Mintel in the Media – this week's highlights

For Jules Verne’s characters, Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, it took 80 days to circumnavigate the globe. Here at Mintel, it took only a week for our research to make the same journey. Once again, our data has achieved widespread international recognition.

To start with, our research on cosmetics was used by The Independent in an amusing “make-up map” of Britain. Apparently, women in Newcastle buy more moisturiser than anyone else in the UK, while women in Manchester purchase the most nail varnish. “I think stereotypes exist for a reason,” said Vivienne Rudd Head of Beauty and Personal Care Insight “I am not saying that all the women in the North-West and North are the same as you see on the reality TV programmes but there is a grain of truth there, that the women in these regions do like to be seen to have a flawless appearance.” On the same story, Vivienne was also quoted on The Huffington Post and ITV Loose Women Show.

We also enjoyed some amazing finance coverage, as our intelligence about a resurgence in plain vanilla credit cards appeared in Creditcards.com, while The Wall Street Journal and Fox Business quoted Andrew Davidson, Senior Vice President at Mintel Comperemedia referencing our credit card direct mail numbers and Reuters quoted us as saying that “about three quarters of all card offers in the first quarter of 2012 involved a reward program.”

In the meantime, our Director of Retail Research, Richard Perks, was interviewed by Channel 4 News, ITV News, Channel 5 News, Bloomberg and BBC Radio Humberside on Tesco’s plan to spend £1bn to help revive its fortunes after revealing a drop in annual UK profits. He was also featured in the Mirror on the M&S slump in clothes sales in February.

Additionally, Lynn Dornblaser, our new product innovation “guru”, spoke with USA Today for an article about weird new flavors, such as bacon milkshakes and NPR used our data to illustrate the number of new chia products launched in the last three years.

Also this week, our research on British leisure habits lead to an interesting question being asked in the press: given the choice between a red Ferrari or a shiny new bike, which would you chose? Among others, The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Times of India, Corriere della Sera in Italy and Bike Europe quoted our research which shows how wealthier mature British consumers seem to prefer cycling to driving expensive cars as a status symbol.

And with summer just a few months away, our latest research from Mintel Beauty and Personal Care – shows a trend towards pale complexion rather than tanned, due to a large number of consumers concerned about the damaging effects of the sun on their skin. The research achieved splendid media attention and appeared on RTL in Belgium, ANSA and Dire Donna in Italy, La Press and Canoe in Canada. Also on: Cosmetic News Portal, GCI and Beauty Packaging. More on beauty, Stylist magazine refered to our study on haircare in a piece on Kate Middleton and La Repubblica used our research to showcase the latest trends in the fragrance market.

Our US “Attitudes Toward Sodium” news release – that quoted Mintel’s health and wellness analyst, Molly Maier – got widespread attention and was picked up by QSR Magazine, Progressive Grocer, Food Technology, and Drug Store News, just to name a few. Molly was quoted as saying that “The relatively high incidence of dieting in the US is one key factor driving demand for low-sodium products.” More on food, the Express quoted our research on energy drinks in a piece on hidden calories in our diets and The Daily Telegraph used our research on goose fat usage in the UK. Another sweet piece of coverage was gained by Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight at Mintel Food and Drink. She was sought out by Supermarket News to discuss marketers’ efforts to attract more male consumers to buy chocolate for themselves, not just as a gift for a loved one.

Next up, our press release on the importance of local vs. organic produce continued to be of interest to journalists. This time, our insight was featured in The Palm Beach Post. Meanwhile, The Atlanta Business Chronicle highlighted our outlook for the burgeoning craft beer industry in a piece about the increase in craft beer producers in the Atlanta area.
Also of note, a Beverage Industry article quoted extensively from our Beverage Packaging Trends report to illustrate how drinks manufacturers can appeal to different consumer demographics just by choosing a certain type of box or bottle and Director of Research Consultancy, David Lockwood’s participation in a webinar on April 17th was highlighted by QSR Magazine. Also our newly appointed Global Packaging Analyst, Benjamin Punchard, was extensively quoted by Beverage Daily in a piece on the glamorous new Coke packaging, developed by Coke in collaboration with fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.

Closing out the week, we also appeared in: FM World which dedicated a piece on our London offices’ design and Gulf News on male grooming.