From the Financial Times of September 30th 2002, by Consumer Industries Correspondent, Adam Jones

On being a POW:

"Allied Domecq, distiller and wine maker, claims to have perfected a formula to second-guess the barman. After surveying 40,000 people in markets as diverse as the US, the UK, Brazil and Korea, it reckons the choices of countless millions of drinkers can be reduced to just 192 combinations of circumstance.

"The £6m research project could pave the way for some novel brand extensions, such as a range of luxury goods bearing the name of Courvoisier cognac - and even holidays marketed under the Malibu rum brand.

"Kim Manley, Allied's chief marketing officer, says the research shows the choice of drink is determined by three variables:
  • an amalgam of age and sex
  • location and whether food is involved
  • the consumer's mental state at the moment of thirst.

"Multiply a selection of typical urges by a sprinkling of demographic groups, and then do the same for a variety of occasions. This suggests that there are, broadly speaking, 192 ways to explain someone's choice of drink, says Allied.

"The research was partly motivated by a desire to discover why drinkers have such a strong attachment to buying champagne when they have something to celebrate. Allied hopes its POW formula - Person x Occasion x Want - will let it identify situations where it is not adequately represented, or not meeting consumer needs."

You have been warned.

Proost! And a happy New Year to you all.