How Sarson’s successfully tested new product concepts pre-launch with YouGov Surveys: Self-serve
Challenge
Concept testing for a new product during the holidays.
Solution
Leveraging YouGov Surveys: Self-serve's highly engaged panel to rapidly gather opinions from 2,500 members of a key target audience.
Results
Data on consumer preferences and purchase intention to inform launch marketing strategies, as well as uncovering new usage occasions.
Business challenge
Leading UK food brand, Sarson’s, was launching a new premium product, aimed at the in-home consumption occasion. The packaging is key to ensure success of the product and communicate the right product cues.
Six bottles were being considered, and Sarson’s wanted to test each concept determine the best option and likely purchase intention. Timelines for this project were very tight, as YouGov Surveys were briefed mid-December 2020 with key decisions due to be made early January 2021.
Solution
Leveraging the speed and granular targeting of the YouGov Surveys: Self-serve platform, Sarson’s needed to reach 2,500 people who would consider eating oven or microwave chips at home. The large sample size would allow for in-depth analysis by age, region, and crucially by the UK’s largest supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons).
The aim of this survey was to understand consumers’ expectations and associations with the new concept post exposure to stimulus. The first survey delivered fresh insight on the product and consumers expressed preferences for two bottle concepts.
Sarson’s used YouGov Surveys: Self-serve to run a second survey between Christmas and New Year to further tease out any differences and likely purchase intention, reaching a fresh sample of 600 shoppers from the UK’s four largest supermarkets.
Results were streamed into Sarson’s client account in real-time while fieldwork was underway, and later displayed in our powerful data tool, YouGov Crunch. 180 personal data points about each respondent were appended to the data, allowing for deep sub-group analysis.
Results
The research showed a clear consumer preference for the new product concept, and a significant uplift in purchase intention once the product was placed in the preferred bottle. This data informed the marketing of the product for launch, as well as uncovering new usage occasions for the product, stimulating a fresh direction for the longer-term product strategy.
Critically, the business had a robust evidence base to make key strategic decisions on the first working day in January 2021, thanks to YouGov Surveys: Self-serve's speed and always-on functionality.
Client testimonial
“We needed to make an urgent and critical business decision that required a robust evidence base to support it. YouGov Surveys: Self-serve's speed and service over the Christmas period allowed us to make that decision with confidence.”
- Rebecca Hargadon, Marketing Manager at Mizkan Euro