Holistic Market Research - Persuadable Research Corporation

 

Holistic Market Research Case Study

Background

In 2023, a private equity company approached us to help them with a due diligence study for a small, premium haircare brand they planned to purchase.  The goals of the study were to determine if the brand was appealing and believable to consumers—specifically looking for “green lights” to confirm the opportunity, “yellow lights” to understand areas for improvement, and insuring there weren’t any “red lights” which would suggest abandoning the purchase.

 

 

Persuadable Research recommended a three-phase approach, evaluating the insights from each before committing to the next phase in the research.

• The first step was an Online Focus Group to introduce the brand and its products to gather reactions, probe believability, and explore the brands’ fit with their needs.
• Concurrently, we set up an in-home usage test where we guided participants through the purchase process, allowed them to pick out products of their choice, order them, and use them for up to one month. We checked in on the participants and conducted follow-up interviews after they had used the products for a few weeks.
• Finally, we conducted an online quantitative study, effectively a mini AA&U, to further probe and quantify category engagement, awareness, and to test the brand’s concepts and purchase intent.

Insights

• During the Online Focus groups, there was a mixed reaction to the name of the product. We were able to test the appeal of the name during the quant study which revealed that 63% of respondents found the name very or extremely appealing, easing those concerns.
• In all three phases of the study, it was revealed that there is a lack of satisfaction with their current haircare products giving both a challenge and an opportunity to the brand.
  • Participants found the brand believable and appealing.
  • The premium price point did not appear to be a barrier to believability and appeal.
• In the online focus group, the target audience saw themselves in the brand and were interested in exploring more about the brand and its products.
  • The imagery on some of the website images revealed the marketing should focus on a variety of looks and ages within the advertising.
• The quantitative phase of the study proved earlier claims that there is a lack of satisfaction among current products and confirmed that the brand can leverage its efficacy to address unmet needs.
• The in-home usage tests revealed some otherwise uncovered insights.
  • Several had frustration with the packaging. While this was later proved to be a user error, it allowed the brand to be aware of this frustration and offered them an opportunity to improve.
  • Value became a bigger concern after seeing the packages in person Participants felt the size / quantity of the products was less than expected.
  • Several products seemed to underperform expectations; however, those who provided low ratings to products were still willing to try other products from the brand confirming that the brand is believable, and their message is relevant to its audience.

Impacts

The private equity firm purchased the brand with a full picture of the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, giving them the opportunity to make improvements to the products that they may not have otherwise known about.  They were able to hear directly from their target consumers about their preferences and behaviors which will help them in their marketing, promotion, and new product development.