Client is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of branded houseware products but was not getting its fair share of Asian markets
Company had underinvested in proprietary and foundational consumer research
Client did not understand how their brand compared to competitive brands in the eye of the consumer
Client lacked basic volumetric and needstate information on both markets due to the limited availability of syndicated and panel data
Goal: To create breakthrough Innovation & Brand strategies
What's our approach?
Study of market drivers in Korea and China including changes in demographics, sociographics, architecture, design and underlying economics
Conducted in-market ethnography, shop-alongs, and on-line quantitative research to uncover areas of unmet and emerging demand across the entire meal preparation process
Conducted market structure analysis to understand category white space opportunities
Partnered with design firm to convert demand platforms into new product concepts
Show your work: the results
Identified future incremental market demand that equated to 27% of the current houseware market size in Korea and 61% of the current market size in China (including impact of rapidly rising middle- and upper-class population growth in China)
Mapped the evolving market structure including identification of two emerging housewares categories and the blurring of traditional category definitions and increased demand for versatile cooking solutions
Uncovered six unmet and future consumer needstates per country including the healthy/safe living needstate and the beautified table needstate
Prioritized and sequenced 8-10 growth platforms appropriate for our client to pursue based on confirmed consumer unmet and future needs, supply market gaps, strength of client’s brands vis-à-vis competitive brands in the market, size of the prize, and client’s core competencies required to pursue growth platforms
Recommended new brand positioning to support growth platform, including developing brand variants to address bifurcating channel structure and resulting explosive growth of outlet and discount channels
