Navigational Hierarchy – Get into Shape

Package shape

Store environments are overwhelmingly stimulating for the human brain. In order to manage the thousands of products available for purchase, the brain employs what we call the Navigational Hierarchy—a filtering sequence to narrow the search for the sought-after product. Our brain unconsciously cycles through the elements that distinguish products from each other, beginning broadly with…

Shopping Sustainably in CPG: Implications for Brands

The challenge of creating sustainable products and packaging is nuanced and requires an understanding of how people shop and consume your products. First, the product needs to succeed at-shelf and be purchased, then it needs to be recycled, reused, composted, or disposed of properly. The risk of friction or deselection when renovating to a greener…

Better Ingredients, Expertly Crafted

It is a pretty well-known fact that market research companies struggle with marketing. REAL Insight is no different. We care too much about the nuance of what makes our approaches effective, so we choose to focus on selling that instead of the higher-order benefits. However, we know so much about how to test new product innovation and…

Finding the Reality Amongst the Noise

In our modern world, the gap between in-person realities and online perceptions can feel vast.   Life, as seen on social media is filtered, perfected, and potentially polarized. These perspectives can feel exciting for those who have embraced this curated worldview and scary for those who would rather not.  Connecting with people IRL feels much more…

The Myth of Novelty

Another key note speaker at the Corporate Researchers conference was Derek Thompson, author of Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction.  I was particularly struck by his analysis around the myth of novelty which directly impacts some of our innovation work. He describes this as “people like sneakily familiar positive variations…

Healthy Versus “Healthy”

The New York Times recently released an article detailing the differences between what nutritionists think is healthy versus what the general public believes is better for you. While a difference between the public and nutritionists is to be expected, NYT discovered quite a disparity in ranking within each group as well. Certain foods obviously ranked…

Your Macaroni Isn’t What You Think It Is

In a surprising announcement, Kraft has revealed that their most loyal customers have been purchasing a new formula of the “Blue Box” macaroni and cheese they’ve loved for decades. The biggest revelation from this announcement? Barely anyone has noticed. History has shown that when a new formula for a favorite product is unveiled, there’s often…

Online on the Rise

The internet is a ubiquitous presence in our everyday lives that demands more and more of our attention over previous, traditional media sources. Jayson DeMers predicts that since our eyes are constantly glued to screens, businesses and advertisers will begin to maximize the ways in which they reach consumers by targeting marketing strategies specifically to the way we consume…