Anthem Worldwide Consumer Insights Study Reveals, "Consumer Engaged, Shopper Informed," a Ruling Trend in 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 7, 2013) - Anthem Worldwide, part of 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 points to, "Consumer Engaged, Shopper Informed," as a ruling 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, Consumer Engaged, Shopper Informed vs. The Art of Skimming, related to how consumers behave. Consumers were asked which they believed would be more prominent in 2013: "Getting into the details" or "Skimming the highlights." 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 despite the pervading belief of marketers that consumers and shoppers want to simplify as much as possible, 58 percent of total respondents believe 'Getting into the details' will be a more prominent trend in 2013 compared to the counter trend 'Skimming the highlights,'" said Kathy Oneto, vice president, brand strategy, of Anthem's San Francisco office.

While U.S. consumers were balanced in their responses, 61 percent of U.K. consumers and 59 percent of Chinese consumers were more strongly aligned with the sentiment that "Getting into the details" would be more prominent compared to "Skimming the highlights." Despite people being busy, it appears they are willing to dig in and take advantage of the data now available to them.

Commenting on the trend of Consumer Engaged, Shopper Informed, Oneto stated, "One could argue that today's consumers are more engaged with brands than ever before. Some even create ads for brands, while others create movements that change company actions. At the same time, shoppers are now armed with and connected to more information, reviews, and recommendations than in the past, making them savvy, engaged purchasers."

"And yet, there's merit to the Art of Skimming counter trend," noted Oneto. "While some people engage deeply with brands and have more informed purchasing habits, Twitter has fueled brevity of communication. Our full, on-demand, connected lives amplify Twitter's impact, making us consume information in bite-sized pieces, catching only the headlines and wanting to know more with less."

Oneto concluded, "When consumers are given too much information, they are more likely to
over think their decisions and feel less confident about the choices they make. Marketers will need to restrain themselves and fight the impulse to say it all, and instead cater to consumers' desire for brevity and impact. The most important question marketers need to ask themselves is this: How can you tell your story in as simple and consumable a way possible, leveraging visual design cues and copy to drive purchases and build affinity?"

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 this 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 to 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.