Research Guides: Media, Marketing and Communication (04:192:410): Market Research

How to Use Mintel in Your Research

The U.S. Census

The mother of all sources on U.S. population and demographic data is the U.S. Census Bureau. For the latest available information, start with data.census.gov. You have two options to start your search on the landing page: a free-form single search bar or an advanced search filtering experience. Includes breakdowns for the following categories:

Maps and Visualizations:
Data Profiles for:
These feature links to topics including People and Population, Race and Ethnicity, Families and Living Arrangements, Health, Education, Business and Economy, Employment, Housing and Income and Poverty.
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts provides community profiles for cities and towns with more than 5,000 people.
For projections of population data, see State-Produced Population Projections.

Advertising Industry Pubs

The following advertising, public relations and promotional material can provide ideas and historical context.

Advertising Age
Weekly advertising publication with coverage dating back to 1930.
AdViews Digital Collection
Thousands of historic commercials created for clients or acquired by the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency or its predecessor during the 1950s - 1980s.
Adweek
Weekly advertising journal. Issues go back to 1991 through Factiva.
J. Walter Thompson: Advertising in America
Collection of digitized primary sources originally produced by J. Walter Thompson, a major American advertising agency.
Moving Image Research Center
List of websites containing a variety of TV commercials, both vintage and recent, complied by the Library of Congress.
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Includes an estimated 10,000 TV commercials spanning from 1948 to the present covering virtually all types of consumer goods and services.

Market Research

The following resources are helpful for broad research across an industry or market.

IBISWorld
Contains market share data, industry growth rates, outlook projections and business environment profiles for major industry sectors.
MarketLine
Contains industry market analysis and country reports and data based on published research and primary and secondary data sources.
Mergent Online
Contains mostly company data, but also allows searching by industry via the Industry Analysis tab to get industry comparison details, scatter charts and historical data.
Mintel Reports
Product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Use the search box at the top to search for consumer market information. Reports are geared toward specific market niches.
Statista
Statista integrates statistical data on a wide variety of topics and industries from over 18,000 sources, including market reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.