We’re very excited to see that the brilliant outcome of our recent brand renovation and stretch project for our friends at Britvic. It was great fun brainstorming with the team and co-creating new product innovation concepts.
We’re really excited by the concept co-creation and optimisation tool that our quant specialists have created.
It harnesses the power of quant to allow consumers to build their perfect concept – and you to spot your optimum concept mix.
Very exciting to see that our friends at Danone Specialised Nutrition have secured the first listings for Complan’s new On The Go RTD. We are delighted to have been able to play a role in the shaping of the brand proposition and positioning.
You don’t need us to tell you that we’ve been through a challenging year, but out of chaos comes disruption – and out of disruption come unparallelled opportunities for innovation!
Incredibly exciting to have played a small part in the process of helping Kallo brand find its clear, relevant and compelling voice again.
Back in January we made our #9 Top Trend Predictions for 2020.
Prediction #2 was Retail Becomes Subscription.
Our observation was that sustainability-focused consumers are increasingly preferring to rent or swap items, rather than buying them outright.
Our evidence was that brands like H&M is trialling the rental of clothes in its flagship store in Stockholm and Ikea is rumoured to be considering a trial for furniture. AO already renting out washing machines and Adidas is asking consumers to return worn-out trainers for upgrade to the newest model.
Our conclusion was that the future of retail for products may be to become a lot more like services!
CB Insights have just published a report that suggests this was just the tip of the iceberg …
CB Insights identify 7 categories where subscription models are already having an impact
Implication: Can you create a service line from your portfolio? The key advantages will be retaining customers’ loyalty and product relevance.
As 2020 dawned, we made our #9 Top Trend Predictions for the year ahead.
Prediction #5 was Conspicuous Eco-Action.
In the research groups we’ve conducted recently, whether they are for babyfood, soft drinks or other FMCG goods, we are seeing a consistent pattern.
When asked about priorities, concerns and worries, the environment and sustainability are frequently seldom front-of-mind for consumers. However, we are seeing a trend towards consumers focusing on single, manageable issues.
Plastic is the biggest topic of conversation around grocery brands, despite ‘sustainability’ being very low on their priority lists.
Consumers want brands to do the hard work for them and will vote with their feet if brands and retailers are not seen to be ditching unnecessary plastic. Eco-consumption may become less about the status of ‘opting in’, and more about the guilt of ‘opting out’.
So it’s very exciting to see some of the leading, global food businesses, including Danone, integrating their sustainability targets into their financial reporting
Implication: Reduce plastic, and other environmental pollutants, and make sure this reduction is highly-visible to the consumer and those around them.
We’re very excited that the brilliant team at Concha y Toro UK have won a coveted New Product of the Year Award for their O’jos Wine Spritzer. Fantastic achievement!
Our team helped CyT segment their category, spot unmet need-states, brainstorm new-product ideas, create initial concepts and quant-test them to spot the winners. A very exciting and very successful innovation pipeline-filling process!
Brilliant post about how major brands are reinventing their innovation processes to incorporate new insight approaches. Including a case history that our team played a pivotal part in delivering!
Food Dive: Behind the scenes: Data and technology bring food product R&D into the 21st century
It’s well worth while checking out this Harvard Business Review post form Chris Stein
HBR: Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation
He argues that managers innovate better when they embrace the constraints within which they are operating.
This really chimes with our experience.
In a workshop we find that a blank sheet of paper waiting for ‘ideas’ can be paralysing – however problem solving against a clearly defined and well-framed set of challenges – can be hugely inspiring!
Image Credits: CHRIS STEIN/GETTY IMAGES/HBR
