Reflecting the markets
Market comparisons in pet food
A leading producer of pet food wanted to gain a deeper understanding of his brand, and to be able to positively differentiate his brand from the competition, in a more focused manner. GIM delivered a clear picture of the client’s brand in comparison to the most important competition brands, via a research solution of starkly contrasting elements.
The challenge
GIM’s branding experts were tasked with delivering a clear statement on how their brand was perceived: What are the drivers and what are the barriers for their brand? What can be tweaked to positively differentiate their brand from the competition? The particular challenge here was that when products are perceived as very similar, or when other factors also play a role (e.g. the preferences of their own pet), consumers often have difficulty talking about the products, as well as about the brand behind them.
The solution
GIM’s research design focused on three different elements:
- Element 1: The consumer and his/her attitude and usage patterns.
- Element 2: The users of one brand, together with the similarities of attitude, usage routines and brand perception.
- Element 3: The contrast between different brand-user groups, above all regarding brand perception.
These three elements were methodically integrated into the study:
An individual initial phase included subjects, like usage and shopping routines and patterns, orientation at point of sale as well as individual brand perceptions. This preliminary phase followed focus groups which had been divided up at a certain point and were continued as “triads” (smaller groups of three participants). The “triads” were in agreement regarding the master brand. The brand perception of the client’s brand and the relevant competition brands were exhaustively discussed on many levels. The image of the brand in the narrowest sense was not the only thing discussed. Definable elements such as packaging, communication or product presentation at the POS were also discussed.
After this process, the triads were reunited into their previous groupings, so that the contrast between user groups would not be restricted to an analytical evaluation. Back in this constellation, the participants then presented each other the results of the discussions carried out in the smaller groups.
The success
So this is how in GIM’s final presentation, visual images could be used to literally represent the customer’s feedback. Drivers and barriers of brand perception for the different brand user groups were precisely defined. Thanks to the holistic consideration of image during the interviews and tangible facets of the brand mix, the resulting recommendations were particularly commercially relevant.