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Marketer: Grace Foods
Marketing challenge: Validate and optimize potential for new product
Scope of work – progressive research: Beginning with U&A and bull’s-eye audience identification, concept test, price sensitivity, positioning, package design, and finally taste test/sensory.
Outcome – relevance invites and creative excites: In addition to ‘go’ recommendation, surprising insight from a surprising source leads to succinct and compelling creative spearheading a successful and ongoing product launch.
The story:
Launching a new product is an exciting but complex research, analytics, and creative challenge, and I’ve had the opportunity to work on a couple of them with Grace Foods, an established Caribbean company rapidly expanding in N. America and around the world.
Food innovation research and consulting often involves multiple components: for example, usage and attitude to gauge the market, a concept test to determine potential, price sensitivity, package validation, and sensory and creative testing.
When Grace decided to investigate the potential for launching a West Indies staple, Frozen Jamaican Style-Patties, along the eastern seaboard of USA, the cautious and thorough team led by Nimal Amitirigala (product) and Angeline Gillings (insights and planning) decided on a comprehensive research and validation process.
The patties experience taught me to expect the unexpected and look for it in future.
Food marketing can be cumbersome, including taste (all-important but to all competitors) often leading to a litany of ingredients and claims, health attributes, textures, serving occasions, family members that the shopper can please, and so on. As a result, not only did the Grace team want to know whether to talk about patties, a launch-go or a no-go decision, but how to talk about it if go.
Good news for the initiative came early and often:
• There was already a sizeable patties market, certainly with Caribbean diaspora but also with Hispanic households and the general population
• Price sensitivity research and current in-market pricing suggested competitiveness and profitability
• The package design was very appealing and as good as or better than competition in planogram research
But perhaps the best news of all was that concept-testing validated the idea of Grace Frozen Jamaican Patties—they would be welcomed and considered for purchase.
Analysis of messaging content also provided clues about communication: of all the things we could have talked bout, two mattered most to the target audience:
e the potential for launching a West Indies staple, Frozen Jamaican Style-Patties, along the eastern seaboard of USA, the cautious and thorough team led by Nimal Amitirigala (product) and Angeline Gillings (insights and planning) decided on a comprehensive research and validation process.
The patties experience taught me to expect the unexpected and look for it in future.
Food marketing can be cumbersome, including taste (all-important but to all competitors) often leading to a litany of ingredients and claims, health attributes, textures, serving occasions, family members that the shopper can please, and so on. As a result, not only did the Grace team want to know whether to talk about patties, a launch-go or a no-go decision, but how to talk about it if go.
Good news for the initiative came early and often:
- There was already a sizeable patties market, certainly with Caribbean diaspora but also with Hispanic households and the general population
- Price sensitivity research and current in-market pricing suggested competitiveness and profitability
- The package design was very appealing and as good as or better than competition in planogram research
But perhaps the best news of all was that concept-testing validated the idea of Grace Frozen Jamaican Patties - they would be welcomed and considered for purchase.
Analysis of messaging content also provided clues about communication: of all the things we could have talked bout, two mattered most to the target audience:
Impact of USDA approved
The USDA statement provided confidence that
the ingredients were safe and healthy.
Impact of Established History
The statement that Grace was established in
1922 and in Kingston, Jamaica provided
authenticity that helped drive product appeal
All the good news and analysis about patties potential led to final due diligence, taste testing: does the product live up to the promise?
I was so intrigued with the idea of ‘authenticity’ from concept testing that I suggested it be included in sensory testing right alongside flavor, aroma, texture, appearance, and other product attributes considered most important in food marketing. Even though it was an unusual idea, the Grace team and Contract Testing Inc., retained to administer the central local test, agreed.
The sensory test proved the product and, interestingly, also proved the power of authenticity in communication, correlating highly with the overall product score.
Featuring corporate and product authenticity in creative,
Grace launched frozen patties into the US with tremendous success. And I’ve
been looking for consumer insight in unexpected places ever since.
Maranex Website
Case Study Assets
April 3, 2020
From Simple Claim to Customer and Brand Partnership
Short-term
Explicit
Short-term
Personal
Long-term
Empowerment
Long-term
Every Day
Looking for Insights in all the Wrong Places
Grace is introducing their newest product available at your local grocer: Grace Frozen Jamaican-Style Patties.
Made from USDA-approved ingredients of the highest quality standards, Grace Frozen Jamaican-Style Patties come in 3 flavors:
1.Spicy Beef
2.Mild Beef
3.Curry Chicken
Grace Foods, established in 1922, is a trusted and well-known Jamaican food brand, headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.
The company has a wide range of canned meats, sauces, seasonings and spices, and tropical beverages sold all over the globe.
Competitively priced, Grace Frozen Jamaican-Style Patties are packaged two per box with each patty individually wrapped.
Ready to serve hot as quickly as 2 minutes and suitable for both microwave or toaster oven, Grace Frozen Jamaican-Style Patties are ideal for lunch, dinner, and as a snack at home or the office or even on the go.
Grace Frozen Jamaican-Style Patties: a delicious, quick, and easy break from the everyday taste of the Caribbean.
From Simple Claim to Customer and Brand Partnership
Marketer: weight management food manufacturer
Marketing challenge: growth through positioning evolution
Scope of work: multiple waves of positioning research to validate/optimize new positioning
Outcome: decade-long growth and emotional connection until the consumer said ‘you’ve gone too far’ bringing about a reshaped creative strategy and long-term user and brand partnership
The story:
I’ve had the real pleasure of working with several food manufacturers over the years including one brand that has grown from rather simple beginnings into a global icon. In this instance, my role was to provide market research and advice covering evolving positioning platforms over several years for a weight management brand.
Short-term Explicit
The initial consumer premise was simple: consume the product as directed for an outlined, short time period and you would lose weight, including a target in pounds.
From a positioning perspective, the benefit was pretty clear and easy to communicate. The idea was received well in concept test research, more so with women than men, and a ‘go’ recommendation as risk free as any I’d seen.
The campaign was launched and a success.
Short-term Explicit
The initial consumer premise was simple: consume the product as directed for an outlined, short time period and you would lose weight, including a target in pounds.
From a positioning perspective, the benefit was pretty clear and easy to communicate. The idea was received well in concept test research, more so with women than men, and a ‘go’ recommendation as risk free as any I’d seen.
The campaign was launched and a success.
Short-term Personal
The campaign evolved with an adjustment to consumer benefit. Rather than concentrate on losing pounds, as compelling as it was, what if the benefit introduced situational relevance: fit those jeans, get ready for that special occasion or look your summer best.
Moving to real life goals from pounds clearly accelerated the brand promise and even more customer success with re-launch.
As good as the life goals premise was, it was still all over in a diet driven, short-term time period. Could the brand evolve from weight loss to weight management; into part of all days not just days leading up to something?
Short-term Personal
The campaign evolved with an adjustment to consumer benefit. Rather than concentrate on losing pounds, as compelling as it was, what if the benefit introduced situational relevance: fit those jeans, get ready for that special occasion or look your summer best.
Moving to real life goals from pounds clearly accelerated the brand promise and even more customer success with re-launch.
As good as the life goals premise was, it was still all over in a diet driven, short-term time period. Could the brand evolve from weight loss to weight management; into part of all days not just days leading up to something?
Long-term Every Day
Creative was developed around the long-term: for example, having a good breakfast and better evening and snacking habits.
When tested, good creative and a good premise once again showed the ability to advance brand equity, consideration and sales. Another easy ‘go’ recommendation.
Functional and emotional connections with the brand began to evolve: from weight loss to weight management.
Long-term Every Day
Creative was developed around the long-term: for example, having a good breakfast and better evening and snacking habits.
When tested, good creative and a good premise once again showed the ability to advance brand equity, consideration and sales. Another easy ‘go’ recommendation.
Functional and emotional connections with the brand began to evolve: from weight loss to weight management.
Long-term Empowerment
From here, the team thought, “so, if the brand can be a long-term promise, what about the next campaign evolution, that of enabler, to empower users to new heights?”
Nope. Exposure to these concepts in research met resistance with respondent sentiments like, “no product can empower me, only I can do that.”
And so that campaign iteration was not launched and brand aspirations scaled back to being a partner in weight management and so life in general. And that brand remains a partner to millions of women and men around the world.
Long-term Empowerment
From here, the team thought, “so, if the brand can be a long-term promise, what about the next campaign evolution, that of enabler, to empower users to new heights?”
Nope. Exposure to these concepts in research met resistance with respondent sentiments like, “no product can empower me, only I can do that.”
And so that campaign iteration was not launched and brand aspirations scaled back to being a partner in weight management and so life in general. And that brand remains a partner to millions of women and men around the world.