BizResearch

Olympics 2012: The Economic Impact Market Assessment 2012

Source: Key Note

Extract from Executive Summary

The economic impact of the Olympic Games on London is the focus of this Key Note Market Assessment; this will be analysed using figures for tourism and hotels from the three previous Olympics, as well as taking into account other significant issues such as transport and security. This report mainly focuses on the economic impact on London during the Games period, with some mentions of prospects for the economy after the Games is over. However, it must be noted that the pre-Games activity, which has been in motion since 2005, has also had an economic effect, such as through investment expenditure, preparatory costs and the potential loss of benefits from projects that may have occurred in London, but were displaced in favour of the Games

The Olympics is set to display London and the UK on the world stage in the summer of 2012, but whether any immediate or future benefits occur as a result of the Games does not appear certain yet. There have been past success stories for previous Games, with the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics being touted as a prime example of economic success as a direct result of it hosting the Games. However, the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal did not prove as economically viable, with Olympic debts the city ran up going unpaid for almost 3 decades. A great deal depends on the reception the Games receive in the UK by the population; although traditionally increases in outbound travel are seen in host countries during Olympic years, the people of Britain may decide to welcome the Games and celebrate its arrival in the UK, thus spending money which would boost the economy.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: ThomMck

The State of the News Media 2012

Source: The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism

Extract from Press Release

More than a quarter of Americans (27%) now get news on mobile devices, and for the vast majority, this is increasing news consumption, the report finds.  More than 80% of smartphone and tablet news consumers still get news on laptop or desktop computers. On mobile devices, news consumers also are more likely to go directly to a news site or use an app, rather than to rely on search — strengthening the bond with traditional news brands.

While technology may be adding to the appeal of traditional news, technology intermediaries are capturing even more of the digital revenue pie. In 2011, five technology giants generated 68% of all digital ad revenue, according to the market research firm eMarketer — and that does not include Amazon and Apple, which make their money from devices and downloads. By 2015, roughly one out of every five display ad dollars is expected to go to Facebook, according to the same source.

Social media platforms, meanwhile, grew substantially over the last year, but still play a limited role in daily news consumption. Only about a third as many news consumers follow stories via Facebook as do so by going directly to news websites or apps or by using search, according to new PEJ survey data released here. For Twitter, the proportion drops to less than a sixth as many.

These are some of the conclusions in the ninth edition of PEJ’s annual State of the News Media report.  The report is a comprehensive analysis of the major trends in news over the last year and includes detailed chapters on eight major media sectors — digital, newspapers, cable news, network TV, local TV news, audio, magazines and ethnic media. This year’s study also includes two new national surveys examining how news is consumed on different devices and the impact of social media on news, a special report on the state of community media and an examination of Native American media.

Click here to read more

Search for a New Business Model: How Newspapers are Faring Trying to Build Digital Revenue

Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism

Extract from overview

A new study, which combines detailed proprietary data from individual newspapers with in-depth interviews at more than a dozen major media companies, finds that the search for a new revenue model to revive the newspaper industry is making only halting progress but that some individual newspapers are faring much better than the industry overall and may provide signs of a path forward.

In general, the shift to replace losses in print ad revenue with new digital revenue is taking longer and proving more difficult than executives want and at the current rate most newspapers continue to contract with alarming speed, according to the study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Cultural inertia is a major factor. Most papers are not putting significant effort into the new digital revenue categories that, while small now, are expected to provide most the growth in the future. To different degrees, executives predict newsrooms will continue to shrink, more papers will close and many surviving papers will deliver a print edition only a few days a week.

The study involved 38 newspapers from six different companies providing highly granular data about their digital revenue and sales efforts—creating a robust series of case studies. The data sought were developed in consultation with the partnering newspaper companies after site visits and interviews with multiple executives. After collecting the data, researchers conducted follow-up interviews to confirm whether the findings reflected broader company performance. Those findings, in turn, were shared with executives from seven more companies to test how widely they could be generalized. All data was provided on the basis that it would be anonymous.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: DBduo Photography

Survey of Mining Companies: 2011/2012

Source: Fraser Institute

From publication web page

Since 1997, the Fraser Institute has conducted an annual survey of metal mining and exploration companies to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulation affect exploration investment. Survey results represent the opinions of executives and exploration managers in mining and mining consulting companies operating around the world.

The survey now includes data on 93 jurisdictions around the world, on every continent except Antarctica, including sub-national jurisdictions in Canada, Australia, the United States, and Argentina. This year, Missouri, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Laos, Mauritania, Morocco, Po land, Suriname, and the following sub-national jurisdictions from Argentina: Catamarca, Chubut, Jujuy, Mendoza, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, and Santa Cruz were added to the survey. South Dakota and Wisconsin were dropped.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Susanne Anette

Green and Ethical Consumer 2012

Source: Key Note

Extract from executive summary

The green and ethical consumerism market has changed significantly over the last decade, as have attitudes regarding the environment and ethical sourcing of products. As a result, a number of new products, ranging from items used in the home to transport, have been launched on the market to appeal to consumers who value the green and ethical qualities of the products that they purchase.

This report specifically examines the ethical food and drink, home, transport and holiday travel, fashion and beauty and finance markets. Overall, Key Note has estimated that total sales of ethically-sourced products in the UK reached £50.76bn in 2011. Furthermore, the market observed year-on-year increases between 2007 and 2011, with market value rising by 39.2% during the 5-year period. Despite this growth, however, factors such as the recession are believed to have dampened the market’s potential in recent years. This is principally because the price of ethical goods and services are often much higher than alternative products and, as a result, consumers were forced to put their ethical values on hold during the recession in order to save money.

Currently, new products, notably in the food and drink and beauty sectors, have helped to boost sales for the industry, as organic alternatives continue to become more mainstream. Retailers themselves have also implemented a number of changes, for example, by reducing their carbon emissions and waste output, in response to consumer’s opinion regarding the importance of the environment and sustainability. Furthermore, the purchase of second-hand clothing has become much more popular in recent years and has served to boost sales at clothing swapping events and charity shops. The fashion trend towards vintage clothing has gone some way in reducing the stigma previously attached to shopping at such outlets, and the purchase of second-hand garments and accessories is currently viewed as a much more ‘fashionable’ way to shop.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Twenty_Questions

The Sky Is Rising: A Detailed Look at the Entertainment Industry

Source: Computer & Communications Industry Association

From Press Release

Concurrent with the MIDEM music business conference in France today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association released a study it commissioned, “The Sky is Rising,” by Mike Masnick, who writes about technology policy for Techdirt and is founder and CEO of Floor 64. The economic report on entertainment over the past decade found that the entertainment industry grew 50 percent while consumer spending on entertainment also increased.
 
Some findings:

• Using numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the study charts how consumer spending on entertainment as a percentage of their household income rose 15 percent from 2000 to 2008.


• BLS data also show entertainment sector employment also grew 20 percent during that last decade and 43 percent for those identified as independent artists.


• According to MPAA, box office revenues grew 25 percent from 2006 to 2010 from $25.5 billion to $31.8 billion.


• Data from PricewaterhouseCoopers and iDATE show that from 1998-2010 the value of the worldwide entertainment industry grew from $449 billion to $745 billion.


• From 1999 to 2009 music concert sales in the US tripled from $1.5 billion to $4.6 billion


• Consumers’ choices growing as more movies are produced jumping from 5,635 films produced globally in 2005 to 7,193 in 2009.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flick: By ScypaxPictures

Digital Communication 2012

Source: Key Note

Extract from Executive Summary

The digital communications market is becoming increasingly vital to more and more people in the UK. The focus of the market is now predominantly portability and accessibility, and this is where any future growth in the industry will be attained. Traditional means such as landline phones are showing considerable long-term decline, while mobile Internet used on portable devices is becoming very popular in its infancy.

The market has quickly become a battle field between a handful of companies. Apple’s iPhone and iPad have become the market leaders in the premium category, while mobile phones and tablet computers running on the Google Android system have done very well in the mid-market, as have RIM’s BlackBerry phones and tablet computers. All of these devices have taken advantage of a good 3G network in the UK and many Wi-Fi hotspots across town and city centres.

Moving onto communications via the Internet, a large majority of residents in the UK use social networking sites as a means of communication. Consequently, this sector has recorded the largest growth in recent years. However, the only revenue generated from this sector comes from Internet advertising, and very little revenue is seen in the digital communications industry overall.

The future of the digital communications market will undoubtedly rely on more portable devices that are able to perform a greater variety of tasks. Video calls between mobiles could easily become commonplace when the new 4G Internet network is auctioned off by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the coming years, possibly late 2012. However, for now, consumers seem to be happy to invest in their digital communication usage despite a recent period of financial uncertainty which could continue well into the future.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr:  David Reber's Hammer Photography

Global Economic Crime Survey 2011

Source: PwC

PwC's sixth global economic crime survey examines the causes and effects of fraud worldwide, focusing on the growing threat of cybercrime. This year’s survey was completed by 3,877 respondents from 78 countries, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of economic crime available to businesses.

The report is divided into two sections:

• Cybercrime: Its impact on organisations, their awareness of the crime and what they are doing to combat the risks.
• Fraud, the fraudster and the defrauded: The types of fraud committed, how they are detected, who is committing them and what the repercussions are

Key Findings from the report:

• 34% of respondents experienced economic crime in the last 12 months (13% increase from 2009
• Almost 1 in 10 who reported fraud suffered losses of more than US$5 million
• Cybercrime now ranks as one of the top four economic crimes
• Reputational damage resulting from cybercrime is the biggest fear for 40% of respondents
• 40% of respondents don’t have the capability to detect and prevent cybercrime
• 56% of respondents said the most serious fraud was an ‘inside job’
• Senior Executives made up almost half of the respondents who didn’t know if their organisation had suffered a fraud

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: By AngusKingston

2011 China Luxury Market Study

Source: Bain & Company

Extract from Insights Article

According to findings from a new Bain study, sales of luxury goods in mainland China will grow overall by 25 to 30 percent in 2011, with more than 60 percent of purchases coming from new luxury customers. Strong sales in the first three quarters of this year in China are driving Bain’s luxury goods 2011 estimate, with a gradual softening seen for the fourth quarter, according to the study. Watches are the growth leader in the market, with a growth forecast of 40 percent for 2011, while shoes, cosmetics and fragrances will see growth rates near 20 percent. Growth rates in China continue to outperform globally; Bain finds that 2011 sales will be up by eight percent in the Americas, two percent in Japan, and seven percent in Europe.

While the majority of sales growth in 2011 is coming from new luxury shoppers, the share of growth from existing customers will improve to reach approximately 40%, according to the shopping intentions of the 2,000 Chinese luxury shoppers surveyed across Tier One to Tier Three cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. The study finds that China’s domestic market growth is still driven by new store openings. Bain saw a continued expansion into Tier Two and Tier Three cities, although the pace of store openings in China has cooled down in 2011. For a select group of luxury brands, the new store openings declined from 150 in 2009 and 160 in 2010 to an estimated 90 store openings in 2011.

A detailed recap of the study’s key findings is freely available from the Bain & Co website (pre-registation required)

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: dmoola

Risky Business

Source: Demos

Authors: Helen Burrows, Kitty Ussher

The creative industries are the UK’s ‘Cinderella sector’. While the economy is currently growing at a snail’s pace, there are very few conventional policy levers left for politicians to pull. One of the economic sectors with the greatest potential for growth is the creative industries – which include the music, fashion, video games, radio and TV production, and advertising industries.

But this success is put at risk by a combination of disinterest and misunderstanding. There is a persistent prejudice that the sector is inherently risky; that creative entrepreneurs are only in it due to their passion, not their business sense. This myth is dispelled in this pamphlet, which demonstrates that on average, creative enterprises are more likely to still be in existence after five years than other businesses. Their disadvantage is compounded by the Government’s myopia towards the sector. The system of SIC codes in economic reporting neglects the creative industries, leading to a lack of reliable information and sound policy for the sector.

Risky Business argues that a first step for government should be to develop a better understanding of the creative industries, through dedicating more civil servants to the sector and regularly publishing data on trends within it. This will help to encourage both appropriate policy and private sector investment, allowing the creative industries to realise their potential and make their maximum contribution to the UK’s economy

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: by ScypaxPictures

Beyond borders: global biotechnology report 2011

Source: Ernst & Young

The results highlighted in the report include:

Record-breaking profitability: Companies in the industry’s established biotech centers of Australia, Canada, Europe and the US had a record-breaking aggregate net profit of US$4.7 billion, a 30% increase from the previous year.

Aggregate funding rebounds: Companies in Canada, Europe and the US raised US$25 billion in 2010 — equalling the average for the four years before the global financial crisis.

Funding for innovation declines: In the US, large debt financings by mature, profitable companies grew by 150% over 2009. Conversely, there was a 20% decline in the amount of “innovation capital” for the sector, defined as total funding minus large debt financings.

More skewed funding: 82.6% of funding went to just 20% of US companies, up from 78.5% in 2009. The bottom 20% of companies raised 0.4% of funds, down from 0.6% in 2009.

Alliances remain strong, but not up-fronts: The total potential value of strategic alliances remained strong, totaling more than US$40 billion. However, up-front payments from partners to biotech companies dropped 37 percent to US$3.1 billion.

Deal-making slows: Merger and acquisitions (M&As) involving European or US biotech firms dropped sharply from 58 deals in 2009 to 45 deals in 2010, while the aggregate value of these transactions remained relatively flat (after normalizing the 2009 numbers to exclude the mega-acquisition of Genentech).

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Bonio

The Changing Landscape of the Aircraft Industry

The World's Industrial Transformation Series

Source:  Chatham House

Summary points from report

• Asia’s economic growth will exert a significant ‘pull’ effect in terms of manufacturing location for the aerospace industry and more Western firms will partner with Chinese firms, in particular.
• China has specific advantages not enjoyed by other challenger states, notably its
  large domestic aircraft market and exceptionally large pool of labour.
• Aerospace is different from other manufacturing sectors where latecomer strategies have been employed – and suggestions that Western producers will be supplanted may be misguided. Technological interdependence is increasing, making it more difficult for states to pursue autarkic technology policies.
• Aerospace is very reliant on other sectors for key technologies, and few emerging states show signs of having significant capabilities across a range of supporting sectors. Challenger states are thus using elements of national champion strategies while at the same time engaging in collaborative ventures with Western suppliers.
• These trends suggest that incumbent producers will continue to enjoy significant competitive advantages for some time.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Caribb

Global Top 10 Energy Companies Report

Source: Datamonitor

Extract from executive summary

The global energy industry had shown strong growth in recent years until it fell into a steep decline in 2009. Recovery is expected in 2010, with strong growth over the period spanning 2009–14.

The performance of the industry is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 13.2% for the five-year period 2009–14, which is expected to drive the industry to a value of $11,250.4 billion by the end of 2014. Comparatively, the European and Asia Pacific industries will grow with CAGRs of 11% and 13.5% respectively, over the same period, to reach respective values of $2,047.9 billion and $2,602.5 billion in 2014.

Industry definition: The energy industry consists of oil, gas, coal, and consumable fuels, and the energy equipment and services industries. The energy equipment and services industry values reflect revenues generated from the provision of equipment and services to the oil and gas industry, including contract drilling.

The oil, gas, and consumable fuel industry consists of oil, gas, coal, and related consumable fuels. Industry values reflect revenues generated from exploration, production, refining, marketing, storage, and transportation of oil and gas, and also from the coal and consumable fuels market. The coal and consumable fuels market is defined as revenues generated by the sale of coal for industry and power generation, but excludes the sale of metallurgical coal.

For the purposes of this report, the global market consists of North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Research highlights

• The global energy industry generated total revenues of $6,050 billion in 2009, representing a CARC of -0.1% for the period spanning 2005–09.
• The performance of the industry is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 13.2% for the five-year period 2009–14, which is expected to drive the industry to a value of $11,250.4 billion by the end of 2014.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: rbanks

Video Gaming 2011

Extract from Executive Summary

In 2010, the UK video games industry was worth £4.65bn — a 2.8% rise on the previous year. The market has seen consistent growth over the last few years, with the exception of 2009, when market value fell by 5.7%. This was principally down to a lack of new products and the economic crisis, which caused consumers to reign in their spending on unnecessary items, such as video games.

The range of consoles on the market at present has become somewhat stagnant in recent years and, as a result, the three main console manufacturers — Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft — have reacted by releasing extensions of their consoles that incorporate motion-sensitive technology, e.g. the Xbox Kinect. This new type of technology has proved extremely popular with consumers, although, a new generation of consoles will be needed in the next few years in order for market value to continue to improve.

Since their release in 2007, smartphones have increased in popularity and provided a boost to market value. The hugely successful iPhone and Android phone ranges have been the main reasons behind the accelerated uptake of mobile phone gaming. Thousands of games are now available to download for free, while others can be bought to download at the relatively cheap price of 59 pence (p) or more. Although this price is a fraction of the price of dedicated console games, the volume of mobile phone games sold is much larger.

The UK is one of the largest consumers and producers of video games in the world. It sits alongside the US, Japan and other European countries, as one of the highest spenders on video games. The UK is the leading force in terms of video games development in Europe, and is home to 48 of the world’s top 100 development studios according to games developer, develop100.com.

This report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr:  Michael Mistretta

The Future of Carbon Capture and Storage

The scientific evidence for climate change is abundant and irrefutable, as is the role that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can play in reducing emission levels. Despite calls to the contrary, CCS does not present insurmountable technical barriers. Only issues surrounding its commercial viability and the lack of credible policy incentives stand in the way of its wide-scale deployment.

Scope of this research

• A critique of the regulatory and policy framework proposed by the European Commission to drive the deployment of CCS across new fossil-fuel plants.

• Analysis of the wider EU 'green' policy landscape, how it lacks credibility and provides inadequate regulatory support for CCS.
• Reasons why the green 'New Deal' is a necessary but insufficient condition to drive a mass market transition to CCS.
• An objective review of the perceived limitations of CCS and the type of adaptive regulatory framework required to secure CCS' commercial deployment.

Research and analysis highlights

• Despite record growth in renewables, global emission levels will rise as fossil fuel power generation continue to dominate. CCS is the only technology option currently available that could allow abundant, flexible and entrenched fossil fuels to continue to be used for electricity generation without adding to the damaging effects of climate change.


• The potential for CCS is undeniable and stakeholders are competing to take the technological lead. However, the costs and risks of CCS - made more apparent by the lack of regulatory framework - stand in the way of its widespread deployment. It is unlikely that CCS will make a credible contribution without strong legislative and regulatory change.


• The potential for CCS is highest in Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece, based on annual levels of coal-powered generation. The benefits of CCS outweigh the liabilities, however, to implement CCS safely and economically requires an adaptive regulatory framework encompassing safety, investment, operation and responsibility elements.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The Power 100, 2011

Smirnoff has retained its position as the world’s leading alcoholic drinks brand according to the latest Power 100, the annual survey of the world’s leading drinks brands published by brand valuation and strategy consultancy Intangible Business. 

For this year’s survey nearly 10,000 brands in the spirits and wine sectors were researched. A panel of leading experts ranked each selected brand according to share of market, future growth, premium price position, awareness, relevance, heritage and brand perception.

Highlights from this year’s ranking:

Johnnie Walker remains the world’s leading whisky brand, despite slipping one place to number three in The Power 100, keeping it ahead in the whisky sector from Jack Daniel’s (6 overall), Chivas Regal (8 overall), Ballantine’s (10 overall) and Dewar’s (up two places to 14 overall).

Biggest climbers include Gallo’s E&J brandy, which climbs 16 places to number 48; Italian liqueur Disaronno, up 14 places to number 84, and Bombay Sapphire up 11 places to number 41

The biggest faller this year is Cointreau which drops 16 despite a slight increase in volume sales. The fall was due largely to the brand score falling 5% and the better performance of other featured brands. 

Pernod Ricard’s leading wine brand, Jacob’s Creek, also suffered this year – falling ten places - as a consequence of both declining brand score and volume sales which were among the greatest of wine brands featured.

There are only two new brands in this year’s ranking, Italian bitters brand Ramazzotti Amaro,  re-enters the top 100 this year having fallen out last year and Larios, the best-selling gin in Spain, enters The Power 100 for the first time at No.98.

The Power 100 2011 report is available for download from http://www.drinkspowerbrands.com/.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flicker: ilmungo  

Destination Music

UK Music has just published Destination: Music – the first study of its kind to scope the economic contribution of music festivals and major concerts to tourism throughout the UK.

The analysis, carried out by Bournemouth University’s International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, focused on live music events with capacities of 5,000 or greater. The analysis set out to determine how many people come to Britain from overseas for the primary purpose of attending a music festival or concert.

This ticketing data was then cross-referenced with individual festival surveys, tourism reports, economic impact assessments and music industry revenue data already published, to estimate the economic activity generated as a result of each type of visit. The calculation totalled estimations of both on and off-site spending for the duration of the visit

Drawing on unprecedented access to more than 2.5m anonymised ticketing transactions, the report’s main findings are as follows:

• Large-scale live music across all regions of the UK attracts at least 7.7m attendances by domestic and overseas music tourists
• Collectively they spend £1.4bn during the course of their trip
• This is a positive contribution of £864m (GVA) to the national economy and equivalent to 19,700 full-time jobs
• Although 5% of all music tourists come from overseas, they contribute 18% of total music tourist spending

From these findings UK Music has issued a list of recommendations to Government – including the implementation of a national live music tourism strategy, with the immediate goal of increasing the number of overseas music tourists. The research follows the Government’s Plan For Growth, published alongside the Budget. This specifically identified the UK’s creative industries and tourism amongst sectors with the greatest potential to drive economic growth.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: doop

Rethinking Music: A Briefing Book

This is a collection of papers presented to participants in the Rethink Music conference presented in association with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Harvard Business School.

Extract from first paper Rethinking music: a framing paper

The music industry has been in a state of significant flux for more than a decade as music consumption has shifted online. From one perspective, this shift marks the downfall of the recording industry. Fans have little incentive to buy albums when they can instantaneously illegally download songs from peer-to-peer file sharing networks and other sources. And, the attention of consumers is increasingly drawn from music to an enormous and growing array of competing media and entertainment products. According to an NPD group study, in the third quarter of 2010, only 16.5% of American Internet users over the age of thirteen purchased music.  When fans do purchase music, they would rather download individual tracks priced at $.99 than full-length albums at ten times the cost.  As a result of all these factors and more, the value of the global recorded music industry has declined by one-third since 2004.

On the other hand, the digital revolution brings new opportunities for growth and innovation in music distribution. There are now over 400 licensed digital music services worldwide, with thirteen million tracks licensed for digital use. Since 2004, the value of the US digital music market has increased by over 1,000% to around $4.6 billion. New companies, like Rdio and Mog, give consumers an alternative to piracy by allowing them to stream the music of their choice on-demand. A large percentage of the subscription and advertising revenue from these services goes directly into the pockets of artists, songwriters, labels, and publishers. Smaller artists, music’s new middle class, are leveraging social networking platforms to reach out to a global fan base. Through do-it-yourself distribution tools, artists can cut out middlemen and distribute music directly to their fans, earning more in royalties than they could have under traditional recording and publishing deals during the heyday of the compact disc. Some artists even raise money directly from their fans to support the production of new music.

To survive the digital transformation, all players in the music industry are rethinking music. Labels are rethinking their business models. Digital companies are rethinking channels of distribution. Artists are rethinking their relationships with fans and traditional sources of revenue. And, lawyers, academics, and policymakers are rethinking the legal landscape in an effort to meet the needs of creators and consumers in the digital age.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Curious_Gregor

The Mobile Entertainment Industry Outlook

Source: Business Insights

This report helps stakeholders to understand the dynamics of the mobile entertainment industry, recognize the emerging opportunities, and capitalize on these trends in the future. For each segment - music, video, gambling, and games - the report discusses market size, sub-segments, geographic segmentation, drivers, inhibitors, and major players.

Highlights

Business Insights anticipates that the global mobile entertainment industry will grow at a CAGR of 18.8% to reach $54bn by 2014 from a mere $19bn in 2008. The growth will be driven by smartphones, high speed mobile broadband networks, apps and emerging markets.

In 2009, the world’s largest market for the mobile entertainment industry was Asia Pacific, with more than half of global revenues (57%) generated in the region. It was followed by Western Europe at 21% and North America at 13%.

Features and benefits

• Access detailed analysis and revenue forecasts for the mobile entertainment industry by segment and region.
• Analyze key drivers and inhibitors to mobile entertainment industry growth.
• Identify and profile the leading players in the mobile entertainment arena.
• Analyze consumer trends and value chains that will shape the future of the mobile entertainment industry.
• Identify the business opportunities and challenges in the mobile entertainment industry.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: RafeB

Motor 150 Report

Source: BDO

Motor retail is the shop floor of the UK automotive industry, which has become an established and interdependent network of businesses with a combined annual turnover of £52 billion and a total workforce of 820,000. Within this workforce, around 640,000 are employed in the post-production businesses of motor retail, supply and servicing.

In this light, the Motor 150 Report – revealing the aggregated performance of a study group comprising the top 150** companies in the UK motor retail sector – is an important business barometer. As such, this report, which covers performance in the latest audited accounts and looks forward into the current and future accounting periods, does not specify or comment upon the individual performance of companies, except where it is relevant to explain a variance from the market norm or to highlight a fresh sector trend.

Our aim in producing the Motor 150 Report is to provide a considered insight into recent economic events and sector activity, the current and future dynamics of motor retailing, and to offer our professional views and advice for the future.

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Caitlinator

National Billmonitor Mobile Report

billmonitor is a bill analysis engine for mobile phone users. It analyses post-pay customers’ online bills to find out exactly how they use their phone, then analyses all the contract deals in the market before matching them to exactly the right contract so they pay no more than they should. billmonitor was founded by mathematicians in Oxford, who saw an opportunity to put maths to use in solving complex consumer choice problems such as choosing mobile contracts. It is an independent and impartial service that helps mobile phone users save money not only via its unique bill analysis but also through the UK’s only Ofcom-accredited mobile comparison calculator.

The results in this report are based on statistical analysis of 28,417 anonymised bills from customers with mobile contracts on O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile covering usage over the last 18 months. The analysis was carried out by the billmonitor team together with billmonitor's science advisers, Professor Chris Holmes and Dr Nicolai Meinshausen (both from Oxford University).

Selected Findings

The three main reasons why 76% of mobile subscribers are on the wrong contract wasting an average of £194.71 each per year

• 76% of UK post-pay customers are on the wrong contract, wasting on average £194.71 each per year
• 52% of those on the wrong contract are on a tariff that's too large for them, using on average just one quarter of their monthly calling allowance
• 29% of those on the wrong contract are on too small a tariff, wasting money on out of allowance calls, texts, data usage as well as other costs that could be reduced with a larger tariff

Click here to read the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Leo Reynolds

Internet & Telephone Banking Market Report

Extract from Executive Summary

The Internet and telephone banking market is one that is experiencing a period of dramatic change, both in terms of users and product. This time of change is expected to continue in the future, making for some exciting times in the industry. Internet banking has been the major success story in the industry. A number of new functions have become available to Internet banking for consumers, such as applying for a loan or extension of an overdraft. In the past, customers had to visit a bank branch to ask the bank manager for a loan, but now this can be done online in a much shorter period of time.

In terms of the number of Internet banking users, Key Note estimates that there were 45.1 million bank accounts registered to use Internet banking in 2010, up from 28.2 million in 2006. This rise shows how this part of the market is growing rapidly and banks need to be prepared for this figure to continue to rise, as Key Note has forecast that there will be 59.8 million bank accounts registered to use Internet banking in 2015.

Telephone banking is a market that is in slight decline. In 2009, the number of telephone banking users fell for the first time since its launch in 1989 and Key Note has forecast a small loss of accounts using telephone banking in 2010. This decline is forecasted to continue into the future.  Mobile banking will become much more accessible in the UK in 2011.

This Key Note report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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Breweries & the Beer Market

Extract from Executive Summary

The beer market is one made up of two clear sectors — lager and dark beer. Lager is a bottom-fermented beer and easily the most popular type of beer in the UK. Dark beer is also bottom-fermented and is commonly called ale, stout or bitter.

The lager industry is dominated by a small number of major multinational brewing companies, many of which have global reach. Over the past decade a number of new lager brands have been introduced by the multinationals which have had a varied reception. Brands that succeeded in the UK have helped the UK lager market to stay afloat during the recent global economic crisis, with market value falling by a rather subdued 2.8% since 2006. However, the dark beer sector has suffered slightly more, after dropping by 12.2% (in value terms) since 2006. Despite this, the dark beer sector is forecast to enjoy healthy growth of 9.6% from 2011 to 2015. This is due to the period of growth that national brewing companies, such as Greene King and Marston’s, have recently been enjoying. In addition, smaller, more local breweries have started to prosper due to the tax-break benefits afforded to such businesses.

The beer market has been the subject of much negative attention recently, with many worried about the increasing number of young people partaking in ‘binge drinking’. Reports of large-scale pub closures have certainly not helped, although sales of beer have remained relatively steady throughout the economic downturn, principally due to a good performance by the off-trade (sales in shops). This is mainly down to the cheaper prices offered on alcohol by off-licences and supermarkets, with many preferring to drink at home instead of in a pub or bar. Beer sold in supermarkets can be up to four times cheaper than identical products sold in bars or restaurants.

On top of pub closures, the industry is facing other problems, such as rising taxes and changes in the general attitude towards alcohol, particularly in relation to concerns over binge drinking and the effects on health that this can lead to. The taxes on beer in the UK are already among some of the highest in Europe, with further tax increases likely in the coming years.

On the whole, the beer industry has relatively limited prospects. Beer is always going to be in direct competition with wine, spirits and cider, as well as healthier soft drinks. The best that the industry can hope for is a modest yearly growth, as there is very little chance that the industry will see huge expansion in terms of consumer penetration and market value in the foreseeable future.

This Key Note report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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Digital Music Report 2011

Extract from Press release:

Source: IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry)

The report shows that consumer choice for accessing music via digital channels continued to grow in 2010. New easy-to-use subscription models, such as Spotify, Deezer and Vodafone, expanded to complement the hundreds of download services already available to fans. Record companies have also partnered with ISPs and mobile operators to offer music services in Ireland, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Digital music revenues grew by an estimated six per cent globally in 2010 to US$4.6 billion, accounting for 29 per cent of record companies' trade revenues in 2010.

Industry action is helping develop this legitimate business. Limewire, the biggest source of infringing downloads in the US, has been declared illegal and Mininova, a major BitTorrent site, shut down its illegal activities. The Pirate Bay was blocked by a court in Italy and its operators' criminal convictions were upheld by the Court of Appeal in Sweden.

Despite these developments, however, digital piracy continues to massively erode industry revenues, hitting jobs, investment in new music and consumer choice. The report comprehensively reviews the scale and impact of the problem. Notably:

• Fewer new artists are breaking through globally. Total sales by debut artists in the global top 50 album chart in 2010 were just one quarter of the level they achieved in 2003


• Traditionally vibrant music local industries, such as Spain and Mexico, are especially hard hit. In Spain, where music sales fell by an estimated 22 per cent in 2010, no new home-grown artist featured in the country's top 50 album chart, compared with 10 in 2003


• Jobs are at risk across the creative industries. Independent research in 2010 from Tera Consultants, backed by trade unions, found that 1.2 million jobs could be lost across the creative industries in Europe alone by 2015 if no action is taken to tackle piracy.

The full report can be freely downloaded from the IFPI website

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Next Gen. Transforming the UK into the world’s leading talent hub for the video games and visual effects industries

Authors: Ian Livingstone and Alex Hope

Source: Nesta (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) 

Abstract: This landmark report sets out how the UK can be transformed into the world’s leading talent hub for video games and visual effects.

At over £2 billion in global sales, the UK’s video games sector is bigger than either its film or music industries, and visual effects, the fastest growing component of the UK’s film industry, grew at an explosive 16.8 per cent between 2006 and 2008. High-tech, knowledge-intensive sectors and, in the case of video games, major generators of intellectual property, these industries have all the attributes the UK needs to succeed in the 21st century.

Yet, the sad truth is that we are already starting to lose our cutting edge: in just two years, it seems the UK’s video games industry has dipped from third to sixth place in the global development rankings.

Meanwhile, the visual effects industry, though still enjoying very rapid growth, is having to source talent from overseas because of skills shortages at home. That is mainly a failing of our education system – from schools to universities – and it needs to be tackled urgently if we are to remain globally competitive.

Click here to read the full report

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All together now: Improving cross-sector collaboration in the UK biomedical industry

Author: Louise Marston

Source: Nesta (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts)

Abstract: The biomedical science sector is a rapidly growing sector, and a source of economic growth for the UK, employing 143,000 people and generating over £30 billion in turnover. Encompassing pharmaceuticals, medical technology and medical biotechnology, it is a high-tech and highly innovative sector, closely linked to the research excellence of UK universities.

It is an industry where the UK is objectively one of the world leaders, but our role is not secure. As pharmaceutical companies change their R&D strategies to a new, more outsourced model, and other countries improve their scientific infrastructure, we need to change to keep up. However, there is an opportunity to raise our game by building better connections between the assets we already have.

This report presents new data on the impact of collaborative working, showing that biomedical academic papers that are co-published with industry have greater citation impact than purely academic papers.

Click here to read the full report

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The State Of Mobile Investing

Authors: Bill Doyle, Peter Wannemacher

Source: Forrester

Executive Summary

Mobile is the hot channel these days. A number of investment firms have developed mobile apps, and many offer dedicated mobile Web sites. Consumer adoption is ticking up: Today, 11% of investors are mobile investors. But the road to widespread mobile investing adoption will be bumpy, thanks to low interest among nonadopters and the challenges of multiple mobile platforms. Though downloadable apps command a lot of attention today, Forrester believes that the mobile Web will remain a critical delivery method for the foreseeable future. As use of mobile investing and trading grows — driven by a continuing flood of smartphones and increasing consumer comfort — mobile channel managers at investment firms will succeed by prioritizing key functionality like access to current balances and holdings. Smart channel managers will also choose a single platform to focus on for testing and piloting downloadable apps.

Access to Forrester via the library databases area of Portal (requires email username and password).  Individual user accounts are available to current London Business School students and faculty, please use the registration form on the A-Z list of library databases.

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Global Top 10 Energy Companies Report

This report forms a part of the Datamonitor's product series titled "Datamonitor Top 10 Industry Players". It aims to provide both quantitative and qualitative analysis on the top 10 energy companies' and energy industry data, and trends across energy industry sector

Scope

Analyze the global top 10 energy companies and global energy sector including the market value, market share, market segmentation and growth forecast

Assess the intensity of the competition in the sector using the Porter's five forces model, understand the major issues,& predict the key growth areas

Investigate the top 10 players' SWOT, and access their five-year financial analysis

Peruse descriptive profiles of the leading players, including details of the strategic initiatives undertaken in the last two years

Highlights

• After a strong growth in recent years, the global energy sector fell into a steep decline in 2009 with total revenues of $6,050 billion, representing a compound annual rate of change (CARC) of -0.1% during the period 2005-09. The Americas and the Asia Pacific dominated the global energy sector in 2009, capturing a collective share of 53.1%.


• The top 10 global energy companies have witnessed a sharp revenue decline during 2007-09. Exxon Mobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, and Chevron Corporation recorded highest revenue decline at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12%. The decrease in revenues was primarily due to decline in general economic conditions.


• The performance of the industry is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 13.2% for the five-year period 2009-14, which is expected to drive the industry to a value of $11,250.4 billion by the end of 2014.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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Pharma 2020: Supplying the Future

Supply chain, the link between the laboratory and the marketplace, needs a thorough revision: Most pharma have complex supply chains that are under-utilised, inefficient and ill-equipped to cope with the sort of products coming down the pipeline. This new report predicts that in order to meet the demands of a fast evolving marketplace and the shift from patient to outcome, the pharma supply chain will need to undergo a radical overhaul.

Numerous forces are reshaping the environment in which the industry operates and dictating the need for a different sort of supply chain: By 2020, the more diverse product types and therapies with shorter product lifecycles; new ways for assessing, approving and monitoring medicines; increasing emphasis on outcomes; new modes of delivering healthcare where the care is pushed into the community and where access to information on patients will become as important as the products themselves; the growing importance of emerging markets; a greater public scrutiny impacting the ability to manage risk and compliance; and, tougher environmental controls and regulations will oblige companies to strategically reassess their supply chain approach.

Timely access to various emerging technologies will increase the efficiency of the manufacturing and distribution functions: New technologies are emerging to help pharma companies manufacture a wider and more complex range of medicines, distribute them and also to speed the interface with the patient and getting closer than ever.

Collaboration between the parties involved in the healthcare provision will contribute to make the industry more efficient: The supply chains for designing, manufacturing and distributing pharmaceuticals and medical devices plus those providing healthcare services will integrate so that all partners can see the full picture and help them plan ahead more accurately and cost-effective.

The full report can be downloaded from the PwC website (pre-registration required)

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British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010

This report presents results from the British Gambling Prevalence Survey (BGPS) 2010. This is the third nationally representative survey of its kind; previous studies were conducted in 2007 and 1999. The aims of the BGPS 2010 were to provide data on participation in all forms of gambling in Great Britain, the prevalence of problem gambling, attitudes to gambling and to explore a range of associations with gambling behaviour.

The 2010 study is the first in this series to be conducted after the full implementation of the Gambling Act 2005. Therefore, a further objective was to, where possible, provide some comparisons pre and post implementation of the Gambling Act 2005. Overall, 7,756 people participated in this study.

Selected Highlights

• Overall, 73% of the adult population (aged 16 and over) participated in some form of gambling in the past year. This equates to around 35.5 million adults. This represents a return to rates observed in 1999 (72%) and an increase from the rate observed in 2007(68%).


• Excluding those who had only gambled on the National Lottery Draw, 56% of adults participated in some other form of gambling in the past year. Comparable estimates for 1999 and 2007 were 46% and 48%. This highlights a significant increase in past year participation on other gambling activities, such as an increase in betting on other events i.e., events other than horse races or dog races with a bookmaker (3% in 1999, 9% in 2010), buying scratchcards (20% in 2007, 24% in 2010), buying other lotteries tickets (8% in 1999, 25% in 2010), gambling online on poker, bingo, casino and slot machine style games (3% in 2007, 5% in 2010) and gambling on fixed odds betting terminals (3% in 2007, 4% in 2010).


• Only one activity showed a large decrease in popularity between survey years. This was football pools (4% in 2010, 9% in 1999). There were some small but significant decreases in the popularity of slot machines (13% in 2010, 14% in 2007 and 1999) and online betting (4% in 2007, 3% in 2010). For all other gambling activities, there was either no significant change between survey years or estimates varied with no clear pattern.


• In 2010, after the National Lottery, the most popular gambling activities were other lotteries (25%), scratchcards (24%), betting on horse races (16%), playing slot machines (13%) and private betting (11%).


• Men were more likely than women to take part in most gambling activities. The exceptions were bingo (12% for women and 6% for men) and scratchcards (25% for women and 23% for men).

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: by el patojo

Top 10 Mobile Handset Manufacturers

This report from Business Insights provides decision-making support by giving an in-depth analysis of market dynamics, drivers and resistors, and trends in the global mobile handset manufacturing industry between 2009-14. It ranks the leading global handset manufacturers by segmental revenues, and examines their recent financial performance, growth strategies and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Highlights

The global mobile handset industry was valued at approximately $133bn in 2009. Revenues witnessed a decline of 6.7% over 2008, largely owing to the weakness in the global economy. However, as the global economy recovers, Business Insights forecasts that the industry will grow at a CAGR of 17.1% during the period 2009–14 to reach $293bn by 2014.

The industry’s growth will be largely driven by smartphones. Reflecting strong pent-up demand, smartphone devices will post shipment growth rates of 27.4% to reach 712m in 2014 from 112m in 2009. The segment contributed to an overwhelming 78.7% of the industry’s profits, yet accounted for a mere 17.2% share of shipments in 2009.

Asia-Pacific is the growth engine for the industry, contributing to nearly 46.8% of total shipments in 2009. The Asia-Pacific market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 10.4% during 2009–14, to finally contribute to more than half of the industry’s revenues by 2014. The growth will be largely driven by India and China.

This report is available to Current London Business School students, faculty and staff from Datamonitor 360 which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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The 2011 Global Aerospace Outlook

The global recession threw a one-two punch at the bottom lines of airlines in 2008-09, as passenger traffic fell and fuel costs and other expenses rose. To gauge the impact of these challenges, Forbes Insights, in association with CIT, a provider of transportation finance, surveyed 136 fleet and finance executives at airlines around the world. The survey identified many concerns that these executives will have to deal with over the coming years.

Selected Key findings from the survey

• Fuel costs remain the biggest challenge airlines are facing. While they take significant steps to mitigate the impact of fluctuating fuel prices, they are also concerned sudden spikes could play havoc with their profits.


• Emerging markets promise the greatest opportunity for growth. While U.S. and European carriers were dealing with the 2008-09 recession, airlines in other regions were increasing their fleets, number of routes, and seat capacities.


• There is no end in sight for airline industry consolidation. More than 80% of executives expect to see an increase in M&A activity over the next five years.


• Lucrative business travellers are a key component of future profitability. In addition, many airlines are turning to ancillary charges—such as fees for checked bags, food, or in-flight entertainment.

Click here to read the full report (pre-registration is required)

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Global powers of retailing 2011

For the better part of two decades, retail pundits have been predicting the globalization of the industry. Now, however, they may be right. With many more companies ready to take the plunge, Global Powers of Retailing 2011 takes a close look at globalization – what lessons can be learned from retailers who have been successful? Which retailers seem to have the most international presence – and where?

Global Powers of Retailing, from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), in conjunction with STORES Media, identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world for the past fiscal year. But the report is much more than a list - it also examines trends for retailers to consider as they plan their growth strategies, provides a global economic outlook for retail, and discusses "Q" ratio - a way of drawing inferences about the future performance of retailers by examining current financial information.

Selected findings from report:

In 2009, more than one-third of the Top 250 suffered declining sales, up about one-quarter in 2008. For the entire group, sales-weighted, currency-adjusted retail sales rose a meagre 1.3% as delveraging by consumers and slow growth of credit continued to plague the industry.

Sales declined for the 4 top retailers – Carrefour, Metro, Costco and The Home Depot; 3 others had sales growth of 1% or less. Tesco, Schwarz and Aldi were the only companies in the top 10 whose sales growth outpaced the Top 250’s 1.3% composite growth rate.

As a region, European retailers demonstrated superior sales growth in 2009. The UK companies enjoyed relatively strong composite growth at 7.1% and also generated the highest level of net profitability (3.5%).

The Asia/Pacific region gained as a share of the Top 250. While China and India experienced a slowdown, they were able to avoid the recession that engulfed the world’s other major economies.

Click here to view the full report or view the Top 250 list.

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Turning the Page: the Future of eBooks

This new study for PricewaterhouseCooper looks at consumers’ attitudes toward and interest in digital reading. It will also identify market opportunities and developments for eBooks and eReaders, and make recommendations for publishers, traditional retailers, online retailers, and intermediaries. The study includes a general market analysis, a discussion of trends and developments, and the results of a consumer poll conducted among 1,000 online users in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany

This research is complemented by more than 40 interviews with experts and senior executives of reader manufacturers, a wide range of publishers, dealers, online and traditional book shops, and libraries in Germany. The survey considers the importance of eBooks and asks about their market potential, drivers, obstacles for the future market development, and possible income models and marketing structures. The survey focuses on the international market for eBooks and eReaders, particularly with regard to mass market books in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. It also focuses on opportunities for digital distribution of newspapers and magazines through tablets, such as the Apple iPad.

The US market is by far the most mature, with eBook revenue expected to account for 7.2% of all consumer book sales in 2010. The UK is lagging behind the US in terms of supply of devices and availability of content. However, market conditions are changing, which is reflected by market participants reporting rising sales of eBooks. Furthermore, new attractive devices such as the Kindle are now sold in the UK, and it quickly sold out after its introduction. PwC expect that the eBook market in the UK will, to a certain extent, mirror the development that can be seen in the United States.

Click here for the full report

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Biotech reinvented: Where do you go from here?

Global biotech industry must reinvent itself to survive, warns PwC in their latest report.

Report Highlights

Biotech and pharma companies will need to work together to create value: Governments around the world are trying to cut healthcare costs, and finding new drugs is getting harder. We've taken a closer look at what this means for the biotech industry in particular.

Biotech hasn't yet changed the face of drug development: The industry is now about 30 years old but it hasn’t completely fulfilled its promise. Drugs aren't being developed notably faster, cheaper, or with less risk. The Biotech business model relied on lots of seed money from financial investors, but this is getting harder to come by as the research base moves east and emerging economies fight for their share.

Boundaries between biotech and pharma are blurring: Biotech and Pharma are effectively becoming one industry - the biopharmaceutical industry - although there's a limit to how far Pharma can go down the Biotech route. Pharma can't copy Biotech's discovery and development methodology too closely and, even if it could, Biotech hasn't brought a golden era of productivity that would justify doing so. All biopharmaceutical companies - whether biotechnological or pharmaceutical in origin - will have to adopt a very different business model.

Biotech's future lies in collaboration: What will the new business model look like? It will probably include more types of cooperation. The largest biopharmaceutical companies will be responsible for coordinating and funding federations and consortia. In return they'll get access to more innovation, reduced costs and improved productivity. Smaller biopharmaceutical companies, research institutes and academic medical centres will be responsible for generating original ideas and providing disease biology and platform technologies on a fee-for-service basis.

Click here to read the full report (pre-registration required)

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Leisure Outside the Home

Executive Summary:

This report from Key Note examines the market for leisure activities outside the home which was valued by Key Note at £60.4bn in 2009, representing just 7% of total consumer spending. In comparison, households spent £36bn on in-home leisure in the same year (e.g. television, reading, gardening), revealing that the balance remains in favour of leaving the home for leisure.

By far the largest component of leisure outside the home, in value terms, is alcohol, which was worth £26.5bn in 2009 and includes alcohol consumed with meals at restaurants and other venues, although, the pub still remains the largest alcohol outlet. Recent trends has seen a move away from ’session drinking’, however, and towards the more civilised meal occasion, with the eating out market (excluding alcohol) worth £13.1bn in 2009.

Gambling is another major attraction for leisure spending, with the £8.7bn ’lost’ by consumers in 2009 including all types of gambling (including ’punts’ made within the home). Gambling is also a cultural phenomenon involving distinct and traditional leisure activities, such as joining bingo clubs or casinos, attending days ’at the races’ and visiting amusement arcades and betting shops.

Other important out-of-home activities are often more difficult to evaluate in monetary terms but Key Note’s survey for the Leisure series evaluates consumer involvement in both commercial and ’free’ activities. In 2010, simply visiting friends or relations in their homes (VFR) involved 81.2% of adults on a regular basis (at least weekly), while other simple pleasures include going shopping or window shopping (58.2%), countryside walks or walking the dog (54.9%) and keep-fit activities (50%). All of these cheap, simple pastimes now exceed regular visits to the pub, restaurants, sports grounds and cinemas.

This Key Note report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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Links for International Trade

The Federation of International Trade Associations

FITA, founded in 1984, fosters international trade by strengthening the role of local, regional, national and global associations that have an international mission. FITA provides resources, benefits and services to the international trade community and useful tools to help you do business globally.
The 450,000+ organizations that are linked to FITA through their membership in a FITA member association represent a broad cross-section of the international trade and business community: manufacturers, trading companies, contractors, freight forwarders, custom house brokers, airlines, shipping companies, port authorities, banks, insurance brokers and underwriters, associations and a wide range of service providers including telecommunications companies, law firms and consultants.

FITA provides a comprehensive searchable database of International Trade Web Resource.
Over 8000 links to International Trade / Import-Export Web sites are annotated and indexed.

Below is a list of the main categories of this database.

Business Directories and Trade Information Business Management
Business Publications Export Credit and Trade Insurance
Cultural Issues Direct Investment
Documentation Glossaries of World Trade Terms
Governments & Multi-National Organizations Government Procurement
Import & Export Consulting & Resources  International Finance, Letters of Credit & Investment
International Franchising International Market Research
International Trade Associations including Chambers of Commerce International Trade Blogs, Podcasts and Forums
International Transportation & Logistics Language & Translations
Legal Resources for International Business Multi-National Trading Areas
Other International Trade Portals Product Licensing
Software for International Trade Business Operations Standards, Codes and Miscellaneous
Starting in Importing and Exporting Supplier Evaluation
Trade and Economic Statistics Trade Issues
Trade Compliance and Security
Trade Shows and Events

Link to the website

Leisure in the Home

Key Note estimates that the UK in-home leisure market was worth £39.66bn in 2009, in terms of direct consumer expenditure on goods and services. This figure covers the following sectors: home viewing (television hardware, the Licence Fee and subscriptions), home listening (audio equipment), recorded media, home computing and the Internet (computers and operating software), reading, indoor play, home improvement (DIY materials and gardening goods) and traditional hobbies.

Key Note’s research for this report found that watching television still dominates home-based leisure, involving 97.4% of the adult population every week. Consumers are clearly dividing their time into smaller bursts of activity, since the same survey found that 84.8% of adults read newspapers or magazines, 78.7% listen to the radio, 75% read books and 74.6% listen to recorded music, all on the same weekly basis. Social networking involved 45% of adults by mid-2010, and penetration rose to 95% of the under-20s.

Key Note forecasts little real growth for in-home leisure as a whole over the period from 2010 to 2014, despite the recovery from recession. It is important, therefore, to focus on areas of growth and excitement, such as video games for the family and the ‘e-reader’, which is predicted to be the outstanding leisure ‘gadget’ of 2011. The e-reader sums up the state of in-home leisure: it combines a traditional hobby (book reading is as popular as ever) with new technology in order to maintain interest and excitement.

This Key Note report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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Newspapers 2012

Executive summary

This Key Note Market report examines the UK newspaper industry. It is published at a time when the industry has undergone severe cutbacks and losses during 2009, with performance looking to remain the same in 2010.

The value of the newspaper market in 2009, according to Key Note’s estimates, was just over £6bn, down from £8bn in 2005. This massive fall has been caused by huge reductions in advertising revenue, particularly since 2007. National newspapers represent just over 60% of the industry’s total revenue. In many ways, despite their decline in sales over the last 20 years, they are the great survivors. The regional press, however, is contracting, and its market value diminishing, explaining the poor price that the Guardian Media Group got for the sale of its regional newspapers in 2010.

The newspaper industry has become very concentrated in its ownership. 8 companies own the national newspaper sector, while in the regional press sector roughly 20 companies control more than 90% of the market. Newspaper publishers have reacted to these seismic events – declining sales and shrinking advertising – by investing more online. Meanwhile, some newspapers have reported a lift in advertising revenue since the end of 2009, but what we do not know is whether that trend will continue for the rest of 2010 and into 2011. Putting more emphasis on online and multi-platform media is definitely a positive approach. More revenue also needs to be generated, either from advertising or from paid-for content. Publishers are watching and waiting to see if The Times’ and The Sunday Times’ pay-wall around their websites will work. Initial feelings are that this initiative will be a disappointment, but it may well have a positive outcome.

Nevertheless, focusing more on multi-media is not going to be enough to ensure the survival of this industry. To get an up-to-date view of what adults think of the newspaper sector, and what they buy and read newspapers for, Key Note commissioned an extensive survey. This report highlights where the newspapers are losing readers and why.

This Key Note report is available to current London Business staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases within Portal.

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See the Future Top Industry Clusters in 2040 Revealed

PwC's Macro Consulting team has developed a tool to map future clusters across the world. This report uses this tool to highlight the geographical locations that will host the largest clusters in five industries: Pharmaceuticals; Automobile assembly; Asset management; Filmed entertainment; and Tertiary education. The expected top locations in 2025 and 2040 are disclosed for each of these sectors highlighting key trends for the industry and how the new economic order will influence future geographical winners.

Selected findings from the report

In asset management PricewaterhouseCoopers expect the existing large clusters in New York, London and Boston to be joined by Singapore, which may become the leading cluster in the Asian region. Tighter regulation and higher taxes are currently working against clusters in the United States and Europe but the key factor will be the increase in public and private capital available in Asia – which will fuel growth in asset management in the region.

In the filmed entertainment sector Los Angeles, or Hollywood, has been the dominant cluster for many years and is the most globally recognised centre for film and television production. PwC expect Hollywood to retain this position up to 2040, however, it will face growing competition from rising film production clusters around Mumbai and Shanghai which are increasingly moving into mainstream productions.

Click here to read the full report

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ABC1 Consumer

Changes in the social and economic base of the UK population have meant that there has been a steady increase in the number of adults who are classified, in socio-economic terms, as either ABs or C1s. In the year ending March 2000, the proportion of ABC1s and C2DEs in the population of Great Britain was roughly equal; by the year to September 2009, 55.8% could be classified as ABC1s and 44.2% as C2DEs.

Key Note's research findings clearly show the effects the economic crisis has had on ABC1s. In 2005, more than half of those surveyed said that their financial situation was better than it was 2 years previously, while just one in five said that it was worse; by 2010, the proportion of ABC1s who felt better off financially had dropped to just over four in ten, while those who felt worse off than they did 2 years previously had risen to a third.

Key Note's research reveals that many ABC1 consumers are happy to buy clothing from discount retailers and supermarkets. The recent financial crisis has no doubt strengthened this trend, although there are still some environmental and ethical concerns about the idea of cheap `throwaway' clothing and the methods used in its manufacture.

The middle market has suffered particularly from the credit crunch, and a number of high-street fashion names have been casualties during the past 2 years. However, the more upmarket fashion brands seem to have been more resilient, with many going from strength to strength. (taken from executive summary)

The report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

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Targeting Growth: Challenges and Opportunities for the UK Food & Beverage Sector

Grant Thornton commissioned Remark, the research and publications division of The Mergermarket Group, to gain further insight into the current state of the sector. The opinions of 50 CEOs, and CFOs from UK-based Food and Beverage companies were sought on a number of issues affecting the sector, as well as future growth expectations

This report has taken into account the views of a wide cross-section of the Food and Beverage industry and as such some of the views will be more applicable to certain sub-sectors over others. However, the underlying sentiment is that, on the whole, the sector has emerged from the recession in advance of others, and while it is still faced with numerous challenges, it is well positioned and there are exciting times ahead.

Key issues explored in the survey included the following:

• What strategies did Food and Beverage companies put in place to combat the effects of the financial crisis?
• Is the relationship dynamic between food suppliers and the 'Big Four' supermarkets changing?
• Which consumer trends offer the biggest opportunities going forward?
• Is M&A set to continue to be on the corporate agenda over the next 12 months?
• Do Food and Beverage companies feel they can fund their corporate strategy through traditional methods?

Click here to read the full report

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Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the US association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish computer and video games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet.  This latest report from the ESA measures the economic contributions made by the US entertainment software industry to the American economy during the period 2005-2009.  The 2010 report updates and expands upon an earlier study that quantified, for the first time, the economic benefits provided by the entertainment software industry to the US economy as a whole.

The 2010 report concludes that:

• The US computer and video game software publishing industry directly employs more than 32,000 people in 34 states.
• The total US employment, both direct and indirect that depends on game software now exceeds 120,000.
• For the four-year period 2005 through 2009, direct employment in the US computer and video game software publishing industry grew at an annual rate of 8.65%.
• The US computer and video game software industry’s value added to US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $4.9 billion.
• The real annual growth rate of the US computer and video game software industry was 10.6% for the period 2005-2009 and 16.7% for the period 2005-2008.
• During the same periods, real growth for the US economy as a whole was 1.4% for
  2005-09 and 2.8% for 2005-08

Click here to download the full report

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Mine 2010: Back to the Boom

PricewaterhouseCooper have just released their 7th annual review of global trends in the mining industry.  Their reviews provide a comprehensive analysis of the financial performance and position of the global mining industry, as represented by the Top 40 mining companies by market capitalisation.

Last year the global mining industry experienced rapid recovery of market capitalisation lost in 2008. The market capitalisation of the Top 40 increased by 118% ($696 billion) reaching levels just short of the peak prior to the global financial crisis. The recovery has largely been driven by a sharp resurgence in commodity prices during the second half of 2009, the repair of damaged balance sheets, and an overall improved investment climate. 

Despite the global economic crisis none of the Top 40 companies were subject to bankruptcy or voluntary administration provisions. PricewaterhouseCooper believe this is largely due to their ability to remove their debt overhang, strengthening commodity markets over the year and the positive impact of government stimulus packages around the world. Balance sheets were strengthened through a combined $103 billion of debt and equity financing obtained by the Top 40.

Click here for the full report

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Back on Track?: the Outlook for the Global sports Market to 2013

The digital revolution is here and impacting the global sports market.  New technologies are accelerating the shifts in business models causing a blurring of historically separate revenue streams.  This is creating new challenges for sponsors and broadcasters as they seek to maximise value in a multi-platform world.  And these sweeping changes are forcing sports brands to face new challenges in growing and monetising their global supporter bases.

This report from PwC presents a four-year forecast for the global sports market and  examines some of the key trends. Overall, the industry is achieving a gradual but robust recovery from the impact of the 2008-2009 economic slowdown.  Boosted by surges in spending in the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic games for 2010 and 2012, PwC predict that the total spending for global sports will rise from US$114 billion in 2009 to $133 billion in 2013, which is a compound growth of 3.8% over four years

This report looks in detail at four key market components:

• Sponsorship - smaller brands face an uphill battle
• Gate revenues - striking the right balance between price and attendance
• Media rights - facing up to a multi-platform world
• Merchandising - shifts in consumer confidence are exposed

The full report can be downloaded from the PwC website

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: David H-W (Extrajection)

Sports Market 2010

This report from Key Note provides a broad overview of sport in the UK.  This covers consumer activity: participation in sports (and fitness activities); and the purchasing of sports goods. In addition to the conventional market analysis chapters (Sports Clothing & Footwear, Sports Equipment and Sports Retailing) there are chapters covering sports organisations and facilities (including the public-sector contribution), and a chapter entitled Professional Sport: Spectating, Sponsorship and Media Coverage. Participation is divided into two chapters to reflect the growing gulf between competitive sports and health and fitness.

UK Consumers spent £10bn on sport in 2008, this expenditure covered club memberships, sportswear, personal equipment and the cost of watching live sport. The £10bn figure only accounts for 1% of total consumer spending (i.e. of the average household budget) and the market has been shrinking during the recession.  According to Key Note, this relatively low level of spending is due to several factors, including a switch away from competitive sports, which tend to be more expensive, and move towards `pure' fitness activities e.g. swimming, running or fitness classes in local leisure centres — which cost less.

The full report is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Kizette

Online Gaming: A Gamble or a Sure Bet?

This latest study from KPMG examines the key trends affecting the online gaming industry. The online gaming market is composed of a number of different types of games, each with its own business models and technology. They include: sports betting; online poker: casino games including slot machines and roulette; online bingo; and online lottery.

Selected key trends identified by the report:

Online gaming growth continues worldwide as the potentially richest marketplace remains largely unrealized. Many European countries have been shifting their online gaming regulations to open up markets to non-native competitors. In France, legislators have been discussing a bill that would end the state monopoly on online gaming, allowing privately owned websites to offer wagers on horse racing, soccer and poker. Italy, one of Europe’s largest gaming markets, has also been reforming its gambling laws. Perhaps even more attractive are Asian countries where online gaming is still outlawed, but where traditional gambling is often thought to be part of the culture. China is an exploding market for Internet games; however it does limit land-based casino gambling activities to Macau, and prohibits online gaming altogether. Korea, an enormous market for online multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft, may have online gamblers, however gambling online remains illegal in Korea as well.

Social gaming i.e. games hosted on social networks such as have taken off in the past year, and online gaming companies are closely watching this growth for even more social games such as bingo.  According to a study by media analyst Screen Digest, with growing broadband penetration, increase promotional activity, a trend towards regulatory relaxation and the current economic downturn driving demand for in-home entertainment , online bingo has become the fastest growing sector of the online gaming market and offers huge potential for further growth. The Screen Digest study notes that the UK market, estimated to generate over £220m o f revenue in 2008 (by gross win), is the largest, most mature and most competitive online bingo market globally. Other markets ripe for expansion are likely to include Spain and select markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The full report is available from the KPMG website

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Theatrical Market Statistics Report for 2009

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has just released its annual Theatrical Market Statistics Report for 2009. The report shows that global box office receipts reached an all time high of $29.9 billion, an increase of 7.6% over 2008 and almost 30% from 2005. The US/Canada market reached $10.6 billion, an increase of more than 10%, and International receipts increased 6.3% to $19.3 billion in 2009.

Selected highlights

The 3D market gave the US/Canada box office a boost accounting for 11% of the total compared to just 2% in 2008. With 20 films released in 3D compared to just eight in 2008, higher value entertainment contributed significantly to box office revenues.

International box office increased 6.3% in 2009, with the largest growth (12.3%) in Asia Pacific. 81% of the Asia Pacific increase occurred in Japan and China. Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) remains more than half (51%) of the international box office total

US/Canada movie admissions reached a five year high at 1.4 billion in 2009. Admissions rose 5.5% from 2008, the first increase in two years. The national average of tickets sold per person (admissions per capita) increased to 4.3 in 2009, the first increase since 2002

Women buy a higher percentage of movie tickets (55%, or 778 million tickets) than they represent of the population (51%), and more than men buy (45%).

Films produced by U.S. production companies declined over the past three years. In 2009, the number of films released in domestic theatres decreased 12%, the first decline since 2003. This drop, mainly from MPAA member studio subsidiaries and independent distributors, came in the aftermath of labour issues in 2007-2008 and the economic downturn.

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Music Industry 2010

This market research report from Key Note is published at a time of considerable change for the largest component of music, the recording industry. For nearly 10 years, the industry has been plagued by uncertainty over how to adapt to new technologies which have dramatically changed the traditional methods of selling recorded music i.e. the transition from ‘physical’ products such as CDs to the downloading of random tracks to home computers or mobile phones, often for no payment.  However, the recording industry goes into 2010 with stronger legitimate systems in place for selling music (and controlling piracy).  Legal downloading is increasing and Key Note forecasts that the recorded market will at least stabilise in value over the next 5 years (at around £1.15bn), although not regaining its previous heights. Although music retailers such as Woolworths have fallen by the wayside, the leading retailer, HMV, remains strong.

The report includes field research specially conducted for Key Note, covering various attitudes and buying habits of UK consumers.  Music is described as a ‘main hobby’ by almost one in five UK adults, according to a November 2009 NEMS Market Research survey commissioned by Key Note. However, a much higher proportions of the population say that they listen to music every day, listen to it on the radio regularly or enjoy browsing in music shops, and 45.6% of homes contain a musical instrument. 

The full report is available to current staff, students and faculty from Key Note Online which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.  The hardcopy version can be found in the Market Reports collection located on the first floor of the library.

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Pensions Market 2010

The climate for pension schemes across the world remains challenging despite some recovery in 2009.  The total value of pension assets managed globally rose by 14% to an estimated $29.5 trillion in 2009, recovering from an 18% drop in 2008. The Pension Markets report from International Financial Services London (IFSL) notes that the sharp rise in pension liabilities globally over the past two years poses a major challenge to the funding of defined benefit (DB) pensions. In the UK the pensions balance for FTSE100 companies reached a record aggregate deficit of £96 billion in mid-2009.

In recent years, more people of pensionable age have been supplementing their pension by staying in work. UK employment amongst those of pension age has been rising: by 70,000 in the recession-hit first 11 months of 2009 and by over 500,000 in total since 2002 to reach  1.4 million in November 2009.

IFSL estimates that global pension fund assets rose by 14% to reach $29.5 trillion by end-2009. The global market is dominated by the US, which accounts for 60%of assets (Tables 1&2). The next largest markets are the UK with 9% of assets, Canada 6%, the Netherlands and Australia each with 4% and Japan 3%. The large value of assets accumulated over many decades means that these countries will remain the dominant source of assets for years to come. Pension assets in Brazil were the largest outside the OECD, followed by South Africa and Singapore.

The bulletin can be downloaded from the IFSL website

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: James Marvin Phelps