Follow Chad Keffer on Twitter at @AppMonkey1

People in the media business know that research gathered from local stations, regardless of medium, are without a doubt skewed to show that particular station or group of stations in the best light possible.

I can confidently state that people watching is one of my favorite past-times. It’s not just the hilarity of the public’s appearance and actions that peak my curiosity, but the actual thought process that led up to their choice, decision or action. I recently witnessed someone dip their finger  and taste every single salad dressing at a salad bar. No lie.

A recent research study by Nielsen revealed that the decline in television viewing has leveled off while other media continues to rise in usage. This means a few things: 1) Television is not dying (it never was) 2) Overall media consumption is on the rise. Much of the average person's free time today is being spent consuming media.

According to the Marketing to Moms Coalition, e-mail is the #1 online activity by mothers with children under age 18 -- a full 85% do so. No surprise there, but some other media habits in the report include:

OfficeMax just announced that they have come to realize that women are the primary purchasers of office supplies and are redefining their target as females 28-45.

For almost a year, we’ve harped on the opportunity that exists for the aggressive marketer in a down market. This recession now has its first case study. Wal-Mart increased spending $300 million in 2008, according to TNS, who measures ad spending nationally. 

Are you planning to implement a customer satisfaction survey with the obligatory 15 questions that don't really get to the root of what you're trying to find out?

Last month we asked if you felt that there was a significant difference between a man born in 1954 and a woman born in 1983. 98% agreed that the difference is great... For years, our media department has criticized traditional demographic cells as irrelevant.

You may recall from our November ’07 issue of Good Vibrations that we suggested that Braum’s could drastically improve their sales by merely providing better customer service. Here’s validation to that sentiment: