UK soft drink challenger brand

FROM THE CLIENT

THE RESEARCH BRIEF

The aim was to carry out two stages of research with ‘new generation’ soft drink consumers for an independent and emerging soft drink brand with a new proposition and product. Stage 1 aimed to establish participant taste, design, ethics, and ingredient preferences. Stage 2 aimed to explore the taste experience of a range of the brand’s products.

THE METHODOLOGY

STAGE 1 – 130 soft drink consuming participants were recruited (with the aim of 100 participants completing the research) to reflect UK national representation, with a maximum possible number of lapsed and independent cola brand drinkers.

Participants were –

• Aged between 16 and 30
• A mix of male, female and other genders
• Spread across the UK
• Either in education, employed or business owners

STAGE 2 – 23 participants from the 101 who completed Stage 1 of the research were selected to reflect UK national representation, with a maximum number of lapsed soft drink consumers, as well as varied representation of responses fro Stage 1.

Participants were –

• A mix of male, female and other genders
• Spread across the UK
• Either in education, employed or business owners
• Assigned 1 of 2 new flavours of soft drink, alongside original

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‘BEAM was able to not only deliver research that was fundamentally important for my business, but was able to bring a level of experience and expertise that meant the project went beyond my expectations. I look forward to working with BEAM again in future.’

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DELIVERED BY BEAM

THE CHALLENGES

• Engaging individuals between 16 and 30 and establishing their commitment to completing research can pose challenges. BEAM suggested recruiting 130 participants to ensure completion of the research by 100 individuals, with 101 completing Stage 1
• The narrow age range posed recruitment challenges, but also opened up doors for a tech solution in conducting the research. Research was carried out via a platform with utilises Whatsapp to ask research questions. This allowed for a fast turnaround, a lower cost than in-person research and a simple way of gaining written and visual (photo and video) responses from respondents
• A quick turnaround – there was a 3-week window from initiation to completion of the research
• Stage 2 of the research required participants to try the cola product. Ensuring the fragile glass bottle of cola were the participants at the right time was key to the success of the second stage of the research.

BEAM DELIVERED

• BEAM helped the client refine their research and ensure that the questions posed to the participants were structured to ensure the best possible insights
• BEAM carried out the recruitment process to ensure that all 130 participants were high quality, engaged and ideal candidates for the research project
• Quality control was carried out by BEAM to ensure that all responses met high quality standards. BEAM contacted participants to ensure that any responses not meeting quality requirements were replaces
• BEAM handled the process of paying incentives to participants
• The tech platform ensured smooth and simple deployment of the research in a shirt timeframe, with answers collected and displayed in real time, which allowed the client to engage with responses as the appeared. AI capabilities embedded in the platform delivered summaries of participant responses, removing many hours of interpreting data and providing a kicking off point for the client to deep dive.

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THE CONCLUSION

The project was completed on time, within the 3-week time frame, and on budget.

Importantly, BEAM was able to interpret responses from Stage 1 if the research which provided almost universal feedback on the cola brand’s design, specifically the are analysed the as of packaging and branding.
BEAM analysed the data and provided clear and actionable insights for the client to consider, which allowed for immediate, effective and strategic action. This ensured the client was confidently able to utilise the research insights  from this project to shape and deliver a highly important international pitch.

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Want to understand more about BEAM’s work with FMCG brands? Read a case study on ‘Establishing a Asian snack brand in the UK’

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