Gauge customer reactions to a variety of price points and promotions

Consumers have seldom had greater product choice. Bundled packages, optional features and add-ons and product menus allow consumers to configure the perfect product. The challenge for marketers is knowing which add-ons to offer, how to price them, and which bundles will drive the strongest growth.

The Coca-Cola Company approached Bonamy Finch with a brief to measure consumer reactions across a wide range of pack, price and promotion scenarios. The research also needed to examine a number of stretch scenarios, including new pack formats. This was vital input needed for financial planning and getting their product range right.

Bonamy Finch designed a complex retail shelf display so that we could carry out a conjoint analysis. We recruited and profiled over 6,000 respondents for the study from across the globe and asked them about 6 brands, 50 SKUs and 425 price points.

As you can imagine, this exercise brought about a lot of data. Potentially so much data it might have blinded our client. We are all about ensuring our research can be used in the most practical way possible. For this project that meant outputting the results in the context of a full-year financial plan, and we also created a simulator that allowed Coca-Cola to evaluate the viability of multiple strategies.

Each SKU was assessed in terms of volume, value and profit, incorporating costs of manufacture and distribution. The resulting strategy afforded Coca-Cola confidence in their portfolio planning decisions, and provided an evidence based, analytically driven plan for retail partners. This was a key win for the company who at the time were considering expanding their line.