Tuesday 26 February 2013

Chasing the niche consumer

Something’s afoot on our supermarket shelves. Gone are the days when beans would be beans, or cheddar merely cheddar. This, as we know, is the era of product diversity. But not just choice in format (sliced, block or grated cheese) or skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk (we now have soya and lactose-free as well); this is the era when brands see real economic potential in tapping into our special dietary needs or in tweaking a product formation to attract a new demographic to the category or the brand. More and more brands are doing it because it makes commercial sense for them to do so. The latest major brand to make the move is Heinz, which is targeting a UK gluten-free market estimated to be worth over £100 million per annum and rising, with new gluten free dried pasta and gluten free sauce ranges. The fact that there are known to be approximately 125,000 people with coeliac disease in the UK, a figure rising on average by around 7000 people each year shows that this new departure makes sound economic sense. In the US, the market for gluten-free products is huge and was estimated to have reached a value of $4.2 billion by the end of 2012 so for products that can play beyond national boundaries the return could be significant. However, as niche as the products may be, the shoppers are no less savvy or demanding purely because they are buying a gluten-free product. They will expect the same quality in taste, value and brand experience from a Heinz gluten-free product than they will from any other product that carries the Heinz name. And for Heinz, read any other brand looking to extend their ranges into new areas. This increases the importance of effective concept testing at pre-launch stage. It not only means finding people specifically appropriate to the proposition, but also presenting them with a concept that meets the particular needs of their condition. Beyond that, of course, it has to be more than just relevant to coeliacs, it has to taste good and not give them the impression that they are having to compromise in order to eat healthily for their condition. And then you need them to be interested enough in buying the product at the price point that you have set. The same rules apply, of course, whether the new demographic is being targeted on health or any other grounds. Douwe Egberts is launching its first flavoured instant coffee in the UK as a way, it is being reported, of driving sales among younger and non-coffee drinkers. They’re also hoping that the new range will encourage existing coffee drinkers to experiment a little more with their tastes. Concept testing will take into account the issues and requirements of the target demographic, prioritising on features within the product that meet those needs. It can help the brand identify potential conflicts product features and proposed price points, in so doing exploring other potential barriers to purchase. And, of course, it will expose what may be blatantly bad ideas. It isn’t foolproof, of course. There are always factors that will be beyond the control of the researcher. Research will not militate against a rival brand bringing out a product of their own that changes the consumer landscape and influences purchase criteria; a disruptive marketing campaign that affects the dynamics of the market or economic changes that influence price viability. But one thing’s for sure, not effectively testing your concept at all is almost a guarantee of failure in the market. Ends.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Brand loyalty - it’s more than just horses for courses

Independent butchers and farm shops have reported a 75% increase in sales in the month following the start of the horsemeat scandal which indicates that, wherever culpability may lie, some brands and retailers are losing the trust of the consumer. At present, that’s likely to be a temporary phenomenon with consumers expected to return to the leading brands for their meat and their ready meals once faith has been restored in the processed meat supply chain. But imagine for a moment that it isn’t temporary and imagine again if that decision to switch suppliers or brands extended beyond processed meat products into other areas. Would this breach of brand loyalty matter? And, if so, why? The brand consumer relationship is like any other. It exists on mutual shared interest and trust. In the same way that it is difficult to pin-point exactly what the attraction is between partners, so the brand consumer relationship is about the totality of the shared experience between the two. It is about the quality of the product, for sure, but it is also about more ephemeral factors, including how the brand makes you feel, what you think it says about you and about the reliability of that brand as a partner. Once you begin to question the reliability or the quality of the brand or its products, relationship breakdown is a real possibility and counselling may be in order to put the relationship back on track. In this instance, researchers can act as the counsellors. We are well equipped through a variety of techniques – from experiential-style focus groups, through structured online surveys carefully designed to elicit both a high quantity and quality of response, and even observational research and in-home interviewing - to help establish not only what the consumer feels about the brand or the product, but also what it expects from the brand or the product in order to consider re-engaging in the relationship. Situations like ‘horsegate’ not only anger, worry and even frighten consumers, they also empower them. Ultimately, these empowered consumers will be the ones to decide when brands have regained their trust. In such situations they often look for and act on the advice of others: family, friends and sometimes strangers; the media will bombard them with information and opinions that will also influence their views. Brands need to consider how consumers engage in social communities, online and offline, to share ideas and views. If brands can listen, learn, adapt and prove they have done so within these changing rules, then they may be able to win the consumer back. And the fact that the brand has taken the first step in seeking that reconciliation with the consumer could be the first step towards a bright new future together.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Never lose sight of the insight

Understandably, those of us active in the research community will bang the drum for the role that effective consumer insights can play in creating solid foundations for brand expansion by informing new product development and strategic marketing decisions. The growth in digital technology has made information on consumer attitudes more accessible than ever, as we have demonstrated through our own use of gamification strategies; though the true value comes in not necessarily gaining the insights, but in understanding them, interpreting them and then knowing how best to deploy them. The question is whether brands are utilising the insights they gain to best effect and whether they use them as widely as possible to provide a benchmark for most developmental and promotional activity. Because of the way that brands are structured, eg. one brand team does not necessarily work with another brand team, much research is undertaken in silos. This means that sometimes research is duplicated and potentially valuable customer insights are not shared. There may be internal reasons for this as some brands may be competing for budget or to secure budget for an NPD idea that would leave another brand to fight its own corner without budget. Brands would benefit considerably from enabling their research agency to to produce consumer snap shots and general insights which can be cascaded through the company. Second, brand teams are increasingly transient which means that brand learning is not maximised because historical knowledge is often not carried forward. Research agencies which have worked with an organisation for some time, in contrast, will have that historical brand knowledge which could be deployed for real benefit by the brand. This is one of the factors that has prompted us to launch ethnobus as a way of enabling clients to gain and share potentially valuable consumer insights but doing so in a way that gives clients access to focused ethnography very cost effectively. Ethnography is one of the most valuable research tools, yielding a depth of insight that cannot be gained by any other means. But it can also create wastage - an enormous amount of data that is not relevant or useful to an individual brand or client – but that could have value for somebody else. By taking an omnibus approach ethnobus, can enable the same piece of research to be shared across non-competitive clients & categories to give shared costs but exclusive insights. In so doing brands can access insights that are not only relevant but embedded in the consumer’s every day real world experience rather than pieces of essentially abstract data. For some brands, taking full advantage of what is truly available may require something of a mind shift away from a production-oriented culture to an insight-led culture. But only by doing so can they be confident that they will be developing products that are based on sound consumer methodology rather than producing products they hope the market will embrace. As we said at the start, the name of the game is to never lose sight of the insight.