Objectives:
A major international firm had developed a superior automotive lubricant. The company needed to explore the potential value propositions of the product and determine the strategic path for product launch.
Methodology:
- We conducted in-person focus groups and one-on-one interviews (speaking to more than 200 respondents) to explore current personal attitudes, understanding of lubricant products, brand perceptions, and permission to innovate both at the category and brand level.
- We spoke with consumers and automotive professionals in order to capture the impact of possible value propositions both from a DIY as well as a sales and recommendation standpoint.
- We conducted research across three countries and synthesized our learnings into a single comprehensive report in order to offer a global view of the rollout path.
Results:
- We were able to link consumers’ and professionals’ personal attitudes to their perceptions of automotive lubricants and brands, identifying meaningful product benefits and messaging opportunities.
- We identified specific language to best communicate engaging value propositions, uncovering nuances between important and differentiating attributes.
- We teased apart the brand at multiple parent and sub-brand levels, identifying unifying and compelling perceptions to link to the value propositions, creating a strong and credible platform for future communications.
- Ultimately, we discovered surprising permission to innovate in a highly engaging way with both consumers and automotive professionals, potentially transforming a low-involvement category into one offering a passionate, personal connection.
In-Depth Interviews and Focus Groups are just a couple of our methods to understanding a consumer from the inside out.