Mintel in the Media – this week's highlights

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Here at Mintel we celebrated the most romantic day of the year with an engaging story on lifestyles of British singles people. The research shows how men are missing romance the most – seven in 10 single British men (69%) don’t like being single compared to three in 10 (31%) single women. It received a massive amount of coverage in the media all over the world. It appeared in global media publications such as: the Daily Mail in the UK, Revista Galileu in Brazil, IOL in South Africa, L’essentiel in Luxemburg, Samara Today in Russia, ??????? ????????, ??????? ??????? ??????? in Ukraine and Ntvmsnbc Anasayfa in Turkey. Special thanks go to Alexandra Richmond, Mintel Senior Consumer and Lifestyles analyst at Mintel, and Catherine McColl, Mintel Inspire Trends Analyst. Together they braved London’s cold early morning weather to reach the BBC studios where they gave a series of interviews to BBC radio stations across the UK including BBC Radio Bristol, Cambridge, Newcastle, Manchester, Kent, Lincolnshire, Guernsey, Humberside, Scotland and Merseyside.

More on the gender divide, The Times (Bricks and Mortar) ran an exclusive story from our Marketing to Renters – UK – report. Indeed, according to our research, when choosing a property, women want a spacious house, a decent garden and parking facilities, while men prioritise being close to work and lower bills.

Onto a sweet topic, we were quoted in a piece by Bloomberg Business Week on Nestle trying to break into the chocolate premium market. The same story was then picked up by ????? ????? in Taiwan, Arendator in Russia and Valor Economico in Brazil. Again this week, Bloomberg quoted our Head of Personal Care and Household Research, Michelle Strutton, in a piece on Durex – one of the world’s top-selling brand of condoms – providing free condoms and information about safe sex to athletes at this year’s London Olympics. “It makes perfect sense to ensure young Olympians are fully prepared for all aspects of their athletic activities” said Michelle.

Mintel’s extensive international media coverage continued with a piece on Hotel Middle East (United Arab Emirates) on Magnolia Bakery to expand Mideast’s cupcake empire. Then, Condenast Professional (Spain) quoted our dedicated Beauty Analyst Kat Fay on teens’ make up habits: “Stars of reality like the Kardashians and bestsellers like Twilight and The Hunger Games are their referents. In this context, merchandising is a very useful tool for manufacturers when to bring the makeup and accessories to girls and adolescents, a game that parents find it difficult to keep their children outside.” said Kat. Also on beauty, Premium Beauty News referenced our research on the male grooming market in Europe, now valued at 6.6 billion Euros, an increase of just 8% since 2005. The same story was then followed up in the Chinese publication ????.

In the meantime, our Global Food Analyst, Marcia Mogelonsky, was asked by Bakery and Snacks to comment on the likeliest candidate for the acquisition of P&G’s Pringles. While Kraft was initially seen as the potential one, Kellogg closed the deal for $2.7bn and positioned itself as one of the strongest snacks businesses globally. “It opens up Asian markets for Kellogg, where Pringles are popular, and also increases distribution networks for Kellogg in markets beyond Asia (South America for example).” Marcia explained to Bakery and Snacks readers. More on the food business, BBC Radio 4 used our data on the increasing popularity of venison among British consumers. Moreover, Richard Perks, our Director of Retail Research, was quoted in a piece on high street retailing by The Independent: “It’s time we stepped back and ignored the media hyperbole,” reassured Richard. “The high street is not dying.”

Some alluring beauty coverage set off the week in the US, as our press release that focused on our Teens and Tweens Beauty Market report that quoted Kat Fay got the beauty industry talking. The story was picked up by Happi, Cosmetics Design, Beauty Packaging and Global Cosmetic Industry Magazine. Meanwhile, MediaPost Marketing Daily covered our press release about family/midscale restaurants and a second foodservice release we distributed on Tuesday that quoted Eric Giandelone and examined the pizza restaurant industry was featured in QSR Magazine, Nation’s Restaurant News and a second MediaPost article this week. Giandelone was quoted in yet another story that appeared on Loyalty360.com where he commented on restaurants using email offers to entice consumers to dine out.

Mintel Comperemedia also enjoyed a wealth of media attention this week with a variety of publications referencing our intelligence. The Wall Street Journal quoted our direct mail numbers in a story about the resurgence of personal loans while Bankrate interviewed Lisa Hronek for a piece oncredit card rewards that was later picked up by Fox Business. Additionally, Yahoo! Finance printed Mintel Comperemedia’s assertion that nearly 45% of offers for rewards cards sent in 2011 were for cash-back cards.

Also of note, US News & World Report used our lipstick sales figures for a story about unusual economic indicators while Beverage Industry quoted Sarah Theodore for an article about children’s beverages and Restaurant Management sought out Kathy Hayden for her opinion of the skinny cocktails market. Our gluten-free GNPD product launch numbers were included in a Baltimore Sun story, while The Daily Telegraph -Business session- mentioned our research on saving and investing.

Closing out the week on a frivolous note, Mintel’s research on the vest market in the UK was mentioned by the Daily Mail in a humorous piece about a photo of Victoria Beckham posing under a gigantic poster of her husband David on a New York street – looking like she’s holding his “golden balls”. The photo, which was posted on David’s official Facebook page, quickly got more than 18,500 “likes”.