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It's no secret that the cost of higher education is skyrocketing. College and university tuition rates are up, budgets are down, and more and more students and their families are finding themselves shouldering mountains of debt just to be able to hang that prized diploma on the wall. The issue is serious enough that it warranted space in this year's State of the Union address, with President Obama drawing a line in the proverbial sand on college and university officials' responsibility to make tuition more affordable. Government assistance, he said, would only be given in exchange for institutions' own efforts ...
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More often than not attempts at combining my Mintel life with my musical life tend to end in carnage, written warnings and a general feeling of unease. The infamous Wu Tang Clan influenced Christmas party DJ set, the attempt at replacing our Greensleeves hold music with a Gaba / Punk cover of Hold On I'm Coming and the poorly received Musical Speedos being a few examples. So asking me to provide the music for the new Mintel animation showed either great faith and vision from the Marketing team or just how tight the budget had become. Putting music to a ...
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According to the National Student Survey, 83% of final year students were satisfied with the quality of their university course. I can't say I'm surprised at that. Are they really thinking about the quality of the course at that that point? Are they best placed to judge? I don't think so. Not at this stage of their lives anyway. Ask the same questions 5 or 10 years after graduation then you might get a better picture. Only then will they be able to properly reflect on what their university education has done for them. The real test of satisfaction for ...
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Last week I attended a talk by Tom Chatfield author of Game Inc. and big time thinker on technology and its it cultural impact. Aside from my musings on how his brain fits inside a normal human skull (surely he must have a hard drive where he stores some of that knowledge,) it was interesting to hear some supporting arguments for an emerging trend on Mintel Inspire. The trend "Switch Off" looks at the tyranny of connectivity and suggests that consumers need some time off, some privacy and reconnection with the real world. Tom took this one step further and ...
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The 2011 Mirren New Business Conference was nothing short of a huge success. Agencies large and small were in attendance, getting up to speed on the latest best practices for pitching and growing their businesses. Mintel played a huge role in the show and we were happy to network with some of the best in the industry. On Monday, we helped support the Live Pitch Competition. Teams competed on a campaign for a new Nestle Lean Cuisine product for men. Using Mintel data and expert analysis, they were able to back their pitches with data. (That's what we do after ...
