With over 30 years of experience, REAL Insight has led projects across a variety of industries that successfully identified consumer behavior and expectations, helping CPG companies, retailers, and other clients understand how consumers act in a variety of contexts.
We are living through a unique opportunity for brands to lean into their American heritage and pride, and double dip on the 250th anniversary and the World Cup. Limited-time innovations and packaging have shown up across the food and beverage space. It's been fascinating to watch how brands have chosen to leverage the USA brand,…
The biggest hurdle in innovation isn't coming up with a novel idea. It’s translating that idea for a shopper in the split second they spend at the shelf. Innovation is hard. You have to identify a genuine need, build the product, and solve the logistical puzzle. But none of that matters if the product never…
We find ourselves increasingly skeptical about leveraging limited-edition packaging as a promotional tool. While the intent is always to create buzz and drive trial, the tactical execution often introduces an unnecessary degree of friction into the shopping process. In CPG, the core function of package design is not to serve as a canvas for fleeting campaigns but as a beacon…
Back to Nature Redesigns that represent a major departure are always a watch-out for us, but the true risk is completely related to who the brand is and what the objectives are for the redesign. If you are a strong brand with specific equities that mean something to shoppers, you will want to tread carefully.…
In a seemingly serious contradiction, Luke Cahill is a self proclaimed introvert who has spoken to thousands of complete strangers. Listen to Real Insight CEO & Chief Nerd as he explains why real conversations with shoppers still matter https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vyL5FShNDZSV3nxVCm7Bb?si=7cafd1b5445e4185
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…