What’s in a name? Healthy versus wholesome.

What’s in a name? Healthy versus wholesome.

Cindy Cluett

The Challenge

As marketers and market researchers, we know that words are pretty important. We have to understand what a word means to consumers and what they really want when they say that word. We explored this dichotomy as it relates to snacks in our Healthy versus Wholesome poster for The Society of Sensory Professionals.

Our Approach

Explore the differences and desired product attributes for healthy and wholesome snacks.

Phase 1: The Snack App
Consumers log their snacks for 24 hours and answer questions about their snacks.
We use the data to inform our lines of questioning and stimuli for focus groups.

Phase 2: The Focus Groups
Consumers complete pre-work assignments prior to meeting in the groups. Work includes journaling about snacks and uploading photos.
Consumers participate in different focus groups – one discusses the meaning of wholesome snacking, while the other discusses what healthy snacking is.

Insights to Action

While the occasions for healthy and wholesome snacks are the same, there are differences in the sensory attributes and emotional benefits of each. In developing a snack bite with “healthy” or “wholesome” positioning, Product Developers should focus on the prioritized sensory cues in order to create an aligned and satisfying experience.

Want more? (View the poster.)

Creating Differentiation in a Cluttered Category

Creating Differentiation in a Cluttered Category

Cindy Cluett

The Challenge

How should we talk about our new-to-the-world product offering in order to position it against other offerings in the dairy aisle?

Our Approach

Gather consumer-generated sensory language in a focus group setting to describe the product’s taste and texture attributes.

Explore usage occasions and comparison to products in adjacent categories.

Insights to Action

While the product was very well-liked, consumers were not likely to use it to replace their current product.

Positioning the product against other offerings in the dairy aisle was less appealing than calling out new usage occasions based on the taste and textural attributes.

Marketing was guided to develop a positioning around the most appealing attributes rather than pitting the product against current offerings.

How to Extend the Product Platform through New Occasions

How to Extend the Product Platform through New Occasions

Cindy Cluett

The Challenge

As part of a strategic growth initiative for a line of sweet baked goods, our client wanted to explore new occasions, mainly breakfast. Our client had four platform ideas, which would extend them deeper into the category, as well as provide new occasions.

Our Approach

Co-Create in an iterative process with Category Prime Prospects to first determine unmet needs and then generate product ideas around those needs (funneled approach).

Explore a range of stimuli to provide appropriate language and product cues to take forward to concept and product development.

Insights to Action

If extending into the morning occasion, any products would have to reinforce convenience and deliver value.

The need for convenience eliminated one of the platforms, because consumers found it would not deliver this benefit.

Another platform was eliminated, because consumers could not recognize the value it brought.

This guidance was critical in helping our client narrow down and focus their efforts.

Developing a Line Extension for a Mature Brand

Developing a Line Extension for a Mature Brand

Cindy Cluett

The Challenge

Our client was working on a line extension for an iconic frozen brand. The team wanted to determine how far they could stretch the product offerings within their brand portfolio, by introducing a line of frozen sandwiches.

Our Approach

Conduct a central location test to determine product-concept fit.

Determine if category users give client permission to extend brand into the frozen sandwich arena and understand the potential for this line extension.

Insights to Action

The desired product benefits in the concept were not strong enough to outweigh the weak product
delivery. Specific product guidance was provided to help guide product optimization.

The competitive context for these sandwiches is not other frozen products, but rather fresh alternatives, whether made at home or from a Quick Service Restaurant.

Although the pricing for these prototypes is slightly lower than Quick Service Restaurant pricing, the
prototypes were not able to deliver the same level of satisfaction as their QSR competitors.