REAL Design Journey: User Immersion and REAL Validation
The Challenge
A manufacturer was hoping to launch a new RTD (ready-to-drink) coffee brand. They wanted to understand what creative territory and ultimately which package to move forward with to position this to appeal to their core target.
They came to us to answer:
- What is the mindset of target consumers who currently purchase RTD coffee?
- Which designs resonate most with target consumers?
- Which design was most effective at shelf?
- What is each design communicating?
- What is the overall concept understanding and appeal?
REAL Design Journey
Our REAL Design Journey is a multi-phase, in-context, immersive study designed to provide actionable insights at every step of the innovation process. We can provide optimization of your business from concept to commercialization through a multi-phased project including REAL Foundation, Packaging Concepts Exploration, REAL Optimization, and wrapping with a REAL Validation.
Our Approach
Based on the needs of our client, we recommended a 2-phase study. Phase 1 was an iterative online qualitative study to learn more about the target consumers’ mindset and which territory stim drove engagement. Phase 2 was an in-store qual-quant REAL Validation to recommend a design to move forward with.
Phase 1
We utilized the platform, Recollective. Our online participants were pre-recruited to align with the target consumer for the brand. They responded to various mood territories and initial packaging concepts. The goal of this first portion was to better understand the target audience, territories, and narrow down design concepts to be able to test three in-store.
Virtual Study
We can do some of our methodologies virtually when it isn’t feasible to get in-person potentially due to retailer restrictions, mockup unavailability, or limited travel budgets.
User Immersion
We know that SMoT can be critical to a product’s success. We can support you through these learnings with our User Immersion. We will take your product(s) and send them home with real consumers. They evaluate the product(s) in-home across 1-2 weeks and provide feedback either through online journals or a one-on-one conversation with our moderators.
Phase 2
We tested the three designs in-store to further understand shelf breakthrough and concept understanding. We cut-in test designs onto the shelf set of four different convenience stores within two different markets. We interviewed about 200 respondents recruited while shopping in-store for this portion of the study.
REAL Validation
REAL Validation is our quali-quant approach to gathering the richest data on a larger scale. This methodology is done in-person, in-context. We talk to both pre-recruited and intercepted shoppers. Our expert moderators capture shoppers’ reactions to a key question and assess KPIs to determine the risk for our clients. With this larger-scale methodology, we talk to anywhere from 150-500 consumers.
Key Findings and Actionable Insights
Phase 1
Phase 1 revealed that the target RTD coffee users preferred to see the product and the perception of quality was important to them. Based on those findings, the brand was able to refine their test designs for the second phase of the study.
Phase 2
Phase 2 discovered more about the RTD small format category as well as confirming the test design that performed the best at-shelf. Based on these findings we were able to recommend specific insights about the package design to the brand so that would be able to succeed at-shelf against competitors.
Our package design recommendations included:
- Users preferred designs that showed the product inside
- One design scored the highest but still needed some optimization for clearer concept communication
- Flavor offering is an important element for package communication, consider highlighting on optimized design
- Using a brighter color improved shelf breakthrough to contrast with a see-through bottle
Outcome
The brand launched the recommended design from the REAL Validation. The product was successfully launched and has grown within the category and market in the six years since its release. It still features the original tested design that we recommended. In addition, the product is now selling at a price that is premium to the previous category leader, with a strong global brand.
“I loved our [brand] work together and credit REAL Insight with helping us get that one right.”
Sr. Brand Manager
How Can We Help?
REAL Insight is an in-context insights agency that empowers brands to win at-shelf. We leverage our Win At-Shelf Framework™ to help brands position themselves optimally and reap the benefits of excellent first moment of truth execution.
- Brand and Package Design
- Shopper Insights and Empathy
- Innovation Exploration
- Consumer Intuition Building