“The further you get in the process before you discover you’ve made a mistake, the more money and time that you’ve wasted. So research is fundamentally a way of mitigating that risk,” said Church and Dwight’s Scott Harmon in a Licensing U session last week on “Why Consumer Research Matters – Especially Now.”

All-encompassing
Moderator Adina Avery-Grossman of Brandgenuity framed the discussion around a case study of the creation of Arm & Hammer Essentials Cleaning Wipes by licensee CR Brands.  Panelists discussed the basic preliminary research toward identifying and understanding the targeted category – size of market, competitive landscape, potential “white space”, applicability of the brand – as well as developing a profile of the consumer, which later would also play into the development of packaging and marketing messages.

“Every brand has a basket of attributes and if you understand them you are more likely to move more product,” said Harmon. “If you have products that run contrary to the equity of a brand you are going to have all kinds of trouble. You are spending a small amount of money early to learn whether the opportunity justifies more investment later.”

A vital consideration
For a long-standing CPG brand, it’s a vital consideration. Church and Dwight’s Tammy Talerico spoke of a mentor’s caution that “it’s important for a licensee to return as much brand equity to the equity bank is it borrows.”

For CR Brands, said Kyle Whitacre, “It’s a question of how we can design a product that will fit with a brand, be differentiated in the marketplace and have a chance of winning.” The company launched the wipes in January at nine grocery chains including Kroger and Publix.

It’s a combination of qualitative and quantitative exploration, combining “off the shelf” category studies to more sophisticated attitudinal research. At each step along the way, the research is aimed at defining the target and evaluating a host of potential executions.

Rational and emotional
Harmon and CR Brands’ Neelam Modi referenced the need to understand the consumer’s decision-making process – a mix between rational consideration and emotional triggers. One theory that Harmon cited is that decisions are initially made emotionally, with the rational side of the brain serving to subsequently rationalize it.

It’s a balancing act. Modi talked of one phase of product concept testing. “You want to learn on a host of different factors, not just on the [specific] concept — pricing, name, for this category scents, claims that would be appealing, what different packaging types or structures are consumers looking at? The first part is qualitative, where we’re talking to a smaller group of consumers, trying to understand how they’re reacting more emotionally to things. At this phase it was more about ‘Are the things we’re trying to communicate coming through clearly’ before we go to a quantitative and much more expensive phase.’

At one point, an initial artwork and package design were dropped after consumers grew confused about a baking soda brand in the wipes aisle.

And it’s a process that never really ends, particularly in this pandemic-affected consumer economy. “Never take anything for granted,” said Talerico. “Go back to the consumer and retest and re-explore your assumptions. The world is changing and consumer behavior in a recessionary economy is going to change.”

All Licensing U webinars staged during Licensing Week Virtual – including this one — are available here, free to all Licensing International members.