Category: Blog

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When developing new products, there’s a massive difference between thinking you have a winning product concept and knowing you do. With extensive product concept testing, you could be pouring significant resources into a project that is doomed from the start.

Before releasing a new product or revamping an old one, proper validation of your product concept will indicate the impact your new idea will have on your target market and ensure you can strike the balance between customer needs and company performance.

With that in mind, here are the four steps that will help you develop a winning product concept.

#1: Firm Up Your Product Concept

The first step involves narrowing down your ideas and firming up your summary of the product concept. You need to list and validate how your product concept brings value to the customer, how and where they will consume it, what the name of the product will be, who the target demographics are, its unique selling points, and how it fits into the overall brand vision.

This internal validation procedure is vital, as it could prevent you from pouring huge costs into developing a product that won’t sell once it hits the shelves. Startup food and beverage brands are usually the most guilty of rushing through this stage and heading straight to market for a product nobody really wants. As many as 35% of all startups fail because there wasn’t actually a market need for their product.

#2: Test Your Product Concept on the General Public and Assess Feedback

While you might have enlisted different departments or even outside consultants to discuss and distil the feasibility or market need for a product concept, you still need to put it to the test with the people that matter – your target consumers.

Without product concept testing with members of the public, you’re never going to truly understand how they feel about your suggested ideas. They could confirm concerns you and your team had, eradicating the colossal expense of going to launch with a product no one wants. Alternatively, you could have a winning product on your hands that meets all of the customer’s needs.

It would be best if you used focus group studies, surveys, and a range of other qualitative and quantitative research methods to build up an accurate picture of what your potential customers think of your new product concept before proceeding any further.

#3: Assess How the Product Concept Sits within Your Company

Committing to a new product concept launch is a huge undertaking for any size of household goods company. Getting it wrong could potentially leave your business on the edge of financial ruin.

Even if customers love what you have in mind, are you the right company to bring it to them? How will the product concept affect your existing product lineup? Will it cannibalise sales or prove a worthy addition that extends market reach? Would the resources needed to bring it to market leave you in a risky financial position? Will it help reach (and is it aligned to) your business goals?

These are all critical questions that need to be considered in great detail before committing to any large-scale development plan(s).

#4: Assess the Competition and Prepare for Launch

If your customers love it, you love it, and the business metrics are looking favourable, the last stage involves assessing the current market conditions. While new food concepts are arriving all the time, very little could be considered truly innovative, so the chances are you will have some competition to analyse.

This is where you assess if your product concept is good enough to draw customers away from what’s already out there. This phase is another one that should involve your target market. This time you might invest in user testing such as in-home use testing (if a household product concept) or consumer taste testing (for food and beverage products).

You might even, in partnership with your chosen consumer research firm, try small-scale, soft launches to gather early intelligence on your product concept’s level of consumer acceptance.

When you have a product concept that excels here (in addition to the steps above), then the chances are you are on to a winner, and it’s time to plough your budget into manufacturing and promotion activities.

Speak to Wirral Sensory Services Regarding Product Concept Testing

Developing a winning product concept is no easy feat, but with careful planning and execution, it can be done. By following the four steps outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to releasing a product concept that meets – and potentially exceeds – customer needs.

Our team at WSS comprises industry leaders in product concept testing, and we have numerous consumer research methods available for capturing vital feedback regarding your proposed ideas.
Whether you merely want to rule out some ideas or you need to conduct a small-scale soft launch with members of the public, Wirral Sensory Services are here to assist you through every step of the product concept validation process.

Get in touch with a member of our friendly team today to learn more about our product concept testing services.

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Did you know that of 12,000 food product launches across Europe, 76% fail to retain their listing after 12 months? Worse, as many as two-thirds even fail to reach the milestone of 10,000 units sold. If you’re in the final stages of launching a new product or revamping an existing one, those statistics make brutal reading.

So what’s the secret to success? As it turns out, taste. How a product tastes is often enough to determine the success or failure of a product alone, as we shall now explain.

Taste is the Most Important Element of Purchasing Decisions

While it’s true that other elements help consumers pick products up off the shelf, how a food product tastes is the most critical evaluation criteria when it comes to making a purchase.

According to a recent survey carried out by the International Food Information Council Foundation, 88% of customers stated taste as their primary reason for buying a product. That was far and above price (70%), how healthy it was (60%), convenience (52%), and environmental sustainability (34%).

Thus, despite all the factors that go into a purchasing decision, taste is still the key criterion and should be factored into any decision to launch a product commercially.

Great Taste Drives Customer Loyalty

As much as 85% of household shopping is derived from repeat purchases. Thus, if your product tastes great, the chances are consumers who loved it the first time around will purchase it again and again.

Research suggests you need a customer to buy your product a total of eight times before it becomes a routine or ingrained behaviour when grocery shopping. Unless your product tastes great the first time around, you won’t even make it to the second purchase.

It also emphasises the importance of quality control, ensuring your product tastes great wherever and whenever they are sold. In fact, between the trial purchase and the first repeat purchase, a brand will lose approximately half of its buyers. To stand any chance of success, that second encounter has to be every bit as delicious as the first.

Poor Taste Can Wreak Havoc on a Brand

While all kinds of factors could lead a brand into trouble, taste is still king in the food and beverage industry. Bad taste often leads to disaster, no matter how big your company might be.

Who could forget the infamous “New Coke” recipe that tasted so bad (according to their customers) that they had to scrap the entire project less than three months after launch? While the stunt actually benefited Coca Cola in the long run, thousands of other companies aren’t so lucky.

Thus, overlook taste at your peril. It’s everything to the success of your products and brand.

Speak to Wirral Sensory Services Today Regarding Taste Testing

As the UK’s leading taste testing company, we help brands ensure their products are the best tasting on supermarket and retail shelves. Our taste testing services provide brands with insights into product acceptance, performance against leading competitors, and consumer taste trends.

We offer our taste testing services in various settings, including in-home tests (where the customer usually consumes the product) or neutral settings under strict laboratory conditions. No matter the size or scale of your taste testing research project, Wirral Sensory Services can deliver what you need.

For more information on taste testing, please do not hesitate to contact us today on +44 (0)151 346 2999 or via email at info@wssintl.com.

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When developing food and drink products, taste plays a pivotal role in consumer acceptance. That’s why leading food brands and manufacturers team up with taste testing companies to gather crucial insights into how their products perform within target demographics before investing in production or marketing campaigns.

So what is a taste testing company, and how exactly do they help brands develop marketing-leading products?

What is a Taste Testing Company?

Leading consumer market research companies such as Wirral Sensory Services offer taste tests and sensory research services for businesses across multiple sectors. We employ specific methodologies to gather data around clients’ taste test criteria, which usually pertain to ingestible products such as food and beverages.

We then recruit from our pool of taste testers to secure the demographics requested by the company and have them evaluate the products using the above-mentioned criteria.

Taste testing tends to take place in neutral environments, such as shopping centres, and there are numerous different testing methods available such as monadic, paired comparison, and sequential monadic, to name but a few.

How Does a Taste Testing Company Help Food and Beverage Manufacturers?

Taste testing companies help food brands in several ways. However, the principal reason for partnering with a consumer research firm in this manner is to gain critical insights into the performance of your products.

Whether you want to assess how your new products stack up against the competition, or you need feedback on a potential change to your most popular product’s formulation, with high-quality, in-the-moment feedback from your target audience, you could be heading for a disaster that costs your company millions.

Not only do taste testing companies have a vast pool of taste testers ready to go (so you can move at speed), but they help distil the data gathered into meaningful results that can be used to shape marketing strategies or product innovations.

When Should a Brand Enlist the Help of a Taste Testing Company?

Numerous scenarios would call for the services of a sensory research company. Taste tests are most often devised in the development of new products or the revamping of existing popular product lines.

However, taste tests are also helpful whenever a company wants to conduct market research into consumer likes, dislikes, and competitor products, as they deliver vital insights that can alter the landscape in your specific sector.

Why Choose Wirral Sensory Services for Your Taste Testing Requirements?

No matter the size or scale of your taste testing research project, Wirral Sensory Services has the expertise and facilities needed to conduct your study.

Our enormous pool of taste testers includes a broad spectrum of demographics and allows us to deploy your study quickly and efficiently. Our neutral-venue settings are capable of holding taste tests for dozens of people simultaneously, which is ideal for large brands with multiple products to assess.

We are trusted by leading international brands to handle their most demanding taste testing projects, and we always deliver accurate and dependable results. For further details about our taste testing services, please feel free to call us on +44 (0)151 346 2999 or email us at info@wssintl.com.

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Sensory testing (or sensory profiling as it’s often referred to) involves the objective evaluation of food (and beverage) products based on the five senses. Rather than using members of the public, sensory food testing required trained panellists who evaluate products based on sensory factors such as smell and taste.

So what does sensory food testing involve, and why is it a critical element of successful product development?

What Happens During Food Sensory Testing?

As mentioned, food products are submitted to a panel of experts who each has above average acuity in detecting elements such as flavour profiles, scents, textures, and tactile features. Those observations are then collated and used to develop a sensory “profile” of the product. You can use this objective profile to compare and contrast with industry-leading products to understand where objective observers notice the key differences.

Together with consumer taste testing, you can use these data points to craft gold-standard products that are objectively better than the current market leader, both in the eyes of scientifically-trained panellists and members of the public. These findings will help sway buyers of major retailers that your new or revamped product is worth stocking.

Which Senses Are Involved in the Food Testing Process?

Five primary senses make up the profile of a food product. They are as follows:

Gustatory Sense

The gustatory sense is better known as the taste sense and works via taste receptors in the tongue. The sensory profilers will distinguish tastes and flavours such as sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Olfactory Sense

The olfactory sense is better known as the sense of smell. Interestingly, the ability of this sense declines with age and is influenced by other factors such as gender and environment. That’s why we take extra care in selecting panellists appropriate to the specific task and product.

Visual Sense

How food products are perceived visually plays an essential role in customer acceptance and, therefore, this sense is a vital element of the evaluation process. We require panellists with an exceptionally high degree of visual acuity to identify very subtle differences between a range of products’ shape, size, and structure.

Auditory Sense

The auditory sense is not as critical as the other senses in the development of food products. However, sound plays a vital role in the acceptance of related features such as the packaging of a food product.

Tactile Sense

How a product feels via our skin receptors is vital to the food development process. The char­ac­ter­istic prop­er­ties of texture, consis­tency, and temper­a­ture can be picked up via this sense and essential to both the product itself and the packaging.

Why is Sensory Food Testing So Important?

In short, a sensory evaluation of a product provides research and development teams with scientific, objective information regarding the sensory properties of a specific product.

• Brands can subsequently use this information to:
• Benchmark those properties against competitors and industry leaders to gain vital insights (known as product optimisation).
• Assess the overall marketability of the product (including discerning any notable features regarding the senses).
• Implement changes to further enhance the sensory performance of their product.
• Discover opportunities to launch new products based on the findings.

Speak to Wirral Sensory Services Today Regarding Your Sensory Food Testing

At WSS, we have over three decades of experience in helping leading international and domestic brands carry out scientific and consumer research. Our sensory testing capabilities are second to none, will highly-skilled panellists able to detect even the subtlest changes to a product’s sensory profile.

Our track record speaks for itself, and you can trust our high-quality research to provide the information your brand needs to improve existing products and launch exciting new lines.

Contact us today to discuss your sensory research requirements in more detail with a member of our experienced team

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Rebranding, renaming or revamping existing products can be a worthwhile endeavour for products in desperate need of a new lease of life or a significant sales boost. But rebranding is not without risk, and getting it wrong can be incredibly costly both in terms of brand reputation and resources spent. Even the biggest brand names in the world have made costly errors before, as we shall now explain.

Companies That Got Their Rebrands Badly Wrong

There’s perhaps no more famous case of a botched rebranding or revamping of a product than New Coke. In April 1985, Coke decided to change up their tried and tested formula and replace it with a new one. Customers were outraged and hated the new product, despite their blind taste tests indicating their customers preferred a sweeter formulation closer to that of Pepsi. Classic Coke was back just three months later, and sales enjoyed a boon, taking them past previous highs and increasing market share, leading some experts to believe this was a deliberate marketing ploy. Kellogg’s weren’t quite so lucky with their renaming blunder. In 1998, Kellogg’s confused families across the UK by renaming its popular Coco Pops cereal Choco Krispies. Sales of the product were subsequently nosedived. The old name was back less than a year later, but the damage had been done, with sales not recovering to the same levels for several years afterwards.

Why Effective Consumer Research is Vital Before a Product Rebrand or Revamp

The issue here in both cases was poor consumer testing and research strategies, which, if executed correctly, could have led to more successful rebranding campaigns. Coke did carry out consumer research with their blind taste tests. However, they got those results and ran with them without pausing to ask their most loyal customers what they might think of a new formulation. Focus group studies could have flagged the issues that then appeared immediately after launch saving them millions in costs related to the botched launch. Kellogg’s made a similar mistake by not consulting their core consumer base before making the name change. When they did finally get around to surveying their target demographic in early 1999 (several months after launch), they found that 92% preferred the old name. These case studies underline the importance of carrying out holistic consumer research. With an overarching research strategy and an eye on the big picture, your company can make your product rebranding a long-term success. However, if you miss out on crucial elements of that strategy, then failure might just be inevitable. That’s why it makes sense to enlist the help of consumer research professionals with a track record of overseeing successful reformulations, packaging overhauls, and product renamings.

Speak to Wirral Sensory Services About Your Upcoming Rebranding

Our team at WSS have over three decades of experience in overseeing successful rebranding campaigns. We can help by working closely with your internal team to ensure that you’re fully aware of the advantages and pitfalls of each research method and we’re on hand to extract and present the most valuable data out of each methodology for your team to dissect. With a broad spectrum of research capabilities, we are here to help you create a holistic approach to consumer research that ensures your rebrand is aware of any potentially fatal flaws long before any of your new ideas are out in the public domain. From taste testing and sensory research to focus groups and in-home use product testing, we can provide and oversee the research methodologies you need to deliver critical insights into your target audience’s perception of your revamped products. To learn more about how WSS can help you deliver a successful product rebranding, speak to one of our friendly team members on +44 (0)151 346 2999 or email through your enquiry to info@wssintl.com.

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Packaging research is a crucial component of product development. Yet, this vital phase of branding (and rebranding) is often overlooked, creating enormous issues for the brands that didn’t carry out consumer testing correctly. It’s always risky to rebrand to a new packaging design for an established product. However, to carry out a rebrand without first consulting your most loyal customers is a recipe for disaster, as brands such as Tropicana and Frito-Lay found out the hard way. So with that in mind, let’s tell you a little more about their cautionary tales and explain why in-depth packaging research is a vital step in the development of both new and revamped products.

Packaging Mistakes Made By Tropicana Cost Millions in Losses

The changes to Tropicana’s packaging of their most popular orange juice product are among the most infamous blunders in marketing history. It was decided by Tropicana’s owners (PepsiCo) that the brand needed updating after the packaging design had not been updated in decades. They hired an experienced marketing agency to develop a new design and pumped $35 million (£24.7m) into overhauling its Pure Premium product packaging. The redesign involved replacing the classic straw in the orange picture with a glass of orange juice spread across two sides of the carton and repositioning the logo from horizontal to vertical. While the changes might not seem drastic, there was uproar from their customers, and many customers simply failed to recognise the brand on the shelf. Sales dropped by 20% almost immediately, and Tropicana eventually reverted to the original packaging, but not before the debacle cost an additional $30 million (£21.2m) in lost sales.

Frito-Lay’s Packaging Change Creates Noise Complaints

In 2010, Frito-Lay launched the world’s first 100% compostable packing for potato chips (crisps). While a laudable initiative, the biodegradable packaging was exceptionally noisy, with some customers describing its crinkles and crackles as “deafening.” Not great when family-sized bags of crisps are usually shared when with company or in front of a TV screen. The noise was so off putting that Frito-Lay removed the offending packaging design and had to return to the drawing board.

How Effective Packaging Research Could Have Saved Both Brands Millions

Both brands made serious errors with their packaging redesigns, with Tropicana losing tens of millions of pounds as a result. Their first mistake was not consulting their most loyal consumers about what they thought of the changes. Their second mistake was not consulting more casual buyers about some of the more obvious design flaws. One of them was the glass of orange juice spanning two sides, a visual effect that would never be noticed in real life since orange cartons are packed tightly side-by-side in supermarket shelves. For Frito-Lay, the packaging research pointed out a strong and growing emphasis on the environment and sustainability within their consumer base. However, they took those findings and ran before actually putting the new packaging through its paces and gathering feedback on how it worked in practice. With a well-thought-out consumer testing strategy for Tropicana and an investment into in-home use product testing of the Frito-Lay compostable bags, both brands could have saved themselves millions in failed rebranding costs.

Partner With an Experienced Consumer Research Firm with a Decades-Long Track Record of Success

At Wirral Sensory Services, we are trusted by some of the world’s leading brands to take care of their consumer research projects, including in-depth packaging research. Our team has decades of experience in helping brands determine real-world effectiveness and consumer satisfaction with product designs. For more information on our packaging and consumer research services, get in touch with us today by phoning +44 (0)151 346 2999 or emailing us at info@wssintl.com.

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What Is Central Location Testing?

Central location testing (CLT) is a vital piece of the puzzle for brands looking to gain consumer insights into their products. CLT is a qualitative market research approach in which research takes place in a specific, controlled environment such as a testing lab, restaurant, shopping center, department store or other suitable locations where the brand wants to have a presence. Central location testing provide brands with the opportunity to gain critical customer feedback without many of the biases that can decrease the reliability of the findings and allow research teams to collect all-important non-verbal feedback.

The Challenges Of Central Location Testing & How To Overcome Them

When conducting a central location test it should be adequately planned, expertly designed and directed by trained staff. Below we will outline some of the challenges of central location testing and how you can overcome them.

Biased Responses

Occasionally, participants may give biased responses to interviewers. These favourable psychological responses may be because of something simple such as the participant taking a liking to the interviewer. In this situation, they might give answers that may be different from what they really believe. For this reason, it is important to train your interviewers to a high standard.

Interviewer Misconduct

Interviewer cheating is another challenge of central location testing. On occasions, interviewers can intentionally provoke biases or push participants towards specific answers. To avoid this scenario you should always work with a trusted consumer research company, with reliable staff, such as Wirral Sensory Services.

Participant Recruitment

In some instances it may be hard to recruit enough participants. For example, if you are running a central location test in a supermarket or shopping centre, you can face problems if there are fewer shoppers than expected. To prevent this it is best to organise tests and recruit participants beforehand. Wirral Sensory Services can conduct the market research fieldwork you need for all your central location tests (CLTs). We interview and recruit participants that you need for your market research project, deliver the products for testng, complete the follow up survey, and give you the results. Our market research is completely confidential and is conducted so that it is enjoyable for respondents, provides clear results and offers you accurate insight into what consumers are really thinking.

Your Dependable Partner For All Your Central Location Testing Needs

To enjoy the benefits of central location testing, you must choose the correct research method. At Wirral Sensory Services, we have helped leading UK brands to choose and conduct the most suitable research methodology for their brands. Our team of trained researchers have more than 20 years of experience in conducting research within the food, beverage, and household products industry. The feedback our researchers provide is accurate, unbiased, and allows many of the UK’s leading brands to create products that consumers love. Whether you are a new brand entering the market or an existing brand trying to expand your market share, the experienced researchers at Wirral Sensory Services can help your product succeed. Contact us today to learn more about how our research methodologies can help you create an industry-leading product.

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What Is Product Concept Testing?

Product concept testing is an early market research method that maximises the odds of you launching a product that people want to purchase. You explore the viability of a product with its target consumer early on and improve its development from the feedback and data acquired from the testing. Concept testing is a vital stage of product development. It will help you to avoid costly errors and unpleasant surprises. The information acquired will give you a much better understanding of the market and assist you in achieving a much more successful product launch.

The Advantages Of Product Concept Testing

There are many reasons why you should conduct concept testing before launching a product. These include:

Real Feedback From Consumers/Users

Product designers and developers often get to close to a product to make a sensible decision about it. Just because an idea feels right doesn’t mean its commercially viable. Product concept testing provides you with real feedback and data from your target audience that you can’t replicate with your businesses internal team.

Helps You Identify Shortcomings

Almost all product concepts have their flaws. Testing your product with real consumers helps you to identify weaknesses that weren’t noticed during the design and development phases. It is always a good idea to get a fresh pair of eyes on your product.

Allows You To Improve Your Product

Prior to testing, your product is just a sample that has all the major components in place yet needs some minor tweaks. Product concept testing can help shed light on what your target audience think about your product. This will give you some ideas on how to revise and improve your product so that it’s more likely to be a hit with consumers when it is launched.

Why Product Concept Testing Is Important

The advantages of product concept testing outlined above are important for numerous reasons. Here are some of the reasons why you should contemplate concept testing as part of your product development:

Helps Your Product Get Backing

Concept testing gives you accurate data about how your target market feels about your product. This information can then be used to demonstrate to others in the business why you are making certain decisions. Not having this evidence can make it hard to convince colleagues as it is just personal opinion.

Helps You Discover What Your Target Market Like About Your Product

Product concept testing will help you find out what your target consumers like about your products. This information can be really useful during your marketing campaigns. It can also help you to make better decisions when creating other products. This is as you can focus on things that consumers like and target specific problems faced by current or prospective customers in the marketplace.

Helps You Decide A Price Point

During product concept testing it is standard to ask participants how much they would expect to pay for a product. This will help you to make a decision on how much your product will retail for.

Customer Segmentation

Product concept testing can help you to segment your customer base. If data shows that a specific demographic adore your product and others are less passionate it can be extremely helpful when it comes to your marketing campaigns and distribution efforts.

Helps You To Estimate Sales

Data gathered during concept testing can sometimes help you to estimate how many units you will sell and the ROI (return on investment) you can expect once the product is launched. This information is really helpful when it comes to deciding on budgets for marketing campaigns and attaining backing from others within the business.

Trusted Product Concept Tester

Product concept testing can enhance your product development and marketing strategies, reduce the time required to market and launch your product, and keep your customers happy. If you’re weighing up whether to pursue concept testing for your new product lines, why not email our team today at info@wssintl.com to learn more about how we can help your brand gain valuable insights into what your target consumers think about your products and how they can be improved before launch.

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Consumer testing forms one of the cornerstones underpinning any leading brand’s success. For those competing in the food and beverage industry, consumer taste tests, in particular, provide vital data and insights that can give your brand an edge over the competition. With that in mind, let’s look in more detail at why consumer taste tests often hold the key to success for consumer products.

Consumer Taste Tastes Improve Sales

By subjecting your products to consumer taste tests, you can gain valuable information about the perceived tastes of your product and, crucially, its ability to appeal to consumers. You can uncover small but meaningful details that can transform the ability of your product to meet the demands of your target audience. Just a slight tweak to a recipe can change the fortunes of an ailing product or dramatically improve the sales of a new product upon launch. Without consulting consumers’ palettes beforehand, you may have to invest a lot of development time and money to manufacture a product that consumers actually want. So, not only can you improve sales, but you can also avoid that significant investment in time and resources by conducting straightforward consumer taste tests with experienced and accredited research partners.

Customer Taste Tests Facilitate Competitor Comparisons

If you find yourself stuck wondering what it is that competitor products have that your offerings don’t, customer taste tests may reveal the answer. By stacking your product up against market leaders, you can begin to develop deeper insights into the flavour profiles and perceived tastes that are winning over your target market. It could be that you may have overlooked an essential ingredient that your customers look for when buying products from your category. Or perhaps your product’s texture or physical size is deemed undesirable by consumers. Either way, by gaining those critical insights from taste testing, you can make the necessary adjustments to your product before it hits the market and is met with a lukewarm consumer reception.

Subject Your Products to Consumer Taste Tests to Aid You Bid in Gaining Supermarket Listings

With the nature of supermarket listings, if your product is to gain a spot, it has to knock another product from your category off the shelves. Without compelling evidence, that’s not a decision most supermarket buyers will make. What more compelling evidence could you have than empirically proving that your customers prefer your product over competitors or even the current market leader? Consumer taste tests can reveal that consumers prefer your product’s flavour and taste profile over competitors, which will help make your case to a supermarket buyer. If you never invest in this critical element of consumer research, securing supermarket listings could prove an insurmountable task.

Partner with Industry-Leading Taste Testers to Secure a Competitive Edge for Your Products

Wirral Sensory Services has provided consumer taste-testing services to leading international brands for close to three decades. With our research expertise and enormous pool of taste testers, we can deliver the data, insights, and evidence you need to create market-leading products. Our range of services are designed to help you reduce costs, maximise sales, and understand exactly what your consumers want from your products. So, if you are looking to bring a new product to market, or improve the market acceptance of an existing product through reformulation, then make sure to get in touch with a member of our expert team today to discuss your consumer taste testing requirements. Call us on +44 (0)151 346 2999 or email our team at info@wssintl.com.

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History is littered with mistakes made by brands launching products without conducting the necessary research. Who can forget the launch of the “New Coke” in the 1980s (which lasted all of two weeks) or the flop that was Google Glass? The latter example proves that even the most innovative of companies can badly miss the mark with their consumers. The good news is that, by investing in product concept testing, companies can develop their product ideas in a safe, controlled environment with the input of their target audience. Whether you are launching a new product to market or thinking about redesigning or rebranding an existing product, below are three reasons you’ll want to put your ideas through product concept testing. But first, what is product concept testing?

What is Product Concept Testing?

Product concept testing is the process of uncovering what your target consumers think about your new product concept. By investing in this consumer research method, you can identify which ideas will become runaway successes and which ones should be best shelved. Concept testing methods include online questionnaires, face-to-face surveys, focus study groups, and one-on-one interviews. Irrespective of the specific research method, concept testing identifies the specific features and benefits that will make your ideas a hit or miss. Once in-depth testing has been carried out, you will know whether your idea will be a major hit or an opportunity for a narrower market segment that might not warrant the time and resource investment. With product concept testing covered, let’s go into why you need to invest in this vital research process.

#1: Product Concept Testing Helps You to Filter Out Ideas Not Worth Your Time

While one day of blue-sky thinking with your team could yield dozens of potential product concepts, you need a way to narrow down your potential list of ideas and find out which ones are worth throwing your weight behind. With product concept testing, there’s no more guesswork. You’ll hear straight from the horse’s mouth which ideas are going to cut it and which should be thrown in the bin. By employing a broad spectrum of consumer testing tools, you can identify winning product concepts and unearth opportunities to further refine them. You’ll then have the confidence to move onto the next stage of development knowing you are pursuing the right strategy.

#2: Product Concept Testing Helps You Understand What Matters to Consumers

Even if an initial round of surveys suggests your product is likely to be a home run, you still need to think about the aspects that will ensure success. How you position your product, what it looks like, colour schemes, packaging, and price are just a few of the elements you’ll need to receive input from consumers to make sure you focus on the right aspects. With a blend of qualitative and quantitative consumer research methods, you can find out what matters most to your intended audience and get to work on catering to those specific needs. Working in this manner significantly reduces your chances of failure since you’ll already know what the customer is looking for. You simply have to execute it.

#3: Product Concept Testing Allows You To Fix Problems Prior to Launch

One of the reasons so many products fail is that they miss the mark so badly that fixing the problems would cost more than the venture is worth. However, you can buy yourself the flexibility to develop a product that consumers truly want and need by extensively testing before launch. By continually iterating and tweaking based on consumer feedback, you can avoid the costly launch mistakes made by the companies mentioned above. Yes, this will require significant investment before even reaching mass production. However, these costs would be dwarfed by the investment required to try and fix a botched product launch.

Speak to Wirral Sensory Services Regarding Your Product Concept Testing Requirements

Here at Wirral Sensory Services, we have helped international and domestic brands of all sizes to develop market-leading products through a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods. From online surveys and questionnaires to dedicated focus group studies, we can conduct all manner of testing to ensure that you nail down a successful product idea before you bring it to market. If you would like to learn more about our product concept testing services, simply get in touch with a member of our team on +44 (0)151 346 2999 today.