Product optimization to improve the profitability in KSA, Egypt & Lebanon

A Quantitative research with both rationalization & superiority objectives. To fuel growth by assessing the level of risk (among the core brand users) of launching a cost-optimized recipe. To validate the brand superiority (vs. competition) driven by the new cost-optimized recipe.

Design: Two core & distinct objectives led to two different methodologies tailored to each objective. Products tested in a controlled environment (taste being the main focus). Sequential monadic test.

For the product rationalization objective, the research helped in decision-making, by comparing the new cost-optimized recipe with the current recipe, on key action standard measures. Alienation/potential risk was estimated, if the client decides to move to the new recipe.

For the product superiority objective, the research helped in decision-making, by comparing the new cost-optimized recipe with key competition products, on key action standard measures, among the category users. The forced product preference helped the client to take a decision, wherever products were at parity when tested monadically. Mapping all the products on all the attributes visualized the grouping/ relationship between products & attributes.

The performance of the new recipe was also benchmarked with the norms database for the category, to check if it meets the top 25 percentile norms criteria. For diagnostic understanding, correlation & driver analysis were done to understand the inter-linkages between the attributes & their hierarchy. Attributes were prioritized for improvement based on the performance of the new recipe on the respective product drivers. Further, the direction of product improvement was identified using the penalty analysis, making the research recommendations very actionable.

“Great stuff. The report was well integrated, it also delved into the past learnings and benchmarked against the success norms. The directions for product improvement are very clear.”

Senior CMI Manager

Post-launch evaluation for a new variant of square portion in KSA

Holistic research involving both Qualitative and Quantitative, to evaluate the launch of client’s portion cheese based on how best it meets consumers’ needs & expectations, triggers & barriers to using the product, measure the level/ source/ quality of awareness and trial vis-à-vis other recent innovations

Design: Interview with spreadable processed cheese consumers. Qual was done after the quant phase, facilitating the recruitment of users in qual from the previous quant stage (due to the brand being small and hence challenge of finding the brand users in the market).

The research provided actionable results to drive the brand growth for the brand, by mapping all the marketing mix elements (product, packaging, pricing & promotion, placement, and positioning). Building the ‘quality of awareness’ was identified as the key challenge i.e. communicating what the product is about and what kind of taste consumers can expect from such a product.

The study identified that the message ‘new product from brandX’ was not effective in communicating the intended occasion and providing any cue on usage & taste. Its sour taste was seen as more suitable for adults.

The packaging was liked by everyone (design, colors, label, information on the pack), giving the product good stand-out/visibility on the shelf.

“Very good report. Integration of both qual & quant insights, mapping of all the brand-mix elements provide a clear way forward for the future growth of this product”

CMI Group Manager