog is to bring readers interesting thoughts for reflection using results from WhatisAverage.com. I will occasionally talk about topics like online shopping, consumer product recommendations, online and social media marketing, and while I DO NOT hold myself out as a giving investment advice, I like to look at potential companies that could benefit from data being displayed. Thanks again for visiting and be sure to check out the many useful surveys on WhatisAverage.com.

Each Blog will contain a current survey that I center the topic around and then a follow up survey that corresponds to further reflection I had while looking at the initial results. I’ll open the survey up for all to participate in the day I release the Blog. 

• Current Survey:
  
• What Do You Want for the Holidays? (See applicable age group on site)
• Follow Up Survey:
• For consumers who had holidays prior to the invention of the Internet: “What did you get for the Holidays prior to the invention of the Internet, Online Shopping, and Gift Cards?”
• For all age groups: "What is the Best Music Album ever?"