Bank of America said its 67 million consumer clients made $335 billion in total payments during January, a 17% increase over January 2021 and the second highest month of spending on record. This follows a 5% increase in total payments in January 2021 when compared to pre-pandemic levels in January 2020.
This year’s NFL Championship, best known as the Super Bowl, will again be one of the most watched events. But public interest in live events appears to be declining, even for the “Big Game,” say two marketing professors at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
“Live sports events are the last stand for live TV, with the Super Bowl being the biggest spectacle to unite the American audience. Live events like this are languishing. Need proof? Look at record low ratings for award shows,” said Ann Bastianelli, teaching professor of marketing at Kelley, who added that the Super Bowl remains “a rare opportunity to gauge the U.S. cultural consciousness.”
Demetra Andrews
“The early reports and teasers suggest that Super Bowl viewers are in for a smorgasbord of memorable and even humorous commercials, providing some much-needed laughs during the ongoing pandemic. Even so, the Super Bowl isn’t enjoying the same viewership it once had which should prompt changes in marketing decisions,” added Demetra Andrews, clinical associate professor of marketing.
With a television audience of more than 90 million last year, the Super Bowl continues to provide the biggest platform for advertisers. But, according to Andrews, television viewership of the Super Bowl has declined fairly steadily for years and the increase in livestreaming of the game does not account for the decline.
Of note, she said, is a persistent decline in watchers aged 18-49 since 2008, a key component of the Super Bowl audience. According to Morning Consult, 40% of Generation Z-aged American aren’t sports fans, compared to only 24% of Millennials opting out of sports. Gen Z may be more likely to watch and share ads online than during the sporting event.
“Despite this, the price for advertising during the Super Bowl has remained high for a 30-second ad. This is likely to prompt marketing organizations to reexamine the value of the Super Bowl as a promotional platform,” Andrews said.
Ann Bastianelli
The cost of a 30-second commercial in the 2022 game is $6.5 million, up significantly from the $5.5 million price tag of just a year ago. “Clearly, the network is not bashful about asking that, even with the misgivings that advertisers have had in the past few years,” Bastianelli said.
Super Bowl parties traditionally have been a big part of the game day experience and something most attractive to advertisers. But with larger gatherings discouraged and even restricted last year, this aspect was greatly diminished for the 55th Super Bowl. More people may gather to watch the game, while others will be hesitant to do so.
“Without Super Bowl parties, brands might not get the same return on investment, because people couldn’t discuss ads in real-time with others, so brands shifted to digital/online advertising to avoid the $5.5 million price tag,” Bastianelli said. They also do this “because spending money online builds reach and frequency and gives brands valuable data to maximize customer engagement much more cost-efficiently.
“The downside is that, while culture spreads at the speed of social, it’s much harder to stand out with sustained hype,” she added.
Reevaluation of the Super Bowl as a promotional platform should include a determination of whether an organizations’ target customer groups are likely to watch or attend a Super Bowl event, Andrews said.
Shiner has a brand-new, limited-edition seasonal offering: Candied Pecan Ale (6% ABV) made with roasted pecans from Millican Pecan Co. in San Saba, Texas.
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Clifton Ray Anderson, Jr., 47, of Boomer, N.C., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States of excise taxes on distilled liquor and to violate the laws of the United States, including the interstate transportation of untaxed liquor and possession of an unregistered still.
Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau investigated the case along with the Tirad ABC Board in North Carolina.
Anderson’s co-conspirators, Roger Nance, 76, of Wilkesboro, N.C., Huie Kenneth Nicholson, 75, of Hamptonville, N.C., and Gary Matthew Ray, 53, of Roaring River, N.C., previously pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge as Anderson. James Patterson, 71, of Dinwiddie, VA, previously pled guilty in a separately filed case in the Western District of North Carolina to distributing untaxed moonshine distilled by Anderson.
According to filed plea documents and today’s plea hearing, from April 2018 to September 2020, Anderson conspired with Nance, Nicholson, and Ray to operate and maintain an illegal still at a barn owned by Ray in Wilkes County. Anderson leased the barn from Ray for $500 per month and used it to illegally produce more than 9,000 gallons of untaxed liquor, commonly known as moonshine. Court records show that, during the relevant time period, Nance, Nicholson and Ray transported the moonshine across state lines to Patterson in Virginia for sale and distribution, which resulted in a total federal and state excise and sales tax loss of over $100,000.
Anderson was released on bond following his guilty plea. The conspiracy charge and the charge of possession of an unregistered still each carry a maximum prison sentence of five years and $250,000 fine.
Friday’s jobs report showed a better-than-expected increase in the number of jobs in January, says Frank Steemers, senior economist at The Conference Board. Disruptions related to the Omicron variant do not seem to have derailed continued progress in the labor market. However, headwinds for employers persist, as labor shortages are still severe and economic activity remains healthy.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 in January, after an upwardly revised increase of 510,000 in December. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4%, as the number of job-leavers and those on temporary layoffs increased; the labor force participation rate remained essentially the same at 62.2% in January after taking the new population controls into account. Overall, jobs still number 2.9 million below prepandemic (February 2020) levels, with women representing 63% of these employment losses. Note that this month’s release incorporates larger revisions to the Establishment Survey (used for nonfarm payroll employment) and Household Survey (used for the unemployment rate). Revisions to payroll employment were especially large over the past year.
Leisure and hospitality gained 151,000 jobs in January—a possible signal that businesses have become better at continuing operations amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. A majority of other industries also added new jobs, except for construction and mining, where small job losses were recorded. On the other hand, many businesses still experienced disruptions. For example, 6 million people reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic at some point in the past four weeks, up from 3.1 million in December.
Wages continued to rise rapidly. Average hourly earnings increased 5.7% over the past 12 months, signaling that recruitment and retention difficulties remain high. With the unemployment rate expected to fall to near 3% by the end of the year, labor markets will remain tight in 2022 and likely beyond. The US working-age population is projected to barely grow over the next decade. Employers hiring manual labor and services workers (such as transportation, construction, food services, and personal care) will face an especially hard time finding qualified workers. In such an environment, wage growth will likely remain elevated, which in turn would put more pressure on price inflation.
Some relief could come for employers if more people would return to the labor force, but the labor force participation rate is still at 62.2%—more than 1 percentage point below its prepandemic rate. Continued improvements in the labor market and higher wages should attract some people back to the job market, and participation rates may improve slightly during 2022. On the other hand, workers retiring early during the pandemic explain part of the gap in participation, and few of these older workers are expected to return.
Job growth in November and December was revised up by 709,000, implying job growth did not slow towards the end of 2021. This jobs report supports the Fed’s increasingly hawkish guidance, and we are currently expecting at minimum four 25-basis-point interest-rate hikes in 2022.
