LOOK For singles only

According to Euromonitor International, by 2020, the number of single-person households globally will rise to 331 million or 15.7% of total households. The USA will have the highest number of single-person households in the world at 36.3 million followed by China (31.6 million), Japan (18.2 million) and India (17.4 million) in 2020.Closer to home, the proportion of singles among the resident population in Singapore rose from 30% in 2001 to 32% in 2011.  Correspondingly, the proportion of married persons declined from 62% to 60%.The truth of the matter is, the number of single/unmarried people around the world is increasing and they are a force to be reckoned with as they have one of the highest spending powers, due in part to more women joining the workforce and the rise in living standards.And a few brands have been quick to catch on, as they focus their marketing strategies on this group of high-spending, lovelorn consumers, most of whom have one thing on their minds, and that is to find the love of their life.Here's a sampling:1. The love train(Photo credit : Telegraph UK)  Prague's transport operator Ropid wants to introduce singles-only carriages for travellers to meet potential partners. "In the metro you can already read and learn, so why not find a partner?", said Filip Drapal, spokesman for Ropid. 2. Love in the air(Photo credit : Jetstar)  Love was really in the air last Valentine's Day when Jetstar nabbed the opportunity to partner Australia's online dating service for singles called RSVP. It flew 24 RSVP competition winners to the Gold Coast, which included an inflight speed dating session. 3. The love boat(Photo credit : Norwegian Cruise Line Facebook) Who said only couples can go on a romantic cruise? Norwegian Cruise Line begged to differ. It instantly kicked the idea of double -occupancy cabins out the window by offering ‘Studio Staterooms', designed specifically for solo travellers. Besides that, it also offers nightly get-togethers. Now this is what we call the love boat. 4. Put a ring on itTo take a leaf out of Beyonce's book, jewellery company De Beers Diamond introduced The Right Hand Ring campaign to either single or married women who want to buy a ring for themselves. De Beers, which usually targets couples, changed its focus to reach out to empowered, independent women, single or not, with the message, "Women of the world, raise your right hand'. 5. Drive with loveIn December 2011, Honda in the US launched the Leap List campaign with the idea of encouraging people to make a list of 10 things they want to do first before taking a big leap of life. One of the TVCs shows a man proposing to the woman of his dream, only to be told that she has other things she needs to achieve first, one of which is to own a CRV. Ain't that sweet?  6. Log on to loveThere's no shortage of online dating websites. One of them is online magazine/dating site Nerve.com, which incidentally came up with a morbid ad directed by O Positive. It featured a ghostly boyfriend encouraging his grieving girlfriend to move on with her life. Although it's no Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore kind of affair, the dating site is obviously moving away from the typical boy-meets-girl ad to strike a chord among those who are still mourning about a past love.So who's single and ready to mingle?