Published articles and papers 2009

The past decade has seen the rise of celebrities and, especially, in the last few years a rise in nostalgia and the return of some classic brands.

With the start of a new decade around the corner who, and what, will lead the brand revolution in 2010? More
 

Launching new products direct to the on-trade sector is being used to great effect by Pepsi, as seen with the delivery of their Flavoured syrup shots.

So can innovation in the on-trade sector be used to great effect for identifying and delivering opportunities for drinks brands in the retail sector? More
 

Research shows how important packaging is in driving sales. It’s your on-shelf brand awareness tool and sales generator and as such, it has to compete with 40,000 other products for space in the consumers’ basket.

This Christmas Cadbury’s have even broken with 70 years of tradition by swapping the traditional tin of Christmas chocolates and replacing it with a new greener square cardboard box. More

Unilever this week axed Persil washing up liquid, to make way for new innovation, a technique it employed with Knorr prior to launching Stock Pots.

Across FMCG, innovation calendars are bursting for 2010 with forward thinking clients ready to unleash ground breaking NPD. In the face of the new launches planned, The Oxford Research Agency shows how you can ensure that your ideas will cut through in one of the biggest years for FMCG new product launches. More
 

Better global pack designs boost sales, providing the same uplift in sales as spending £1.8m on advertising

Pack structure and design is being used more effectively as a route to boost sales in highly competitive markets.

Across the US, Europe and Asia, The Oxford Research Agency is utilising new virtual shelves and 3D packaging tools which enable packaging to be tested better than ever before. See how you can test your new pack designs better. More
 

A number of retailers are looking at novel ways to ensure that they not only beat the winter blues to boost Christmas sales but also cash in on the economic downturn to develop temporary stores or new store formats to tap into customers’ needs. More

With 65 days to go to Christmas, food manufacturers are bracing themselves for one of the most competitive Christmases in recent years as customers look to maximise their spend during their festive season.

Making sure your products deliver that Christmas appeal will be vital and now is the ideal time to start gauging opinions and planning ahead for next Christmas as well ensuring your 2010 NPD programme really is on track! More

This week, both Tesco and Sainsbury’s announced new figures highlighting rises in growth that bring a glimmer of optimism to the high street in the run up to Christmas and beyond.

This has been accompanied by rises in sales for top-end food ranges, but looking closely at the figures, is this truly a time for cautious optimism and what does it mean for your brand? More

The latest research from The Oxford Research Agency, the leaders in FMCG research, shows that 38% of excellent ideas are not progressed as they are tested at the wrong price point.

The Oxford Research Agency’s NPD programme identifies the power of the idea prior to price being revealed; with in-market success rates over four times the average. More

John Lewis is the latest retailer to announce that it is launching a Value range. Is launching a value range now becoming an integral requirement for any brand or merely a short term recessionary tactic? More
 

Research shows how important packaging is in driving sales. It’s is your on-shelf brand awareness tool and sales generator and as such, it has to compete with 40,000 other products for space in the consumers’ basket.

Changing your pack design has also been shown to significantly increase sales by up to 30%, worth the same as spending £1.8m in advertising every year. With Government targets continually striving to minimise packaging and reduce packaging waste, now is the time to review your brand’s packaging as well as your green credentials. More

Recent press articles are speculating that the government is to announce that paid for product placements are coming to your favourite TV shows for the first time on British television. Is your business ready for the next big shake-up in advertising? More

Supermarkets are still finding opportunities to increase promotional space in store but is it now time for brands to focus on their core values rather than leading with endless promotional offers?

Is now the time for brands to put their trust back in the consumer? More

So how useful can Web 2.0 really be, as a way of engaging with customers?

The BBC posted an article on Monday suggesting that much of what occurs on Twitter is either 'pointless babble' or conversational activity, with less than 9% having any pass-along value.

Customer feedback and engagement is key to growing and improving brands and services. Jo Stovel (Research Manager with The Oxford Research Agency's Retail & Shopper Insight team) examines the importance of Web 2.0 as a research and shopper engagement tool. More

BOGOF’s are the main contributor to 30% of all food being thrown away. To reduce waste and save the environment Defra proposes to ban BOGOF’s.

State intervention gives manufacturers the opportunity to build brand equity and sales growth through longer term promotions that actually work. It’s time to stop giving away product and this is how you do it. More

The launch of P&G’s Simply Dry range may have come as a surprise but is it the right strategy for today ?

The rise of the discounters over the past year has been well documented and whilst the big 4 supermarket retailers themselves have been fighting back with their own promotional campaigns, now it appears that FMCG manufacturers can have a new strategy. More
 

A BBC Asia-Pacific correspondent posted a report on Monday from Japan’s Keihin Express Railway, which has provided its employees with a ‘smile scan’ facility. The computer software calculates optimum curvature of the lips, “those with a low score are given words of advice such as ‘you look too serious’”.

Staff are key to satisfactory customer transactions and repeat business, whether from buyers or consumers. Noreen Kinsey (Associate Director with The Oxford Research Agency’s Retail & Shopper Insight team) examines the importance of staff engagement. More

Comedian Sean Lock imagines pitching Argos to the Dragons’ Den. Revolutionary in the 70s, there are now numerous competing stores and online businesses from which you can buy anything you need and have it delivered tomorrow.

When the dust of the recession settles, companies best placed to respond to customer needs of the next 50 years, will be those with the strongest buying power and superior logistical infrastructure, combined with exceptional customer service. Noreen Kinsey (Associate Director with The Oxford Research Agency’s Retail & Shopper Insight team) looks at future-proofing your customer service. More

‘Mimosa’, the new qualitative agency wholly-owned by The Oxford Research Agency, is delighted to make available a free-of-charge qualitative innovations meeting or workshop, for all of its FMCG clients. New clients are also very welcome to enquire.

While we do not (for obvious reasons!) want to publicly divulge the new methods and approaches we have devised, we would love to hear from any client who would like to learn more on a one-to-one basis. More

Analysis by The Oxford Research Agency shows that companies are becoming more innovative in their food & drink NPD.

With 2010 predicted to be the start of the end of the recession, new products are already in the pipeline for launch into the post recession world.

Many NPD programmes in 2008 have been mothballed by clients as the unpredictability of the global recession starts to bite. Trends that were important coming into 2007 have regressed as consumers return to thrift and basic food staples in their weekly shop. More

The Oxford Research Agency is delighted to announce the launch of its new qualitative venture, Mimosa.

Designed with extensive client feedback, Mimosa brings the best techniques for qualitative research together under a wholly owned new division of the company. Mimosa was created to cater for growing pressure in the research industry for added value innovative, joined-up, Qual-Quant thinking. More

In recent weeks there have been indications that we are nearing the end of the recession. Whether this is true, it is impossible to say although some recent data points to a possible economic upturn. More

Gauging the potential of new product development for the OTC sector is becoming increasingly complex.
At The Oxford Research Agency, we have developed a range of approaches which enables clients to launch new products with confidence, knowing the impact that the product will make on sales. More

Twitter is now the 5th most popular social network and forum site and ranked the 38th most visited website in the UK last week. Bloggers casually report their experiences and feelings to the world at large: “Have the low of returning something to [high street store] later. Will test their usually bad customer service”.

Measuring and maintaining customer satisfaction has always been important in preventing customers voting with their feet, but with social networking and micro-blogging sites attracting increasing traffic, Noreen Kinsey (Associate Director with The Oxford Research Agency’s Retail & Shopper Insight team) reminds us that it’s never been more important to understand what your customers want and what to fix first, when things go wrong. More

Brand managers covet the strong associations shoppers have with Cadburys’ purple and Heinz’s teal. Analysis of shoppers’ eye-movements indicates that colour is the first level of pack ‘detail’ registered.

Companies go to great length and cost to fiercely defend trademarked colours; with every reason says Noreen Kinsey (Associate Director with The Oxford Research Agency’s Retail & Shopper Insight team). Recent research amongst brand mangers and marketing heads reminds us that colour is king. More
 

BRC reported the largest year on year increase in retail sales figures for the past three years, not evidence that the economy is back to normal.

Earlier this week the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported the largest year on year increase in retail sales figures for the past three years. Cue nationwide celebrations and scores of investment bankers strolling through central London with their heads held high! More

The long hot summer of 1976 seemed eternal at the time and even longer thinking back. With the recent long range weather forecast that this summer will be long and hot, coupled with the current clamour for nostalgic brands, those in the drinks industry who have planned ahead, should capitalise over the next few months. More

Over the years many products have been launched which have transformed consumers’ lives. The invention of the automatic sliced bread machine 81 years ago revolutionised how bread could be made, used, stored and sold.

Find out more on how you can test your ideas from as little as £970 per concept. More

Guiding principles of packaging design

Changing your pack design and structure has been shown to significantly increase sales by up to 30%, worth the same as spending £1.8m in advertising every year. The latest advances in pack testing enable us to predict within +/-9% accuracy the sales your new packaging will create. Research shows how important packaging is in driving sales. It’s your on-shelf brand awareness tool and sales generator and as such, it has to compete with 40,000 other products for space in the consumers’ basket. More

On Thursday 30th April the Food & Drink Innovation Network will be hosting its conference ‘Putting Packaging at the Heart of NPD’ at the Metropole Hotel Birmingham. Attended by some of the biggest names in Food and Drink, it’s a conference you cannot afford to miss! More

Gauging the potential of new product development for the OTC sector is becoming increasingly complex.
At The Oxford Research Agency, we have developed a range of approaches which enables clients to launch new products with confidence, knowing the impact that the product will make on sales. More
 

Here are some ‘innovative’ ideas to stimulate your thinking on this mischievous date......

• Is a new idea innovative, or obscure ?

• Are new consumer tastes a trend, or a short term fad ?

• Is that new product a winner, or a ‘loser’ ?

Here’s some new products to get you thinking and stimulate the creative juices...........More

There's a certain sense of ironic satisfaction that the latest industry sales figures are showing that brand sales have increased at a higher rate than own label sales (value and volume). It seems that rather than consumers switching out of brands and into own label that they have been actually switching out of premium own label and into brands. Although still early days in 2009, these initial indications back-up the hypothesized belief and predictions at the end of 2008 that decades of brand equity and trust developed from billions of marketing and innovation investment will help carry brands, nee even prosper, in the recession. More

This week’s unseasonal temperatures in St. Paddy’s week hint at recent days gone by.

The drinks industry will be hoping that this year’s key celebratory events, coinciding with sunny days, will help stimulate on-trade footfall and in home volumes, despite the ‘r’ word. In parallel, continued off-trade aggressive behaviour on pricing and this week’s paradoxical debate about the possible introduction of minimum pricing to help curb alcohol misuse is the latest in a long line of headaches for the industry to front up to. More

On yesterday’s Today Programme, Matt Close, Marketing Director in Home & Personal Care at Unilever, described how the recession has so far impacted on consumer behaviour in general, and the differences seen in sales of Unilever products.

With our own research showing how consumers are changing behaviour, are we on the cusp of a change in consumer behaviour for the longer term? More

Walkers are launching a range of premium crisps called Red Sky to battle Kettle, Burt’s and the other premium brands. Red Sky has already caused a stir in the press and it looks like the category is due to grow substantially this year.

With a raft of new flavours in the range, identifying the optimal flavours to launch is now faster, more accurate and cheaper using new Range Optimisation tools. More

It’s hard to establish a definitive view of how well Food & Drink manufacturers are performing in this recession. Stated share figures and forecasts (and sometimes no forecasts!) from the likes of Unilever, Kraft and P&G contrast with the those from the likes of Reckitt Benckiser and Nestle. We know that the total food & drink sector’s share performance was up by 5.5% in the second half of 2008 and we know that the total industry’s sales are positive in the grocery multiples. This begs several questions: More:

On March 25th, the Food & Drink Innovation Network will be hosting its conference on ‘Better, Quicker & Cheaper NPD’. Attended by some of the biggest names in Food and Drink, it’s a conference you cannot afford to miss. More

Why did we ever doubt it? People need to consume food and drink simply to survive. It’s the most basic human need since we lived in caves. Although, back then, the human species wasn’t deliberating over whether to give Aldi a try, or hunt for bargains in their usual Tesco, food and drink always was, and always will be, at the foremost of people’s minds. More

Over the years many products have been launched which have transformed consumers’ lives. The invention of the automatic sliced bread machine 81 years ago revolutionised how bread could be made, used, stored and sold.

Find out more on how you can test your ideas from as little as £970 per concept. More
 

ASDA CEO Andy Bond calls for focus on Value not NPD

In his role as guest Editor of The Grocer this past weekend, Andy Bond told reporters that suppliers must focus on Value and not NPD. Additionally, listings would only be made on a strong business case and a very competitive price.

Will this approach prove successful for both ASDA, and its suppliers? More

Now more important than ever

In more prosperous times, uncertainty from developing and launching new products is relatively more ‘acceptable’ (80% of all new products fail and all that). In these unprecedented times, ensuring that what you do will succeed and accurately quantifying ROI is now crucial. Some FMCG organisations may defer activity, however, we are finding most others are proactively innovating but with absolute (and better than before) knowledge of true ROI before investing and launching. More

Researching packaging is conducted in many different ways

Overtaking the removal of salt, sugar and fat, going Natural was the star of new product launches during 2008. Ensuring that sales boost through going natural is critical, and new Pack Design research is now available to predict sales changes from pack designs. Mintel found that 1 in 4 products launched in 2008 led with a Natural claim on pack. Critical to the survival and impact of these new products is how Natural is communicated on pack. More

FMCG and Retail Innovation and Research specialists

Throughout 2009, we shall be celebrating ‘Pioneers’ – the people, events, artists, services and products which have challenged perspectives, trail-blazed new innovations and ‘changed the rules’. We hope that ‘Pioneers’ will help stimulate you to identify new successes this year – many step-change innovations have occurred in previous recessions and in more challenging times. More

Less is Less

2009 will be an exciting year for food and drink, as new opportunities for better products and ideas present themselves. With pressure on budgets, different NPD strategies are being considered.

New research from The Oxford Research Agency shows that care and consideration needs to be taken in the NPD approach you follow. In NPD, Less is Less, and More is More. More

Every household in the UK contains products tested, improved and launched with the aid of research from The Oxford Research Agency.

In its annual review of the year, The Oxford Research Agency examines what trends will emerge and which will continue to grow during 2009. Interestingly, some will be put on hold.

The last three months has seen a seismic shift in consumer behaviour as the recession starts to bite. Hitting the economy and consumers throughout Autumn into Winter, many economists are forecasting a sharp downturn throughout 2009, before recovery starts in 2010. More

Revitalisation of what ‘The Brand’ stands for is critical in these changing times.

Brands today face the biggest shock to consumer behaviour since the concept of ‘The Brand’ was formed.

The latest grocery sales data shows that consumer behaviour is changing fast. Brands are being left behind as consumers’ trade down and change their eating habits.

Revitalisation of what ‘The Brand’ stands for is critical in these challenging times. More

Over the next few months several new initiatives are to be launched by the Agency.

The Oxford Research Agency today reveals its new logo and strapline. The redesign represents the first change in the agency's identity in its 26 year history.

Chris Sinclair, Joint MD of The Oxford Research Agency commented "Our new logo is the culmination of a six month programme of listening to feedback from our clients, developing our core equity and preparing for the launch of new initiatives. We are looking forward to the new possibilities for the agency as we go into 2009." More

With 6 weeks to go until Christmas, one question on everybody's lips is: "Will Christmas be cancelled this year" ? The doom-mongers may be congratulating themselves about predicting an economic downturn over the last year but they won't be able to take away our Christmas. With a figure of the magnitude of £30bn being predicted to be spent this year, a Christmas non-event couldn't be further from the truth. More