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Alcohol flavoured popcorn….

November 3, 2016By Mike Hohnen

Alcohol flavoured popcorn is to be sold at late night screenings of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Halloween.

Sambuca and Irish Cream flavoured popcorn will also be available at Odeon cinemas in Kingston-upon-Thames, Newcastle, Leicester, Glasgow, Southampton and Coventry.

The chain says a standard box of the popcorn will contain less alcohol than a single liqueur chocolate.

Spokesman Richard Storton, said: “Feedback from customers was that they’d like more choice of popcorn flavours and alcohol flavoured popcorn turned out to be a popular request. We’ll obviously only be limiting it to 18 certificate films, strictly for adults only!”

If the popcorn proves to be a hit, Odeon says it will consider trialing other popular alcoholic flavours.

In addition to alcohol popcorn, customers were asked what other flavours they’d most like to try. Among the favourites were fish and chips, pesto, vanilla and strawberry cheesecake flavours.

Source: https://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_833466.html?menu=news.quirkies

The Price is Right

April 21, 2016By Mike Hohnen

Consumers, with schizophrenic buying habits–spendthrifts on some products, tightwads on others–are part of a growing trend, says Michael Silverstein, a senior vice president and director for the Boston Consulting Group. “They’re willing to pay a premium price for products and services that possess higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration–but are not so expensive as to be out of reach,” he says. Silverstein uses the term “new luxury” to describe these products. Think Starbucks coffee, Aveda shampoo, Victoria’s Secret lingerie, BMW cars, and Viking ranges–all of which command a pretty penny and engender fanatical customer loyalty.

Silverstein and his former BCG partner, Neil Fiske, have been studying this phenomenon, which they term “trading up,” for the past 10 years, during which they have analyzed more than 30 categories of consumer goods and services and surveyed 2,300 consumers about their buying habits. Their new book, Trading Up: The New American Luxury (Portfolio, 2003), documents their investigation into the forces driving this trend and profiles companies that have cracked the code to success in this market.

read the full article: https://pf.fastcompany.com/magazine/76/priceisright.html

European beer drinkers paying more

November 3, 2003By Mike Hohnen

– Premium beers are taking the European market by storm as consumers continue to dig deep into their pockets for a drink which offers them a little more than the standard brew. But this is not the only segment showing growth.

Total beer consumption in Europe rose by less than 3 per cent last year, but both the premium and super-premium segments grew more than 10 per cent, despite an overall downturn in consumer spending.

Metrosexual – a new marketing segmentation buzzword

October 31, 2003By Mike Hohnen

He loves Armani, is seen just as often near a catwalk as competing in sport, confesses an adulation for Kylie Minogue, even designs his own jewellery. But he’s not gay.

So Ian Thorpe told Australia in a radio interview last November. With interests outside the domain of the traditional Aussie macho male, Thorpe talked about his sexuality for the first time. He was flattered that the gay community identified with him, he said, but he was, in fact, heterosexual.

“You know, I’m a little bit different to what most people would consider being an Australian male,” Thorpe told ABC Radio. But he’s not that different at all. Men – of all sexualities – are taking a greater interest in their appearance. They go to hairdressers rather than barbers, avoid using soap because it’s too harsh on their skin, visit the gym instead of playing sport and even have difficulty deciding what to wear.

They’re spending their time differently…
[Read more…] about Metrosexual – a new marketing segmentation buzzword

Targeting the aging baby boomers

April 21, 2016By Mike Hohnen

In as little as three years? time, older consumers will have become the mainstream market in the UK, accounting for over half of expenditure on food, drink and household products – a revelation that has significant implications for food manufacturers who must ensure that they cater for this increasingly important sector of society.

WI-FI in restaurants and coffe shops

October 29, 2003By Mike Hohnen

Nobody seems to doubt the usefulness of Wi-Fi for the modern mobile worker – though some suggest portable may be a better phrase than mobile.

But semantics aside the one question few appear to be raising relates to the locations companies are choosing. Trains and planes make perfect sense, for obvious reasons, but some businesses appear to be undermining their very business models by jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon.

Retailers feed low-carb diet frenzy

April 21, 2016By Mike Hohnen

Powerhouses like Kroger Co., 7-Eleven Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and others are throwing their weight behind low-carb products, hoping to boost their bottom lines while shrinking those of their shoppers.

Restaurants like the Vineyards Cafe in Farmington Hills are drawing crowds for their low-carb sandwiches. They are ideal because the sandwich is wrapped in lettuce instead of bread, said Vineyards owner Ron Asmar.

“It’s so filling it’s unbelievable,” said Asmar, a former yo-yo dieter who has been on a no-carbs regimen for five years.

Trading Up: The New American Luxury

October 23, 2003By Mike Hohnen

Restaurants are responding to a powerful consumer trend: a desire for fresh, made-to-order food, delivered quickly, at prices just above those at fast-food eateries, and served in an atmosphere that makes customers want to hang around.

Panera is one such example that has been spotlighted recently in the book Trading Up: The New American Luxury, by Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske, based on studies by the Boston Consulting Group about the changing preferences of middle-income consumers.

The consultants define “new luxury” as the willingness of those with average household incomes of $50,000 a year to pay higher prices for select higher-quality products that give them emotional satisfaction. In a recent survey of middle-income Americans, the consulting group found that 85 percent said they spent more for premium-quality products. The reasons vary, but they boil down to: It makes them feel better and makes their lives more enjoyable.