The Context

Our client was considering the launch of a new “Daily Deal” product to increase purchase rate among those who visited the website. A key portion of this study also included measuring the success of a new TV Advertising campaign for which they wanted to understand customer perceptions and a “call to action,” including sharing in social media and travel purchase.

The Strop Solution

STROP conducted two separate survey studies to:

• Understand consumer appeal of the “Daily Deal” concept and potential names for the campaign, incl. high-level category analysis
• Assess consumer preferences for the TV Ad campaign options, as well as stated actions after seeing each ad

Our Impact

As planned, the study provided specific recommendations on the “Daily Deal” concept name and helped the client identify the most impactful TV ads. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, the study also shed light on differences between our client and their competitors on conversion of visits-to-purchase, effectiveness of ad campaign as a purchase driver vs. other actions, and behavioral differences between key customer segments.

The Context

Our client, a start-up beverage company, had created a product that was gaining momentum among a niche of customers. They wondered if they had a product that could resonate with a broader audience (and justify broader distribution). In addition, they were interested in optimizing the recipe to ensure its taste and appeal exceed those of category incumbents.

The Strop Solution

STROP launched a study with two elements:

• The first was a taste test that would gather important diagnostic information regarding customer’s taste preferences among the new developed concepts as well as controls that were used for benchmarking
• The second was a “consumption preference” test in which customers were asked to watch a short film – while watching they were encouraged to drink the beverages served to them previously. After the video, STROP measured the amount consumed to determine true consumer preferences

Our Impact

Taste test results provided the client concrete recommendations of small formulation changes to sweetness and color that would optimize the product for a broad array of interested customers. Preference test results provided a more accurate measure appeal of our client’s product vis-à-vis a host of competitors – collected in a non-intrusive way, not purely “stated” appeal but an actual measure of beverage consumption when facing trade-offs.

The Context

Our client had a sophisticated research and development team generating exciting new breakthrough product innovations. These innovations were relevant to their product space but were pursued with little quantitative framing towards priorities and without understanding product relevance to customers or consumers.

The Strop Solution

Strop implemented its custom innovation evaluation framework, which allowed the client’s customers and consumers to guide the innovation pipeline. This new process focused numerous disparate projects into a simple, manageable process that allowed for only those projects strongly resonating strongly within the consumer space to capture the focused energy of product scientists and engineers.

Our Impact

The new innovation evaluation framework has focused the client’s significant, although not unlimited, R&D budgets towards those product innovations most likely to generate the highest appeal and relevance among their customer and consumers base. The new innovation evaluation framework is always the first item discussed at the client’s quarterly R&D leadership meetings.

The Context

A Dallas-based private equity firm was evaluating the acquisition of a national provider of freeze-dried and dehydrated foods for long-term storage. The target company had built a strong product line that was applicable in emergency response situations, emergency preparedness, and even outdoor recreation. A key question for the client was: Who is the customer of this brand and category, and what are their purchase motivators?

The Strop Solution

Beyond lifeless financial statements and balance sheets, the due diligence process lacked richness of information in order necessary to formulate a focused growth strategy for the business upon acquisition. Our team conducted a Brand Health and Benchmarking study, surveying a broad set of current and non-customers of the target company on perceptions and awareness of the target and its competitors. This allowed Strop to build the qualitative and quantitative data the client would need to understand and grow the business. Working with the company to gain key feedback and insights from their most loyal customers, Strop used the company’s customer list in combination with our proprietary research methodology.

Our Impact

Our research provided, for the first time, a comprehensive demographic view of the company’s customer base. Additionally, we helped our client to both confirm expected usage of the product and also identify new niche applications. This information was a key input for developing a go-forward growth strategy for the business.

The Context

As one of the biggest fast-casual restaurant companies in the United States, our client was seeking the best way to optimize their pricing strategy in order to better serve key segments and markets. With the rising cost of meat and produce, alongside increasing minimum wages, this client knew they had to increase prices without sacrificing the value that their guests had come to know and love. A few key questions arose from the team:

1. Was there a physiological pricing barrier that consumers were not willing to cross?
2. How should the new pricing be benchmarked against key competitors?
3. How should pricing differ in markets where the minimum wage (and costs) were higher?

The Strop Solution

Strop Insights conducted an in-depth analysis of the client’s historical sales and transactions in order to gain insights into buying patterns and trends. This allowed Strop Insights to determine a pricing recommendation that could be used to benchmark against key competitors operating in the quick-service and fast-casual space nationwide. With this information, Strop Insights was now armed with the information needed to construct a set of “guidelines” that would be used to establish pricing in each market based on costs and competition.

Our Impact

The output of the project was a pricing strategy that was directly implemented within the hundreds of stores nationwide. Additionally, Strop Insights helped the client establish a “pricing guidebook” that would now act as a reference for future pricing increases.