Regardless of politics or policies, you must start thinking about growing your business in 2013

As I look around the world of business, I see an environment that has pushed the pause button. After a divisive and exhausting election season, it is no wonder that American business owners and executives seem to be in a holding pattern. The country spent many tiring months debating its future direction, and now we have emerged from that electoral fight and appear to be headed straight off the fiscal cliff. It is enough to make anyone want to buckle their metaphorical seatbelts and prepare for a bumpy ride.

But taking a wait-and-see attitude toward future economic developments will only put your business further behind in 2013, whichever way the political and economic winds blow. Instead, businesses should be harnessing the power of strategic marketing planning to better prepare for a successful year to come.

The luxury jewelry customer is changing -- Winning brands will adapt to their changing demands 

No doubt you've seen the latest headlines on Tiffany & Company, like this from the Wall Street Journal, Tiffany Again Cuts Outlook, with its report that profits dropped 30 percent on "weaker demand, weighed down by high precious metal and diamond costs."

 In studying the analysts' reports, it looks like Tiffany, which has historically led the luxury jewelry industry, continues to pursue strategies that worked successfully in the past, but may not be appropriate for today's changing and challenging jewelry market.  If Tiffany is set in its ways and keeps repeating its 'same-old, same-old' strategies, it gives more adaptable companies an opportunity to capture market share lost by Tiffany.

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Unity Marketing's latest Luxury Tracking Study finds dramatic changes in the luxury jewelry market

In our most recent survey of luxury jewelry customers, we found that the share of luxury consumers who purchased jewelry rose from 13 percent to 15 percent.  While this measure of demand still lags the 18 percent tracked in 2010, it points to people's willingness to shop once again for jewelry items.

Costco stocks many name brands and gourmet foods that appeal strongly to the wealthy

Apparently in an attempt to show that the Romneys are not all that different from average Americans, the presidential candidate's campaign has made an effort to let voters know that the Romneys enjoy shopping at Costco (a quick Google search of "Romneys Costco" bears this out).

However, PMP author and Luxury Market expert, Pam Danziger explains that Costco is consistently the only discount retailer that attracts more ultra-affluent consumers (HHI > $250K) than lower-income shoppers (HHI $100k-$249.9k).

According to Danziger, these affluent consumers are excited by the hunt for name-brand bargains. They will put up with long checkout lines and the big-box format in order to get access to such a wide variety of quality items at deeply-discounted prices.

Take a Peek in Joanne's Closet

In-depth interviews give marketers a unique opportunity to examine their customers' lifestyles and buying behaviors when customers are surrounded by things they bought and love

When you first meet Joanne, a high-net-worth Baby Boomer, it is immediately clear that she is a consummate shopper.  Just take a look inside her kitchen cabinets, where her treasured fine china is on display behind glass-fronted doors.  "Twenty years ago, I met some friends from England, traveled there, and fell in love with Royal Doulton," she says.  In the past two decades, as her friends have come to the U.S. and she has traveled abroad, Joanne commemorates each visit by adding a new piece or two to her collection.

Small and mid-sized busineeses need a strategic marketing plan as a road map to reach their customers

Last week I got a call from Jane, a fashion designer and entrepreneur.  She created a line of unique and distinctive fashion accessories that she figured would take the fashion world by storm - or at least, would get picked up by a base of fashion boutiques and one or two department stores.  To find retail distribution, she did what many other companies do -- Trade Shows.  She invested her whole marketing budget to present her line at a couple of the biggest fashion trade shows. 

Jane's trade show strategy made complete sense:  At the trade show, she'd find a whole bunch of retail fashion buyers together under one roof who would recognize her dramatic, new, innovative product line and decide to carry the line in their store.  It couldn't fail - but sadly it did!

Unity Marketing urges marketers not to think of Father's Day as a 'Male Mother's Day'

May 31, 2012 Stevens, PA -- Poor ol' Dad. He has to wait for June to celebrate his day after the fanfare of Mother's Day in May. But word of warning to marketers: don't make those who give him gifts the target of a marketing approach that makes Father's Day the male version of Mother's Day. Instead, take the time to understand the gifts that are really in demand for this holiday.

"It is tempting to think of Mother's Day and Father's Day as bookends bracketing the beginning of the summer season, taking marketing approaches that work for one and using them for the other," say Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of The Gifting Report 2012: The Ultimate Guide to the Consumer Gift-Giving Market. "However, the two holidays are quite different, and the products featured for each should be different as well."

Father's Day is the fourth most popular gifting holiday on the calendar, but the profile of the holiday's gift recipients points to a different target customer. "While two thirds of gifters buy for a close family member - likely their own father, grandfather, or father-in-law - nearly half buy for a spouse or significant other," says Danziger. "It is reasonable to assume that many of these gifters are women who are hitting the stores or logging online to honor all of the men in their lives."

In a reversal of historic trends, gift shoppers now rate online shopping venues as their primary 'go-to' source for gifting purchases, making an online e-commerce presence essential to the success of gift retailers. This is according to the Gifting Report 2012, the newest report from Unity Marketing.

In the report summarizing the results of a new survey among 1.939 recent gift buyers, Unity Marketing reveals that over half (52 percent) of all gifting consumers consider the internet/online websites as their regular 'go-to' destination for gift purchases, replacing discount department stores, such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, as gift shoppers' number one shopping destination. Back in 2010, the last time the gifting survey was done, only 39 percent of gift shoppers rated online as their 'go-to' destination.

When asked about special store features that make a destination more attractive for gift shopping, the trend that really stands out in 2012 is how much more important online access is to the gift shoppers. What gift shoppers want most in a shopping destination is that the shopping experience be easy and convenient, and online has a leg up in that area because it allows people to shop anytime and anywhere. The availability of internet access to the products and services offered by a retailer moved the most in terms of importance from 2010 to 2012.

The spring flowers are emerging from the ground and Christmas seems far behind us, but that doesn't mean retailers can forget about stocking gift items until the weather turns cold again. Gifting has become an important part of a marketer's revenue stream, and a new report on the gifting market from Unity Marketing shows that Easter is the next big gifting opportunity -- if you know what to offer and who to target.

"Although no holiday rises to the gifting magnitude of Christmas, our research shows that Easter is growing in importance in the year-long gifting landscape," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of the  The Gifting Report 2012: The Ultimate Guide to the Consumer Gift-Giving Market.

>>Easter follows Halloween as being the fastest-growing gift holiday as measured by consumer spending

The latest report shows that gifting consumers spent 24 percent more on Easter gifts than they did just two years ago. That makes Easter the second fastest growing gifting holiday after Halloween.  And, since the number of recipients bought for during this holiday has remained stable at around three, that means overall spending on the gifts bought for Easter is up.