Turning Shopper Insights into company-wide Memes

1. Turning shopper insights into company-wide memes Dannon disrupts shopper research by engaging with a tribe of shoppers ESOMAR Congress 2015 Best Paper Award

2. Introduction: Increasing the return on consumer insights www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

3. Danone is the parent company of The Dannon Company, Stonyfield Yogurt and Happy Family. The company has taken strategic steps to achieve a global presence and to focus on four areas of business with high potential built on health and vitality: dairy products, bottled water, baby nutrition and medical nutrition. As one of the projects within the “Danone 2020” initiative, the North-America based dairy brands have united their forces to change the face of Market Research (MR) within their organization. "Danone 2020" is a business transformation program designed for a sustainable, collaborative and community-engaging future. After completing an immersive Consumer Consulting Board on shopper insights, the consumer insight team at Dannon felt the study did not realize its full potential in terms of impact, reach and longevity. Not because the study was not well conducted or generated too little information, but because it generated information and possibility beyond what was anticipated. This “first world problem” centered on a series of “missed opportunities”: many observations were relevant for a larger audience than just the shopper teams at Dannon and the insights would benefit from further elaboration and cocreation by Dannon executives. Dannon is not the only company that realizes that market research findings need, should or can have a more widespread impact. More than ever, demonstrating impact of research is the name of the game in our industry. A recent InSites Consulting Market Research Impact study (2014) states that only 45% of insight professionals & marketers believe research succeeds in changing the attitudes and decisions of marketers. While it is the number 1 characteristic of ideal research, we are far off achieving it (Schillewaert et al, 2014). Impact does not follow spending, though, so it is not about doing more or increasing budgets. Impact is realized by allocating the investment to the rightful activities (BCG study, 2009) or doing things differently. www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

4. Creating a ‘tribe’ of healthy minded people www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

5. To reframe its understanding of the Health & Wellness space, Danone initiated the “Healthy Minded People” community (figure 1). The initial objectives were to: 1. Understand the shopping behavior and context of consumers who aspire a lifestyle of Health & Wellness 2. Figure 1. The Healthy Minded People Community screenshot Feed the development of retail concepts, Innovations and creative brand activation programs to enchance the shopping experience 3. Inspire shopper teams and retail partners with consumer insights www.insites-consulting.com

6. Uncovering shopper insights (pre, during and post the in-store experience) was a crucial objective for Dannon. Typical shopper research methodologies like shop-alongs, eye tracking and virtual store simulations take a narrow view of the experience of the shopper; one person, one shelve, one moment in time. A Consumer Consulting Board or online community including mobile ethnography, shopper safaris and ideation was considered as an ideal method by Dannon to bring consumers and insights to live. To capture the holistic shopper journey, follow consumers during different shopping trips and tap into the consulting power of shoppers, Dannon activated 96 shoppers across seven retailers in the US for four weeks (figure 2). By following the shopper journey (from shopping list and in-store experience until groceries are stocked) and by activating shoppers (e.g. capturing a trip to the farmers’ market), a unique picture was established about the needs of the target group. Figure 2. Sample of shoppers www.insites-consulting.com

7. Our insight generation approach was built in three consecutive phases. Target consumers engage in an asynchronous individual observation phase combined with a peer-to-peer discussion around the consumer journey. Figure 3. Insight Activation Phases www.insites-consulting.com

8. Crowd interpretation Observation Discussion We immersed on an individual level by connecting with consumers via an individual blog. This online ethnography approach has the advantage it diminishes the Hawthorne effect and allows more time to capture processes from a natural consumer perspective – e.g. mobile technology allowed to capture observations on the go and avoid having to rely on recall and consumer memory. An example of an observation task; consumers are asked to share pictures of their shopping journey in different phases; making the list, entering the store, filling the basket, checking out and transportation. Next, they divide their purchases in a healthy and unhealthy pile to understand what drives their perception of healthiness. Participants go from an individual blog phase to an interactive peer-to-peer discussion environment in the last phase. This discussion phase is intended for probing or “autodriving”. Interviewing and discussion questions are experiential, task based and gamified. Observations reveal the implicit, unconscious needs and wants and combined with the right probing, a full picture of the Health & Wellness consumers’ needs could be sketched. Not only professional market researchers interpret the data, we also engage a group of consumers in the analysis of the observations. This in order to obtain richer, more accurate interpretation of data that leads to insights. Our research has shown that crowd interpretation leads to 20% to 40% additional, unique insights. Duration: four days. www.insites-consulting.com

9. 1. This process generated a wealth and mass of data and a classic 150+ page Powerpoint report. To bring across the key messages as well as generate a lasting impact among the original team, we applied a number of collaborative presentation and workshop techniques. These techniques all have in common that Dannon executives had to internalize the data by interacting, experiencing and actually working it (figures 4 and 5): TED-style presentation chunks were co-presented by the client team 2. Observation museum stations in which executives had to “walk through” the findings 3. Consumer stories dashboard. All visual observations were rigorously tagged and included a Consumer Story Dashboard. This asset made the massive amount of pictures (almost 1,500) easily accessible by filtering on e.g. retailer, moment in the journey or insight 4. Competitive ideation and co-creation among small teams of executives Figure 4. Snapshots of techniques to internalize the data www.insites-consulting.com

10. Figure 5. Screenshot of the Consumer Story Dashboard www.insites-consulting.com

11. understanding consumer behavior in the Health & Wellness space. The Consumer Story Dashboard and workshop exercises allowed them to easily explore more observations than can ever be included in a traditional research report. This approach of capturing immersive data and generating solid insights was different from traditional shopper research in three ways. 1. A holistic outlook on the lives and challenges of the Health & Wellness consumer was generated instead of the singular perspective provided by traditional methods. After this comprehensive project delivery and 3,465 conversations, 1,399 pictures and consumer stories, 14 insight platforms and 78 co-created product and communication ideas, there was a feeling of “unused potential” if the insight process would stop here. Not only should all these findings be diffused to other employees from different departments and locations, but the ideas needed further collaboration to further enrich them. 2. Instead of studying consumers as passive participants in the process, they were truly in the lead. Through activation/deprivation tasks and a longitudinal commitment, we generated a more layered view on their needs. As outlined at the start of this paper, our next challenge was all about generating impact with our market research – this time research that had already been completed, but needed a more widespread audience and more in- depth work. 3. The Danone team wasn’t just ‘informed’ of the outcome, they are also active participants in the process of www.insites-consulting.com

12. Going from ‘insights’ to ‘memes’ www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

13. For people to take action on a consumer insight, they first need to learn what the insight is about. Many times in MR (as as the case here as well), only a limited group of people is involved in the knowledge exchange by e.g. participating in the debrief workshop or managing the research study themselves. This limited group is then able to shape an insight platform by adding own thoughts, observations and/or ideas. If we involve a wider group of employees, organizations as a whole will better understand the consumer and will be able to make consumer relevant decisions. Furthermore, the theory of open innovation teaches us that ‘the one golden idea’ can come from anywhere in the organization, not only marketing or innovation (Whelan, 2011). To increase the impact and maximize the chance of a golden idea to realize, all employees across the organization should learn what the key consumer frictions are in order to share related observations and ideas and build on them. For example, by experiencing how consumers are consuming yogurt, employees see what can be improved. When such an insight is replicated by employees and augmented with their own observations and ideas, shared with various people across the organization and triggers action, the insight becomes a ‘meme’ (Dawkins, 1989). From our “Health & Wellness” community we had several findings we felt could/should result in such memes. For example, the #yolittleones meme. Parents face a challenge of constantly not giving in when their young children join them for grocery shopping. When kids show good behavior in the store, parents often want to give them a treat. These young kids are often attracted by the colorful packaging of unhealthy snacks. We uncovered insights that provide opportunities for yogurt to become a favorite to kids and be liked as a healthy option to parents. To turn an insight into a meme, insight professionals need to move away from the traditional research model and establish a change at three levels to achieve the ‘Memefication of #MRX’: www.insites-consulting.com

14. 1From reporting to internalizing #experience While 92% of insight professionals believes their research generates insight worth sharing with colleagues, only 65% extensively shares them with their organization. Furthermore, only one in five researchers organizes interactive workshops to discuss results (Schillewaert et al, 2014). All too often, MR takes a passive and individualistic approach and executives are supposed to identify their own actions when undergoing research reports. However, to trigger meaningful actions of executives, insight professionals need to bring insights to life through interaction with the data – they need to work the data. Therefore, we have identified four building blocks that are needed for marketing insights within organizations: harvesting, seeding, activating and collaborating (see figure 5). Through ‘harvesting’, we assemble and mold insights from internal stakeholders which are already collected. Secondly, ‘seeding’ enables insights managers to spread insights via key ambassadors in a relevant way through the organization. ‘Activating’ triggers stakeholders to not only discover but also interact with and work on insights. Finally, ‘collaborating’ connects stakeholders to work together and turn insights into actions and new future projects. Figure 6. Four building blocks of marketing insights within the organization

15. 2 From teams to the organization-wide #reach In traditional MR, consumer stories and insights are often discovered and owned by the MR department. However, in order to trigger meaningful action all the time, the insight needs to be co-owned by all employees (figure 6). First of all, we want extend the MR reach from executives to management to enable higher management to take long-term decisions with a consumer context in mind. Secondly, we involve the front- line employees, who are in almost daily contact with consumers, to shape their consumer feeling and ultimately improve their performance. Finally, involving all other employees that have a rather indirect relationship with the consumer creates a better understanding of the consumer context of the business, making them more motivated as an employee in general. The extension of MR reach calls for a layered approach, involving the whole organization with consumer insights. Figure 7. Extend the internal reach of MR

16. 3 From projects to habit creation #structural For most employees, working with consumer insights is not a routine. If you wish to trigger meaningful actions and enable employees to turn an insight into a meme, it is of great importance that consumer inspirations become part of executives’ daily jobs. We miss opportunities by thinking on a project basis. If we can shift consumer inspiration to become a routine, we will be more successful in triggering meaningful actions and increase the business impact of consumer insights.

17. The Dannon Insight Activation Studio So how can we concretely engage employees from different departments with consumer insights and allowing them to interact with research data in a playful way? www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

18. We strongly believe that consumer insights have not reached their full potential in terms of ROI. Based on interviews with clients, the MR Impact Study and our experience in collaborating with global brands over the years, we’ve identified a recipe for success to create a positive business impact with consumer insights. To enable the insight professional of tomorrow to do this in an efficient yet effective way, we developed a mobile collaboration platform, called the ‘Insight Activation Studio’. This is a scalable solution for insight managers so they can establish the ‘memefication’ of research in their organizations and create engaging experiences, across the organization in a structural way. How does it work? The Studio connects and empowers internal stakeholders to share inspiring observations and take action together. This digital application (figure 8) (based on a responsive web design) consists of several ‘Inspiration Walls’: projects or insight platforms that uncover a consumer friction, emotion or unmet need. Each wall is populated with tiles or findings from the community, all believed to contribute to the meme. The Danone team would decide what the most meaningful and memorable observations to include as an observation “tile” in the Danone Studio were. Dannon employees are prompted to add their own ‘Inspiration Tiles’ of these walls through observations and ideas by posting photos, videos and stories. They interact and shape the Inspiration Tiles of their colleagues through comments and likes (figure 9). www.insites-consulting.com

19. The studio helps the insight professional to combine the four building blocks of marketing insights in an efficient way (figure 6). By challenging employees to share their inspirations, we harvest their consumer knowledge. By opening an Inspiration Wall, we seed new consumer insights with the relevant team(s). By activating employees to share observations and ideas on the go, we prompt them to interact with insights. Finally, by sharing enabling commenting and feedback, we enable them to collaborate and work together to shape outcomes. Figure 9. Impressions of the Insight Activation Studio www.insites-consulting.com

20. What does it bring? Just like any technology, the Insight Activation Studio brings automational, informational and transformational value for the insight professional (Day 1994). Automational – Faster sharing of insights. There is a reduction of manual efforts in spreading & seeding insights with more, relevant stakeholders, leading to more and faster decision making at the same or lower level of costs. Informational – Better and higher ROI of consumer insights. The Studio enables internal stakeholders to spot, share and shape inspirations on the go. The more inspirations are posted on an Inspiration Wall, and the more feedback an inspiration will receive, the richer the insight will get. Furthermore, all these interactions also create a deeper understanding of the insight. In turn, the company has access to richer, more relevant, authentic ideas which are closer to the reality of the business world, encouraging employees to take action to make better decisions. Transformational – not possible before. A consumer-activated culture. By connecting the whole organization with the consumer, the Studio influences employees’ day-to-day behavior, helps to collect ideas from the whole organization and transforms the organization towards an innovation and consumer-centric culture. www.insites-consulting.com

21. In the first stage of the Danone Studio, six Inspiration Walls were set up featuring a total of 42 tiles, engaging the company in a collaboration wave of four weeks. What makes yogurt the ideal healthy snack? Share your snacking moments on this #YOMOMENTS inspiration wall and discover the dimensions of a healthy snack. #YOMOMENTS What can we do to make yogurt more attractive as a snack for kids, from little to older ones? Share your experiences and see the thoughts of our consumers. #YOLITTLEONES Do you have an observation or an idea that doesn’t fit any of the walls? Don’t just keep it on a post-it, share it here. #YODOODLE What is so great about using yogurt in smoothies, parfaits, desserts or cooking? Share a few tips from your kitchen and find out about the culinary experiments of our consumers. #YOKITCHEN Are you ready for some yogurt innovation? Share your ideas with us and see how your ideas stack up against others. #YONOVATION Do you have ideas on how to make shopping for yogurt more enjoyable? Share your own ideas or examples of creative execution from places you really like. #YOSHOP www.insites-consulting.com

22. Impact is the name of the game www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

23. Danone launched this initiative on an immense scale. All employees of the Dannon HQ and the plants of Dannon, Stonyfield Yogurt and HappyFamily were invited to join. The launch was supported by a video explaining how this new way of collaboration would contribute to the "Danone 2020" business transformation program. Postcards were sent out to the plants as an additional touchpoint in the launch. Figure 10. Launch video www.insites-consulting.com

24. On the next pages we describe the impact of the Studio being live for 4 weeks. We do so in a qualitative as well as a quantitative way. Intriguing Participant feedback about the Studio was that it is fun and intriguing at the same time From a visual and design perspective users perceived it to be very appealing and very different than what they were used to see (if ever) in terms of market research output. Non-marketing executives got to experience that research is not all “boring graphs” and “long reports”. The content on the Studio shed a different light on consumer reality and is eye-opening and surprising for people to learn about different applications of yoghurt. "It was really interesting to see all the recipes people use yogurt for. For example, the pasta recipe really caught my attention and I was surprised people would use yogurt in pasta. It was also to me to see people using yogurt in savory recipes as I thought consumers only consumed yogurt as a sweet treat." “The Studio is visually appealing. .... as life is quite busy, we unfortunately don't take the time to socialize and share this type of information in person or online.” www.insites-consulting.com

25. Participants outside of the marketing department became more people centric through sharing their own personal stories. A great illustration of this is Nancy’s idea and contribution to the #YOLITTLEONES wall with a picture of her daughter. People centricity www.insites-consulting.com

26. Reach and Engagement Out of the 250 executives based in the Dannon White Plains offices, we reached 83 or 1 in 3 over the course of 4 weeks. 38% of these users where repeat users who clearly showed a built-up in behavior. The heightened engagement of repeat users is illustrated by the fact that their visiting behavior is more intense: the time spent is 43% higher, the number of pages viewed goes up by 54% (from 2.4 pages/visit to 3.7 pages/visit). In addition, 15% of the repeat users also used the Studio using their mobile device (against only 1% of the first time users). This is indicative for the fact that repeat users are trying to embed the studio into their daily habits. Increase Consumer Empathy Executives using the Studio do so because they wish to bridge a closeness to consumer gap. Our analysis shows that executives who have a lower feeling with the consumer or low consumer contact use the Studio much more than their counterparts, respectively with a factor 1.3 and 3.3. www.insites-consulting.com

27. Conclusions The worse enemy of a good study is that it becomes ‘ad hoc’ www.insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

28. Increase the Return On Insight 1 We need to extend the shelf life of research by means of making it a longitudinal and habitual asset. Researchers should more actively market their product which is “research”. 3 We should all reverse the delivery process of market research from “1 long report for a small audience” to “small snippets” of information “ for a large audience”. Internalize Reverse 2 What does not get measured, does not get managed therefore it is important to show clear increase in ROI. Measure

29. References Boston Consulting Group Study, 2009, The consumer’s voice – can your company hear it? Retrieved from www on Feb. 10, 2015, http://www.bcg.com/documents/file35167.pdf Dawkins, R., 1989, The Selfish Gene (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 192, ISBN 0-19-286092-5, Day, G., 1994, The capabilities of market driven organizations. Journal of Marketing, 58, 4 (October), pp. 37–52. De Ruyck, T., Schillewaert, N., and Knoops, S., 2012, Engage, Inspire Act! ESOMAR Congress paper Schillewaert, N., Pallini, K. 2014, What do clients think about MR impact. Retrieved from www on Feb. 10 2015, http://www.greenbookblog.org/2014/11/20/what-do-clients-think-about-mr-impact/ Whelan, E., Parise, S., Valk, de J. and Aalbers, R., 2011, Creating Employee Networks That Deliver Open Innovation. Harvard Business Review Retrieved from www on Feb. 10 2015, https://hbr.org/product/creating- employee-networks-that-deliver-openinnovation/ SMR399-PDF-ENG Willems, A. and De Ruyck T., 2015, How To Market, Research? MIE conference presentation, Feb. 5th 2015.

30. Tom De Ruyck, Managing Partner at InSites Consulting Thomas Troch, Research Director at InSites Consulting Niels Schillewaert, Managing Partner & Co-founder at InSites Consulting +32 9 269 14 07 +1 646 386 9853 +1 646 386 9855 @tomderuyck @niels_insites @thomastroch linkedin.com/in/tomderuyck linkedin.com/in/nielsschillewaert linkedin.com/in/thomastroch tom@insites-consulting.com niels@insites-consulting.com thomas@insites-consulting.com Anouk Willems Head of Insight Activation Studios at InSites Consulting Olesya Govorun Director, Strategy & Insights at The Dannon Company Holly Rozelle Manager, Strategy & Insights at The Dannon Company +31 10 742 10 35 @AnoukW1 linkedin.com/in/anoukwillems anouk@insites-consulting.com www.insites-consulting.com

31. Thank you! @InSites marketing@insites-consulting.com www.facebook.com/insitesconsulting www.slideshare.net/InSitesConsulting www.insites-consulting.com