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gfk insite 1-2012

Publisher:GfK SECorporate CommunicationsNordwestring 10190419 [email protected] +49 911 395-4440F +49 911 395-4041www.gfk.com

Responsible under press legislation:Marion Eisenblätter

Editor-in-chief:Natalie Bajon

Editorial staff :Diana KleinöderJohanna Kempter

Photography:Various photographic archives and GfK companiesCristopher Civitillo PHOTOGRAPHY, GermanyAdri Felden, Argosfoto, Brazil Thanks to caPPresso by Lang, Germanywww.cappresso.de

Translations:arb limited, UK

Layout:Text & BildDesign Buero, Stephan Hasselbauer, Germany

Print:GfK PrintCenter, Switzerland

Reproduction or any other form of duplication only with written permission of publisher.

All rights reserved.

© GfK SE 2012 Print run 9,000March 2012Printed on FSC Mix Paper

gfk insite is also published in German.

2 IMPRINT

gfk insite 1-2012

EDITORIAL 3

The future belongs to those who think big and aim high. Who have the courage to change. To try new things. To discover the unknown. To do this, our clients need the highest quality research. The keenest insights. The complete picture, across countries, markets and across all data sources.

When you’re looking to enter new mar-kets, reach new target groups, improve and develop products and services, one thing is at the heart of it all: the consum-ers. Who are they, what do they do, how do they decide?

At GfK, we’re joining consumers on their journey. Online, offl ine and mobile. For the lifetime of their relationship with brands and products. We are connect-ing all the relevant touchpoints and are creating a comprehensive picture of the complete customer journey. We understand markets and industries all over the world. Enabling our clients to think of the bigger picture. Not just to have big aspirations, but to achieve big results.

Markets TodayIn the fi rst issue of gfk insite this year, we give you a snapshot of today’s markets.We accompany the ambitious Feng from China on his quest for a new smartphone. We ask our market expert Paulo why Bra-zil is justifi ed in being proud of more than just its footballers. Together with Giulia, we immerse ourselves in Italy’s passion for coff ee. And we see how Jonathan in Germany is setting new challenges for the healthcare sector.

Only those who know the markets today can act today. Paving the way to the fu-ture. And only then can there be a big future.

Yours

BIG FUTURE

gfk insite 1-2012

18 CHINA’S NEW MIDDLE CLASS18 CHINA’S NEW MIDDLE CLASS

30 PATIENTS IN 30 PATIENTS IN THE SPOTLIGHTTHE SPOTLIGHT

26 COFFEE CULTURE 26 COFFEE CULTURE AND PASSIONAND PASSION

22 A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY22 A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

gfk insite 1-2012

3 Editorial

6 News Insights from the around the world, specifi cally Australia, Belarus, China, Germany, Italy,

Middle East, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA

Preliminary fi gures for 2011 – GfK shares – GfK Capital Market Day

16 Focus: Markets Today18 The Achievers Urban centers inland are the breeding ground for China’s growing middle class

22 Every reason for optimism Interview with Paulo Carramenha, market expert of GfK in Brazil

26 Hot on the tracks of sensation With Italians, coff ee drinking is an aff air of the heart: but how can it be measured?

30 The connected patient In the age of the internet, the healthcare market is increasingly focusing on patients

International34 Consumers caught up in the EU crisis European fi gures in crisis year 2011

39 This is Kratisi! Photo series for clients and employees

CONTENTS 5

gfk insite 1-2012

6 NEWS

According to calculations by GfK, consumers around the world will spend more than USD 1 trillion on consumer electronics in 2012. Last year spending reached USD 993 billion and GfK is forecasting sales growth of at least 5% for the industry. The reason behind this is primarily the global boom in smartphones, sales of which already substantially boosted the market last year. This trend is expected to continue in 2012 with year-on-year sales growth of 22% predicted. Sales of tablet PCs also continue to contribute to the rising fi gures, with GfK industry experts estimating sales to reach USD 55 billion in this segment. For the fi rst time, the top consumers will be in emerging countries of the Asia and the Pacifi c region, with China and India taking the lead. Ac-cording to the forecast for 2012, this region will account for 22% of the trillion dollar business, while the USA and Canada will be responsible for 21% and Western Europe for 20%. GfK publishes the global sales fi gures and fore-casts for the CE industry in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) every six months in the GfK Digital World Report. At the beginning of January, GfK retail experts presented the latest data at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest international conference for CE, in Las Vegas, USA. Jürgen BoynyT +49 911 [email protected]

Worldwide, consumers have bought around 140 million digital cameras in the past year. This is approximately 3% less than in 2010 and rep-resents an astoundingly good result, given the manufacturing diffi culties in Asia from which the photo industry suff ered. As a result of the natural disaster and nuclear catastrophe in Japan, at the beginning of 2011, numerous camera and lens manufacturers ex-perienced supply shortages for important cam-era components. In Thailand, the fl oods in the second half of the year destroyed the factories of many of the global players. However, the de-mand for digital cameras continued to boom. The most modern, technically innovative models with a high number of megapixels, GPS and HD video functions were particularly attractive to consumers around the globe. In addition to 3D, device connectivity has also become popular in the market. Increasing numbers of digital cam-eras can be connected wirelessly to end devices such as PCs and printers (cloud printing) as well as being able to upload pictures instantly to so-cial media sites. At the beginning of January, the fi rst compact camera with an Android operating system was presented, expanding the function of the camera with a variety of apps. According to the manufacturer, this device should already be released on the market this year. Business in Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan was particularly important for the global unit sales of 140 million digital cameras, as consum-ers in these countries purchased an average of 27% more devices than in 2010. Further global drivers of growth were Brazil, with an increase of 31% on the prior year, and India with 12%. Retailers in the USA experienced a rather sig-nifi cant drop in volume sales, selling 20% fewer digital cameras than in 2010. Marion KnocheT +49 911 [email protected]

With an approval rating of 79%, the military and the army top the list of institutions trusted by the greatest number of individuals around the world. In the US, trust in the armed forces is highest with 88%. On a global level, the media – televi-sion, radio and newspapers – is ranked second with an average of 59%. The lowest degree of trust given to the media is in Italy with just 26%. Globally, the third place is occupied by the church with 56%, followed by the internet and the police. Consumer electronics and household appliance manufacturers lead the rankings of business ar-eas, registering trust of more than 76% globally. Second place is taken by the food industry with 71%. In South Africa, the food industry has a trust rating of 83%, while in France, the fi gure is just 48%. Despite uncertain times, trust in fellow indi-viduals averages 71% worldwide. The leader is Poland with 80% and at 47%, the countries with the greatest distrust are Argentina, Egypt and Nigeria. These findings are an extract from the GfK Verein’s Global Trust Report 2011, which is based on around 28,000 interviews that were carried out in a total of 25 countries worldwide. Individuals rated their trust in eleven institu-tions, eleven business areas and generally in their contemporaries. The GfK Global Trust Report is published annually. Sandra LadesT +49 911 [email protected]

Spending on consumer electronics surpasses USD 1 trillion

Digital cameras defy catastrophic year

Military and army enjoy the highest level of trust

They have more and more functions – innova-tions drive the digital camera market

Chinese consumers in particular love the most modern gadgets – and ensure that manufactur-ers are happy

Protector and rescuer? Most people trust the armed forces

gfk insite 1-2012

NEWS 7

Switching between smartphone providers be-comes more difficult the more engaged the smartphone user is.The familiarity with the user experience, the re-liance on mobile services and the access to digi-tal content all help to improve retention. 63% of smartphone owners expect to remain loyal to their current smartphone provider (based on the operations system as Android or iOS). Consumer loyalty increases the more mobile services – messaging, email, music, diff erent apps etc. – are used. Anyone who uses more than seven mobile services is signifi cantly more loyal to his smartphone provider (72% loyalty) than those that only use one or two services (56% loyalty). US consumers are particularly reluctant to change smartphone type. Loyalty is almost as strong among consumers in China and Brazil. In contrast, smartphone owners in the UK and Spain were most likely to want to try something diff erent.Elements of user experience also play a deci-sive role: the easier a smartphone is to use, for example, the more unlikely a switch becomes. Consumers around the world consider it ex-tremely challenging to change between iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone plat-forms. Many, almost one in three, primarily at-tributed this to the fact that they would have to transfer all their data, such as fi lms, music, books and apps, to the new system. The loss of personalized settings on their smartphone, including email and social network accounts, prevent many from changing the model.For the survey, GfK market experts interviewed a total of 4,200 smartphone users in Brazil, China, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the USA at the end of 2011.Ryan GarnerT +44 20 [email protected]

Worldwide, more and more parents are buying high-quality, non-hazardous products for their off spring. Despite a falling trend in birth rates, the variety of baby products available is rising. Parents only want the best choice for their children and, in light of shocking reports about harmful sub-stances in children’s products, they place par-ticular emphasis on quality, brands and safety. In China, for example, the sales share of baby bottles containing BPA (plastic bottles made with hazardous substance bisphenol A) dropped from more than 30% to almost zero over the course of 2011. At the same time, the share of BPA-free bottles increased from approximately 20% to 54%. This is primarily attributable to a Chinese government regulation banning the use of BPA passed in September 2011.In Germany, when it comes to purchasing prod-ucts relating to breastfeeding and feeding, par-ents trust and prefer drugstores above all. Last year, sales of pacifi ers alone generated sales of around EUR 20 million for drugstores.In France, new parents are increasingly choosing to have a baby monitor that watches over their little one during sleep. This segment registered a year-on-year sales increase of 18% in 2011. Although deluxe versions, with digital trans-mission, integrated video camera and motion detector, only constituted a low share of sales units, they did produce the highest sales values. These are fi ndings from GfK’s baby panel, which covers the baby product markets in Belgium, China, England, France, Germany and the Neth-erlands. Depending on the country, GfK moni-tors sales in the electronic device, transport and feeding segments. GfK intends to expand the baby panel to include Italy, Russia and Spain this year. Alexandra WeigandT +49 911 [email protected]

Many adults do not know the correct defi nition of the term “antibiotic resistance”. This is a fi nd-ing from an international study conducted by GfK on the topic of middle ear infections among young children. Antibiotic resistance means that bacteria have become so used to an antibiotic that it is less eff ective. Seven out of ten respondents did not know this. Many thought that the resistance referred to the human body being conditioned to antibiotics and that this was the reason they became ineff ective. The GfK survey also investigated the use of antibiotics to treat acute middle ear infections. 85% of respondents stated that their child had been prescribed antibiotics. 76% of respond-ents were also advised to give the medication immediately rather than wait to see how the infection progressed. A further key fi nding was that when a child has a middle ear infection, the whole family suf-fers. It goes without saying that children with the infection experience pain, disturbed sleep and irritability, but the parents also suff er from sleepless nights and concern. Additionally, they are aff ected by disruption to working lives and potential loss of income.For a global healthcare player, GfK surveyed ap-proximately 2,900 main caregivers of children under 3.5 years of age in 12 countries at the end of 2011. Respondents came from Australia, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, South Africa and Great Britain. Susanne IlleT +49 911 [email protected]

Switching smartphone pro-vider harder than you think

Only the best for the baby Parents baffl ed: what is antibiotic resistance?

Those who use many services on their smart-phone are particularly loyal

When it comes to their own off spring, parents value quality, brands and safety

Ouch, that hurts! When a child has a middle ear infection, the whole family suff ers

gfk insite 1-2012

8 NEWS

Sales of technical consumer goods in the Middle East’s two largest markets, United Arab Emir-ates and Saudi Arabia, are continuing on a suc-cessful course. In Saudi Arabia for example, sales of technical consumer goods such as televisions, cameras, computers, washing machines and food prepa-ration products have grown by 45% in the past year. The three product groups with highest consumer spending were mobile phones, note-books and fl at-screen TVs. The performance of major product groups was mainly consistent in Saudi Arabia, the biggest market. Whereas the picture in the Emirates was diff erent, with a visible shift in consumer spending: single-lens refl ex cameras (SLRs) were new in the ranking of the three most important value driving product groups to sustain the market, replacing the area of mobile computing. Smartphones continued to occupy the top spot, while LCD televisions with LED technology moved up to second place. Two areas which have not featured heavily on consumers shopping lists before became more popular with consumers’ changing behavior in the Emirates; entertainment with video games consoles, blu-ray audio home systems and port-able media players, along with body care and home products such as shavers, hair care equip-ment and kitchen equipment.In all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coun-tries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates – GfK currently monitors 170 technical consumer goods prod-uct groups. The portfolio and audit is continu-ously extended. Each month, GfK reports the sales fi gures for individual products and the resulting turnover. The fi gures are included in GfK TEMAX, GfK’s global retail index relating to the total market for technical consumers goods. Dr. Michael SauterT +971 4 [email protected]

The majority of private investors in Europe believe in the continued existence of the euro, although the majority is also critical of their government’s handling of the fi nancial crisis. Above all, men have a positive opinion of the euro and would generally wish to keep the single currency. Education also plays a role, with those who support the euro commonly holding higher qualifi cations. This correlation is also evident in those countries which might someday join the euro (Poland, Sweden and the UK), with better educated individuals more open to the introduc-tion of the euro than others. All over Europe, private investors – consumers who make the decisions about investments and expenditure in their families – believe there is room for improvement in their governments’ handling of the fi nancial crisis. Only a minority rated the crisis management “good” or “very good”. Consumers in the crisis countries Greece, Portugal and Spain are less satisfi ed than con-sumers in top-rated countries such as Germany, France and the Netherlands. However, the vast majority of Spaniards and Italians believe that the euro will still be their national currency in ten years’ time. Only in Greece and Portugal does this fi gure drop below 60%. The results are taken from GfK’s annual Invest-ment Barometer survey, which GfK Verein car-ries out in partnership with Wall Street Journal Europe. Since 1999, the GfK Investment Barom-eter survey has provided information about the investment attitude and behavior of European and American consumers. GfK surveyed around 9,000 private investors from the seven largest euro countries as well as the United Kingdom, Poland and Sweden at the end of 2011 for the current study. Sandra LadesT +49 911 [email protected]

Middle East: run on technical consumer goods

Europeans are holding onto the euro

In the Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai personally underlines the impor-tance of technological innovations

Four out of fi ve Italians are confi dent: the euro is staying, at least for the next ten years

In 2011, demand for mobile phones once again increased in Europe, largely as a result of the rising popularity of smartphones.Last year, 258 million handsets were sold on the high street and online in the 25 key Euro-pean markets, which is a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. This positive development was attrib-utable above all to one segment in the mobile phone market: smartphones. Sales of which shot up by 67%. In 2010, smartphones only constituted 22% of the sales market, but in 2011 more than one in every three phones sold was a smartphone (36%). In December 2011, the share climbed to an impressive 45%, so almost every other phone. Retailers in all regions throughout Eu-rope registered high sales growth rates, ranging between 35% in the UK and 105% in the Eura-sian countries of Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey and the Ukraine. With a volume share of over 17%, the UK is the biggest market for smartphones in Europe at present, followed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland with 16% overall. The average price of a mobile phone in Europe increased by 8% between 2010 and 2011, to EUR 200.GfK retail experts anticipate that the digital devices industry will this year achieve 22% of its global sales through smartphone sales alone. This would equate to growth of 4 percentage points on the 2011 fi gure.GfK presented this latest data on smartphones and similar products at the Mobile World Con-gress in Barcelona, Spain, at the end of Feb-ruary. This event is the most important global congress for the telecommunications market. The fi ndings are also published at regular in-tervals as part of the GfK TEMAX and the GfK Digital World Report. Arndt PolifkeT +49 911 [email protected]

More than one in three mobile phones purchased in Europe is now a smartphone

Europe: smartphones are the top sellers

gfk insite 1-2012

NEWS 9

GfK has been measuring radio audience fi gures in the Netherlands since January 2012 with an innovative hybrid model. This allows precise minute-by-minute information on audiences for the fi rst time. The GfK Hybrid Model for Radio combines the results of two diff erent audience panels. In the Mediawatch Panel, 325 consumers wear a pas-sive electronic meter, built into a wristwatch, for two weeks at a time. The device records the current radio program being listened to by the wearer several times per minute, whether at home or on the move. In addition, in the well-established Diary Panel, around 7,500 listeners register, either online or on paper, their radio consumption in blocks of 15 minutes over one week. In the medium term, a mobile website will also be made available to participants. Through this combination of two data sources, GfK is able to off er the Dutch radio market precise minute-by-minute information on audiences in place of information from 15-minute intervals. The contract with the Dutch radio association NLO for the measurement of radio audience fi gures, which GfK has conducted since 1967, will run for a further four years from the beginning of January. In addition, GfK has also been analyzing Dutch internet use since January. For the next three years, GfK will be working alongside the US in-ternet research company comScore to collect offi cial audience data for Dutch websites and online advertising in the Netherlands. The new internet audience monitoring is based on a fu-sion of two online panels, making it possible to compute the number of pages visited but also the profi les of the visitors and the reach within target groups. Camiel CampsT +31 35 [email protected]

In the USA, GfK acquired Knowledge Networks, the leading provider of online research.Founded in 1998, Knowledge Networks spe-cializes in consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, retail, media, government and academia. The English and Spanish language online panels of-fer unrivaled access to population groups that are harder to reach. The high quality enables GfK to strengthen and expand its existing me-dia research services. Furthermore, through a combination of Knowledge Networks’ special physicians’ panels and GfK’s US healthcare panel, clients receive fi rst-class fi ndings from specialists in the healthcare sector who are gen-erally diffi cult to approach. By developing new tools, Knowledge Networks also demonstrates continuous innovative strength in a constantly changing digital world. For example, Dimestore, a unique platform for measuring the eff ective-ness of digital advertising, was introduced and integrated in GfK’s suite of digital solutions. In addition, Knowledge Networks off ers tailor-made online panels to companies with the ob-jective of improving customer loyalty to their brands. David KrajicekT +1 484 [email protected]

GfK is now collecting audience measurement data for radio, TV and the internet in the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Starting at the beginning of 2012, GfK in the Ukraine will now be measuring the offi cial na-tional radio audience fi gures for the next three years. Each year, 47,280 consumers aged 12 to 65 in towns with a population over 50,000 will be surveyed about their radio consumption. GfK has already held the offi cial contract for elec-tronic measurement of television audiences since 2002. In the TV panel, 2,540 representa-tively selected households, comprising 6,450 individuals, report the programs they watch on a daily basis. GfK will also be providing the currency for local TV audience research in Belarus. GfK won the public tender organized by the Association of Advertising Agencies of Republic Belorussia, ARO. Based on ARO’s decision, GfK is now pre-paring the fi rst electronic TV audience research in this country. Belorussian television audience measurement will be launched after fi nalizing the technical and research parameters together with leading local TV groups and largest sales houses. Next year, GfK will be introducing a compre-hensive nine-country survey on the internet consumption of Russian-speaking users liv-ing outside Russia. This tender was held by Mail.ru Group, which is one of the major players on the Russian internet market. The main goal of the study is to understand the potential of the provided services, including email and so-cial networks, in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Stefan RaumT +49 911 [email protected]

In 2011, the Dutch listened to an average of 203 minutes of radio a day

GfK recently gained the only online panel that provides a truly representative sample of the US population

GfK conducts telephone surveys with thousands of radio listeners in the Ukraine to measure audiences

Netherlands: minute-by-minute radio research using hybrid model

USA: even deeper insights into US consumers

Eastern Europe: additional projects in audience tracking

gfk insite 1-2012

10 NEWS

How can companies in China overcome the chal-lenges posed by digital change? GfK provided its clients with comprehensive answers to this question at workshops in Beijing and Shanghai at the end of November. The principal aim is to understand the digital world, how it works, its context and the impor-tance of the internet for specifi c products and services. However, the most important aspect is to recognize the changing lifestyles and de-mands of consumers and to respond to these accordingly.In China, the transition from an agrarian soci-ety to a high-tech society happened particularly quickly, taking just a few decades. Today, more than one in three of China’s 1.3 billion consum-ers have access to the internet and 95% of all televisions purchased in 2011 were modern models with plasma, LCD or LED technology. GfK is recording this fast-paced and impressive development and off ers companies recommen-dations for action from its data. For example, by using digital research methods that are still new in China, GfK also measures the success of on-line advertisements and the experience internet users have with individual websites. In addition, GfK increasingly makes use of online methods in its qualitative surveys and has consequently established a social space in which consumers can express themselves more openly than they would during face-to-face or telephone inter-views. Clients, including BMW Brilliance, Volkswagen China, Mercedes-Benz, Mars, Pepsico, Joyo Amazon, AVON and Motorola, were extremely interested in GfK’s digital market research port-folio and GfK will therefore be off ering additional workshops in the coming months.Frank LandeckT +86 10 6588-5128 ext. [email protected]

GfK has further cemented its status as a compe-tent, reliable media research partner with three new contracts in Romania.GfK recently became the provider of the stand-ardized currency in the newspaper and maga-zine segment for the Romanian advertising in-dustry. For the syndicated Romanian national readership survey, a total of 13,500 interviews per year will be conducted on the response to approximately 150 printed media. The survey is contracted for the next three years. GfK has also been selected as the offi cial organi-zation for the radio monitoring service for the next two years at least. It will record each and every ad spot that is broadcast on the country’s major radio stations. Both the national reader-ship and radio monitoring projects are being conducted by GfK on behalf of the Romanian circulation auditing offi ce, BRAT.Having started in January 2012, GfK will also be performing the comprehensive syndicated radio audience survey for the Romanian Association for Radio Audience, ARA, until December 2015. Three waves will be carried out per year, asking a total of 13,500 consumers about their radio consumption on the previous day. Raluca BobT +40 21 [email protected]

China: GfK explains the digital world

Romania: GfK wins new media research contracts

Who are today’s consumers in China? And how can they be reached?

The majority of Romanians loves reading Libertatea

GfK has initiated a series of regional confer-ences in Russia to link the many retailers and most important manufacturers of technical consumer goods. The first event took place in November last year in Krasnoyarsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Around 150 retailers, distributors and manu-facturers got together to become acquainted and discuss the latest market trends. Samsung, Philips, Bosch-Siemens, Nikon, De-Longhi, Kaspersky Lab and many others brought their promotional stands and new products to estab-lish themselves among leading Siberian retail-ers. In addition, GfK experts delivered insights into what is currently happening in the market.Regional retail chains have substantial infl uence on the sales of technical consumer goods in the country due to vast territory, scattered and al-located distribution across Volga, Ural, Siberia, Eastern, Southern and Northern districts. They generate above 50% of sales of consumer elec-tronics and domestic appliances in Russia. Many manufacturers underestimate the importance of doing business outside Moscow, Saint-Pe-tersburg and Central region.The next GfK regional conferences will take place in Rostov on Don in April, in Kazan in May, in Novosibirsk in September and in Yekaterin-burg in October, with more conferences planned for 2013. Maxim BystritskiyT +7 495 937-7222 ext. [email protected]

The opening event in Krasnoyarsk featured in-depth discussions and insights

Russia: starting point for GfK regional conferences

gfk insite 1-2012

NEWS 11

In spite of economic bottlenecks, consumers in Serbia are catching up when it comes to infor-mation technology, spending EUR 97 million overall last year.The market for IT products registered average monthly growth of 6%. In the second half of the year, consumers spent 45% more on lap-tops, displays and printing devices than in the fi rst half.In Belgrade, at the end of last year, GfK pre-sented data for sales of IT products in the Adriatic region to retailers and manufacturers for the fi rst time. GfK experts also shared their forecasts for market developments and major hardware trends in Central and Eastern Europe. A further central topic at the client conference was the analysis of currency diff erences be-tween the Serbian dinar and the euro, and the eff ect this has on retail. Most companies pay for hardware imports in euros, but sell them in the country’s unstable currency. Assuming dinar income from one month’s sales are used to pay for the next month’s imports in euros, dinar currency fl uctuations can cause a considerable diff erence to emerge between expected and actual euro income. In order to prevent losses, companies should therefore try to sell imported goods as quickly as possible. In its retail panel in Serbia, GfK collects sales data for product groups in the IT segment. The fi gures are incorporated on a monthly basis in indexes and reports including GfK TEMAX and the GfK Digital World Report.Jure BanicT +386 1 [email protected]

In January, GfK released comprehensively up-dated and expanded digital maps of postal and administrative boundaries in Australia and New Zealand.GfK cartographers researched more than one hundred changes to postal and administrative boundaries, including municipal borders, in Aus-tralia and New Zealand. The new Australia and New Zealand map editions refl ect all of these boundary changes and also include topographic details such as streets, city points grouped into categories according to number of inhabitants, bodies of water and elevation levels. In the last four years, more than one hundred regional administrative and postal boundaries in Australia underwent change as part of a re-form. Over the same period, there were also several dozen changes to New Zealand’s four-digit postcode boundaries and eight changes to administrative districts. The maps of the Australia and New Zealand Edition are part of GfK’s global cartographic coverage of 240 countries, the world’s largest collection of digital administrative and postcode maps. Digital maps are an indispensable com-ponent of geomarketing software programs, geographic information systems (GIS), business intelligence systems and databases to carry out analyses in marketing, sales, controlling and ex-pansion planning. Cornelia LichtnerT +49 7251 [email protected]

In early 2012, GfK established the largest household panel in Turkey, which is also the fi rst to use scanning technology.GfK has distributed 12,000 scanning devices to representatively selected households with which consumers will capture the barcodes of all prod-ucts they purchase. These include, for example, non-frozen and deep-frozen food, beverages, personal care and cosmetics. Consumers also report on their purchases of non-barcoded products like bread. The globally comparable data will be evaluated for local investigations and will also fl ow into the Europanel consumer panel network, which provides manufacturers and retailers in more than 50 countries with information on all fast moving consumer goods categories. Clients above all use the fi ndings gleaned from con-tinuous monitoring of purchasing behavior to optimize their marketing mix. Data from the new Turkish household panel has been available since January. The data will determine top preferences for shops, brands, products and product groups and analyze consumer behavior according to various demographic properties. Günnur TaskanT +90 212 [email protected]

Currency diff erences cause major price fl uctua-tions for IT products in the Adriatic region

Sheep are not mapped – but GfK’s digital maps cover almost everything else

Thousands of Turkish consumers report their daily purchases to GfK

Serbia: IT markets catching up

Pacifi c: new GfK maps for Australia and New Zealand

Turkey: GfK starts biggest household panel

gfk insite 1-2012

12 NEWS

Very good client support and excellent data quality – the verdict of GfK’s clients in Spain.At a January meeting in Madrid attended by representatives from international companies, including Citibank, Telefonica, Pernot Ricard and Carrefour, GfK collected predictions for the fu-ture of market research in Spain. Suggestions for improvement were also made, which will al-low GfK to meet the needs of its clients even more precisely in future. A further topic was how, in the wake of the fi -nancial crisis, companies decide to award market research contracts: for institutes with compara-ble quality, price is key, but as budgets for mar-ket research are reduced further and further, companies try to award important projects to renowned organizations, where they know they can count on reliable results. GfK in Spain hosted a similar meeting back in 2008 and subsequently implemented changes in response to client feedback. Since then, the achievements have been plain to see in the results of regular client’s satisfaction surveys.Antonieta Martin CarmassiT +34 915 [email protected]

The retail landscape for technical consumer goods in Peru is decentralizing further. On av-erage, four new shops are opening each month, and this is primarily occurring outside of the capital, Lima. At present, 45% of retail branches are already located outside of Peru’s capital city, with the majority share of almost two in three being small, specialist stores. In second place, with nearly a quarter share, are department stores, while hypermarkets and supermarkets come last with a 14% share. A very diff erent picture emerges in Lima, where almost half of all shops are department stores, 29% are specialist stores and 21% are hypermarkets and supermarkets. Current bestsellers include consumer electron-ics products such as fl at-screen TVs and audio home systems.As a result of Peruvians’ shopping enthusiasm, Peru is making a considerable contribution to sales growth in the technology sector, as are other Latin American countries. In contrast to earlier times, Peruvian retailers now off er the latest product innovations almost concurrently with the global market launch. GfK presented these and many further fi ndings at a client conference in Lima at the end of last year. This was the fi rst conference of its kind and major global, regional and local companies from Peru’s household electronics and digital industries were invited, along with representa-tives from department stores, supermarkets and specialist stores. Sofi a Zegarra-BallonT +51 1 6378-205sofi [email protected]

Spain: GfK collects feedback from major clients

Peru: retail landscape expanding

International companies in Spain trust in GfK’s services

Around 140 participants attended GfK’s fi rst client conference in Lima

Last year, GfK in Thailand donated THB 500,000 (Thai baht), around EUR 12,300, to assist in the rehabilitation eff orts for the recent fl ood dis-aster in the country. In November, Managing Director Daranee Char-oen-Rajapark and General Manager Dr. Wichit Purepong presented a check to the representa-tives of the Thai Red Cross. The donation from GfK helped provide victims with food and cloth-ing as well as the construction of drinking water treatment plants.In the second half of 2011, Thailand experi-enced the most severe fl oods in over fi fty years. The fl ood reached its highest level at the end of October, aff ecting 64 of Thailand’s 77 prov-inces, including parts of the capital Bangkok. The offi ces of both GfK subsidiaries in central Bangkok were spared from fl ooding, but numer-ous GfK employees had to leave their homes in the suburbs. Across the country, around 13 million people were aff ected by the fl oods, with more than 600 individuals losing their lives. Dharinee Jotikasthira T +66 2 [email protected]

Daranee Charoen-Rajapark (2nd f.l.) and Dr. Wichit Purepong (3rd f.r.) presented the donation

Thailand: GfK helps fl ood victims

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NEWS 13

Employees of the GfK subsidiary in Milan again participated in the annual Food Collection Day in 2011.One Saturday in November, GfK employees stood outside a supermarket urging passers-by to “buy food for those who can’t” in addition to doing their usual shop. The GfK employees col-lected the donated food, sorted it and loaded it onto a lorry belonging to the Italian Food Bank. Of course, they also donated some of their own shopping, including pasta, rice, coff ee, oil, sugar and baby food. Across Italy over 130,000 volunteers collected donations at around 8,000 supermarkets. The amount of food donated was greater than in the previous year: 9,600 tons of food worth EUR 33 million was collected for those in need. The National Food Collection Day is an initia-tive of the European Food Bank Foundation and has taken place in some countries since 1987. Italy fi rst became involved in 1997. The charity event occurs on the last Saturday in November and some of the GfK employees in Milan have been volunteering for many years. They would also like to help with the event in 2012 and are sure that they will be able to motivate other colleagues and clients to do the same. Antonio BesanaT +39 02 [email protected]

In January, the Turkish GfK’s theater club pre-miered with “It Runs in the Family” by English playwright Ray Cooney – and enabled young people to go to university as a result.Following eight months of rehearsals under the guidance of a famous Turkish up-and-coming director, twelve GfK employees proudly dis-played their theatrical abilities. The premiere was attended by an audience of approximately 250, including GfK colleagues and clients. Owing to high demand, GfK organized a second per-formance at Istanbul’s Profi lo Cultural Center in February.GfK donated all takings from the two perfor-mances to The Association For Support of Con-temporary Living in Istanbul. Specifi cally, GfK’s contribution enabled monthly scholarships for 51 students from a range of different disci-plines. The theater group therefore exceeded its original objective of fi nancing scholarships for 35 students.The GfK theater club was established last year thanks to an employee’s idea and initiative. The socially committed amateur actors are already planning their next play, with the takings this time going towards an NGO supporting their cause in Turkey. Günnur TaskanT +90 212 [email protected]

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden fl ows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fl y into your mouth. Even the all-powerful Pointing has no control about the blind texts it is an almost unorthographic life One day however a small line of blind text by the name of Lorem Ipsum decided to leave for the far World of Grammar. The Big Oxmox advised her not to do so, be-cause there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious Semikoli, but the Little Blind Text didn’t listen. She packed her seven versalia, put her initial into the belt and made herself on the way. When she reached the fi rst hills of the Italic Mountains, she had a last view back on the skyline of her hometown Bookmarksgrove, the headline of Alphabet Village and the subline of her own road, the Line Lane. Pityful a rethoric question ran over her cheek, then she continued her way. On her way she met a copy. The copy warned the Little Blind Text, that where it came from it would have been rewritten a thousand times and every-thing that was left from its origin would be the word “and” and the Little Blind Text should turn around and return to its own, safe coun-try. To be continued on blindtextgenerator.com. Design BüroT +49 911 [email protected]

Helping a good cause for many years: the volun-teers from GfK in Milan

The GfK theater group received tumultuous applause

Why not grab your smartphone and scan this code?

AD

Italy: GfK employees collect food

Turkey: GfK theater club provides scholarships

The little blind text

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In EUR m2010

2011 –preliminary

Change in %

Sales 1,294 1,374 +6.2

Adjusted operating income 185 188 +1.8

Margin in %2) 14.3 13.7

1) Rounded2) Adjusted operating income in relation to sales

Rating Number of analysts

Buy 10

Hold 5

Sell 0

Highest target price EUR 45

As at February 2012

Current analyst ratings for GfK shares GfK: development of sales and income1)

The new GfK logo represents a dynamic future

GfK shares had a very good start to 2012. In-vestors are placing their trust in the new cor-porate strategy. Since the start of the year, the share price has increased 21% to EUR 37.29 (as at February 27, 2012). Shares started the year priced at above EUR 30 and rose to around EUR 38 at the beginning of February. The optimism of in-vestors was also not dampened by the release of preliminary sales fi gures for 2011, which are a little below analysts’ expectations. The re-duction of the margin in comparison with the previous year was clearly attributable to various special eff ects. Opinion was primarily shaped by the positive impact of the presentation of the new strategy at the Capital Market Day – the price continued to rise with high trading vol-umes, peaking at EUR 38.75 on February 3. At present, shares have stabilized at just above EUR 37. Since Exane BNP Paribas upgraded GfK shares from “sell” to “hold” at the end of last year, there are currently no analysts recommending the sale of GfK shares: fi ve neutral evaluations and ten recommendations to buy.

The Capital Market Day, which GfK hosts in Frankfurt, has become something of an insti-tution. Now in its fi fth year, the topic for 2012 was the new GfK strategy. The fi nancial objectives of the corporate strat-egy were already announced in June 2011: reaching sales of EUR 2 billion and a margin of 16% by 2015. GfK has therefore set itself the task of achieving stronger growth than both the general market and in the past. Inspirational but ambitious targets. Analysts and investors want such visions to be backed by concrete plans and measures. Members of GfK’s Management Board used the Capital Market Day to present the steps towards reaching this goal in four lectures. In his opening speech, CEO Matthias Hartmann discussed the cornerstones of the strategy and the added value this will bring to GfK clients: standardized global services and a consistent view of consumer behavior – the cus-tomer journey – and a stronger focus on digital solutions and innovation. CFO Pamela Knapp explained the fi nancial targets of the individual sectors and GfK’s merger and acquisition strat-egy. The Management Board members respon-sible for the two new Consumer Experiences and Consumer Choices sectors, Debra A. Pruent and Dr. Gerhard Hausruckinger respectively, dis-cussed the impact that the implementation of the strategy will have at sector level. That the potential of the new strategy was suc-cessfully and credibly conveyed is not least plain to see from the numerous analyst studies which were published following the Capital Market Day. For example, Société Générale’s headline was “A convincing multi-year plan”, while BA Merrill Lynch’s study started with the words “Double-digit earnings growth at a very low price”.

According to preliminary results, GfK sales rose by 6.2% to total around EUR 1,374 million for the 2011 financial year. Adjusted operating income also improved by 1.8% to around EUR 188 million. Sales growth is largely attributable to organic growth of 5.8%. All three sectors (only two sec-tors since January 2012) contributed to this. In 2011, growth was particularly strong in the regions of Asia and the Pacifi c and Central and Eastern Europe. Sales also increased consider-ably in Germany. The only region to record a decline in sales was North America.The margin on adjusted operating income stood at 13.7% and was therefore below the previous year’s level of 14.3%. Various extraor-dinary eff ects, including one-off write-downs and expenses relating to the implementation of the new corporate strategy and change of CEO, played a decisive infl uence on this result. Without these extraordinary effects of EUR 11.4 million in total, adjusted operating income would have amounted to around EUR 199 mil-lion, which corresponds to a margin of 14.4%. With the publication of its preliminary results on January 31, GfK for the fi rst time released initial business fi gures just four weeks after year-end. The fi nal results for 2011 and the 2012 forecast were published in the Annual Report on March 12. These results were not yet available at the time of going to print. Bernhard WolfT +49 911 [email protected]

GfK shares rising since the beginning of the year

Germany: GfK Capital Market Day 2012

GfK improves sales and income

14 NEWS

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MARKETSMARKETSTODAYTODAY

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Those who want to be successful to-morrow must understand the mar-kets today. Above all, they need to understand consumers. What they experience. What they feel. What they buy. GfK combines its compre-hensive knowledge of consumers in all countries and industries, crossing data source boundaries. Generating a complete picture of the markets today.

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THE ACHIEVERS

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Feng is fi nally going to buy himself a new mobile phone today. He’s been struggling with the complicated menu navigation on his current smartphone for ages. He’s on the look-out for something really special, something ultra-modern. At home in his small high-rise apartment on the outskirts of Xian in the heart of China, the 41-year old family man fi rst looks at the websites of various providers. There are over 9,600 diff erent models from 412 manufacturers to choose from. Which is the right one for him? Feng decides to fi nd the information on the internet but not to buy online. He’s going to go to a store instead. Feng’s at-titude is one still presently shared by the absolute majority of Chinese consumers. But in China people are also increasingly going digital when it comes to shopping. Between 2008 and 2011 the share of mobile phones purchased online rocketed from 1% to fully 11%. Feng, however, would like to talk to a specialist sales adviser. For such an important purchase, he considers this indispensable.

11%OF ALL MOBILE PHONES WERE

BOUGHT ONLINE

On his way to the city center in Xian, a metropolis with four million inhabitants, Feng drives along the main roads between the City Wall and the Bell Tower, passing a large number of specialist electronics stores and mobile phone outlets on the way. But he is heading for a particular store, the one whose recent TV advertis-ing campaign he liked. Feng thinks back to the days when he didn’t have a mobile phone at all: at the end of the 1990s only a handful of Chinese had one and they were people such as top managers, government representatives and millionaires. In those days, just a few manufacturers competed for the very small number of customers in

China currently has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It is one of the top exporting countries and at-tracts record levels of foreign investment. Chinese consum-ers now have enormous purchasing power – and like eve-rything else about the Chinese economy, this will continue to grow. By 2030, it is estimated that China will already be home to 38% of the world’s spend-happy middle class.

MARKETS TODAY 19

The GfK Roper Pulse blog

Urban centers inland are the breeding ground for China’s growing middle class

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the Chinese market. Only Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and Siemens sold the luxury sta-tus symbols and there were then around ten different models to choose from. A world away from today!After parking his roomy sedan car in a short-stay parking space on the street, Feng enters the brightly lit branch of the spacious electronics store. Mobile phones as far as the eye can see. Lots and lots of smartphones and even more feature phones, which are the latest models that can’t do quite as much as a smartphone and therefore also cost a bit less. Despite their price range, smartphones are becom-ing increasingly popular in China. Back in 2004 only 2% of all mobile phones sold were smartphones, but by 2011 this share had already risen to 30%. Small wonder. In China nearly one out of two consumers wants the latest technology.Feng is looking for a phone with an even bigger touch screen, even higher resolu-tion, even faster processors as well as an even better camera, plus – his greatest wish – optimized voice recognition. As the adviser in the store explains the benefi ts of the diff erent operating systems, he re-members that what he actually wanted was a phone with more intuitive menu naviga-tion. Ten minutes later and he’s made his choice. He’ll give his old smartphone to his mother when he next visits her.

Urbanization shapes the growing middle classFeng, his wife Xiameng and son Lian visit Feng’s parents and parents-in-law at least every two weeks. Both families are from a small village around 100 kilometers west of Xian. He moved to the city straight after leaving school, as did many of his friends at the time. And as many young people still do. The process of urbanization in China is unstoppable. By the end of 2010, almost

coastal towns and in the inland cities, have led to the emergence of a new and ever-growing middle class. In part their personal goals diff er hugely from those of their par-ents. According to the GfK Roper Value-Scope, most of them – an incredibly high proportion in a global comparison – can be allocated to the Achiever type: ambitious, self-confi dent, seeking status and success. Today this group already accounts for 41% of the urban population. The global fi gure is one in four.Growing urbanization plays a decisive role here. When people move to the cities, this is usually tied up with the dream of up-ward mobility in terms of community and society. They want to give themselves and their families a better life. In China they are succeeding. The Achievers are part of the main driving force behind the country’s economic power.

Households won over by high-tech Feng is defi nitely one of China’s Achiev-ers. You can see this just by looking at his apartment: there’s a tablet PC on the dining table where Feng usually reads, lis-tens to and watches the latest news in the morning before work. On the wall is the family’s pride and joy: a huge, top-of-the-range LCD TV. Just eight years ago, only 1% of all the TVs sold in China featured modern plasma, LCD or LED technology. In contrast, in 2011, 95 out of 100 TVs sold boasted such technical refi nements. The urban Chinese are quite simply TV fans. On average they watch 4.3 hours a day, while the Brits – the leaders in Western Europe when it comes to TV-watching – only man-age 4.0 hours. But it’s not just in entertainment electron-ics that Chinese consumption behavior has switched from functional to high-end products. The trend applies to all of elec-tronics in general. If you take at look at

half of the population was already living in cities. The Chinese Ministry for Housing Construction, Urban and Rural Develop-ment estimates that by 2025, around 300 million people will have moved from the country to settle in urban conurbations. And not just to the major cities along the coast such as Shanghai, Qingdao or Shenz-hen. Many consumers are especially drawn to the new economic and high-tech centers further inland. To megacities such as Xian, Chengdu or Wuhan and their surrounding areas. These new state-subsidized devel-opment areas at the heart of China are presently the focus of industry, commerce and investors from all over the world.

41%OF CHINESE SEEK STATUS AND SUC-CESS – GLOBALLY

THIS ONLY APPLIES TO 25% OF THE

POPULATION

Feng’s parents did everything they could to ensure that their son, their only child, made it to the city. And he did: Feng has a well-paid job with a car manufacturer. Nat-urally he is very grateful to his parents for having paved the way for him. Nonetheless, sometimes he feels that not only his son Lian, but also that he too, is moving further and further away from the traditions and material modesty of the older generation. Feng is not alone in this. The increasing opportunities to earn money, both in the

20 MARKETS TODAY

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kitchens in Chinese homes for example, more and more frequently you will find extra large combined fridge freezers with several doors. Stylish and energy saving. They now account for 28% of all the fridg-es sold, compared with just 3% in 2004. Feng’s family also recently replaced their old appliance. On Feng’s desk there is an ultrabook – one of the latest generation of extremely light-weight and slim notebooks. Next to it is the packaging for his new smartphone. He’s al-ready using it, surfi ng the mobile internet. It works brilliantly. The menu navigation is so simple, he’s already changed all his personal security settings and his wife’s face is already smiling out at him from the background on the large, extra-high reso-lution display.

95%OF ALL TVS SOLD

NOW FEATURE PLASMA, LCD OR

LED TECHNOLOGY

The possibilities off ered by smartphones and other devices with internet connectiv-ity are having a major infl uence on people’s consumption behavior. They are presently revolutionizing the traditional consump-tion behavior of the Chinese. Previously, there were only small stores in the cities and in the country there were mainly just the familiar corner shops. These had a very limited range of products and hardly ever stocked branded or luxury goods. Today, although supermarkets and other chains are sprouting up all over the place, it is

online shopping that is opening up a whole new dimension for people living in rural ar-eas: for them the internet is the gateway to a hitherto unimagined variety of products that is now within their reach. It is there-fore hardly surprisingly that the Chinese are spending more and more money on consumer products, driving the domestic economy at a fast pace.Feng too likes to treat himself. He spent CNY 5,000 (Chinese yuan) on his new smartphone for example. That’s around EUR 600.

Telecommunications is China’s boom in-dustryMobile telecommunications is one of the biggest growth markets in the country. Since 2004, the industry has generated an increase in sales of 376%. And the market for computers is showing similarly strong development with current sales up 13% in 2011.The upswing in the telecommunications sector is also evident in Xian. Many tel-ecommunications companies, such as Huawei as well as foreign companies like Siemens and Fujitsu, are based here. They have already recognized the enormous po-tential that lies far away from the metro-politan regions along the East Coast in the towns and cities inland. Here the consumer markets are still relatively undeveloped. Companies can conquer them. With glob-ally recognized brands or products specifi -cally tailored for the Chinese middle class and their individual needs. Spend-happy Achievers like Feng can be found all over China. And not just in their thousands, but in their millions.

More info on China’s markets today?––> Alfred Zhou

T +86 10 [email protected]

MARKETS TODAY 21

CHINA’S CONSUMERS

77% go shopping (other than for groceries) – globally: 69%

49% express their individual-ity through their appear-ance and what they buy – globally: 39%

49% prefer well-known brands because they can rely on the quality – globally 37%

40% will choose an alternative if they are not satisfi ed with a product or service – globally: 58%

50% listen to music at least once a week – globally: 74%

63% worry about getting sick from contaminated food and drink – globally: 39%

44% would rather have more time than more money – globally: 28%

83% are confi dent they will be better off in 12 months’ time – globally: 59%

Source: GfK Roper Reports Worldwide, 2011Basis: 37,000 interviews with consumers over 15 years in 25 countries; China: 1,500 in-person inter-views, representative of top-tier urban population

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EVERY REASON FOR OPTIMISM

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MARKETS TODAY 23

Paulo, what is currently making Brazil such an attractive market? Our market has been attractive for quite some time now. As early as the 1920s, the huge domestic market already attracted companies like General Motors. But it is true that over the past four years, foreign investment has once again markedly in-creased. This is due to the current stable economic environment and the relaxed political situation, which off er foreign com-panies a great deal of corporate freedom. In addition, it is already noticeable that the purchasing power of the burgeoning middle class here – which now makes up about half the population of around 200 million – is set to rise steeply in the near future. A potential consumer whirlwind on which companies know they cannot aff ord to miss out. The topography of the country also has a great deal to off er. The 4,600 mile long coastline in the south east bordering the Atlantic is a real magnet for tourism. Four years ago, extensive crude oil and natural gas reserves were found as well, and the coming years will therefore see signifi cant investment in Brazil’s energy sector. That is not to forget the many new high-tech companies currently locating to our major cities, thereby giving us the capability to overcome any defi cit we may have in sci-ence and technology.

How are foreign companies managing to gain a foothold in Brazil?Multinational companies entering a new market rely on support from local market experts. After all, global strategies always need to be adapted to suit local conditions and in Brazil, this is twice, even three times, as important. Because Brazil is so huge, that there can never be a total Brazilian solution. We have a textbook pluralistic society made up of around 220 diff erent ethnic groups. We market researchers can research, analyze and interpret – and an-ticipate – the highly heterogeneous behav-ior and expectations of these groups. And this is something no company intent on conquering the Brazilian market can safely ignore, because a marketing concept which works in the south of Brazil will not neces-sarily be successful in the northeast. We researchers are the only players currently delivering primary data, that is, fi rst hand data, to companies. Depending on what the client requires, we also aggregate and analyze cross-segment data turning it into knowledge to help clients’ decisions.

The fi rst things most foreigners associate with Brazil are the carnival and football. Are you irritated by this image?No, not at all, because we Brazilians are proud of them as they are part of our culture. Ultimately, they refl ect two char-

Interview with Paulo Carramenha, market expert of GfK in Brazil

The term “emerging economy” has been well and truly rel-egated to the past. The “B” in the fi ve BRICS countries now ranks as the sixth biggest economy in the world. This is in-deed proving to be a land of milk and honey for international giants such as Nestlé, Unilever and BMW. Market expert, Paulo Carramenha, explains why his homeland Brazil is so popular with the multinationals.

Visit Paulo’s company!

Paulo Carramenha, Managing Director of GfK Custom Re-search Brasil, is a football fan, smartphone addict and a de-vout optimist. He manages the São Paulo-based company with its staff of almost 130. He has two children and drives a Toyota Camry.

gfk insite 1-2012

24 MARKETS TODAY

acteristics which are our distinguishing features: a zest for life and optimism. This is confi rmed by the GfK Roper Reports Worldwide, which showed that in a glob-al comparison Brazilians are more than averagely optimistic when it comes to their fi nancial future. We have also found that they immediately welcome any new product or service with enthusiasm and uncritically. Of course, a degree of “need to catch up” certainly plays a role with our population. Brazilians are increas-ingly well-informed by the internet and are also delighted if they can fi nd a new product in the shops here immediately on the day it is launched in the market. However, where our market research analyses are concerned, we have to be careful not to place too high a value on some responses or attitudes. At the back of our minds, we are always aware of this “gratitude eff ect”.

In terms of a global comparison, do Bra-zilian consumers have any other distin-guishing features? Yes, of course. Ours is a very young popu-lation, with an average age of 29.3, com-pared to nearly 37 in the US for example. And we are technophiles. In terms of the

listen to music and play games, and one in four watches videos on them.

Which other sectors are currently enjoy-ing a boom?The cosmetics industry. By nature, Brazil-ians are vain and naturally, they are always trying to look younger and better. Online-based fi gures identifi ed that almost 60% of my fellow nationals are very interested in their appearance and in beauty and fash-ion, while in global terms, the fi gure is just 35%. They also revealed that we spend nearly ten hours per week on body care – versus around seven hours globally. And certainly, the motor industry is doing well, with the growing middle class giving motor manufacturers phenomenal sales figures. The stable economy has given this class of the population easier access to credit and consequently more and more families are able to aff ord their fi rst ever new car. For 2012 alone, the industry is anticipat-ing domestic production of 4.4 million cars, which is more than a quarter higher than in 2010. Brazil now counts among the fi ve biggest automotive markets in the world. And as yet, the market is far from satu-rated.

number of individuals with internet access, Brazil ranks fourth after China, the US and Japan. Brazilians are accordingly very ac-tive online, and this includes the complete spectrum of downloading, uploading, post-ing comments and shopping online. Some three out of four online Brazilians gather information on potential purchases on the web, whereas globally, the figure is about 60%. And where social network-ing on Facebook is concerned, in a global comparison, last year, Brazilians topped the list of the fastest growing number of users. According to user numbers, Brazil is ranked fourth behind the USA, Indonesia and India.

A lot of Brazilians probably log on via their mobile phones: how is Brazil’s telecoms sector set up?The telecommunications market is surely one of our most dynamic sectors. In ex-cess of 240 million Brazilians own a mobile phone now, with the rise in the number of phones sold in the past three years totaling nearly 20%. The number of smartphones, in particular, has even increased more than eight-fold. And technology-loving Brazil-ians positively adore their “celular”: they use them to take photos, send pictures,

Brazil’s motor industry is booming and as a result, many of the roads need a complete overhaul. Especially in view of the millions of people that will be

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this task they have chosen us as their main partner. We have been able to contribute by carrying out diff erent projects to help them understand and see the journey through the eyes of the customer, includ-ing customer satisfaction surveys, mystery shopping programs and many different concept tests using qualitative and quan-titative methods. It is important to use the customer journey as a framework because it helps to identify the touch points which matter most to the customers. With the insights we delivered, Leroy Merlin man-aged to understand which interactions could be leveraged to address its business objectives.

The 2014 World Cup will bring the football championships to Brazil again for the fi rst time in 64 years. What does this mean for Brazil? And for GfK?Don’t forget that we are also hosting the Olympics in 2016! Both events will supply the domestic economy with considerable growth momentum. As a prelude, some extensive investments in the infrastruc-ture have been planned, such as in road building, telecommunications systems, ex-panding our airports and developing our hotels. This will mean that employment will

increase at a faster rate than ever before. And this will also have a positive effect on consumer sentiment. For instance, TV manufacturers are anticipating a massive boom in sales, and to make sure that they benefi t from this, they are bound to need market research insights in order to secure the maximum market knowledge for them-selves. Consequently, GfK has every reason for optimism – and not just as Brazilians and football fans.

And as a football fan, do you think Brazil will win the World Cup again at long last?I am very confi dent. We must not miss this opportunity here on our own home patch. But we are going into the World Cup with a completely new team: gone are Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and several other impor-tant players and so at the moment, it still feels a bit odd. However, instead, we have an equally brilliant and talented new gen-eration, which will hopefully give us a great deal of joy. As I’ve said, we are regarded as eternal optimists! *laughing*

Interested in the Brazilian market? ––> Paulo Carramenha


MARKETS TODAY 25

And which other sectors are starting to thrive? Well, off the top of my head, I would say, gastronomy, that is, eating out and carry out. Restaurants, fast food chains and coff ee shops will certainly benefi t from a middle class of increasingly enthusiastic consumers. In the IT sector, smartphone technology will, of course, continue to de-velop. Features such as 3D or voice and movement control applications will defi -nitely have the eff ect of giving the seg-ment a further boost.

Is there any current client project which is particularly close to your heart?One of our main clients over the last few years has been the worldwide home-im-provement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin. As is the case for most retail com-panies, Leroy Merlin’s marketing teams have the big challenge of enhancing and improving the customer journey and ex-perience across key touch points. The rea-sons are clear: they know that interacting more with customers would help them to increase engagement, identify opportuni-ties to generate incremental revenue and build longer term loyalty for all its retailers in the diff erent regions within Brazil. For

converging on Brazil’s football stadium for the World Cup in two years’ time

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26 FOCUS:

HOT ON THE TRACKS OF SENSATION

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MARKETS TODAY 27

Giulia puts the fine coffee she has just ground in the coff ee grinder into the fi lter pod, fl attens it with her index fi nger and then presses it down with the tamper be-fore carefully inserting it in the machine with a slight twist to the right. The pod snaps snugly into the holder and Giulia checks if the water is already hot enough. She places her cup under the filter and presses the lever down to start the water fl owing. While the water takes precisely 25 seconds at a temperature of 88˚C to re-lease the maximum fl avor from the double-roasted ground beans, gradually, the fi nest coff ee aromas unfold in Giulia’s kitchen. Giulia takes the small silver jug full of cold milk and holds it under the steaming noz-zle of her espresso machine and in a trice she has foaming, hot, creamy milk. She puts the jug on a work surface and gently swirls it back and forth to break up the larger bubbles. Giulia pops the milk into her espresso, lifts the cup up to her mouth, closes her eyes, breathes in the soft, sweet fragrance, takes a sip... and smiles. Leav-ing the house in the mornings without her cappuccino would be an impossibility.

57%OF CONSUMERS

WORLDWIDE DRINK COFFEE

Coff ee is the most popular hot drink the world over. Globally, 57% of people aged 15+ drink at least one cup of coff ee per week. The fi gure is 17% in China, 41% in India, 64% in the USA, 71% in Brazil, which produces the most coff ee, and in Giulia’s homeland of Italy, virtually everyone drinks coff ee. In all its varied forms. Depending on the circumstances, the mood, the time of day and the weather. At the root of all Italy’s coff ee specialties is the “short black” espresso. A good espresso is instantly recognizable by its rich brown color and the creamy white “crema” on the surface, which is produced by the water be-ing forced through the coff ee by the ma-chine at the right pressure. If a bigger shot of espresso is made using more water and

How is it that Italians have made enjoyment of coff ee an art form? Why the Italians? After all, Italy itself cultivates no coff ee. It is the relationship Italians have with coff ee. It has something to do with love, passion, pride, a sense of drama, variety and feeling. It’s a question of the right blend of beans, the right method of preparation, the right atmos-phere, the right type of coff ee and the right time. Encapsu-lating these phenomena in statistical form, describing them and generating insights to help manufacturers and retailers demands the revolutionary tool developed by GfK: ConX.

ConX at the Re:think Conference

With Italians, coffee drinking is an affair of the heart: but how can it be measured?

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28 MARKETS TODAY

a longer pull, it is known as a caff è lungo. Espresso ristretto, brewed with less water, is just the opposite, which is why ristretto is much darker and signifi cantly stronger. Espresso corretto has an added kick from a shot of liquor. If the black liquid in the cup is cut with a dash of milk, then you have an espresso macchiato. The addition of some hot milk produces a macchiato caldo, and cold milk, a macchiato freddo, while adding foaming milk results in a schiumato. As a general rule, espresso should be black as the night, hot as hell and sweet as sin. Well, that’s what Italians think.

A question of styleHowever, when it comes to volumes, it isn’t the Italians, but the Germans who are at the top of the European league table, with the average German household buying 10.2 kilos of coff ee per year. Conversely, in countries like the Ukraine and Russia, the average amount of coff ee brought home from the supermarket is just 1.4 kilos and 1.2 kilos respectively – and this is mainly instant coff ee.Instant coff ee is something which would never ever be seen in Giulia’s home, or for that matter, in the homes of most of her fellow Italians. Italians prefer their favorite blend of Arabica and Robusta beans, which they mainly buy also from the supermar-ket but grind themselves. Separately, in special grinders. Fully automatic espresso machines, that is, machines with an inte-gral grinder, are currently enjoying great success on the European market, but in Italy, their market share value has been continually dropping back in the past eight years, from 27% down to 16%.

However, a trend which even the Italians cannot fully elude is the portioned sys-tem, by which there is no more messing around with ground coffee, because it

of water. Suddenly, cafés sprang up like mushrooms across Italy. Intellectuals would meet there to eat a snack, play chess, talk philosophy and discuss everything under the sun. The sweet aroma of coff ee beans made for such a unique ambiance, that café became almost synonymous with the zest for life of Italian society. La dolce vita.Today, sophisticated technology has al-lowed clever espresso machine manu-facturers to export Italian zest for life to homes all over the world. The taste at least. However, the special charm of out-of-home consumption Italian-style still remains impossible to recreate.

The cradle of coff ee shopsOut of the welter of coff ee bars and cafés in their home town, Italians will choose their own two or three favorites. The reason for their choice generally remains a mystery. It’s the little things that count. Perhaps a special favorite is only a few steps away from home, another is very near the offi ce.That’s the case with Giulia. Best of all, she likes the bar where she regularly spends her lunch hours. The aromas, the chatter of voices, the dark wooden tables, the old black and white photos and faded post-cards on the cream-colored walls... She loves the atmosphere and the stylish fl air of the place. And of course, the espresso. Then there’s Alessandro, always sympa-tico, solemnly preparing her caff è lungo with smooth ritualistic movements. But she can’t say exactly why she prefers that particular bar: it’s simply that somehow, everything fi ts.

Italian coff ee bars like the one Giulia fre-quents have been the inspiration for coff ee shops large and small all over the world. However, only a few are successful in con-veying something of the authentic ambi-ance of the originals. So what’s missing?

comes in capsule or pod form. The paper pods contain enough coff ee for one cup. They are inserted in the machine and then hot water is forced through under pres-sure. Aluminum capsules work in much the same way. They are put into the machine, and hot water is forced through. Already as many as 11% of Italians have switched to capsules, with 22% preferring pods. This includes some of Giulia’s friends. Some-times, there is heated debate on whether that is genuinely Italian. The advertising says yes. Giulia’s sensation of enjoyment of her morning coff ee says no. Neverthe-less, the market share value of espresso machines operated with portioned systems is up to around 63%, making them the top selling coff ee machines. Fueled by the fact that many Italians still love to prepare their coff ee with the traditional non-electric mo-cha machine.

63%OF THE COFFEE

MACHINES SOLD IN 2011 WERE POR-TIONED SYSTEMS

Irrespective of how they drink their coff ee, Italians are proud of their coff ee culture as a whole and its historic traditions. As early as the 17th century, coff ee arrived from Arabia in the major trading port of Venice. The world’s fi rst coff ee house opened on the Piazza San Marco in 1645. The Vene-tians called it a “caff è” – quite simply, after the bitter drink which they would enhance by the addition of milk and sugar or cream and serve in the coff ee house with a glass

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MARKETS TODAY 29

Well, for that you need to look very closely at what is on off er, the prices and the fi t-tings and fi xtures. But consumers’ overall perceptions are equally important. Im-proving businesses, products and services and taking them in the right direction, is a question of ascertaining and analyzing the complete range of sensations experienced by consumers.

ConX – market research encompassing the whole human brainHow consumers perceive their environ-ment is a complex matter. The most varied factors and infl uences in many diff erent guises play a role. For this purpose, GfK has developed a research tool which is unique in the world: ConX – which stands for Consumer Experience. ConX measures the sensations experienced by fi ve diff er-ent experiential dimensions of the human brain. According to research in the fi eld of evolutionary psychology, the brain has developed these fi ve modules over a period of thousands of years, in order to perceive sensations and respond to them. The fi ve dimensions are social, intellectual, sensori-al, emotional and behavioral (fi g. 1). It only needs to be measured if these modules are stimulated negatively or positively, and their degree of importance to consumer perceptions.

For example, why doesn’t the best ad-vertisement for espresso machines us-ing capsule systems prompt Giulia to buy one? Especially as her friends have often tried to convince her to do so (social) and that consequently, to be honest, she has already considered (intellectual) asking for a machine like this for Christmas. All Giulia knows is that she loves the smell of fresh-ground coff ee beans and she enjoys the sensation of stroking her fi nger over the coff ee grounds to fl atten them (sensorial).

Somehow, the entire ritual of making her morning cappuccino reminds her of the past (emotional), of her grandma, and her cousins, and the long summer nights in the countryside – and the feeling is purely and simply the perfect start to her day. Of course, she might save a little time with the capsule machine. But then again, there is not that much work involved in grinding beans (behavioral).

And for example, why is there such a big diff erence between an Italian café and a coff ee shop in the USA? What can US cof-fee shop owners do to make their custom-ers enjoy coming in and to keep return-ing? Should they employ an Alessandro as barista to interact with the customers (social)? Should they off er a group discount to encourage conversation (intellectual)? Perhaps the answer lies in new types of coff ee (sensorial)? What would stimulate customers emotionally and behaviorally? Which of these measures might be worth a try? These things have to be identifi ed within the target groups likely to come into a coff ee shop for their latte macchiato in the future. One of the most attractive aspects of ConX is that this qualitative market research ap-

proach functions in any country and for every culture. Because the fi ve modules are relevant to consumers all over the world. Brains anywhere work along the same lines. The concept of the “modularity of the mind” generates a wonderful common denominator, which can be used to clearly identify the most varied perceptions and preferences. ConX is so versatile, it can be used to intensify brand experience, to raise customer satisfaction, to reach individuals who are not yet customers and to increase sales. Companies will fi nd out where they are already on the right path and where they should be optimizing their off ering to make it more appropriate to consumer preferences.

Perhaps one day soon Giulia will switch her allegiance to another coff ee bar, or maybe one day soon, you might see an espresso machine using a capsule system in her kitchen. However, she will always feel her-self to be a true Italian. With a love and a passion for good coff ee.

For more on ConX––> Danica Allen, Ph.D.


Social: makes me interact with others creates a link between me and others

Intellectual: makes me think reminds me of similar experiences

Sensorial: stimulates one of my fi ve senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste)

Emotional: changes my mood aff ects how I feel afterwards

Behavioral: I have to take action is physically challenging

FIG. 1: THE FIVE EXPERIENTIAL DIMENSIONS

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30 FOCUS:30 FOCUS:

THE CONNECTED PATIENT

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MARKETS TODAY 31

On his way to work Jonathan nervously searches his jacket pockets. Hopefully he hasn’t forgotten his inhaler. Relieved, he can feel the small device in his left pocket where it always is. Jonathan is a project manager at a small software company in Berlin and suff ers from allergic asthma. It started two years ago, shortly after his 30th birthday. While playing football with his kids he was suddenly overcome by a great shortness of breath. He felt like he was going to choke on the spot. In the emergency room at the hospital he was given the diagnosis, asthma. After this traumatic experience he researched the condition fi rst on the internet. What does this diagnosis mean for me? Will my life change? How is this illness treated? When he was fi nally given an appointment with Dr. Seifert, a lung specialist, he already knew the various treatment options. The doctor prescribed him an inhalation therapy. He had suspected that. It could be worse, but it still means he will have to make adjustments. From then on Jonathan had to remember to take his medication twice a day. In the morning it wasn’t really a problem, but he

often didn‘t take it in the evenings. Most-ly he worked long hours in the offi ce and didn’t want to use his inhaler in front of his colleagues. Don’t show any weakness, he thought to himself. Eventually the inevi-table happened. In the fi rst few months he often felt short of breath. Until fi nally he had a second attack. And he was taken to the emergency room again with the blue light fl ashing.

50%OF GERMAN

PATIENTS OBTAIN INFORMATION

ONLINE

When he was back at home he searched again in the web, but this time more selec-tively. For alternative treatments. Nowa-days lots of people fi nd information, like Jonathan, in blogs, forums and communi-

Doctors have long ceased to be gods in white coats. Because formerly passive patients have turned into informed joint decision-makers. Thanks to the internet. Where they fi nd out things, network and form their own opinion. An opinion, which is extremely important for pharmaceutical companies. Not only for manufacturers of over-the-counter products, but also increasingly for those developing prescription medi-cations.

GfK’s healthcare research online

In the age of the in-ternet the healthcare market is increasingly focusing on patients

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32 MARKETS TODAY

ties or on the websites of self-help groups, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. In Germany 50% of patients or their relatives fi nd out about their illnesses and treat-ment options online.

Well-informed patientsLast year one in four internet users in the USA, the biggest healthcare market in the world, searched the web for medical infor-mation. And the trend is rising. Between 80% and 90% of all 18 to 64 year-olds in the USA are now regularly online. In the 65 to 69 age group 60% and in the 70 to 74 age group over 50% are already active on the web. And they are the ones who are increasingly going to the doctors. In this age bracket, 65 and upwards, the number of visits to the doctor has risen by 13% within ten years in the USA. These well-informed patients know what the doctor is talking about. They can weigh up, categorize and critically evaluate his explanations. They no longer simply accept diagnoses and prescriptions for medicines, but want to discuss them with their doc-tor. To make sure he has chosen the best possible treatment for them. Especially patients with chronic illnesses require a therapy that not only works, but is com-patible with their long term daily routine.

Whether a pharmaceutical product be-comes established on the market there-fore depends on the patient. He must accept the medication. With medical de-vices such as asthma inhalers, blood sugar measurement devices or injection tools for diabetics, such as insulin pens, it is particu-larly tricky. Using them is still a lot more elaborate than swallowing a tablet. In the USA, for example, around 30% of asthma patients and even over 40% of diabetic patients do not stick to the prescribed therapy.

with the device and daily use through to the fi nal feedback.

After Jonathan had received loads of tips on the size, handling and application of various inhalers in the relevant asthma forums he confronted Dr. Seifert with his reservations about his device and the knowledge he had acquired online. The lung specialist, who had heard about the GfK survey, prescribed him a diff erent de-vice and suggested that he also participate in the project. Jonathan was therefore able to contribute his experiences to a possi-ble improvement of the test product and also had the opportunity to swap experi-ences with other participants. Jonathan was thrilled from the outset. Especially when he found out that participation is for the most part possible online. As more and more people are active on the inter-net, market researchers are also relying increasingly frequently on the world wide web as a platform for their surveys.

From the fi rst impression to acceptanceFirst, Jonathan received an invitation to an in-depth interview. This dealt with the actual situation. The market researchers asked him about his illness history and his experiences with his current inhaler. He got his hands on the test device for the fi rst time and was allowed to try it out: “I thought I was going to choke before I got the device to work!“ Jonathan found it very awkward to handle. And the noise was too loud.

After that, the ten-day “real-life experi-ence“ test phase started. All the partici-pants took the new device home with them and were supposed to use it every day in addition to their current treatment. How-ever, this was without the active ingredi-ent, as they were only supposed to test

30%OF ASTHMA

PATIENTS DO NOT ADHERE TO THE PRESCRIBED

TREATMENT Like Jonathan from Germany. Inhaling in the evenings simply didn’t fi t into his daily routine. Doctors must therefore pay strict attention to choosing a form of treatment which is tailored to the patient’s individual needs. To do this, it is essential that they listen very carefully to their patients. And there must be a suitable medication on the market, but this will only work if the healthcare companies listen to patients as well.

Making patients‘ everyday lives tangibleHow will they do it? How can manufac-turers of prescription medicines get into conversation with patients? There is market research for this. Last year alone pharmaceutical manufacturers commis-sioned GfK to conduct over 410 patient-centered surveys. And Jonathan took part in one of these surveys. A multinational pharmaceutical company wanted to know whether patients in Germany and Brazil were managing to integrate its newly de-veloped inhaler in their everyday routine. Whether they accepted the device. The market research experts at GfK compiled an innovative mixture of traditional and digital methods for this purpose. This gave the pharmaceutical company the chance to accompany patients during the patient journey, on their path through the treat-ment, starting from their initial contact

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MARKETS TODAY 33

the compatibility of the device with their everyday routine. GfK gave them access to an Online Bulletin Board (OBB). This is a closed, interactive internet blog that was set up especially for the participants dur-ing the test period. They were supposed to log in for quarter of an hour each day. When they logged in, questions from GfK awaited them, such as what do they like about the device? What problems arose? Does it fi t into their daily routine? They were also able to upload photos (fi g. 1). And they had to cope with various tasks. For example, using the inhaler in public, clean-ing it or preparing for a journey. Jonathan wrote on the OBB that it was es-sential to reduce the noise. He expressly praised the discreet design, though. He posted as an example that one of his col-leagues had mistaken the device for a plastic box with dental fl oss. Jonathan also suggested off ering a travel box for the de-vice and even posted photos showing how he would like to transport it. In general all the patients actively participated and de-veloped plenty of creative ideas.

The patient as adviserAt the end of the ten-day phase GfK in-vited all the participants to give feedback in a qualitative focus group. Issues which had come up in the OBBs were discussed in more detail and all the solutions pro-posed by the test persons were recorded. Finally, the time had come to return the test device. “It’s a strange feeling. I think I’ll miss it“, admitted Jonathan. His fi rst impression, the complicated handling, had quickly disappeared. After just a short time he had routinely used the inhaler and in-tegrated it in his daily routine. He would have exchanged his old device for the new one without hesitation. The manufacturer of the inhaler was ex-tremely satisfi ed with the test result. In

Brazil and in Germany the result was unan-imous, namely that patients accepted the new device. They also provided the manu-facturer with some improvement sugges-tions, very valuable ones, which it was able to incorporate into its concept. And that was only because the manufacturer had listened. The patients were test persons, suppliers of ideas and advisers all in one.

The dual role of the internetThe internet provides a dual function in the healthcare industry. On the one hand, it turns previously quite ignorant patients into a knowledgeable and therefore in-formed clientele. And it turns them into joint decision-makers who need to be understood better and approached dif-ferently. On the other hand, the internet provides exactly the right solution for this. The internet is an effi cient market research platform. It not only makes it easier for the test persons to participate, quite simply it’s also fun. Jonathan net-worked and exchanged experiences with lots of patients via the online community set up for the survey. He was also able to make a contribution, in that the inhaler he tested will be adjusted even more eff ec-tively to patient needs. He is proud of this. He talked to Dr. Seifert at length about his survey experiences. Hence, the doctor was clearer about what actual problems and needs asthma patients have in their daily treatment routines. In future he will focus more on such details when he prescribes an inhaler. Jonathan is at any rate already looking forward to being able to actually use this new device some day.

More information on this market research approach?––> Miriam Mayländer


FIG. 1: PATIENTS UP-LOADED PHOTOS LIKE THESE IN THE OBB

Simulated images: the giraff e serves as a placeholder for the inhaler

Source: GfK Research Matters, Switzerland, 2012

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CONSUMERS CAUGHT UP IN THE EU CRISIS

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INTERNATIONAL 35

Speculation about a Greek default grew in-creasingly louder in 2011. Greece required a new billion-euro bailout from the Euro-pean Union in order to reach its budget targets. At the same time, the decline of the Greek economy was deeper than ini-tially anticipated. As a result, new interna-tional rescue packages were drawn up at an ever greater pace, set to assist the overly indebted countries if the worst came to the worst. The fi nancial markets soon turned their attention to Italy as well, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned follow-ing immense international pressure. To top it all off , rating agency Standard & Poor’s threatened to downgrade the creditwor-thiness of 15 European countries at the beginning of December – a threat that it did in fact follow through on for nine of the countries. Moreover, economists in most countries carried out downward revisions of their growth forecasts for the coming year.This turbulence did not go unnoticed by consumers throughout the European Un-ion. The prospect that economic growth in 2012 would fall well below initial expec-tations severely aff ected both the mood

and the spending of European consumers. Willingness to buy thus decreased accord-ingly in most countries. ––>

GfK’s consumer climate expert––> Rolf Bürkl


New rescue packages, uncertainty about further devel-opments in Greece, Italy and France and the prospects of weaker economic development all heightened the anxiety of European consumers last year.

European fi gures in crisis year 2011

WILLINGNESS TO BUYis an indicator taken from the in-ternational GfK Consumer Climate MAXX survey. Findings are based on consumer interviews conducted in all European Union countries each month on behalf of the European Union. The index is based on the following ques-tion to consumers: “Do you think it is advisable to make major purchases at the moment?” (Yes, it’s a good time to do so – now is neither a particularly good nor a particularly bad time – no, it’s a bad time to do so)

GfK Consumer Climate Europe

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WILLINGNESS TO BUY OF EUROPEANS2011

Indicator value > 0 Indicator value -1 to -15 Indicator value -16 to -30 Indicator value < -31

Source: EU Commission consumer survey, GfK Markt-forschung, average January to December 2011

SpainOne in fi ve Spaniards of working age is out of work. Consequently, in times of crisis more and more people in Spain are cutting back on their hobbies: in 2011 the fi gure was almost 30%. And 36% of Spaniards spent less on clothing in 2011 than they did in 2010.

Italy75% of Italians mistrust fi nan-cial institutions. This mistrust is higher than in any other country in the world, and the European average is 40%. Many foreign investors have already pulled out of Italy and tax of-fi cials and banks fear that Italians too could start to transfer their savings to foreign bank accounts. For a country that is close to bankruptcy, this would be fatal.

PortugalIn addition to Greece, Portugal was the only other country where GDP contracted. The automotive industry was consequently also hit by the cri-sis: new car registrations in Portugal fell by -31.3% in 2011, much more than in any other European country. The average for Europe was -1.7%.

FranceGiven the high level of sovereign debt, the French have had to save. Major purchases were postponed. At

-3.1%, the fall in retail sales of technical consumer goods in 2011 (Q1-Q3 2010/2011) was dispropor-tionately strong. For Western Europe as a whole, the decline stood at -2.7%.

United KingdomHigh infl ation is pushing up the cost of living. 38% of employees are looking for a new job. Only Germans and Romanians are even more rest-less. 27% of British employees would even go abroad for work.

GermanyThe country with the highest willing-ness to buy. From January to Septem-ber 2011 retail sales of IT products such as laptops, tablets and network infrastructure increased in Germany by 14.3%, compared to the same period in 2010. The country was the leader in Western Europe, where sales rose by 1% overall.

36 INTERNATIONAL

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AustriaAlthough the willingness to buy rose slightly in 2011, when it comes to savings, safety is of paramount im-portance for the Austrians. A savings book is their favorite form of invest-ment: 46% fi nd it an attractive option.

BulgariaBookings in January 2011 for a sum-mer holiday in Bulgaria were up by

46% in value terms compared with January 2010. Bulgaria was second after Croatia to benefi t most from the unrest in Tunisia and result-ant drop in bookings. Together with exports, tourism was the main driver behind economic growth of almost 2% in 2011.

GreeceUnemployment has more than dou-bled since 2007. Today more than one in six people in Greece are unem-ployed. According to offi cial fi gures, this is set to rise to around 25% in 2012.

RomaniaOne of the countries with the lowest willingness to buy. Romanians can only aff ord the absolute essentials.

56% stated that they were barely able to cover their outgoings. Almost a quarter said they have debts.

Czech RepublicThe present government fi rst wants to combat the high level of sovereign debt. However, there is great uncer-tainty as to whether the government will be able to push through its re-forms. Only 8% of Czechs trust their politicians, compared with 17% worldwide.

PolandPolish private financial decision-makers rate their government and its handling of the financial crisis more positively than other countries (with the exception of Sweden): only

38% gave low marks to Poland’s political leaders, with the largest pro-portion, 42%, undecided. 84% want to keep hold of the zloty.

INTERNATIONAL 37

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THE BIG PICTURE

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THIS IS THIS IS KRATISI!KRATISI!

Like so many mysteries, the future of our little giraff e friends is unknown. Will GfK, with its new strategy and new image, also fi nd a new mascot? We still have many, many excellent giraff e photos that are just waiting to be pub-lished! But who knows? Maybe you can send us your best photo of a new GfK mascot for the next issue!

The GfK giraff e Kratisi from Macedonia was taking part in mystery shopping training in Oxford, UK. Where else? A place that holds so many mysteries and secrets! After all, Oxford University buildings were used as fi lming

locations for many of Harry Potter’s adventures! Kratisi is named after the birthplace of his owner and one of the oldest settlements in the Balkans, Kratovo. This picturesque city is located in the crater of an ex-

tinct volcano in Macedonia.Photo and giraff e owner:

Ljupcho Efremov, GfK Macedonia

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