BG BRANDS IN THE WESTERN WORLD
Can a Bulgarian brand be successful in a western market and what should be considered before launching it?
The Challenge:
Our Client wanted to support a local startup business in launching a new product – a healthy food proposition designed for the mature markets of Western Europe.
The Client wanted to get insights about the perceptions towards the concept, the package and the product itself, as well as towards the overall category purchase behaviors of the target group;
The Approach:
We designed a qualitative survey, consisting of:
focus group discussions with targeted respondents.
Since the initial product launch was planned for the UK market, the execution of the project was lead by LOGO Research (survey and research instruments design, analysis, reporting and overall project management) while the fieldwork (including the recruitment of eligible respondents) was executed by a local partnering agency.
The Outcome:
As expected, the understanding of the “healthy” food notion in the UK appeared quite different compared to the existing perceptions in Bulgaria.
The importance of “the organic origin”, the main shopping channels and the quality expectations turned out to play a different role in this market.
“The experts” appeared much valued reference for the “healthy food” (yet being defined differently than in Bulgaria). The product itself demonstrated high relevance and purchase interest among the target group.
Our analysis revealed that the high levels of acceptance are due to the credibility of the concept and the liking of the package design, while the name and the main color of the package are barriers which need to be addressed.
Based on our conclusions and recommendations the client developed a specific plan of necessary actions to be taken prior to the product launch in order to ensure the success of the product on this specific (and quite different) – market.
ON-LINE SHOPPERS INSIGHT
How to reveal the key barriers towards on-line shopping?
The Challenge: A lingerie on-line shop, placed in Central Europe, recently had a successful launch in a Bulgaria neighboring country.
Our client wanted to explore the relevant local market potential for expansion by collecting insights on the online shopping habits of Bulgarian women, with a special focus on underwear.
The Approach: We designed and executed an on-line qualitative project :
A blogging forum – recruiting 20 women:
10 shopping lingerie online and
10 shopping online, but not lingerie.
We ensured their active participation throughout 6 days of discussion, with a different topic released by the moderator every day and encouraging all participants to express their opinions and point of view on-line.
The Outcome: The vivid on-line discussions, supported by the possibility to upload pictures, facilitated our researchers to reveal the key barriers towards on-line lingerie shopping.
The target group appeared much concerned about general issues related to on-line confidentiality and security, as well as to very particular ones, like:
the “fit” of the ordered items
the lack of the traditional “on-spot” purchase experience
the price and the speed of the service, etc.
Our recommendations helped our client to address and relief the existing barriers by implementing particular measures aimed at customers’ perceptions of quality and credibility, variety of choice and superiority of the delivery service.
TEENAGERS PERCEPTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, MEDIA
What are the needs and perceptions of teenagers audience, what is the definition of “cool” and which are the relevant media channels for communication?
The Challenge: Our client planned to launch a conceptually new product, appropriate for a wide range of occasions, but still for a very specific and quite “difficult” target group: teenagers between 16 and 18 years old. The company had developed three advertising concepts and three different pack designs.
The question was whether – and to what extent – the current concepts and packages fit to the teenagers perceptions and associations and what are the possible means for their further improvements (if such appear necessary). The entire set of survey objectives covered also a detailed exploration and understanding of the needs and perceptions of this audience, their definition of “cool” and the related media consumption.
The Approach: We designed and executed a two stage qualitative survey, including:
A. Initial In-Depth Interviews, to define and explore in detail what constitutes the perceptions of “modern”, “trendy” and “cool” for the specific target, to evaluate the concepts and pack designs and to understand how they can be improved, if at all. We used this initial approach to eliminate the “show-off” effect, typical for this target and threatening the validity and reliability of the provided information and definitions;
B. Following Focus Group Discussions, to check the concepts after the final adjustments – in a more dynamic context – and to ensure that they fit the teenagers most relevant attributes, symbols and associations.
The Outcome: Our exploration rejected one of the three tested concepts on a very early stage of the survey.
Тhe further exploration revealed a parity between the two remaining concepts.
Yet, one of them still accumulated certain negative perceptions and associations, while the other stood out with its message and was recommended as the more relevant platform.
Taking advantage of the typical group discussions dynamics, our moderators managed to provide further insights and ideas for fine-tuning of the communication to support the successful launch of our client’s new product.
