NEW FROM NPD
Global Reach
| Australia | Netherlands |
| Austria | New Zealand |
| Belgium | Poland |
| Canada | Portugal |
| China | Russia |
| France | Spain |
| Germany | Sweden |
| Italy | Taiwan |
| Japan | United Kingdom |
| Korea | United States |
| Mexico |
Insights Mission
HomeClient Close-Up
Tom Wagner
Vice President, Consumer Insights
Taco Bell/Yum Brands
Taco Bell is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant (QSR) chain. It serves more than 35 million consumers each week in approximately 5,600 restaurants in the U.S. Since its founding in 1962, the company's commitment to innovation has had a strong influence on the QSR industry.
Taco Bell Vice President, Consumer Insights Tom Wagner recently shared his experiences about working with NPD and described how his company uses NPD data and insights for the foodservice industry .
NPD Insights: From your perspective, what have been the greatest benefits of using NPD market information?
Tom Wagner: NPD market information is really the only syndicated, broad-based market performance tool that exists in the restaurant industry. It provides an accurate, top-down view of industry, category, and brand performance, allowing us to see who’s growing and where.
NPD Insights: What kinds of business challenges has NPD market information helped Taco Bell resolve?
Tom Wagner: NPD data allows us to peel back from the average statistics to find data about mode, daypart, and household demographics like age and income - that’s where the real insight comes from. Because of the deep insights we’ve uncovered using NPD data, Taco Bell continues to make much better business decisions.
We also use NPD to keep track of our competition. We rely on NPD market information to help us validate whether our competitors’ strategies are working or not.
Additionally, since the recession hit, NPD information has given us insight on who has really felt the impact of the economy. NPD data helped us determine that households with kids and teens are leaving the category most often. We can now use that insight to develop marketing strategies to win back those consumers.
NPD Insights: How widely is NPD information used across your organization, and how is it valuable at different levels?
Tom Wagner: NPD data is primarily used by Marketing and Finance at Taco Bell, and it is something we use daily. We are dependent on NPD in order to really understand the true performance of our competitors and the restaurant industry as a whole.
Most of the information we use regularly comes from NPD’s syndicated data, but we also use ReCount. We recently bought the QSR Market Monitor and have really embraced it – so much so that we’re pushing it out to all of the markets around the U.S. so our franchisees can have access. It provides attitude and usage data at the local DMA level and has been a big win for us. So far we’ve bought 55 DMAs.
NPD Insights: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experiences with The NPD Group?
Tom Wagner: If it weren’t for NPD I’d still be in Finance, not Marketing! Seventeen years ago, while working in Taco Bell’s Finance department I discovered the PowerViewer machine. I was intrigued by the data and rolled up my sleeves to teach myself how to analyze performance insights. Shortly afterwards, the VP of Consumer Insights asked me to join the marketing team. And now I’m the VP of Consumer Insights!
To find out how NPD information and insights can help your company make better business decisions, contact Charlie Camaroto at 866-444-1411 or email contactnpd@npd.com.
