DEFINING A CATEGORY VISION.
RETAIL INNOVATION PIPELINE, BRAND DEVELOPMENT & LAUNCH STRATEGY
February 2023 - April 2023
Project Team: Project Lead, Consultant & Innovation Manager working with a Cross-Functional Client Team in the US
My Role: Innovation Manager
Challenge:
McCain USA needed to build a compelling retail platform to capitalise on the increase of in-home entertaining and ensure they stand out in a cluttered category of well-established brands. This involved looking at new brands and product development for the frozen-appetisers aisle.
Background:
McCain North America’s Appetiser Division was anchored in Food Service, with only 9% of business passing through the retail channel – predominantly in private label, with only one branded offer.
Consumer spending was shifting from out-of-home to in-home, as cost of living pressure compounded changes to socialisation and entertainment established during the pandemic.
Approach:
Insight Immersion
To fully understand the competitive landscape and consumer behaviour, we embarked on a comprehensive insight immersion phase.
This involved conducting in-depth 1:1 interviews with 4 leading North American retailers, and 2 industry experts, gaining invaluable insights into their perspectives and needs.
We then spent several weeks conducting consumer research across 3 major US cities, speaking with 24 consumers and visiting 15 different retailers. This research included shop-alongs, home visits, and evening ‘events’ hosted in consumer homes. This allowed us to test products, observe consumers in their natural environment, understand their in-home entertaining habits, uncover tensions, emerging trends, and potential opportunities within the frozen food aisle.
Approach:
Collaborative Brand and Product Design
Leveraging the rich insights gathered, we transitioned to brand and product design. This phase involved a full-day cross-departmental ideation workshop, bringing together representatives from multiple teams to brainstorm and ideate innovative brand concepts and product propositions.
We then held a half-day ideas harvest, where we prioritised the most promising ideas, looking at feasibility, viability and desirability, to take into design development and prototyping.
User-Centred Refinement
Taking a test-to-learn approach, we moved into another round of co-design prototype testing. In this phase, we collaborated with design teams, and McCain's R&D team to create product prototypes, brand, and pack designs across 5 new brand platforms. We tested 7 physical prototypes, 5 brands, and 19 product ideas with end users in face-to-face group sessions.
By gathering their feedback and observing their interactions with the prototypes, we were able to refine both the brand and product propositions, ensuring they truly resonate with target consumers.
Outcome:
Leveraging the real-time behavioral and attitudinal insights gathered directly from retails and end users during home visits, shopper research, and product testing, we were able to build a new category vision for McCain USA.
This project led to ongoing brand and product refinement with the McCain USA team.