Consumer Packaged Goods

We've Got the Goods

Qualitative research started with the consumer packaged goods industry.  And, having been in the business 25 years, we have been part of its growth and maturity.  We are proud of our many long-standing partnerships with some of the nation’s best-known CPG firms including General Mills, S.C. Johnson, Sara Lee, Pepsi, World Kitchen, Neutrogena and LEGO.  

We design smart studies, the results of which enable our clients to successfully launch, position, package, and expand the market for their products.  Savvy research design ensures that we are talking to the right people in the best possible way – whether it be through an online community, their mobile phones, at a store, at home, or at a facility.  What we have seen over time is a paradigm shift between the researcher and the research participant.  Whereas they used to come to us, it is now a two way street.  We still do facility-based in-person focus groups and in-depth-interviews, particularly for in-depth, nuanced probing.  However, increasingly we interview participants where they live – or where they shop.   Sophisticated, targeted recruitment yields vested, impassioned users who care about and use the product(s) in question.   Experienced, strategic moderation and analysis uncovers rich insights.  

We have guided new product development, marketing strategies, packaging concepts and advertising in a variety of specialty areas, including personal and home care, food and beverages, toys and games, and pet care. What we have found in product development is that participants don’t know what they don’t know.  We make sense of it all – which enables our clients to optimize positioning, messaging and advertising, and truly understand what makes today’s consumers tick.

Proven Success In Consumer Packaged Goods

The Consumer Insight’s team at a major CPG firm wanted to provide their internal clients with an in-depth understanding of a key consumer segment -- their lifestyles, habits, attitudes, product purchase decisions, usage, and other behaviors.  The goal was to use those insights to contribute to smarter consumer targeting, product innovations and perhaps even strengthened retail-partner relationships.  Doyle Research brought the voice of the segment to life in an engaging manner, using video diaries.  Panelists were tapped on a monthly basis, and asked to respond to a single-focus topic question via webcam.  Each month, a “show and tell” video was produced and presented to marketing.

Another CPG client wanted to increase household penetration of their brand among both current brand users and category non-brand users.  A two-phase study was designed.  In Phase One, focus groups were used to explore current category behaviors, brand preferences, purchase decisions, usage decisions, and relevant lifestyle issues.  In Phase Two, an inundation/deprivation exercise was designed.  Brand users had the brand removed from their freezers, and were asked not to replace it for two weeks.  Category non-brand users were given a two-week supply of client’s brand, and asked to integrate it into their mealtime routine.  Respondents in both categories kept a video diary during the two- week period recording their feelings and experiences as a result of either being deprived of their chosen brand, or inundated with a brand not normally used. This two-phase study design provided the brand team with an engaging, even fun way of learning about the target end-user while contributing to smarter consumer targeting and product innovations.