How to access and use Mintel: a quick start guide to finding market research reports

A new video clip is now available explaining how to access and use the e-resource Mintel on and off campus and how to do a basic search to find market research reports.  View it here:

FAME and Mintel training 2012

Not sure where to look for UK company information and market research reports?  Want to find out the turnover and profit of Tesco or get a market report on online grocery retailing?  Come to a FAME and Mintel training session to find out more.  

• Wednesday 31 October 2012- FAME/Mintel training 
• Sessions begin at 11am, 12 noon, 1pm 
• In the Marylebone Library Training Room (ask at the Library counter for directions)
• Turn up to any of the sessions, no need to book

If you can't make the session check out the below links for help and support:
FAME:
http://westminsterbusinessstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/fame-featured-e-resource.html

Mintel:
http://westminsterbusinessstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/how-to-access-and-use-mintel-quick.html

How to access and use Mintel: a quick-start video guide

FAME & Mintel: training sessions 2011

This week on the blog we will be adding a series of posts relating to Mintel and FAME, such as how to access them off campus, how to navigate them etc.  These two e-resources are used for finding market research and UK company information respectively.  To keep updated automatically please subscribe to the blog either via email or RSS (see links on left hand side of the blog).  

Upcoming training sessions for FAME/Mintel 2011: find out how to access these resources (on and off campus) and learn how to use them to find company and market information.

Classroom demos

Tuesday 1 November 11-12, 2011 Room: L195 (48 spaces)

Wednesday 2 November 11-12, 2011 Room L195 (48 spaces)

(the sessions are repeats so you only need to attend one)

Drop-Ins

During that week we will also be running drop-in sessions on “Using company and market tools (FAME/Mintel)” at Marylebone library.  The same information will be covered but there will be fewer spaces available than the classroom sessions.  Drop Ins will take place in Marylebone Library Training Room at 1-2pm from Monday 31 October to Friday 4 November 2011.  No need to book but space may be limited.

Topical pick: sweet like chocolate

Photo by Sifu Renka on Flickr.com used under the creative commons license

According to this report from the BBC life is looking sweet for chocolate-maker Thorntons as they have reported a rise in profits. The sale of Cadbury to Kraft foods has also left chocolate (melting) in the spotlight recently. If you are interested in this hot topic, there is plenty of research to be done:

~Find out about the UK chocolate market, including its size, share and forecast from the Mintel report 'Chocolate confectionery- UK- April 2008', which includes a new market re-forecast. 
~Get a company report for Thorntons PLC on the financial database Fame
~Find out how much UK households spend on confectionery from the latest Family Spending report from the National Statistics.
~Borrow the book "Cadbury’s purple reign : the story behind chocolate’s best-loved brand" by John Bradley from Marylebone library. 
~Explore Cadbury's advertising techniques by viewing memorable ads such as the creme egg ads via the ad archive database Creative Club
~Research how the Kraft-Cadbury tale out played out in newspapers and journals by searching the databases Business Source Complete and Factiva for articles. 

And that's just the start.....

Christmas sales!

It already seems like a lifetime since Christmas but how did retailers fare over the Christmas period? Mintel have just released a webinar presentation on just this topic, entitled 'False Dawn'. To find it log into Mintel via InfoLinX, select the 'what's hot' tab and click on 'Economy in Crisis'. This also links to related reports such as 'Christmas shopping habits -UK- January 2010'.

Mintel's 'Market Size' Blog

Mintel's blog contains interesting snippets of market research news. Recents posts have been on the subject of the iPad, 3D entertainment and pay TV. Find the blog here: http://gmn.mintel.com/blog/
Also follow Mintel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mintelnews