Comings & Goings

Sonia Avasthi has recently joined the Library as an Administrative Research Associate responsible for library and research support; esp. on the Maui County Data Book. In addition, she will provide administrative and fiscal support to the Library as a whole. Avasthi, as she is familiarly known, is a graduate of Emory University with a BA in Environmental Research, and plans to pursue studies in the the field of Library and Information Science. She can be reached at hbrl.admin@hawaii-sbdc.org, or by phone at 808-875-2400, neighbor islands 808-509-3100.

Article: The Changing Face of the U.S. Consumer: What We Can Learn from Census Data, and Why It Matters for Brands

by Peter Francese, Advertising Age, published July 7, 2008.

FROM THE INTRO: "The marketing community, already dealing with a slumping economy and an increasingly consumer-controlled media marketplace, must confront another new reality: The face of the American consumer is changing dramatically. It's not news that the nation is aging, but the fact that the average U.S. head of household is just six months shy of 50 is a startling statistic. Also factor in that regional demographics are diverging more than ever before. The young, multicultural West bears little resemblance to the old, largely white Northeast, where many communities are nearly childless. And that's to say nothing of the rapid and economically vital influx of immigrants. To examine what these demographic shifts mean for brand marketing, let's take a look at some of the most prominent trends." Click here to read the full-text.