Who won the Super Bowl’s battle of the brands?
A study by Chicago-based Information Resources, Inc. shows that this year’s Super Bowl was a success overall for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retailers. IRI Pulse: Super Bowl XXXVI, part of a series of ongoing studies around noteworthy trends in the CPG industry, examined supermarket sales of food products during the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Supermarket dollar sales were up 6 percent versus prior year, as more consumers likely enjoyed the game from home, rather than going out - a general trend evident since the 9/11 tragedy. Quick, easy, at-home meal solutions, such as frozen pizza and frozen seafood gained major yardage (up 16 percent and 22 percent respectively versus last year). Comfort foods, including chocolate, ice cream, and sherbet scored double-digit growth rates versus last year.
Standout performances were noted within each major category as determined by incremental dollar sales during Super Bowl week versus the previous three-week average:
- Carbonated beverages benefited from fantastic runs by new products, such as PepsiCo’s Pepsi Twist (+35 percent), Diet Pepsi Twist (+28 percent), and Mountain Dew Code Red (+24 percent).
- Within beer/ale/alcoholic ciders, seasoned players Corona (+38 percent), Bud Light (+36 percent), and Budweiser (31 percent) were clear winners, while relative rookie Smimoff Ice (+34 percent) also had a strong showing.
- Salty snacks’ all-pros include Wavy Lays (+77 percent), Lays (+52 percent), Tostitos (+46 percent), and rookie Tostitos Scoops (+46 percent).
Each year a battle plays out off the football field in the aisles of retailers nationwide. Major players from the CPG industry compete to gain ground in Super Bowl party planning and shopping. There is a lot at stake, particularly for carbonated beverages, beer/ale/alcoholic cider and salty snacks, which top the list in driving incremental sales during Super Bowl week.
IRI Pulse Super Bowl XXXVI examined supermarket sales of food products during the week leading up to the Super Bowl. Using lRI’s InfoScan Reviews Advantage syndicated retail tracking service, the study compared supermarket sales of 289 product categories for the week ending Super Bowl Sunday with each category’s average weekly sales for the prior three weeks.
Mangers aren’t managing
A recent Maritz Poll reports that 21 percent of American employees would fire their boss if they could. Moreover, the inclination of employees to give their boss the pink slip is strongly linked to their overall perceptions of senior management.
For the statement, “Senior management’s words are consistent with their actions,” 53 percent of those who disagreed or strongly disagreed also said they would fire their boss; however, only 5 percent of those who strongly agreed said they would fire their boss.
Overall, there is no statistical difference between the percentage of men (21 percent) and women (22 percent) who want to see their boss fired.
Martiz Poll is a national consumer opinion survey conducted periodically by St. Louis-based Maritz Research. The January 14-17 telephone poll featured responses from 1,002 randomly selected adults (502 females and 500 males) from throughout the United States.
The survey also asked employees a series of questions about their workplace environment and company leadership, and tabulated those findings against those who reported they wouldn’t fire their boss. Among the findings:
- Of employees who said that satisfying the customer was not the primary focus of the company, 57 percent would fire their boss.
- Of employees who said fellow employees at their work were not on the same team and working toward the same goals, 51 percent would fire their boss.
- Of employees who said they were not provided with materials and resources and needed to best perform their job, 50 percent would fire their boss.
- Of employees who said they were not satisfied with the way the organization communicates with them, 49 percent would fire their boss.
- Of employees who said that they didn’t know exactly what was expected of them in their role, 46 percent would fire their boss.
Managers are not much more gracious than non-managers regarding the boss-firing proposition. Eighteen percent of those who supervise people want to see their boss fired, compared to 23 percent of non-managers.
Energy researchers fighting uphill battle
Is market research preparing the way for energy companies to meet customer needs in a restructured environment where customers will have a choice of energy suppliers? A survey of market research professionals in energy companies suggests the answer is no.
According to a majority of market researchers surveyed, market research is valued less in the energy industry than other industries and fails to receive the respect it deserves in their company. Obstacles to market research include the absence of top level-buy-in to market research and the existence of "old line, regulated attitudes."
Although energy industry deregulation has not yet arrived in most states, the survey reveals that it has already had a profound influence on market research. Internal reorganizations, rethinking of business plans and strategy, expectations for quicker research results, and changes in staffing levels are some of the impacts on market research associated with restructuring, according to survey respondents.
The demands associated with restructuring have taken a toll on market researchers themselves. Two-thirds of respondents say their market research department is understaffed and 60 percent feel they are overworked. Only 37 percent of respondents believe they have sufficient time to get everything done.
These are some findings from a national survey of energy market research professionals conducted by Schulman, Ronca, and Bucuvalas, Inc., a New York research firm. "The survey results indicate that many market researchers in the energy industry face tremendous challenges," says Carla Jackson, vice president and national director of energy research at SRBI. "While industry restructuring has increased interest in market research at many companies, staffing and resource issues have also impacted the ability of market research departments to meet the demands upon them."
Amidst the negative trends revealed by the survey, there is also some cause for optimism. A majority of market research professionals working in the energy industry report that appreciation for market research has increased among senior management in the past five years. On balance, more, rather than less resources, are allocated to market research in these companies compared to five years ago. And twice as many market researchers in the energy field see growth, compared with retrenchment, in utility market research in the next three years.
Other findings of the study include:
- One-half of respondents have encountered obstacles in conducting market research within the past year, including the lack of financial resources. Less than one-half of respondents are optimistic that these obstacles can be overcome.
- Two out of three market researchers indicate that their department has been involved in an internal re-organization within the past three years. Among these respondents, 61 percent have experienced more than one reorganization.
- More than one-half of respondents are distracted from their primary function by other issues.
- Approximately 50 percent of respondents are concemed about job stability and energy-industry mergers.
The survey was conducted anonymously by mail in fall 2001. Thirty-two percent of the 295 energy market researchers surveyed retumed questionnaires. SRBI will be repeating the survey in 2002 to identify industry trends.
Study of kids’ Internet use shows big differences by age, gender
According to a recent study conducted by KidzEyes.com, an online research panel operated by Chicago-based C&R Research, American kids between the ages of 6-14 spend about an hour (59 minutes) on the Intemet each day. Not surprisingly, older kids tend to spend more time on the Intemet than younger kids. On average, 12-14-year-olds spend 70 minutes a day, 9-11-year-olds spend 56 minutes a day, and 6-8 year-olds spend 40 minutes a day online. Interestingly, girls begin spending more time on the Intemet at earlier ages. Girls between the ages of 6-8 spend an average of 48 minutes per day on the Intemet while boys at the same age spend only 34 minutes per day. As kids get older, the difference narrows, but girls continue to spend more time (73 minutes per day) on the Intemet than boys (66 minutes per day).
The activities that kids partake in while on the Intemet differ across age groups and gender as well. Younger kids tend to use the Intemet primarily as a source of entertainment in the form of online games. Older kids, however, use the Intemet for a variety of purposes: as a means of communicating with friends, a way to get information, and a source of entertainment. Game-playing dominates kids’ use of the Intemet, among both boys and girls, until about the age of 10 or 11, after which the activity drops off sharply, especially among girls. Seventythree percent of kids between the ages of 6-8 report that their No. 1 use of the Internet is playing online games. Between the ages of 9-11, this figure drops to 43 percent, and by the time kids are 12-14, only 19 percent say that playing games is their primary use of the Internet. Older kids (12-14), especially older girls, are more inclined to use the Internet for e-mail and instant messaging than for playing games. In fact, girls between the ages of 12-14 are twice as likely as their male counterparts to send instant mess ages: 64 percent of girls aged 12-14 reported sending instant messages as compared to only 31 percent of their male counterparts. Finally, while parents may hope that their kids are using the Intemet to conduct research for their homework, only 11 percent of kids indicate that this is their chief use of the Intemet. Nonetheless, nearly three quarters of kids claim to use the Intemet at least"some of the time" for schoolwork.
Kids aged 6-14 claim to visit an average of seven Web sites during the course of a typical week. As kids get older, the number of sites they visit each week increases. Kids 6-8 years old visit an average of four sites weekly, kids 9-11 years old visit seven sites a week, and kids 12-14 visit an average of 10 sites a week. Overall, boys and girls claim to visit roughly the same number of Web sites weekly, but older boys between 12-14 years old tend to visit slightly more sites per week than girls of the same age with boys visiting about 12 per week and girls visiting 10 per week.
Speaking of Web sites that kids visit, Yahoo.com was the top search engine among kids, followed by AskJeeves.com and Google.com. When asked to name their most favorite Web site to visit for fun, kids crowned Nickelodeon.corn as the king of kids’ Web sites. Other favorites included: Disney.com for both boys and girls 6-8, Cartoon Network.corn among boys 6-11, Nick Jr.com and Barbie.com among girls 6-8, Zoog Disney.com among girls 9-11, music sites like MTV.com and launch.corn among girls 12-14, and sports sites like WWF.com and ESPN.com among boys 12-14.
And what does the future hold in terms of today’s Internet generation kids? Web-hosting companies take note: over one-third of today’s kids plan to have their own Web site in the future. That figure represents a significant increase from the 11 percent of kids who currently maintain their own Web sites. Interestingly, today’s Intemet-using girls are more likely than boys to build their own Web site: 27 percent of girls 12-14 have their own Web site compared to only 16 percent of their male counterparts. But the news may not be as good for providers of broadband Intemet access.
Very few kids (18 percent) have even heard of broadband Internet access, which may be problematic for broadband providers. Since broadband
enhances online game playing, fostering awareness of broadband access among kids may hold the key to driving adoption of this otherwise expensive Internet service among households with kids. The study was conducted among 890 children nationwide with Intemet access and examined kids’ usage of, experiences with, and attitudes about the Internet.
Beef still what’s for dinner
Year-end demand data indicate consumers’ appetite for beef remains strong, with preliminary figures showing consumer demand in 2001 up 5.7 percent compared to 2000 levels, according to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
Year-end gains were driven by a strong fourth quarter, despite the fact that the U.S. beef industry was facing record beef supplies, softened exports to key international markets, and a downturn in the nation’s economy during the last few months of the year.
According to Chuck Lambert, chief economist for the NCBA, demand gains in the last few months of the year reflect the fact that the industry sold large beef supplies at strong retail prices. "Fourth quarter beef production reached 6.7 billion pounds, which is nearly 3 percent larger than the same quarter one year ago. That combined with softer exports means total domestic beef supplies for the quarter were record large," Lambert says. "At the same time, average retail beef prices were slightly higher compared to the same time last year. When we sell more supply at steady prices or better, we will see increased demand."
The industry plans to keep pace with consumers’ busy lifestyles by helping manufacturers bring more consumerfriendly products to market. Just a few years ago, the industry helped introduce a new category of fully cooked beef products that could be heated in the microwave and ready to serve in minutes. Sales for these types of products have increased 100 percent since 1999, and annual sales for the category topped $116 million as of October 2001 (ACNielsen, Fresh Look Marketing, October 2001). This type of innovation helped spur an influx of new beef products to the supermarket channel. According to January 2002 findings from Productscan Online, an online database service of Marketing Intelligence Service, Ltd., roughly 1,100 new beef products were introduced at the retail level in the past three years.
The industry also is using checkoff funds to help introduce new beef items on restaurant menus. Taco Bell recently launched its new Steak Quesadilla and will be working with the beef industry and state beef council partners on a nationwide promotion of the product through March. The Taco Bell Steak Quesadilla is the third steak product the 6,300-unit chain has introduced in the past 12 months. Its previous two steak items - the Grilled Steak Taco and the Steak Grilled Stuft Burrito - helped move more than 27 million pounds of steak in 2001.
Also related to overall consumer confidence is the number of consumers who feel good about the nutritional value of beef. A January 2002 NCBA/Wirthlin Worldwide consumer survey found the percent of consumers who consider beef as a healthful part of the diet is up slightly from December 1998. Consumers perceived beef steaks and roasts to be significantly more healthful than pork chops and roasts, and consumer perceptions about ground beef is improving. The percentage of people who rated ground beef as healthful is up three percentage points since 1998, with 90 percent lean ground beef being perceived as the most healthful of all beef segments.