A third of the adult population feel they do not have enough time. Different factors, single or in combination, turn them into time savers – professional and family responsibilities, voluntary work, media usage, and also an increasingly wide choice of activities and leisure pursuits. Time savers are a very challenging target group: they include an above-average number of women, people in full-time employment and in large households. They are young, have high incomes, a wide variety of interests, high levels of consumption and are interested in innovative products. They participate simultaneously in a wide range of activities. They spend less time in bed. And they change their patterns of consumption. They buy different types of product from different types of store, and keep themselves informed through a variety of different media. Considered against this background, the megatrend to convenience which has been a prominent feature for many years, turns out to be a megatrend to save time.

The GfK 2004 Conference approached this target group from a variety of different angles: a representative survey designed by Prof. Dr. Günter Wiswede, had been be supplemented with special analysis from the GfK Consumer Panel.

Initially, Prof. Dr. Christa Wehner looked at the time saver target group. How are they structured? What is important to them when they go shopping? Where are they buying and what are they buying? These were only a few of her themes.

Then Dr. August Oetker demonstrated how Dr. Oetker, the leading German food manufacturer, exploits the megatrend to convenience in its marketing.

Next, Dr. Peter Haller addressed the question of how to communicate effectively with time savers.

Finally a panel discussion, moderated by TV presenter Anne Will, comprising the speakers and Dr. Klaus L. Wübbenhorst, examined these issues in greater depth.