Quick-service grew fast in Vegas
According to Port Washington, N.Y., researcher the NPD Group, Las Vegas was the fastest-growing market for quick-service restaurants in 2006. The NPD ranking is based on the percent increase in restaurant units from 2004 to 2006, among the 39 largest markets in the country. The top five fastest-growing markets for quick-service restaurant units (of the top 39 largest markets in the U.S.) from 2004-2006 were: Las Vegas; Phoenix; Charlotte, N.C.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Raleigh, N.C.
As of 2006, 57 percent of Las Vegas restaurant units are quick-service (six percentage points above average). Quick-service operators in Las Vegas appear to be attracting important consumer groups, mainly adults 35-49 years old (23 percent of Las Vegas’ population) and consumers from households earning a total annual income of $75,000 and above (29 percent of Las Vegas’ population).
Another reason why quick-service restaurants may be doing so well in Las Vegas is that customer loyalty appears to be higher than in other markets. Loyal consumers who “always/regularly go there” ranked 20 percent higher for Las Vegas quick-service restaurants than the top 39 markets. ”We hear a lot about the development and caliber of fine-dining restaurants in Las Vegas,” said Julie Travis, product manager of the NPD Group. “However, there is also a large portion of the restaurant community that is expanding to meet residents’ and tourists’ needs for convenient, affordable and diverse meal options.”
It is not just traditional categories that are gaining ground. Specialty-oriented restaurant concepts are leading the pack; 87 new units were added for quick-service gourmet coffee/tea in the past two years. In comparison, quick-service hamburger, pizza/Italian and Mexican added 59 units combined during this time.
Sony turned to research to fine-tune its holiday offerings
A December article from the elitestv.com Web site reported on Sony Electronics’ wide use of research in developing products for the 2006 holiday season.
Through a variety of research initiatives, including surveys, focus groups, on-site interviews with customers at 
various locations, syndicated and communications research, metrics tracking and customer relationship management, Sony asked consumers what they expected from its products. “We want to combine consumer insight from market research with strong engineering minds to market innovative products that consumers will want to give as gifts,” said Chris Gaebler, vice president of marketing and strategy for Sony Electronics in the U.S. “This research is essential for us to continue to provide products that bring joy to people’s lives. We want our customers to know they have a voice and we are listening.”
According to Gaebler, consumer feedback led to key product design or marketing changes that made certain products more appealing and user-friendly. For example, consumer focus groups in the U.S. reviewing a preliminary design for the Sony Reader found the multitude of buttons made navigating a bit difficult, and that the alkaline batteries originally specified to power the unit were cumbersome. Sony engineers made changes based upon this input in the final design, including replacing alkaline batteries with rechargeable ones, and a simpler button configuration.
Sony television designs benefited from consumer feedback as well. Consumer research helped the company determine the sizes to manufacture of its rear-projection televisions as well as which colors were most popular for its BRAVIA LCD TV color bezel options.
More than 850 consumers tested Sony’s new mylo personal communicator, providing feedback through focus groups and an online survey. This information helped determine the target consumers for the product, how they would use it, what features they would use, what additional features they would like, and whether the purpose of the product is clear.
Learning about consumers’ lifestyles was also important to product development. For its latest line of Cyber-shot digital cameras, Sony researched how consumers share their digital photos, including how they print, store and download them. Focus groups were also used to help determine which colors the cameras should be made available in. As a result, red was offered as a color option for the DSC-T50 Cyber-shot model.
Feedback from women customers, who now represent more than half of the consumer electronics purchasing power, was extremely beneficial to Sony, especially in readying the SonyStyle stores, which were designed with the female shopper in mind, for the holiday season.
“Consumer Research Guides Sony Product Design for the Holidays,” www.elitestv.com.
Perhaps research can help Sony recover from this blunder
In a cautionary tale for marketers everywhere, PROMO Xtra’s Betsy Spethmann reported in December on how Sony Electronics was forced to shut down a stealth blog for its PSP video game system after a nasty backlash ensnared Sony and its agency, Zipatoni.
The blog was heavily criticized in its own comments section and on other gaming-related sites for trying to dupe consumers into thinking that its fictitious author, Charlie, and his Cousin Pete were real.
In comments at the site, gamers bristled at the blog’s hip-hop slang and an intentionally amateurish video that showed the two 20-something white men rapping about getting a PSP from mom and dad for Christmas.
The site, AllIWantforXmasisa PSP.com, went dark on December 14. The video continued to reside on YouTube, where Sony first seeded it and at least a handful of YouTube visitors reposted it.
Sony and Zipatoni were outed on the blog itself by tech-savvy critics who reportedly found the blog’s registration data through an online search and tracked it back to Gregory Meyerkord at Zipatoni.
Users posted Zipatoni’s name and address on the blog itself, and site visitors had a heyday slamming the agency and Sony for insulting gamers with a fake - and lame - blog that made it look like PSP’s core user could be a grown man who speaks a ridiculous mix of hip-hop and high-tech slang and asks his parents for a gaming system.
Critics also blasted the site for pretending Sony wasn’t behind the blog, and for blocking words like “marketing” and “advertisement.”
Some comments even lambasted the tagline on Zipatoni’s own Web site, “Active Consumers. Activating Consumers,” with jabs like: “How many consumers has this Web site activated so far?” A “response” video on YouTube took Zipatoni to task for “Sony’s failed attempt at viral marketing,” splicing cuts from the blog and from Zipatoni’s Web site and telling Sony, “We’re not that stupid.”
“Sony and Zipatoni Blasted Over Stealth Blog,” PROMO Xtra, December 16, 2006