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.
Nearly twenty years ago, the food industry reached a turning point in making fiber both accessible and desirable. During that era, fiber-filled products began to saturate the snack bar and yogurt aisles. The primary challenge at the time was overcoming a long-standing stigma around taste, as brands worked to provide functional benefits without compromising the…
Like the basketball version of March Madness, we’ve been watching an elite group of brands compete for the top spot. All of the packages in our bracket are excellent; they rise above the pack and dominate their respective categories. But this series is about determining the best of the best. Using our Win At-Shelf Framework™,…
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…
Remember when a squeeze bottle of liquid flavor seemed revolutionary? It wasn’t very long ago that Kraft Heinz introduced a novel concept that required significant consumer education, yet they stuck with it and ultimately pioneered an entire new category of customizable liquid flavor with functional benefits. Today, Mio's current packaging is a masterclass in…
One of the hardest parts of innovation is the moment you have to move from concept to reality. Teams invest months, sometimes years, developing a new product or redesign, only to have a nagging feeling: Will it actually work when it hits the shelf? We often find that for clients who have become reliant on…
Remember when "store brand" meant a generic, no-frills product you bought to save a few dollars? It was a temporary trade-down, a choice made out of necessity. That era is over. Today, private labels are no longer placeholders; they are legitimate brands. It feels like every retailer, from Aldi to Costco to Target and Walmart, is…
We've recently seen major CPG companies, including Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Nestlé USA, and J.M. Smucker, commit to eliminating artificial dyes from their foods and beverages. This move is certainly exciting for consumers, and for the world, but it also presents significant risks for these brands. Initiatives like this often highlight a considerable say-do gap…
One of the most common things we hear from new clients is, “We have all the data, but we still don’t understand why things are performing the way they are.” Why is the "why" important? It brings confidence and opportunity. We often see an over-reliance on quantitative research, with the assumption that a large sample…
As someone who was in middle school in the mid-1990s, Dre and Snoop were as cool as you could get. Granted, I knew the radio-edited versions of their hits more than the actual albums... It’s with this context that we present this month’s shelf standout: Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop. Seen The strong…
Introduction Every package—sustainable or not—needs to nail three key functions to be effective: When considering sustainable packaging, if the design doesn’t meet these goals, it doesn’t matter how sustainable the offering is: it’s missed the point entirely. Protect The most sustainable packaging is the one that actually keeps a product intact until it is used. When products…