WPP has just released the 2009 TGI Product Book.

The survey reports usage data for 63 countries covering 52 product categories with data drawn from a total of more than 700,000 respondents.

The free short version is pretty high level stuff, mostly just market saturation figures for FMCG’s as reported by Global TGI. It nonetheless is a handy resource to have at your disposal when you need to know which country has the highest percentage of beer consumption (answer: its Sweden at 78%).

Global digital agency Razorfish recently launched their 2009 edition of FEED, their annual study charting how technology is changing the way consumers engage with brands: http://feed.razorfish.com/

The three biggest points I took away from the survey and analysis were:

:

2009 is the year of the “fan.” According to our study, nearly 40% of consumers reported having “friended” a brand on Facebook and/or MySpace and 26% have followed a brand onTwitter. The myth of marketing-free social spaces is just that. The “dialogue” between brands and consumers is not only frequent, but also welcome.

Digital experiences not only build a brand, they can also make or break it. For those brand marketers still neglecting (or underestimating) digital, it’s as if they’ve shown up to a cocktail party in sweatpants. Invariably, consumers will choose to converse with a savvier—and hopefully more stylish—partner.

Engagement creates customers—not just through social media, but across the entire digital channel. And, more importantly, it drives returns to the bottom line. As a result, marketers will need to rethink not only how they reach potential consumers but also what type of experiences they are creating to engage them. Now “clicks” and “impressions” mean far less than conversations and brand behaviors. In our opinion, it’s about time.

The full report (and the survey data for your own anysis) is available at http://feed.razorfish.com/