Implementing the Learning launch tool in a corporate FMCG company

This is a description of a research I’d like to conduct as soon as the corona crisis is less of a barrier or turn it into  a digital process if need be. Hence, the description below is a scenario of our challenge and selection combined  with an expectation of how the research will be.

Challenge

As a brand manager at a large FMCG corporation it is important to gain consumer insights first hand as  described throughout the course. We are a highly data driven company and use large consumer studies  combined with little primary research we do ourselves. This means that the data we use to innovate often  leads to incremental improvements to what we have been doing in the past. In addition, the information  that we do use is probably the same as the competition which doesn’t give us the competitive edge that  we need to truly innovate. However, we do have a culture in which innovation is highly stimulated so  there is a lack of balance in the methods we use and the innovative mind-set within the corporation.  Hence, we are lacking a method to learn quick and fast with relevant consumer data that is unique to our  target group.

Selection

I’ve selected the tool learning launch as it as a way to test a hypothesis quick and fast while  mitigation confirmation bias as Hesse states in the learning launch tool video. Through the learning  launch process we are able to integrated a new validation method in our way of working and seek for  confirmations or disconfirmations of our assumptions instead of building plans on (relatively old)  quantitative consumer studies and assumptions. Be engaging in the learning launch process

I’d like to use the learning launch tool in a design thinking process in order to test and learn quick & fast to  test findings that we think might be beneficial to our consumer group during ethnographic studies: home  visits with our consumer base. We did start implementing a more agile way of working through scrum in  the last 1,5 years so this should fit in with the agile way of working perfectly and improve it to add a new  method to validate deliverables.

In short our key challenge is to develop a learning launch for a marketing campaign to introduce a new  fmcg product in collaboration with our key retail partner while using our ethnographic home research as  the key source of data.

Application

The submission provides a detailed description of applying the selected tool including all relevant  information (e.g., what the author did and how the tool was applied effectively/ineffectively)

Our scrum team consists of several different team members with various specialities which made  them the perfect group to implement the learning launch with. We had an online specialist, a  category specialist, a retail specialist, a gen z intern and a media specialist in order to have various  cognitive blind spots. Within the team I acted as the sceptic in order to make sure we mitigate  confirmation bias the best way we can.

Before starting with the tool I explained the tool to my team with a short workshop to introduce the  concept to the team and to fill in the learning launch design step-by-step given by professor Hesse. In  this way we all had the same understanding of the tool. In order to gain data for the home visit in  addition to our quantitative consumer study we performed around 15 home visit ethnographic  studies in the homes of our consumers. This gave us several key assumptions related to the launch of  our new products and how to best go forward with it. After this we tested 5 assumptions that came  from the interview in 5 stores throughout the country. We observed how consumers interacted with

the communication of the new product and afterwards, interviewed them to gain a better  understanding of their actions and how we could tweak the product launch in store.

Insight

What I think would be the most interesting timing for these kind of studies is to time it when we have  to decide when we want to launch an internationally designed product nationally. So we should  locally engage in this type of study earlier as the test and learn later on could tell us that consumers  don’t really have a need for this product and that we have to create a need. We often have  incremental innovations that we need to teach consumers about as their knowledge is limited. Take  a new mascara for instance. Consumers would like to accentuate their eyes either true volume or  length in case of short eyelashes so that need doesn’t change as much as our mascaras. So a mascara  based on a lash lift trend might be too complex and won’t reach our mass target consumer that well  as it is not their desire to have a lash lift at home as most consumers don’t know what it is or have no  need for it. This dynamic between international product development and local market insights is a  big challenge in this process.

Currently, we mostly estimate the success of the product based on the brand perspective, our  product portfolio and our quantitative research. When we locally test the launch success with the  learning launch and the communication of the product the success will be way higher. This is  currently little done as the global head office does these tests and it saves us money not to do so.  Therefore, creating a cheaper and quicker way to test and learn we can make use of best of both  worlds: international tests completed by local consumer insights to discover the real consumer needs  we have in the market. If we can crack this and hence, change the way of working of our national  markets I expect that we will create a much higher success rate of our products and launches as they  will be highly relevant.

Approach

This study was the first time our organisation learned through learning launches via design thinking.  Hence, everyone who participated in the study as a researcher was using the methods for the first  time. Some practical challenges were to remain open during the ethnographic study and to make  sure our researchers weren’t directing consumers into a certain thought.

Also, to collaborate with the retailer and to set up the learning launches in store took quite some  time as this was also the first time. So yes, the process in the end could have been way quicker than a  classic consumer study, however due to the newness of it all it took longer. Repeating the process  will make sure we become quicker and better.

In the end, I expect that the learning launch was the best way to test and learn when it comes to our  assumptions as it helps to generate innovative ideas instead of small incremental improvements to  existing processes and products.

