When you hear the term ‘connected products’ what comes to mind? The first to pave the way for the connected era was the link between computer and printer, but now, as we make our way to 2020, connected products range from the mundane to the extraordinary- all with the goal of making everyday tasks more efficient and in a word: connected.
Well known tech like Amazon’s Alexa devices and Ring’s home products suite have been marketed with a heavy push for the individual consumer, but Adrich has come up with a solution to a problem that consumer packaged goods businesses face daily: missing usage information. About the size of two postage stamps side by side, the Adrich Product Smart Tracker’s technology is able to deliver real-time data with information about when, how, and how much of a single product is being used. Via the intuitive Adrich Smart Consumer Platform, CPG businesses large and small now have a way to track the entire lifecycle of their product - down to the very last drop.
And it’s not just for products that are new to the market. Even an established industry giant like The Clorox Company is looking for better understanding of the consumer journey, and the exact ways their products are used. Deciding to try a new approach, they partnered with Adrich, and placed Adrich Product Smart Trackers on 200 of their Pine-Sol products’ bottles. What was the outcome? Let’s dive into the CPG pain points, and the solutions the Adrich Consumer Platform generated for Clorox.
CPG Problem #1: Product Usage Information Is Very Hard to Acquire
When tasked with gathering information on how and when their household cleaning product was being used, the Pine-Sol team turned to textbook methodologies: consumer studies, implementing online research, conducting surveys and doing in-home ethnography interviews. These age-old methods have been the only options available for decades, requiring a lot of time, money and manpower. And while it is understood industry-wide that they yield results that are often lacking, if not majorly flawed, it’s been the only system to work with until now.
The Adrich Smart Consumer Platform solution:
Having chosen Adrich’s platinum package, the Pine-Sol team had the full range of the Smart Consumer Platform’s insight abilities. Provided with a research brief, the Adrich team defined KPIs and developed surveys that were programmed to be sent during different 10-minute usage occasions through the product life cycle. The test was rolled out on 200 Pine-Sol products with equal distribution across two scents in November 2018. Data collection continued over two months, giving the Pine-Sol team access to:
Quantitative usage data: Times and dates showing exactly when and how often it’s used, and when it runs out
Real-time qualitative data: intercepting and sending surveys and communications to consumers during usage
Full-service onboarding of participants: finding 200 consumers across multiple demographics for opt-in participation
Complete analysis of usage data: a detailed report showing key insights that require attention for product optimization
CPG Problem #2: Product Usage Information is Often Faulty
For all of their efforts, the Pine-Sol team realized that all of the information that they managed to gather through pain-staking means was far from accurate. For example, when asked how often people change their sheets, a typical response is ‘every week.’ Further research will show this to be incorrect, however, with it actually occurring roughly every 3 weeks. Such discrepancies in data can make a major difference, from packaging to marketing.
Data obtained from their previous methodologies were largely claimed data, where the consumer’s perception of the truth was often far from reality.
“We know that there are inaccuracies in how consumers answer the questions and that’s why we call it claimed data” – Elizabeth Hackbarth, Associate Director of Global Insights and Marketing, The Clorox Company
The Adrich Smart Consumer Platform’s solution:
Through the accuracy of the Adrich Product Smart Tracker, all information pertaining to the contents of the Pine-Sol products were easily collected. In fact, near instantaneous response to surveys at point of-use resulted in more accurate qualitative data. Upon receiving the products with Smart Trackers, the 200 consumers received detailed set up instructions and were able to connect easily via Bluetooth. The Adrich team then provided 24/7 consumer support throughout the two-month study.
CPG Problem #3: Gathering Information Takes Time & A Big Budget
CPG remains one of the largest industries in North America, but most businesses don’t have large budgets to gamble with. Even though the Pine-Sol team’s previous methodologies were done on a small scale, they took a very long time and were extremely expensive to execute. A CPG giant like The Clorox Company may have a relatively huge budget, but still understands the value of time and money well spent, not squandered.
The Adrich Smart Consumer Platform’s solution:
Instead of having to wait until the end of a long case study, the Pine-Sol team was able to see real-time usage data at an aggregated level via the Adrich Smart Consumer Platform, updated the moment the consumers used the product. The Pine-Sol team could begin understanding the data and identifying insights immediately.
CPG Problem #4: It’s Hard to Get Consumers To Participate
Asking people to take part in experiments and field tests has generally been one of the harder tasks when trying to gather information on this level. Consumers can be wary of participating in feedback or altogether annoyed by its inconvenience, making for results that can be spotty or tainted.
The Adrich Smart Consumer Platform’s solution:
The automated and non-intrusive nature of Adrich’s technology allows usage data to stream without any effort from the consumer, removing the headache and bias associated with reporting or recording. The results from Pine-Sol’s use of the Adrich Smart Consumer Platform speak for themselves:
90% of participants were consistently engaged throughout the use of the product
Amongst all stages of the product life cycle, the average response was within the first minute of survey receipt
~60% of consumers said they would participate in another study after experiencing Adrich’s method of consumer research
Over 800 survey responses were received from the consumers
Adrich’s dataset was almost 1.5 times the scale of a traditional ethnographic research study, leading to a larger and statistically significant dataset at both the aggregate and individual consumer level
The Major Takeaway
Massive brands and smaller CPG businesses have something in common: the need for accurate data on the usage of their products. With technology provided by the Adrich team, this level of data is now attainable - for businesses big and small. Adrich customizes each campaign and its dashboard to perfectly suit each product and budget, so that major brands aren’t the only ones able to benefit from the Adrich Smart Consumer Platform’s insights.
Want to see how the Adrich Smart Consumer Platform can benefit your own products?
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