Case Study

Developing an Agile System for Continuous Innovation Without Compromising Customization

overview

How can a major consumer packaged goods company keep an ongoing pulse on new idea potential and quickly react to consumers’ needs to further strengthen its product portfolio in a highly competitive environment?

A multi-national consumer packaged goods company challenged C+R Research to develop a flexible system for testing a large number of ideas across a variety of categories in a quick, yet customizable, way to help develop future product innovation strategies and better serve the needs of their varied consumer base.

THE PROBLEM

Our client has traditionally been at the forefront of developing and launching a wide variety of new products every year. Their track record for successful product innovation has been strong, but there is a need for research that can inform quicker decision-making in order to maintain leadership in innovation and stay ahead of the game in a highly competitive and saturated market.

Even though our client had previously conducted research to understand idea potential, they were looking to speed the research process but still maintain a higher degree of quality with statistically sound validity to inform market launch decisions. Additionally, there was also a need for customization of each research test given the variety of ideas and target audiences for each test.

OUR APPROACH

C+R developed a research program that allows for quick research based on standardized questionnaires and reporting templates without compromising the ability to customize the research based on specific needs.

For each test, a specific sample of qualified respondents is surveyed on various ideas across a set of standardized questions as well as some custom metrics. Each test sources independent samples to ensure no bias across the different tests conducted.

Our dedicated researchers analyzed data gathered from each research test and provided key insights and recommendations for each research test. The results help our client deeply understand idea potential as well as areas for optimization (where relevant).

The result

The research approach resulted in the development of an ongoing research system leveraging a mix of standardized processes with room for customization. We created a dedicated team to serve the specific needs of this client and developed a systematic way of conducting all research tests for our client to increase efficiencies, including standardized questionnaires for each type of test and reporting templates. Additionally, by developing standardized documents for testing ideas, the team was able to speed up the research process using these documents as a starting place and focusing on customization for each test. By using standardized documents, we are able to turn around findings to our client in as little as one week (start to finish).

The ongoing system has helped our client quickly develop innovation strategies and predict the potential success of over 40 ideas to date.

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