I don’t usually read InStyle any more, but the August issue held some unique tipping points, such as Rhianna’s tatoos which are some of the most alluring and well done I’ve seen to date.

That’s not to say there is anything wrong with the other type, but Rhianna gives us chickens (those who have yet to committ to getting one) some designs that allow for a certain amount of rebellion and discretion at the same time.

There are other methods now too if you don’t actually want to have your skin permanently altered by getting a real tatoo; clothing now exists to give an impression of some really heavy duty tatoos (this is interesting), Ed Hardy apparel for one, and Sleeves Clothing for another; but perhaps the most telling sign that tatoos have gone mainstream and has options is in the crafts section of Wal-Mart. You can get tatoo art to put on your skin that will of course wash off.

Where to go from here? Transfers to fabric so you can do your own style of tatoo clothing (we need the paints for that too)…I’m just sayin’.

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If you’re like me, and from what I’m reading you are, you’re in stores shopping for back to school, spending some of that stimulus check and trying to make up for what you haven’t been spending your money on for the last six months (that’s if you reside in the U.S.) or are just in the stores now because it’s that time of year.

Nonetheless, most, if not all of us, are still looking for that crystal ball to shine the light on where the next fortunes, improvements and or significant changes will take place for the forseeable future.

For 2008 and 2009 and beyond, number one on my radar as well as others will be the U.S. Presidential Elections. It may or may not make a difference, but then that is the 64 thousand dollar question, isn’t it?

Following that, my other big number question is who will be spending the money, where and on what? These are the kinds of questions I like to ask and then to answer as well. Fortunately the info I get provides those answers, and believe it or not, it’s been a fairly consistent set of answers to the questions over time.

Take for instance: Boomers alone account for 78 million people in the US and control more than 83% of consumer spending. Some 40% of the US population is over 45, with 50% market growth projected in the next 15 years. Boomer spending is expected to surpass $4.6 trillion by 2015.

So given that these are the numbers that have been being touted by most research companies over the years for at least the last decade, why is it that so many manufacturers, publishers, companies with services in general, and trade associations keep searching for that eternally damned fountain of youth? Which by my count is fickle, not too reliable in terms of numbers, and right now are the ones hurting the most.

It’s funny, but I find that many if not all companies have in fact and indeed geared their marketing and their product programs toward the youth market, ignoring the above set of numbers re Boomer spending, and therefore have all ended up in the predicament the market is in, hurting as well.

Just an observation. But a good one. The latest research to surface re the teen market is that while kids and parents are shopping earlier for back to school, their purse strings are loosest in the electronics isle (big surprise there…NOT), while holding the line on basics. Maybe that’s why back to school programs in the retailers this year look so dismal, and focus primarily on school supplies. In the majors who hold the greatest share of the BTS/BTC market, Target, Wal-Mart & Bed Bath Beyond, I’ve had to look hard to find what would have been considered a strong BTS/BTC program statement in years past. This BTS/BTC year, I’ve had to look around to grasp what if any statement had been made. That’s different.

With Back to School and Back to College being a fairly large segment for me as an industry this is saying a mouthful though hardly suprising. But, that said, like investment portfolios it’s wisest to be diversified. All the companies I have done consulting for have a nice back to school business (that is, yes, a moving target in terms of revenue) as well as their core businesses which hopefully right now are being focused on international markets in some vein.

For more on this topic, contact me about kimbro’s “International Markets Now” report for the latest findings on where to be for what….if that alone doesn’t suffice, I can answer the how also.

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I didn’t take a long vacation over the 4th of July, it’s just been an incredibly busy (oddly enough) July. Much of my spare time has been reviewing what is going on with American and world politics right now, which is as fascinating a read as some of my favorite pieces of fiction (wonder what that means?). Since this isn’t a political blog, I won’t get into it, even though it’s hard not to.

However, I am watching the other things going on that do represent this country and how it’s being played out on the world stage, not the least of which was InBev’s buyout of Anheuser Busch (below post). Being in St. Louis I felt the impact especially hard and have heard the nightly news and our regions reactions to the buyout, which even though the buyout turned out to not be hostile, the reaction to it has been.

But as these things often go, there are many people who are going to be very rich as a consequence of the buyout and face it, Anheuser Busch has been one of the last to go. For that we commend them. The beer industry in general though has been hard hit due to the beverage market expanding into way more options than just beer and the consumers appetite switching from beer to wine and hard spirits.

Mojito anyone?

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So the Belgium brewer InBev will now own Anheuser Busch and America’s favorite beer, Budweiser, whose mascot, the Budweiser Clydesdales, is as synonymous with bits of Americana as the Saturday Evening Post covers done by the famous artist Rockwell, representing America at some of her finer moments, were/are.

And just as certainly as well as impossibly there came an end to that landmark American publication, there will be no more American Budweiser beer per se now that it’s part of a European beverage giant’s portfolio. One thing is always for certain, change happens.

Well you can take the beer out of America but you’ll never take the America out of the beer. “>America, this Bud’s for you.

From Superbowl 2006

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Like “>this in a lot of towns and cities right about now….

Have a great 4th. I’m off to the town parade!