Brilliant Reflections/Consumer Research Specialists

Visual Communication – The Four Stages

There are several stages of “recognition” by the customer of your product or service. They are given different names by different authors but effectively they are:

Impact

First and foremost you need to be NOTICED. If your customers don’t see you, they have no reason to buy in. Everyone is working in an increasingly cluttered environment. Customers are bombarded by visual cues from almost every direction. They don’t study them in detail – they make almost instantaneous decisions based on a combination of cues.
You need impact to get noticed – the design can also significantly affect that. Something which is not always considered by marketers and researchers alike, is the visual context of the communication (what is all around it?) In a lot of research we look at sketches or mockups on a nice white or black background. Stand out is not a problem. It has PLENTY of Stand out and impact. But put it into the context of a cluttered category and the whole picture changes. Suddenly your communication disappears from view.
How can you help check this? I always recommend that clients keep appropriate material within the marketing department so that they can place new designs within the context of the marketplace. If you are looking at your invoices, look at the competitive set of invoices your clients are likely to see. Don’t just look at your competitors, what do the local power bills, telephone invoices etc look like? Will yours stand out in this context? How do you wish it to appear within the marketplace?
If you have a packaged product, look at the implications of the pack format in terms of on-shelf stacking. I have had clients who decided to go to a soft pack in a category which was largely about hoxes. It created enormous problems for them in terms of stacking and facings. Marketing and pack designers need to make sure that the design will always have impact no matter how the product is stacked. How many times have you seen products stacked on their sides. This is not serious if the design has been thought through to give maximum impact no matter what the stacking method.
You don’t have to contact a market researcher to get some sense of how your communication will operate and whether it will stand out.

Message

Next is the message which the consumer takes out of your communication. What does it tell them about the brand (imagery, positioning etc.) and about the product or service? What will they expect to get from buying into this product or service? What is their expectation of delivery given your communication?
While qualitative research should give a clear indication of the message and takeout from a pack, the technologist needs to be involved in the technical aspects of this message. Is all the technical information (particularly the nutritional information) correct? Is the ingredient listing in the corect format and has it been done in a way which is appropriate for the category and the target market?
Does the product require usage instructions? If instructions are included, are they suitable for the target group? Are they visible? I have seen many packs with almost unreadable instructions. Are they in an appropriate form? Sometimes pictorial instructions work better than written ones for certain target groups.

Relevance

Whatever the “takeout” from the communication, the customer will then decide whether it is relevant to him or her. No matter how strong or clear the message, if it is “not for me”, I won’t buy into it.
This is the point at which a customer asks – Is it for me? Or for someone else? Is it for today’s need? Or would I use it on another occasion?
If you are looking for an “everyday”tomato soup to give your household, a pack (no matter how much impact) which tells you that this product is premium and for special occasions will probably be rejected as being too “special”(with its price implications) for this particular purchase occasion.
In many cases, the occasion will influence buy in. I may decide that the bus will do for getting to work, but I will buy into a stretch limo for a premiere night at the opera. We all buy into different goods and services on different occasions.

Action

Having decided whether this product is for them and for the current occasion, the customer then decides to purchase or to reject (for now).

Smiley Face Scales – Am I Happy? Is it Yummy?

I have always wondered what the most positive end of the Smiley Face scale means to children. Does it say “This product is yummy”? Or does it say “I am happy”? Those are two very different things.

I had a scale developed with a facial scale that drew the faces in more detail and which said “yummy” (at least to me).

However, for some cultures showing a protruding tongue is offensive – “a part of the body which should not be seen”. Peripheral stimuli, such as bows in the little girl’s hair and distinctive hair styles tended to distract the children’s attention away from the actual facial expression. It even led to some inappropriate or irrelevant meaning being associated with the face.

When the cultural scale was inappropriate, children turned to the psychologically neutral scale as being non-racist. While this scale avoided peripheral stimuli, it was generally less involving. There was less identification with it – “just lines, can’t look at it and say ‘That’s how I feel’”.

The actual shape and expression of the mouth had a vital role in creating a distinctive expression indicative of a point on the acceptability scale. The scale was most ambiguous at the central or “neutral” point. Representing the mouth as a straight horizontal line was seen by some cultures as inviting a negative reaction. For some larger scale trials in Malaysia and Thailand we used a slightly upturned mouth as being a better representation of an “OK” reaction to a product. So rather than the face shown on the left below, we used one similar to the face on the right.

Not

But

Packaging – Liking is not Enough

When you are assessing new packaging for a product, it is important to remember that “liking is not enough”. You will often hear both marketers and product developers comment about a proposed pack design – “Well, I don’t like it”.

This may not be relevant for two very simple reasons:

The person within the company may in no way represent the target audience in terms of: age, interests or brand preferences. Many marketers are young, white collar workers with relatively high levels of disposable income. They don’t represent target audiences which might include
- A beer brand drunk by predominantly older blue collar workers (50+) for nostalgia and traditional reasons.
- A tea brand drunk mostly by women with children in a lower income grouping who see the brand as aspirational within their lifestyle.
It may not be a product you have to “like” to buy. It may need to convey feelings of “security” or “safety”, “solid worth” rather than something which you “like”

If you are buying a fly spray, a consumer is not looking for “cosy” packaging. He or she wants to feel that the spray will kill all flies very, very dead so imagery which suggests “death” and “destruction” is more appropriate than softer, more comfortable colours and designs. On the contrary, they want something which conveys efficiency, effectiveness and, above all else, death to flies.

You will have noticed that this style of product has often traditionally used figures of authority (often older males) and given them added scientific “competence” (the white lab coat and sterile surroundings) to reassure us all that the product will kill in the most high-tech way imaginable.

What is critical is that the pack design tells the right story to consumers. It has to convey a message about the product and the brand which is relevant and “truthful” about product delivery.

Visual Communication – Are you Telling the Right Story?

However you communicate your organisation’s image and services (through offices, logos, stationery, forms etc.), this is often the most tangible way in which you present your brand to your customer. Although advertising campaigns are a major focus for many marketers (large expenditure has a tendency to focus the mind amazingly) visual communication is changed almost at will. Care is taken to research many aspects of products and services but the visual communication is often (not always) determined internally by the marketing team, possibly in consultation with their advertising agency and design team.

Does it matter? Well, I believe it does and here is an example I have used elsewhere which which almost always ties me up in knots.

Here are the notices you will find at NZ Post boxes and my brain tells me that yes, the blue sign signifies International airmail (a fast service) and the red sign tells me that is for Standard letters (a slow service). At a rational level that works for me but the number of times I have almost put the airmail letters in under the red sign are now past counting. Why? Blue is a slow colour to me and red is the fast colour and I am trying to send my mail by a fast service.

This is not a criticism of NZ Post, they are stuck with international conventions in these matters. However, it is an example of communication in which there is dissonance between the colours used and the written messages. Dissonance in some instances can be advantageous. It can cause the customer to look and look again (great if you need to be noticed in a cluttered category) but where it just causes confusion, it doesn’t benefit any of us.

Designing a Concept

Product ideas are not consumer concepts. In general, when I first see product ideas they are often quite a rational statement, for example “A lightly carbonated beverage, flavoured with natural fruit flavours”.

While this statement will have some appeal to consumers, we have not actively described a real consumer benefit – there isn’t much “taste appeal” in that statement. We might write that statement with a particular consumer group in mind…..

Low carbonation/sugar free/female bias

“A new light spritzer with a hint of natural fruit flavours and sugar free so it won’t weigh me down in my busy lifestyle”

Low carbonation/stronger flavour/male bias

“A zesty new beverage, brings a zing to life but not too fizzy so I feel energetic and ready to meet a busy day”

Low carbonation/all natural/household shopper and children

“A new all natural beverage with light fruit flavours and just a hint of sweetness. The kids will love it and there will be no nasty stains if it does get spilt.”

How does the Consumer Concept differ from the Product Idea? The main changes to a product idea are generally in the addition of “taste appeal” and “consumer relevance”. We need to take a product description and then turn it into something which is relevant to the consumer – which has meaning in their lifestyle. In that way, we can start to get feedback on the product within the context of their lifestyle.

The concept and our description of a product sets up a certain expectation with consumers. From that expectation they react to the products we put in front of them. This is especially true when we describe flavours and flavour combinations to consumers. New Zealand consumers tend to be quite literal in their interpretation of flavours….

Cheese and Bacon Consumers expect more cheese than bacon probably in proportions around 60:40, that is more of one than the other but both should be quite distinctive

Bacon and Cheese Consumers will expect the proportions reversed – more Bacon than Cheese

X with a hint of Y Consumers will expect mostly X and a little of Y

So, when you write your next concept, wrapping it around your product, put yourself in the consumers’ place and think about what makes this product so attractive to them.

Smiley Face Scale – Does it Engage?

OR?

Traditionally, research with younger children has often used the so-called “Smiley Face Scale” to measure acceptability of products. They have also been used in cross-cultural studies where respondents are illiterate and word-anchored or numerical scales are inappropriate.

Researchers have debated the format of this scale for years. Should it use photographs? Should it show faces which are both gender and ethnically neutral? Should you use a cartoon character? What works best? In an effort to use images which do not upset a child or can be misinterpreted, scales have often been used in which the facial expression is highly stylized and the face belongs to no particular gender or race.

This approach may not “offend” your young participants, but does it “engage”? We don’t talk about “engagement” in research enough, in my opinion. Is the task you have assigned interesting or boring? Does the length of it match the attention span of the children taking part? This is very important where you are researching with very young children. In my experience, engagement = good quality data and boredom can easily lead to poor quality data. This is true with adults also – if your task bores them, they will want it over as quickly as possible.

All of this suggests that piloting any new tasks you are asking children to do and the tools you are using is a vital part of any work you do. Never assume that tools which other researchers have used can be uplifted and used for your own situation!

Fragrance – Are you Sending the Right Message?

A range of personal care products has to send the right messages to consumers, both in the overall fragrance message but also with specific products. Consumer expectations for fragrance often come from both the branding and the packaging of the product (or range). Experience over the years has shown us that consumers have a very clear impression of what constitutes an “appropriate” fragrance for a particular product. They reject fragrances which “violate” those perceptions.

Should you choose to fragrance a number of products with the same fragrance, it is often difficult to fragrance all products so they are “identical”. Products have different base formulations and the fragrances are expressed differently depending on whether it is a water-based product (such as a gel) or an oil-based product (such as a cream).

In New Zealand, we have found that toners and cleansers are expected to have “clean”, “fresh” fragrances which give a message that a product is “invigorating” or “uplifting”. These messages are associated with the morning, with “awakening” and “invigorating” the skin. Alternatively, they are seen as products which “refresh” the skin at the end of the day.

Creams and lotions tend to be more soothing and calming, particularly those intended for use at night. In night products, the fragrance message is a mild, calming, relaxing one. The desired fragrance tends to be quite “gentle” and subtle in character, particularly if it is used on the face.

Consumers also expect different levels of fragrance for products use for different parts of their body. Body and hand creams are expected to be more highly fragranced than products intended for the face.

Products which are used under other facial products or make up are expected to have very mild fragrances so that the “layering” of these products will not create an overwhelming fragrance (particularly around the face). Shower and bath products (which “wash away”) are expected to have distinctive and recognizable fragrances which are relatively strong.

Why a Concept?

Understanding a concept and how it appeals to consumers is part of a co-ordinated approach to developing successful products. The concept sets up the expectation for the product or service. It is not just the product idea, but contains the idea written or presented in a way which appeals to a specific group of consumers. If our main interest is in the reaction of consumers to the product or service, why is it important? Why does it matter to us?

There is a traditional view of sensory testing which says that you just present the product to your consumer with very little description and see how he or she reacts. If you do this, the reactions and scores tend to be conservative and even negative. If consumers are not given the context and environment under which this product will be used, they find it hard to decide when or how it would be used. Relevance to their lifestyle is just as important as the actual sensory qualities of the product.

If you give a consumer a carbonated beverage without telling them that it is designed as a lightly flavoured mixer to go with spirits, how are they to judge it? It was not developed as a stand-alone drink, but to blend in with alcohol and other flavours. The consumer is assessing the product out of context and with no idea how it would fit into their own lifestyle. Reactions are unlikely to give the manufacturer a sense of how the product would sell in the marketplace given appropriate marketing as a mixer drink.

The concept gives the product “clothes”, it helps the consumer put the new product into their own lifestyle and product repertoire. Within that context, we get a much more realistic “read” of likely success in the marketplace.

The Wide, Wide World of Sensory Research

Marketers (and many others) have a tendency to see sensory testing as something relevant only to the food industry. I have had many marketers comment – “Oh yes, you do sensory testing – I’m not in the food business”. Clearly their image of sensory testing is one associated with people in white coats, small hutch-like booths where individuals sit in silence and munch their way through various food samples. Whoever limited it to food? Not me, or any of my colleagues who work in the very widest possible range of industries.

Food is a sensory experience but so is a firework display, the smell of a rose or the feel of a soft fabric. Sensory testing refers to all the senses. The best way I can describe the field is one which seeks to measure perceptions of products, concepts or services. It has a large technical tool bag to assist our understanding of customer perceptions and reactions to ideas and products. The challenge for all of us is to use the tools to help less traditional areas of product development.

Tell me about your “impossible” product which needs assessment and see what ideas I have!

Colour my Life!

Colour is something we take for granted. We assess it, process what it means from the first time we open our eyes in the morning until we go to bed at night. The human eye is very good at differentiating colours and even quite subtle changes can be noticed. In consumer research, the information on colour in products is always the “tightest” with the least variance of any sensory characteristics measured. That indicates just how good we all are at assessing it.

Nature has “hard-wired” us to recognise “healthy” colour and “unhealthy” colour Blue is rarely found in natural foods (blueberries are an obvious exception!) Generally, blue is associated with poison and so, when one of our foodie friends colours the mashed potato blue we find it hard to eat. Intellectually, we know it is safe but emotionally our stomachs tend to rebel at the thought (even if the mash is based on the blue potatoes now available.)

New and interesting colours abound in the vegetables available to us now (often based on heritage varieties). However, if we have traditionally eaten orange carrots, somehow white or purple carrots don’t seem right – to our visual senses they are “wrong”.