Anthem Worldwide Consumer Insights Study Reveals "Older and Wiser" Trumps "Youthfulness" as Trend in 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 5, 2013) -  Anthem Worldwide, the brand development practice of Schawk, Inc. (NYSE: SGK), whose integrated global network provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact to create compelling and consistent brand experiences, announced that its most recent consumer insights study has revealed that Older and Wiser trumps Youthfulness as a trend in 2013.

Anthem Worldwide identified 10 consumer and shopper trends and counter-trends and fielded a study to get a pulse on these sentiments in the U.S., U.K. and China. One of these, Youthfulness vs. Older and Wiser, related to who consumers are. Consumers were asked which they believed would be more prominent in 2013: "a youthful spirit" or "an older, wiser soul." The study conducted by Ipsos from December 17 to 25, 2012, included an international sample of 1,500 people (500 from the U.S., U.K., and China, respectively) from Ipsos' online panel.

The results of the study support the conclusion that in aggregate, across all three countries, more than half of respondents, 59 percent, believe that Older and Wiser will be a more prominent trend than Youthfulness in 2013.

While U.S. consumers were split more evenly between Older and Wiser and Youthfulness (49 percent vs. 51 percent, respectively), consumers in the U.K. and China weighted the results more towards Older and Wiser. Sixty-two percent of U.K. consumers and 66 percent of Chinese consumers believed that "an older, wiser soul" would be a more prominent sentiment.

Kathy Oneto, vice president, brand strategy, of Anthem Worldwide, noted, "In China, this is likely due to the deep-rooted family tradition of having respect for one's elders, along with the forecasted fast rate of growth of its elderly population given the country's one-child policy and improved life expectancy. In the U.K., the high unemployment rate of youth, at about 20 percent, and older people staying and having more presence in the workforce longer may be influencing this sentiment.

"Boomers around the globe still have great influence," added Oneto. "Older age isn't what it once was, especially for women who find their next act and really come into their own in this stage of life. Vibrancy and energy are still critical and possible with people in this age group not weighed down by expectations and judgment. The lightheartedness that supposedly is present in youth is actually practiced at an older age, with boomers having more presence to shrug off the unimportant."

Oneto concluded, "While not considered to be as prominent, youthfulness will still be in force to some degree, as the youth movement has been impacting elections, creating movements, and stopping businesses over the last couple of years. And while youth around the globe are more challenged and stressed than in generations past, they are also more entrepreneurial and motivated to make a difference in the world. The youthful spirit shouldn't be underestimated; in truth, we all want a piece of it."

For more in-depth data, click the following Web site address to read more and access, "Anthem Sightings, Vol.4, 2012: The Forecast Issue." http://www.schawk.com/knowledge-center/white-papers

Also, click to watch Kathy Oneto, vice president, brand strategy at Anthem Worldwide in a recent BrandSquare Live Webinar, "Inflection Point: Where Will 2013 Take Us?"
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JNWry9cnfM

Anthem Worldwide is part of the brand development practice of Schawk, Inc. (NYSE: SGK). Anthem's integrated global network provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact to create compelling and consistent brand experiences. We do this by aligning our strategic, creative and executional talent worldwide with the business needs of companies seeking a competitive advantage. Anthem offers a full range of branding and design services through our network of world-class design professionals in 10 cities, including Chicago, Cincinnati, Hilversum (The Netherlands), London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, and York (U.K.). For more information on Anthem, please visit http://www.anthemww.com. Follow Anthem on http://twitter.com/anthemworldwide.

Methodology
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted December 17-25, 2012. For the survey, national samples of 500 adults per country were interviewed online in the U.S., U.K. and China; totaling a final sample of 1,500 adults across countries. Weighting was employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the universe at the country level. The precision of online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3 percentage points for data reported across all three countries, and 5 percentage points for data on individual countries. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.