When the research changes everything before you spend a penny
A brand strategy agency came to us with a new wellness product ready to launch. They had a name, a visual identity, a target audience, and a go-to-market strategy. What they didn't have was validation that any of it would actually land with real customers in the real world.
So before the launch budget was committed, we ran a mixed-methods research programme — a quantitative survey (to get some statistical reassurance) followed by in-depth interviews with people from the highest-potential segments.
What we found changed almost everything.
The brand name they'd been building around tested as the least popular option among likely buyers and by a pretty significant margin. The visual identity, which had felt bold and distinctive internally (and honestly, was favoured by this lowly insight person too), was actively rejected by the people most likely to buy, because it felt like the opposite of what the product was supposed to do for them. And the target audience they'd identified through some intense desk research (younger wellness enthusiasts) turned out to be less commercially valuable than an older, higher-earning segment nobody had been focusing on.
But the biggest finding was the one nobody expected. The product had a feature that customers assumed would take 15-60 minutes per session. It actually took three minutes. When customers heard that, the response was immediate…one participant said it changed the game entirely, instantly placing the product in their daily routine, something they could do while brushing their teeth. That three-minute session length became the killer feature that would make them totally distinctive to their competitors and would win the hearts of people on the fence about investing in the product.
The brand changed its name. Redesigned its visual identity. Shifted its target audience. And reoriented its entire messaging around the insight that came out of those conversations.
None of that would have happened if they'd just launched.
“Vicky is brilliant, and the research she does is worth its weight in gold. We were still working from assumptions about our target audience — who they were, what mattered to them, their pain points and how we should position the new product. The findings were super insightful and incredibly valuable. It has helped us set a clear strategic direction that’s based on evidence. If you’re looking for someone who is deeply passionate about the customer and you want to understand your audience in more depth, to make better, more informed decisions, you need to get her on speed dial.”
