Mintel in the Media – this week's highlights

Everyone knows that food prices, employment rates and consumer confidence all fluctuate with the health of the economy, but did you ever consider that your taste in music is affected by it? Our director of Consumer Trends, Alex Smith, spoke to Marketplace Radio about that very topic. Alex pointed out that the new interest in electronica-style dance music is a result of Americans wanting to lose themselves in thumping bass lines. “It’s put-your-headphones-on, tune-the-world-out music. It tends to be really upbeat. And it really makes sense, when times are tough, you’re going to want to turn to that type of music.”

Next up, Advertising Age used our frozen meals sales figures for a piece about the stagnant frozen dinner industry, while Fox Business put together a slide show to showcase the five countries that eat the most ice cream using global consumption figures that appeared in our ice cream and frozen novelties press release from earlier this month. Other great coverage included a mention in the Cincinnati Enquirer that utilised our ever-popular black haircare data.

Also of note, our press release about the luxury goods market, which found that the Asia Pacific region is the largest regional luxury goods market in the world, got amazing coverage across the globe, appearing in the Wall Street Journal Marketwatch, Bloomberg Businessweek and CNBC. Moreover, it was covered in high profile Chinese media, such as ??? and ???. Still in China, BBC China quoted our research which showed that 81% of UK employees hope to escape the routine of their nine-to-five activity.

Meanwhile, Mintel Comperemedia data and insight appeared in a CreditCards.com story that discussed unchanged credit card interest rates, as well as a piece on NASDAQ that covered Discover’s new policy of offering consumers a no penalty rate.

When it comes to food and drink intelligence, Mintel continues to be sought out, with our name appearing in several articles. Our story about the use of the word “premium” on restaurant menus continued to have the media talking, this time appearing in Business Insider and Yahoo! Finance, while QSR Magazine featured more menu data for an article about the booming breakfast restaurant segment. Our Foodservice analyst Kathy Hayden was interviewed by Nation’s Restaurant News where she discussed restaurant deals from sites like Groupon. Fitness Magazine highlighted our insight into HFCS consumption for a profile of the hidden meanings behind food labels and Prevention Magazine mentioned our seed and nuts sales figures to illustrate the health differences between chia and flax seeds. In addition, the Palm Beach Post used our sweetener intelligence to point out that sugar holds a 52% market share of the sweetener industry.

Meanwhile, our coffee consumption data appeared in Convenience Store Decisions while a second story in the same publication referenced our Convenience Store Foodservice report to point out the popularity of frozen beverages at c-stores. Functional Ingredients quoted our NPD figures to illustrate the recent increase in high-satiety food and drink, while Grocery Headquarters used information from our breakfast cereals report to examine how frequently consumers read cereal labels (73% read the cereal box, 67% are looking for high fiber and whole grains).

Over in the UK, our watches and jewellery research had some great global coverage. Starting with the UK media, the story was featured in The Daily Mail in an article titled “Is it time up for watches? One in four prefers to rely on their mobile or tablet”. Our research showed that more people are turning to electronic devices to check the time and the trend is expected to continue in line with rising ownership of mobile phones, with 93 per cent now owning a handset. The story was also featured in the Daily Express, The Independent, Herald Sun, and Shortlist. Moreover, it appeared in: Yahoo! India, Times of India, The Hindu, MSN, IBN Live, India Today, Web India, and Hindustan Times in India, CN Yes News in Taiwan, Adelaide Now, News.com in Australia, Khaleej Times in the United Arab Emirates, and The Times of Oman in Oman – just to name a few.

Also of note, our research on fast food trends appeared in Yahoo! Finance Australia, Yahoo! Finance Singapore, and Yahoo! Finance Canada. In addition, our Senior Research Analyst for the Chinese market, Tan Heng Hong, was quoted by Food Navigator Asia on breakfast cereals in China.

Onto the nation’s leisure pursuits, The Huffington Post UK reported on how Cineworld is announcing three new cinema sites following Blockbuster results. Michael Oliver, Senior Leisure and Media Analyst at Mintel, told Huffington Post that despite a 20% price rise in tickets between 2007 and 2011 (and bear in mind that’s 6.1% higher than inflation rose those years), people still consider the cinema to be an affordable treat. And as the summer comes to an end, the BBC featured Mintel’s data in “The ups and downs of garden trampolines,” as a recent survey by Mintel found that 49% of four to 15-year-olds trampoline, while 23% do so regularly.

And to conclude the week, we were delighted to announce the appointment of Emmanuelle Moeglin as Mintel’s new global fragrance analyst. Our announcement was picked up by Cosmetic Design Europe, GCI Magazine and Perfumer & Flavorist.

The following week began with a fantastic credit for Mintel, highlighting the weight of our research in an article about the rise of women. The Independent spoke about how magazine articles, newspaper columns and Mintel-style surveys have long mapped the changing economic dynamic between the sexes. Meanwhile, plus-size clothing research is always a favourite with the media. This time it was highlighted in The Sunday Times (Style mag) which spoke about how British men are getting fatter. According to Mintel, a whopping 1 in 5 men now wear plus-sized clothing.

Still with men, but this time beauty, The Daily Telegraph used our fragrance research in – Lidl’s £3.99 ‘designer’ aftershave put to the test. Lidl is entering a very crowded and large area, with the UK male fragrance market worth about £350 million. Mintel’s research calculated that of 788 new fragrances launched in Britain last year, 152 were male ones. The same story featured on Yahoo.com. Meanwhile, The Sunday Times quoted our hair salon data, confirming that while women’s visits to the hairdresser have decreased since 2007, the male market has remained rock steady.

Following on from our hugely popular wine press release, The Daily Telegraph ran a high profile piece on rising wine prices. Price increases in Italian and Spanish wines will have a significant effect on shoppers as wine from those two countries accounts for about a quarter of sales in the UK, according to Mintel, the research company. The same story was featured  in Yahoo!Finance in Italy. Meanwhile, our China beer data continues to prove popular in the media, this time it was quoted in Bloomberg which said retail beer sales in Thailand may reach $3.52 billion, compared with $36 billion in China.

Onto retail, where our Retail Director Richard Perks was quoted in The Huffington Post talking about Tesco’s latest set of results. He explained, “I think the biggest problems are in the UK and they seem to have turned the corner there.” Meanwhile, our savings research was quoted in The Sun in Captain Crunch.

Finally, on a subject close to the hearts of many British women – shoes, which were the topic of interest in the Financial Times. Almost a quarter of all respondents said they bought new shoes because they were on promotion. But the socio-economic results suggested they aren’t necessarily financially constrained consumers, so how can retailers change.

Over in Thailand, The Nation quoted our China beer report. Overall retail beer sales in Thailand may reach US$3.52 billion (Bt108.4 billion), compared with $36 billion in China, according to market research company Mintel. And in Vietnam Thanh Niên Online quoted men’s usage of sun cream in Nh?ng thói quen gây h?i cho nam gi?i the same story was featured in Health 24 in South Africa.