The product development cycle in FMCG and other sectors has remained largely unchanged for many years. Brands and retailers rely heavily on retrospective sales data to support the creation of a new products and surveys and focus groups just before launch- which is often far too late to validate them. The result? An 80% attrition rate of new products and tens of thousands of pounds wasted in time, money and energy wasted each and every time. The whole product-to-market process in FMCG is ripe for change.
Traditional tactics are lacking in foresight, real-time data and most importantly, context: sales data looks back on what has performed well in the past rather than what might be appealing in the future; results of focus groups are held in private rooms where people know they are being watched and are often coerced by other participants into forming an opinion about a product that might not reflect reality, especially when it comes to their behaviour and decision making when in store. While this approach may have provided sufficient enough answers before, consumer behaviour has changed significantly in the digital era, spurring a need for change in market research.
The connected consumers of Generation C now have the freedom to comment, review and share their thoughts and feedback on social networks on a daily basis online to their peers and to brands. What’s more, brands such as Aero, are also using these platforms to gather feedback on new products asking which flavour variants sound more appealing but what this approach is lacking is depth and an understanding of the science behind consumer behaviour in-store. So as consumers voice their opinions and brands’ eagerness to please converge, we see that now is the time for role of market research insights to take a back seat and allow real-time foresights to take the lead.
Food and drink companies need to get smarter with their spend on product development as they innovate and to change, adapt and update their lines to suit a continuously tepid audience and to find a way to channel the opinions and views of consumers to be heard by the right people who can actually make a change at any point in the product development cycle by listening to feedback in real-time. This model is not new, in fact it’s been around for a while in the tech industry. They tweak and adjust their products and apps continuously to make sure they deliver what the customer needs.
The clock is ticking for FMCG companies that are still lagging behind in an ever evolving digital world. Change is imminent and we can’t wait to see what happens next.
By Ben Davies, founder of vypr
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