How consumer research can improve product launches and marketing campaigns

Prioritizing consumer insights

Editor’s note: Vince Grana is the growth lead at Orchard Insights.

According to the Harvard Business Review, American families habitually buy the same 150 household items. These products account for 85% of their needs. If, as a brand, you’re trying to get something new into that 15% window, you need to know your innovations are going to stick. But the numbers show that companies haven’t quite figured out how to be so sure yet. Less than 3% of new CPG products succeed after launch and outside of CPG, the numbers aren’t any better. Ninety-five percent of new products fail every year and 93% of startups fold within their first three years. Why such an abysmal success rate? 

While many factors contribute to these failures, there’s a common thread – and a critical missing piece: The lack of thorough and effective consumer research. Companies struggle to properly vet their product concepts, business models, claims of benefits and go-to-market messaging ahead of launch. There must be a better way to predict in-market success, right?

Famous failures: The consequences of a lack of consumer research

Tropicana rebrand

In 2009, Tropicana, a well-established brand in the orange juice market, decided to redesign its packaging. The changes aimed to modernize the look and feel of the product, but they were met with significant consumer backlash. The new design was a major (and rapid) departure from their highly recognizable and identifiable brand assets and it failed to resonate with consumers, resulting in a $35 million loss in sales within a few months. The lesson here is clear: Visuals associated with brand perception are crucial, and changes should be thoroughly tested with consumers before a full-scale launch.

New vs. classic Coke

In the 1980s, Coca-Cola made the bold decision to change its iconic formula, introducing "New Coke." The company underestimated the emotional connection consumers had with the original formula, leading to widespread public outcry and a quick reversal back to the classic Coke. This case underscores the importance of understanding core customer preferences and the potential pitfalls of making drastic changes without thorough consumer insights.

Google Glass

Perhaps it was simply ahead of its time. Or, more likely, it was the $1,500 price tag for a weird looking piece of tech people didn’t understand, no advertising campaign and no easy way to buy it. Ironically, today, we see elements of the Google Glass everywhere. Its revolutionary tech was scrapped for parts and embedded more smoothly into tools we’re already using every day. If these glasses were launched today, they may have even been lauded as the way of the future. But launching a decade ago without a thoroughly researched go-to-market strategy, they were doomed to fail before they even stood a chance.

How consumer research helps brands avoid failures 

No company would ever claim that skipping consumer research before a launch is good idea – and that’s not to say that any of the above products didn’t attempt to vet their ideas either. But it can be tricky for brands to find a research methodology that can truly measure and predict adoption with any kind accuracy that leaves them feeling truly confident. We all know research is important but tapping into authentic insights that represent most of your target consumers is not easy, especially if the innovation is disrupting a familiar category or brand.

Traditional pre-launch testing methodologies that rely on survey research introduce challenges brands need to overcome if they want to be sure of their big bets.

Geographical and demographic challenges

It’s difficult to find and often expensive to reach consumers on a large scale using traditional survey research. But reducing sample size, skipping broad research and limiting the scope of wide geographical areas that constitute your target markets to save money can lead you to miss critical market signals. It's essential to leverage cost-effective and comprehensive research methods that don't limit your insights to a small sample size or single region, but also to make sure your selection methodology reduces sampling bias and other survey errors.

Incentivized survey pitfalls

Relying on incentivized surveys that ask about purchase intent can yield unreliable data, with some industry research suggesting that as much as 20% of completed surveys contain fraudulent data which can lead to bad decision-making. Instead, utilizing observational and behavioral data, where consumers can react and behave in a proxy digital environment as they normally would when making purchasing decisions, can provide more accurate insights that are more likely to translate to in-market success.

Limited variable testing

Testing multiple variables can be costly and time consuming. But only testing a few concepts due to time and cost constraints can result in overlooking potential winning ideas or not uncovering insights into consumer needs or desires. Broadening the scope of concept testing is crucial to avoid heading down the wrong go-to-market path.

Avoiding in-market surprises

It’s vital to understand consumer perceptions before making critical decisions, but how well does market research represent the actual market? Conducting in-depth consumer research in the wild can provide valuable insights into more authentic opinions and behaviors both on and offline, leading to fewer underwhelming performances after launch.

Conducting real-world consumer research

If survey-based research yields substandard insights that don’t move the needle in terms of improved success rates for new products, what is the alternative?  

We recommend testing products and campaigns in real-world scenarios, in the digital environments where consumers already live their lives and where they make decisions every day. This means reaching them in an authentic environment, not in a manufactured one. This helps eliminate the "say-do gap" because consumers aren’t trying to please, they’re simply acting the way they normally would in their regular lives. Tapping into this kind of authenticity helps gain far more accurate insights into real consumer behavior and preferences.

Better innovation development

Using the digital space to vet and validate new ideas, concepts and variables before a full-scale launch can lead to higher success rates and reduced risk, especially when you can target hard-to-reach and diverse geographical segments at the same time. More of your ideas reach more people, allowing you to better understand and meet the real-time needs of consumers as they change and evolve. You stay ahead of the game rather than trying to catch up to it.

Successful product introductions

Retail partners want reliable assurances that dedicating shelf space to a new product won’t cannibalize the sales of existing products. Ensuring product-market fit with the right market segment results in better reception from consumers, more accurate forecasts and sustained sales that will inspire retail partners and drive growth. 

Effective marketing and messaging campaigns

Crafting messages around claims and benefits that resonate with the things target audiences are hoping to hear and problems they’re actively seeking to solve leads to improved campaign performance and ROI.

The high failure rates of new product launches and marketing campaigns highlight the necessity of comprehensive consumer research and cutting-edge ways of thinking about research methodology. By integrating groundbreaking new approaches, like testing in the wild, businesses can make decisions with greater confidence and significantly increase their chances of in-market success.