This installment of "My Favorites" contributed by Michael Redmond, NPD Funworld senior account manager, Video and PC Games.

Anny Kong
Nintendo
Senior Manager

To ensure it doesn’t miss a beat in the fast-paced and intensely competitive interactive entertainment industry, Nintendo of America, Inc. relies on NPD’s information and insights. In fact, the information is so valuable to Nintendo’s Senior Manager, Sales Analysis/Business Planning, Anny Kong, that she couldn’t isolate just one NPD report as her favorite. Instead, she described five reports that are “must-haves” in her mind: Total Platforms Within Category, Sales by Category, Total Industry Trends Channel, Demo Profiles by Retailer and Demo Profiles by Platform.

The reports’ quick industry views help Anny Kong and Nintendo of America assess year-to-date share by platform, unit share for each category in which Nintendo operates, and where consumers shop for their video games – all key to the company’s business. She depends on this set of reports for an overall perspective on the industry, particularly when she needs to understand her company’s position compared to competitors. They’re also helpful to her when business requires retailer and consumer profiles that can be cross-referenced with Nintendo’s internal data. She said she appreciates the reports’ usefulness in revealing emerging trends without overloading her with more detail than necessary to evaluate what’s happening in the industry.

“These reports suit my needs. By using them, I can avoid seasonality factors and month-to-month gyrations” in the market, she said. “They help us in areas where we do not have easy access to the data, such as demographic profiles of specific retailers. This is valuable to us as it helps us understand our retailers’ strengths and weaknesses so we can serve them better. This leads to overall sales increases and ultimately, better returns on our investments.”

To apply these reports – or similar ones designed for your industry – to your business questions, please contact your NPD account representative.