Research Tips (1): Published market research

The first thing to do in researching a leisure market is to find out if the work's already been done for you!

Published market research (MR) reports from UK companies like Key Note or Mintel will provide, at the bare minimum:

• Market sizes, growth trends, market segmentation

• Consumer statistics: penetration, profiles, attitudes (for original research)

• Supplier analysis: major companies, brands shares, distribution channels

• Strategic discussion and forecasts (including economic context)

Expect to pay at least £400 for a detailed report (eg Key Note's Betting & Gaming 2006 £420) although Snapdata has filled a gap with more basic reports, UK and international (eg Brazil Beer 2006, £150).

Any Web search for published MR will immediately highlight UK publishers. This isn't a "push" by the search engines, just a recognition of how highly developed MR publishing has been in the UK since the 1970s, particularly in a European context. Major publishers like Euromonitor and Datamonitor are leading international sources of business information.

All these well-established publishers pre-date the MR report portals like Marketresearch.com, where a Quick Search on the home page for "UK Beer" comes up with a dozen reports, mainly from the publishers mentioned above but also some drinks specialists (eg Canadean). Apart from the cost of these reports, the main problem is that you are lucky to find a report published within the last twelve months, so some updating (sales, mergers etc) is almost bound to be necessary.

Karen Blakeman's site (www.rba.co.uk/sources/mr.htm) is an excellent starting point for finding published reports.

Magners - the fashionable drink from Ireland

Magners has been the big drinks success of the last few years but its makers, Ireland's C&C Group, will be aware that fashion is a big element in drinking patterns among young adults across the British Isles.

For many UK drinkers, Magners filled the gaping hole in the market left by the end of the fashion for the alcopops, PPS (premium packaged spirits) or RTD (ready to drinks). In other words, Bacardi Breezer, Smirnoff Ice, WKD and the like. Remember Hooper's Hooch, the 'alcoholic lemonade' of the mid-1990s?

Brand fashion has even tweaked established markets like ale, where Caffrey's (also marketed as 'Irish', interestingly enough) had an extraordinary run of success in the 1990s.

Whether cider is back for good as a stronger category is debatable. The cider market has fluctuated over the decades. In their day, the designer ciders (Diamond White, K) were the 'brand in the hand' favourites. But drinks companies will have noticed the old-fashioned advertising for Magners. This has a quality message - "Magners Irish Cider: time, dedicated to you" - rather than the usual quirky, comic positioning for a beer or cider.

Where to next in fashion drinks? Apart from C&C, the biggest UK cider makers (Bulmers, owned by Scottish & Newcastle, and Constellation Brands) will do their best to keep the cider momentum going, but who is to say what comes next for a revival? Ginger wine, anyone?