Ingredients:
A client – manufacturer,
retailer, supplier or marketing agency is ideal
A brief – the tastier the
better
A product or category – a
whole line or an individual flavour, a packet or a logo
A budget – we can create a
mouth-watering debrief tailored to the budget in hand
1. Take a client, and listen
carefully to their requirements. Where do they sit in the food supply chain?
What do they want? Where are they hoping the research will lead? Throughout the
noughties we helped Tesco re-launch their own range of sushi, we helped them
re-shape the yogurt aisle, we studied all aspects of the Finest range and made
it even finer. Meanwhile we were helping some suppliers, like Samworth Brothers
take control of the premium sausage market, hold sway in pork pies, dominate
sandwiches bought in the likes of Waitrose and M&S. Chopping carrots and
onions and potatoes into the mix, we worked with both suppliers and retailers,
and helped them understand people’s vegetable buying habits in more depth.
2. Carefully add some
quantitative work. Done in the right way, a simple questionnaire can reveal a
lot. Have people heard of a certain own range product? Do people ‘like’ this
product as much as they ‘like’ the competitor? Extra prizes here if you can
figure out the retailer we’ve been working on taste tests for…
3. Lightly dust some
assisted shops into the pot. When considering store layout, competitors, or
packaging, what better way to see how customers react than to be there with
them as they experience it first hand? This is something that we have used more
and more in recent years, and being in the store environment can lead to some
revealing insights.
4. Add in some tempting
qualitative work. Considered a real specialty of the company, we are big
advocates of the group discussion and depth interview. Bakemark (now CSM) has enlisted
our help over a number of years to explore the world of muffins, of doughnuts,
of cookies, of brownies, of cup cakes, of basically all things headed ‘sweet
treat’.
5. Serve beautifully.
Packaging should not be underestimated, and has formed a huge element of our
work. So we’ve helped Princes with new bottle shapes and new designs for its
entire range of own label carbonates. We helped Cott develop the first double
concentrate squashes for Sainsbury. We had the pleasure of working on the
packaging and in-store layouts for the Christmas and Easter product range at Thorntons
