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.
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™,…
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…
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.…
Watching video footage of panel-recruited respondents “shopping” in a recent conference presentation reminded me of the unfortunate truth that for all the benefits of operational efficiency, there is a significant cost of respondent re-use: data validity. I could tell the behavior shown wasn’t “real”, even though it was captured in a real store. A few…
In my non-profit board work, I have been learning a lot about fundraising best practices and the need to build strong, long-term relationships. In sales training, I have been learning the same. Relationships make life better, but the challenge is that, as humans, our capacity—and willingness—to nurture them is limited. This fact is super relevant…
Our industry thinks a lot about qualitative vs. quantitative, but is that the right focus? More often, it is more important to focus on the quality of the methods. Quality that reflects validity should be table stakes in our industry, but it isn’t. Moving quickly in the wrong direction doesn’t build brands or unlock growth. …
Prior to the pandemic, we were spoiled by in-store design research that gave us the depth to understand the “whys and hows” and deliver actionable consumer insights to our clients. We know the value and authenticity that being in-store provides, so when the pandemic hit and we needed to innovate, we had very high standards…
As you know, perception is reality for shoppers. Relying on traditional concept evaluation tools presents a challenge; concepts are already fully explained before the consumer can share their thoughts even with more iterative, on-trend methodologies. Yet, concept understanding at-shelf is essentially a barometer of how much effort and cost will be required to gain traction.…
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…
Recently, I had a great three days at the Corporate Researchers Conference in Chicago. It was a blast to nerd out with fellow researchers, and it was hugely validating to both our primary focus on in-context research and some of the key initiatives we have been working on for the last couple of years. Over…