How concept co-creation helped Fentimans avoid killing a winning idea
The Fentimans brand is renowned for its wide range of traditional adult soft drinks and mixers.
From Ginger Beer to Rose Lemonade, all their soft drinks are botanically brewed for ‘superior quality’ and ‘unrivalled flavour’.
Whilst Fentimans’ roots go back to 1905, several of its most iconic flavours are relatively recent additions.
However, without Brand Development’s proven concept co-creation skills – their most recent launch would never have existed …
Growing the brand through distinctive flavours
Fentimans’ essence is traditional, trustworthy, quirky & upmarket British – its reputation sets high expectations.
Products are perceived to be full-bodied, rich flavours in combinations no-one else does – they are complex & satisfying.
Rose Lemonade conforms to the expectations of Fentimans – but adds a glamorous, retro twist.
It was with the objective of identifying a worthy stable-mate to Rose Lemonade that the Fentimans’ team set out to generate product ideas, craft concepts, and brew samples for assessment …
Fentimans’ product concepts & samples
Fentimans’ marketing and R&D teams had already brainstormed a bank of ideas when we first became involved.
Concepts explored a wide range of territories – both contemporary and traditional.
From a long list of ideas, a shortlist of five was selected, and product concepts & samples were prepared to bring them to life.
Our task was to help identify the options with the greatest potential.
Getting to know our target consumers’ needs
Even though time and budget were limited, we convinced Fentimans to undertake fewer groups, but to do them as full-on concept evaluation and co-creation sessions.
We gathered consumers from the three critical target audiences: Young Socials, Family Diners and Empty Nest Imbibers.
- All were regular drinkers of Adult Soft Drinks out of home.
- Many were regular consumers of premium mixers with spirits, both in and out of home.
We quickly learned the ground-rules
- Mixers with Alcohol either play a low-key ‘supporting’ role OR must have an ‘acknowledged complementary pairing’.
- Adult Soft Drinks have more ‘confident standalone’ flavours – but are expected to be authentic, complex & real!
Fentimans clearly had a right to play, but their concepts needed to be very, very good!
Thank goodness for co-creation
Rather than get consumers to just act as ‘judge & jury’, we’ve optimised the technique of co-creation. Consumers are tasked with deconstructing ideas, working out which bits to keep and how to optimise them for their lives.
It quickly became apparent that the winning concept was going to have to hit the ‘sweet spot’
- Some concepts had high appeal, and respondents could see how they’d use them, but they had limited uniqueness.
- Others had great novelty and appeal, but respondents were unsure what to expect – or how they’d use them.
Rhubarb has its fans, and the nostalgic sweetshop elements of Rhubarb & Custard certainly raised curiosity – but on balance, most groups couldn’t get past the idea that it was going to contain a dairy element that had very little appeal.
Rhubarb & Custard looked certain to fail …
At least, that was the case until our favourite ‘bit’ – the concept co-creation.
Once consumers had tasted the samples and were challenged to ‘optimise their favourite product’ – they couldn’t leave Rhubarb alone.
Out went the childish sweetshop allusions and all references to dairy – and in came an altogether more serious and sophisticated tone.
Even though the Fentimans team’s concept failed so spectacularly, they were delighted that we’d identified the elements that would turn their original idea into a winning solution.
How can co-creation help you deliver winning solutions?
Without Brand Development’s proven concept co-creation skills – Fentimans’ most recent launch would never have existed …
That would have been a disaster, as early reactions to the launch seem to be incredibly positive!
In our experience, a modest investment in concept co-creation always pays back.
- Co-creation helps you understand your consumer – and what really motivates them
- Co-creation helps us build relevant & differentiated propositions – that add meaningful value
- Co-creation helps us craft motivating claims & branding – that clinch the sale at the point of purchase
Our most conspicuous co-creation success to date has been co-creating NPD concepts that Nielsen assessed as having a 95% probability of success in the USA and 83% in the UK!
But, we’d love to see what we can achieve for you …
In case you still need convincing!
Our approach has evolved a lot over the last thirty years.
We’ve adopted agile, disruptive and co-creative approaches and tools..
- Co-creation can be fast – with optimised concepts available in under a week
- It can be focused on optimising a single concept or idea, or prioritising and crafting 5-6 ideas
- It is always highly structured, so we can always provide clarity on what works and what doesn’t
- But it’s also highly creative – and we now use AI to evolve both copy and concept visuals ‘on the fly’
- It can be executed in a single market, or across multiple markets simultaneously, either face-to-face or online
So great results can be delivered super-fast and cost-effectively every time
However, some things remain constant:
- No cookie-cutter approach: every process is tailored to our client’s needs
- Senior team: we’ll dig deep to understand your challenge and come up with a solution that works
- We’ll always over-deliver: even if the budget doesn’t cover it
- Insight will always drive the solution: every time!
Brand Development: still solving real consumer problems with fresh eyes, still unconfined by conventional market wisdom!
Let us help you co-create!
We can help you spot new opportunities for innovation, but we can also help you craft your existing concepts into winners …
And it doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take long to make it happen.
No matter how big your challenge, tight your timeline, or modest your budget – we have the agile insight, concepting & co-creation tools that will help you understand your consumers’ unmet needs and generate the growth you need.
Give us a call on +44 1491 411272, or connect with David or Joanna via LinkedIn
We custom-build solutions for every client – that deliver brilliant results!