CASE STUDIES

Ensuring  quality standards and quality performance meet consumer priorities – are we delivering a quality experience?
Technologists often have to derive product quality standards with very little exposure to consumers’ actual perceptions of quality. Through understanding consumer experience and perceptions at the point of sale and during usage and consumption, Eolas International works with clients to design consumer driven quality standards. These standards are then used to assess the quality of products at the point of sale across any number of markets using our expert shopper and sensory analysis services. Clients can benefit from a continuous and comparative measure of the quality of their products on a global scale, allowing them to assign resources towards the exact areas needing improvement and investment.

Directions for new product development – what are the gaps in the market?
The early stages of New Product Development (NPD) involve a knowledge intensive process where the generation of new ideas and concepts requires detailed understanding of products characteristics and consumer preferences. Our product retrieval service can help clients identify new trends or directions in packaging or product profiles from around the world. We can help you better understand the functional and emotional needs which exist in relation to your category, and pinpoint areas of dissatisfaction with current offerings which can be exploited. Leveraging a batch of competitor and/or initial prototype products, we can conduct sensory profiling in tandem with consumer acceptance or preference testing; allowing us to identify the specific sensory characteristics which drive consumer liking in your category and point you towards the optimum product profile to maximize consumer preference.

Monitoring product performance – how is my product being received in the marketplace?
Early feedback on product performance and consumer reaction is especially critical for new product launches. Our expert shopping service can monitor how your product is being presented at retail, both in terms of merchandising and product/packaging quality delivery. We can also conduct sensory and technical tests to check that product quality delivery is as intended. We can get early consumer feedback on drivers of trial through understanding how your new product is perceived in-market and on-shelf, and identify possible barriers to repeat by checking their perception on performance of standard production product and packaging in the home and throughout the entire usage period.

Product reformulation, repositioning or ingredient substitution - would consumers notice a difference?
Changing consumer needs and preferences often necessitates modifications to a product’s formulation or recipe. Such changes can range from a reduction or removal of ‘unhealthy’ ingredients; such as salt, sugar or trans fats, to cost-effective ingredient substitution, to the addition of functional ingredients such as calcium or probiotic bacteria. However, a pertinent question remains: 'will consumers taste a difference between the original product and the revised product formulation?' Eolas International’s trained expert sensory panel can be used to check whether such differences exist, and if so, quantify them. Conducting sensory profiling in tandem with consumer acceptance or preference testing, allows us to identify the specific sensory characteristics driving consumer liking. Products can be reformulated until the required sensory profile is achieved. 

Directions for your communications strategy – how can I leverage my brand attributes to create a bond with consumers?
Eolas International believes that a successful positioning and communications strategy must be ultimately rooted in easily recognised, motivating and distinctive characteristics of the product or brand. By linking these characteristics to their benefits and beyond to their resonance with consumer beliefs and values, we help our clients to design advertising  and communications which bond their consumers to their brands.  

Gleaning new product ideas from international markets – what is working with consumers elsewhere?
Concept ideation and concept generation represent the earliest steps in the NPD process. In the highly competitive global food and beverage market, successful new product launches require a greater understanding of consumer markets and current trends in order to anticipate changing consumer needs and preferences. Eolas International’s product retrieval service assists its clients track new product launches; identify new packaging and ingredients trends; and retrieve new products from international markets for detailed market and/or sensory analysis.