Surprising Innovation Lessons You Can Only Learn in the Real World

The real world is in a state of flux right now. What is certain, is that during times like this, the ability for people to predict what they will do is even more difficult because there are so many unknowns about what the future holds and how it will impact them.

Instead, observing actual behavior is much more reliable. At Mission Field, we encourage our partners to use transactional testing because we believe consumers “vote with their wallets” and the best predictor of what someone will do in the future is what they do today, not what they say they’ll do tomorrow. Studying consumer behavior in an actual store with real product on the shelf is the best way to understand what is working, what is not working, and why consumers do or do not decide to buy something.

We’ve done close to 100 category-unique transactional tests and have learned many lessons that might surprise you – things that could not have been learned in any other type of testing.

Here are some of those key lessons that helped our partners improve their products and the likelihood of success after launch:

Packaging IRL

Looking at packaging on a screen makes everything look bright and clear. In a recent test, the store lighting and the shelf overhang completely changed the look of the packaging. There was a shadow covering the top half of the package and the shiny finish created a glare that made it difficult to read. The client was able to change the finish on the packaging and move key design elements lower down, below the shadow created by the shelf.

Over time we’ve learned that beautiful label designs often lose against those that sell in a clear and compelling way. If a consumer can’t understand your point of difference and why its better in a split second or two, it’s going to be hard to win them over against known brands and experiences.

Pricing & Planograms

Planograms matter when thinking about price points.  It’s important to have the right neighbors!  This is particularly true for premium products with a corresponding premium price.  In a test we conducted a few months ago, it became really clear how shoppers think of the products that are shelved together like they think about neighborhoods. You don’t expect to see a $1 Million dollar house next to a $300,000 house and you don’t expect to see a $8 product shelved right next to a $3 (similar) product without raising some questions about price-value.  It’s important to make sure products are shelved adjacent to the right reference products so its perceived value doesn’t take a hit purely based on the shelf tag for the next door neighbor's product.

Promotion - Digital Sampling

The retailer’s digital platform is becoming even more relevant to incent trial and create awareness during COVID. In transactional testing, we make sure we’re not over-supporting a product line which can skew the results.  Before COVID we often used in-store sampling to drive trial and awareness. Because of COVID, we now leverage the digital demo - giving away free product through the retailer’s digital platform.  This has been able to generate the lift brands would normally see from in-store sampling while also reaching a more targeted consumer audience.

Placement - Context is Everything

Neither qual nor quant tests accurately take into account your performance against a myriad of different items on the shelf that compete for a shopper’s attention. Only a real in-market test with real shelf dynamics allows you to see if you win at the first moment of truth against dozens of well-known and strongly supported competitors. We recently completed one test where we placed a product in two different locations. When it was placed in the deli area, consumers were confused and didn’t understand what the product was because of the other products around it. When we moved it to refrigerated dairy, it suddenly became much more interesting because they saw it as a replacement for other things on the shelf next to it.

Informing The Team’s Gut

We love it when the client team comes to our in-market tests and absorbs the reaction of the shopper. Like the time a R&D guru from a pet care client had a 45 minute discussion with a shopper about why they felt that certain ingredients in the product were considered not safe for their pet. He walked away saying “she was not technically incorrect about anything she said” and you could see him both surprised to hear that consumers had almost as deep a technical knowledge as he did, and moved by the fact that these consumers were doing such detailed research before making a purchase decision. It reframed how he thought about the target audience and what success liked moving forward.  

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Belief and Emotional Attachment in Innovation

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Adventures in In-Store Research