Age of Wellness - A Future Inflection Point
By Maureen Johnson, The Store
Extract from the latest Coca Cola Retailing Research Council Europe study on THE INFLECTION POINT: Critical Pathways in Food Retailing, which was carried out by a WPP team comprising The Store, MVI and Henley Centre Headlight Vision, in partnership with McMillan Doolittle in the US.
The concept of an Inflection Point suggests that there are critical points in the history of an industry or an individual company that signal permanent and enduring change. Failure to recognise or respond appropriately to changes in consumer behaviour, market conditions or opportunities has often spelled disaster for food retailers in markets around the world. Successful companies appear to consistently and accurately anticipate or create new market trends, while those less successful either fail to react to market conditions or make the wrong choices. |
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One of the goals of the study was to identify the sign posts that point to future inflection points. The panel of present and future industry leaders we interviewed held strong opinions as to what these were likely to be. One of the most significant is what we describe as the Age of Wellness. |
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Act Your Age? Why Generation Still Matter in Our Ageless Society
By Marian Salzman, JWT Worldwide
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Today, we grow up faster, and we stay young longer. We are wise beyond our years and look great for our age. We have come to understand that mind can win over matter. Though we haven't found the fountain of youth just yet, we're learning to turn back the hands of time. Age has truly become an attitude, not a number.
As a result, the traditional milestones on the path from youth to maturity have become less linear and more random. More and more people - by choice and due to circumstance - are living life out of sequence. |
The generations are rubbing up against each other as they share experiences at wildly varied ages. Preschool parents, for instance, can range from 55 (Boomer) to 25 (Gen Y). First-time brides can be 20 or 60. Home buyers seem to be getting younger. And the new kid on the job or on campus is increasingly likely to be a Cusper embarking on his or her "second adulthood" adventure.
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How Pharmaceutical Companies Can Begin
Winning at Retail
By Mark Artus, Fitch London
In January 2006, the Evening Standard ran the headline "Visit your family GP at the high street chemist". This, the paper said, is part of radical proposals to "allow the public to 'fire' bad family doctors and bring in private sector firms".
While only at the discussion stage, these proposals demonstrate a disruption in the way prescription drugs may begin to be distributed in Europe and beyond, and as such are of enormous significance to all in the pharmaceutical trade.
Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies have marketed prescription drugs directly to hospitals and GPs, but now there is a growing belief that this activity may soon include nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists. It is our view that, under these circumstances, it is time for pharmaceutical companies to take more responsibility for how and where their drugs are prescribed and distributed to end-users. |
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