I always find it amazing the amount of people who are happy to launch a food or drink product without testing it on consumers first. Or just testing it on friends and family. Whilst that is better than no-one, they are not going to be totally honest! You do need objective feedback.
But just why is it so important?
Firstly, it means you are putting your consumers first (a trait of successful food and drink brands) – it allows you to get to the heart of what your target consumers really think about your product and want from your product. NOT what you think the product should be. These are the people that are going to be buying your food or drink product and hopefully enabling you to grow your business – makes a lot of sense to really understand their needs.
And it’s not necessarily just a one off before you launch – although this is when it’s critical – keeping close to your consumers throughout your journey is important to keep you focussed on what they want and how their needs and/or buying patterns are changing.
The more you know about your consumers, the better placed you are to be able to adapt your products and keep them relevant.
Gaining real insights about what your consumers think of your product will help you with so many things in your business:
- How you communicate with your consumers (both on pack and off)
- Finding a unique positioning for your product
- Getting your pricing right
- Persuading retailers that they need your product
The above list is by no means endless. Basically, the more you know about your consumers – the easier it is for you to sell your product to them.
And it doesn’t have to break the bank! For cost-effective ways to carry out consumer research head over to a recent webinar I did on this subject. Or drop me a line at jo@relish-marketing.co.uk and we can have a chat about them.