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Sensogram 3: Getting That Product Right On Target
Next year in the United States, 15000 new products will hit the supermarket shelves. Most will fail; many within a short time after launch. This is a dreadful waste of resources.
What can be done?
One solution is to employ a fantastic product developer who gets it right first time, every time. But this is too much to expect of anyone.The real solution is rigorous research.
Everyone wants their product right on target, but they don't always go about it the right way. One common approach is to play with a number of formulations in the lab or test kitchen, but then submit only a small number (say three) to consumer testing. All too often, this leads to the result represented by the left-hand target below:
If the bullseye is the perfect product, then all three products have done `OK' - that is, functional but not exciting. The real problem is that there is no clear direction for improvement. They may all taste different, yet consumers do not like one any more than another. You don't know where the bullseye is.
Now look at the scenario in the right-hand target. For a start, nine variants have been submitted to consumer testing, not three. This alone increases your chances of hitting the bullseye. (The scattergun is far more effective than the rifleshot.)
Furthermore, these nine shots are not random shots: they follow a specific design. This might be three sugar levels x three acid levels; or three packaging designs x three shapes; or three fragrances x three colours - the possibilities are endless.
Using this approach, one of the products has hit the bullseye. This will be obvious because it scores higher than any of the others. And the bonus? We now know why it has hit the bullseye; we have identified the key drivers of acceptability.
Testing multiple formulations was formerly cost-prohibitive in consumer research, but SENSOMETRICS makes it feasible.
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