<h2>CLIENT - JAPANESE SNACK BRAND&nbsp;</h2>
<h4>FOCUS - Purchase decision in a complex category&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>THE PROBLEM - Understanding customer demand for world food snacks to win space on supermarket shelves&nbsp;</h4>
&nbsp;
<h4>CHALLENGES&nbsp;</h4>
<ul>
<li>Supermarket world food aisles largely lack curation - all 'ethnic foods' together in one space</li>
<li>Growing globalisation and demand for diversity means&nbsp;huge opportunities for brands</li>
<li>Lack of visual cues that UK shoppers are used to (e.g. green crisp packet = cheese and onion) can limit experimentation</li>
<li>Less data on consumer behaviour in this complex space can be a barrier when approaching category managers</li>
<li>How do you improve your product when there is little understanding of how consumers navigate and make purchase decisions?</li>
</ul>
<h4>&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>WHAT WE DID&nbsp;</h4>
<ul>
<li>Qualitative research</li>
<li>Panel - 50 open-minded shoppers</li>
<li>Survey creation -
<ul>
<li>Store visit to world food aisle - identifying good and bad examples of packaging</li>
<li>Snack taste testing - in-depth critique of 4 products identifying areas for improvement in product and packaging</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Responses - video, written &amp; photo</li>
<li>WhatsApp survey distribution</li>
<li>14 day turnaround</li>
</ul>
<h4>&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>INSIGHTS&nbsp;</h4>
<ul>
<li>Appealing packaging allowed participants to understand or connect with the product -
<ul>
<li>Bright, colourful, vibrant designs that made the product stand out</li>
<li>Clear descriptions of flavour and or texture e.g. spicy, citrusy, crunchy, crispy</li>
<li>Visual representation of the snack on packaging so customers know what to expect</li>
<li>Perceived health qualities - claims such as less fatty or more nutritious</li>
<li>Price point being perceived as affordable or good value for money</li>
<li>Some participants were drawn to new, exciting options that felt culturally authentic</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Unappealing packaging alienated or failed to catch attention of participants -
<ul>
<li>Bland or dated or conversely overly busy or hard to interpret designs</li>
<li>A lack of information or description about what the product is or includes</li>
<li>Concerns about processed or artificial looking foods</li>
<li>Culturally inauthentic or mainstream looking products</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Of the 4 products samples in the taste test there were 2 clear front runners -
<ul>
<li>Both had high contrast, engaging, clear packaging that visually represented the snack or flavour, with non-English text in the design which was seen as authentic</li>
<li>The winning formula was a balance of cultural authenticity and familiarity with specific flavour description with participants enjoying unexpected flavours with crunchy textures</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>ACTIONS&nbsp;</h4>
<ul>
<li>Adaption of packaging to appeal to UK consumers and stand out on supermarket shelves</li>
<li>Quantifiable data for approaching category managers and supporting a business case for product shelf space</li>
<li>Evidence to strategically drive NPD innovation and influence ranges and products for the UK market</li>
</ul>

Case study - understanding purchase decision for a snack brand 

<h2>CLIENT - INTERNATIONAL LINGERIE BRAND&nbsp;</h2>
<h4>FOCUS - Brand perception and customer experience&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>THE PROBLEM - Slow&nbsp;sales and retail footfall despite refreshed brand values&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>WHAT WE DID&nbsp;</h4>
<ul>
<li>Qualitative research</li>
<li>Panel - 50% lapsed shoppers, 50% new to brand</li>
<li>Survey creation -
<ul>
<li>1x brand perception</li>
<li>1x in-store experience</li>
<li>1x online experience</li>
<li>1x post-experience brand perception</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Responses - video, written &amp; photo</li>
<li>WhatsApp survey distribution</li>
<li>10 Day turnaround</li>
</ul>
<h4>RESULTS</h4>
<ul>
<li>Pre-shopping brand perception - a&nbsp;glamorous and hyper feminine brand&nbsp;that had positive nostalgic association for some participants, but felt in need of a change to meet modern expectations. When it came to the refreshed brand values, participants believed they were talking the talk but not walking the walk with representation and diversity.</li>
<li>Key takeaways from in-store shopper experience -
<ul>
<li>Positive first impressions around feminine glamorous store layout and feel</li>
<li>Not enough representation - some efforts to show larger size mannequins contradicted by brand photography of traditionally sized models</li>
<li>Underutilised signage, promotional materials and in-store information</li>
<li>Well received additional ranges such as loungewear and fragrance, but a lack of awareness</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Key takeaways online shopper experience -
<ul>
<li>Positive first impressions with an easy to navigate site</li>
<li>Lack of diversity and representation in models and photography</li>
<li>Room for improvement with stock availability</li>
<li>Effective copy, promotional and online store information, particularly around bra fitting</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Common themes -
<ul>
<li>Not enough larger sizes offered</li>
<li>Well priced promotions, but a general feeling that products were expensive</li>
<li>Lack of awareness of everyday underwear category, which was well received but unexpected</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Post shopping brand perception - pleasantly surprised by the breadth of the brand&rsquo;s offering and the majority enjoyed their shopping experience. Some were keen on the feminine brand feel, though a larger commitment to representation was needed to convert some participants.</li>
</ul>

Helping an international lingerie brand understand how customers see their brand and identify room for improvement in-store and online 

Case study - Brand perception & customer experience for a lingerie brand

The problem - How do we get a notoriously complex demographic to engage with market research?&nbsp;&nbsp;
The challenges - Gen Z are game changers and are approaching pretty much everything differently than the generations that went before them. The preferences and attitudes that are inherent to this generation make engagement with market research much more challenging. Here a few reasons why -&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Shorter attention spans &ndash; traditional approaches to market research often fail to hold Gen Z attention, and completion is less likely as a result. There is a desire for fast, interactive and visual approaches that don&rsquo;t feel outdated.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Scepticism towards brands and institutions &ndash; Gen Z are highly sceptical when it comes to sharing personal data, and are unlikely to do so if they don&rsquo;t see a benefit or suspect their information may be misused.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Preference for authenticity &ndash; Gen Z prefers genuine interaction over formal communication. Experiences perceived to be transactional or impersonal won&rsquo;t resonate.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Values alignment &ndash; brands that aren&rsquo;t perceived to reflect personal core values are not of interest to Gen Z consumers. There is a desire for legitimate authenticity, inclusivity, diversity and sustainability over more traditional commercial agendas.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Digital fatigue &ndash; this generation is over-saturated with ads, surveys, social media, etc making them more selective about where they direct their attention. Research may not rank highly on their list of priorities if it isn&rsquo;t rewarding.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Appropriate incentivisation &ndash; Gen Z expect immediate and tangible rewards for their time. If incentives, monetary or experiential, don&rsquo;t feel worthwhile, they are unlikely to engage.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Brand Jar&rsquo;s solutions - By 2025 Gen Z will represent 25% of the global population. Counting them out of market research is not an option, particularly as in the years to come Gen Z will be the ones shaping the future economy and consumer landscape. Brand Jar have seen great success in engaging Gen Z participants in research by adopting the following approaches -
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
WhatsApp - Brand Jar uses Whatsapp as our primary way of sending questions to participants. It has proven to be popular with Gen Z, as well as many other demographics, as it is easy to use, an inbuilt part of many people&rsquo;s day-to-day communication and there is no need to download an additional app or learn a new interface. We believe that the simplicity of engaging with research through Whatsapp has significantly reduced the drop out rate of Gen Z participants.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Pace - Strike while the iron is hot! Getting surveys to participants quickly when they are engaged is vital. Whatsapp allows for rapid responses, whenever and wherever is convenient, which means you can capture feedback at the point of peak engagement.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Question and response variety - creating interesting and engaging surveys will ensure better responses and more valuable insights from any generation. Keeping question types varied keeps surveys interesting. Gen Z grew up on social media and are generally at ease with creating video, so don&rsquo;t miss the opportunity to ask for selfie video answers which can produce powerful and valuable verbatim.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Water tight GDPR - Gen Z are more aware than ever about how their data is collected and used. Brand Jar clearly informs participants about how their data will be used, stored, and shared. It&rsquo;s not only the right and legal thing to do, a commitment to data protection fosters trust which is more likely to lead to more honest and valuable insights.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Paying incentives quickly - Making sure that the participant receives incentives as quickly as possible makes for a more positive research experience and acknowledges the value of that person&rsquo;s time and perspectives.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Offering unincentivised research - It may sound counterintuitive, but when the motivation for taking part in research is a passion or investment in the subject matter, contributing to the process can be rewarding enough. This can be particularly appealing to Gen Z audiences who value the chance to contribute and shape areas they are engaged with.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Lead with purpose - Though not always an option, where possible, sharing the reason and the aim of research can be incredibly appealing to Gen Z audiences, and more likely to get them onboard. Understanding the purpose of a piece of research and how their feedback will be shared can be a real motivator.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Share results - Again, it&rsquo;s not always possible, but sharing the results of research with participants can increase their feeling of investment in the process. Knowing that they have played an active part in improving or changing a brand can be a game changing element in producing Gen Z trust and commitment to market research.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;&nbsp;
While it&rsquo;s not always easy getting Gen Z participants on board with research, employing some of the tactics above can make a significant impact, and have certainly made a difference for Brand Jar. Ensuring there is a Gen Z voice in market research will ensure that the consumers of tomorrow are being factored into the perspectives of today.
&nbsp;

How do we get a notoriously complex demographic to engage with market research?

How to get Gen Z to engage with market research

We're a bunch of consumer behaviour nerds, brand obsessives and tech geeks. We want to help you do more with your budget and bring great ideas to market faster.

<div>Technology should be built for the very best user experience. Why should research participants have to download and learn new software just to take part in research? And why should clients need a qualification in coding to access research data?Brand Jar started out with a single goal - make it super-easy to collect and analyse consumer insights. We have a built a platform that works for everyone involved. Participants are asked questions via Whatsapp. It's simple, which means it works. For clients, our tried and tested tech shows data in real time. Built with intuitive filtering, AI summaries and transcripts to save significant time.We'll relentlessly pursue the core values, simple and proficient, in everything we do.</div>

"Make brilliant research and essential insights easy to achieve, so brands can make game changing decisions.”

Manchester company Brand Jar has launched its platform which looks set to disrupt the consumer research space.

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<div>Our team help you to build the perfect question sets and ensure that the data collected will provide genuine insight.</div>

<div>Our platform allows secure, safe data collection via WhatsApp, SMS or Email, allowing in-survey analysis.</div>

<div>Our extensive panel makes sure you gain real insight, from real people, in real-time that fit your specific criteria.</div>

We're not just a software business, we work with our clients every step of the way to get the best insights. We will get to know your brand so we have a deep understanding of your market and the things that make a real difference, then we build a perfect plan.

No panel? No problem! We find the best people to participate in your research. We ensure they are engaged, compliant and fit your exact criteria before they start offering insights, guaranteeing high-value results.

 The Brand Jar platform lets you gather insight in real-time, seeing data as it comes in. Our intuitive platform allows you to identify the top-line with changeable data visualisation, AI summaries and auto-transcripts, which will save you a huge amount of time. It can also give you the finer detail by showing specific questions  and participant responses. 

Your first Brand Jar survey is the start of getting to understand your customer in detail. We'll help you build a long term plan, creating follow-on surveys for long-term analysis. Whatever your goals is, we're here to help you get the knowledge that builds market leading products, services and campaigns.

How it works

Introduce new ideas and test concepts with your customers over WhatsApp.
Reduce the risk of failure by using data to make informed decisions. 
Brand Jar is the fast and easy way to test your ideas.

Brand Jar helps you to understand your customers. It gives you the data to shape decisions on product, advertising, pricing and packaging.

Give your participants a voice and listen to their feedback as true verbatim.

Share and receive images of your product, venue, marketing, whatever you need to see for instant feedback.

Let your participants show you their world sending you videos of themselves and what they see!

Brand Jar provides the perfect blend of quantitative and qualitative data collection.

We have all the things you'd expect, such as NPS, Likert scale, yes/no, multiple choice and free-text questions, and Brand Jar facilitates multimedia.

Backed by AI, our real-time platform gives your insight, product and marketing teams the data they need to make revenue changing decisions.

A user interface thats tried, tested and intuitive.

Segment based on whatever criteria you want with our unique filtering system.

See participant results appear in real-time.

Track the sentiment of your panel over long periods to build deep market knowledge.

Why reinvent when you can realign? Brand Jar uses WhatsApp, SMS &amp; Email channels to collect data so respondents can participate on at their convenience. No new apps to download and nothing new to learn. Just an easier experience, higher participation, lower drop out rates and better insights. It's simple, which means it works.

Use the power of WhatsApp, SMS and email to gather consumer feedback at scale. We lift the lid on your market to give you fast, cost-effective insights.

<ul><li>Access for 5 team members</li><li>Monthly survey</li><li>Customised question jar (10 questions)</li><li>WhatsApp, email &amp; webforms </li><li>Insights from up to 100 panel members</li><li>Data dashboards</li><li>Customer success manager</li></ul>

For small teams testing big ideas

Essential

<ul><li>Access for 10 team members</li><li>Up to 3 monthly surveys</li><li>Customised question jar (30 questions)</li><li>Multimedia questions &amp; answers</li><li>WhatsApp, email &amp; webforms </li><li>Insights from up to 250 panel members</li><li>Panel segmentation and tagging</li><li>Data dashboards</li><li>Customer success manager</li><li>Tracker survey options</li></ul>

For high growth brands needing deeper insights more regularly

Evolution

<ul><li>Full team access</li><li>Unlimited surveys</li><li>Media Questions</li><li>WhatsApp, SMS email and webforms </li><li>Unrestricted panel access</li><li>Panel segmentation and tagging</li><li>Dedicated account manager</li><li>Question architect</li><li>Customisable dashboards and reporting</li><li>Option for custom branding</li><li>Multiple projects and access levels</li><li>Tracker surveys</li><li>API access</li></ul>

For UK &amp; International organisations that want to own their market

Enterprise

Our subscription model is perfect for research and insight teams

Manchester company Brand Jar has launched its platform which looks set to disrupt the consumer research space
Brand Jar provides real consumer intelligence in minutes not months, shortening the time taken to bring great ideas to market. They do this by using WhatsApp to understand customer journeys, opinions and experiences in everyday life.&nbsp;
The Brand Jar &lsquo;Panel&rsquo; (participants offering their opinions) are sent regular short questions to their phones via WhatsApp. Answers are submitted back to Brand Jar in real time and they are offered small cash rewards for taking part.&nbsp;
Brands using this insight get a rapid understanding of how people in the real world feel about their products, advertising and packaging. It helps to de-risk bringing new ideas to market and get quick feedback on ideas.
Commenting on their use of WhatsApp to gather consumer insights, CTO Dan Leyden said;
&ldquo;Using WhatsApp as the interface to gather insights really gives our platform the edge with the quality and consistency of feedback.
Gathering consumer insights using purpose built apps is a challenging and often bewildering experience for the research participant. They have to learn to use another app and often delete it once they&rsquo;re bored,&nbsp; meaning that they are not really engaged in providing insight in the long term.
Gathering insights over WhatsApp delivers a familiar and easy-to-use experience. Our participants answer questions at their leisure using an app they already love. This makes the experience easier and the quality of insights better.
In addition, all multimedia is built in for the user so collecting video, images and audio is super easy, particularly for in-home and in-store studies.&rdquo;
Looking at their plans for the next year, CEO Alec Middleton commented;
&ldquo;Brand Jar is the one-stop shop for brands to get fast consumer insights directly from real people in the market. We provide the panel, the technology, the dashboards and the customer support to help insight teams and research agencies gather qual and quant insights in real-time.
We&rsquo;ve been working with a small number of customers for over a year already. We&rsquo;ve helped them make great decisions about their product, their packaging and their advertising to avoid making costly mistakes. We will continue to build these relationships whilst working with new customers to build extreme value in our proposition.&nbsp;
One of our biggest success stories was working with a large supermarket chain where we were able to gather shopping habits (including video) and have the entire dataset back to them within 48 hours of commission. This project offered tremendous insight for fast decision making about their in-store POS.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re excited about working with more end-user brands to really put our technology to great use!&rdquo;
For a full product demo of Brand Jar, speak to our customer success team on 0161 000 0000 or email hello@brandjar.co.uk

Welcome Brand Jar! The new platform for consumer insight surveys. We do omnichannel surveys to get the best insight from hard to reach consumers

Brand Jar makes it easier to gain real consumer insights

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Recommended reading

Case study - understanding purchase decision for a snack brand

Case study - Brand perception & customer experience for a lingerie brand

How to get Gen Z to engage with market research

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