Marketers know vintage clothes and retro art sell well. Now, consumer-product companies are hoping that
appeal carries over to cereal, chips and laundry detergent.
Procter & Gamble Co., General Mills Inc., Hostess Brands Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.
are pulling old package designs out of their archives for brands like Tide, Cheerios and Doritos and bringing them back to
store shelves. Smaller companies and start-ups are using fonts, colors or designs that evoke the past on their labels.
The move is a U-turn from labels cluttered with specific claims like “easy pour spout” or “better tasting” to packaging that
plays on the emotions. Over time, labels have gotten busier because computers allowed for complex designs and marketers
wanted products to stand out on crowded shelves.
“We got to the point where you couldnt add one more bling thing to a package,” says Christine Mau, director of design at
Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Kleenex and Huggies, among other items.
The retro movement is driven, in part, by consumer-goods companies feeling pressure from retailers private-label products,
which are generally less expensive. “Brands are saying, wait a minute, we invented that category,” so they are now
reminding consumers which brand came first, says Steve McGowan, executive creative director at Landor Associates, a
branding firm owned by WPP PLC that worked on the Tide and Downy retro designs.
Manufacturers also say they are hoping to benefit from consumers generally sunny impression of the past and stand out in a
sea of modern, glossy packages.
Describe the shift in the world economy over the last 30 years.
Answer:
In one word: China. China has only emerged into the world market in the last 30 years, and has become a major player.
Chinese workers will work in worse conditions for less pay than workers in almost any other country. China has since
become a major exporter, and has started to take control of a large slice of the world economy.
Additionally, the Chinese are doing things with economics that the rest of the world has never tried. Because they have
such a booming market economy, they are able to do things like charge the world's first export tariff, a tax exacted from
their own businesses that ship out a certain good (in this case, bamboo chopsticks) to a certain country (Japan). This is a
radical new solution to the problem of limited resources.
The Chinese are all over today's economy, which they were nowhere near 30 years ago. Another newbie to world trade:
India.
There are so many different aspects that have affected the world economyover the past 30 years, however I think
one of the most notable shifts has been the emergence of China in global trade. You will notice that the majority of
products you have will contain the inscriptions 'made in China'displayed on it. The country has become a major
contributor to the economy. This in turn has affected the other positions of the other countries around the
globe. For example, in China workers will be willing to work for less money in poor conditions which is not
generally the case in the other countries you mentioned.
Recession
The most recent recession affected the globe on a whole, with the United Kingdom and the United States being
affected hugely. They have always been major players in the economy however, after the crisis both countries
were forced to make cuts and unemployment rose. In addition, the value of the dollar and the British
pound dropped rather heavily.
Switch from the West to the East
Some have suggested that the recession which was ultimately caused by the Western countries of the world, has
kicked off the financial shift from the West to East. If you consider places such as Dubai, which bring in a huge
economy in terms of the tourism industry then you can understand why these countries are becoming more
financially powerful. In addition, the Middle East has access to oil which contributes a lot to the world
economy since the globe requires this type of natural resource.
Reference:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Describe_the_shift_in_the_world_economy_over_the_last_30_years._Wha
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