A Holistic Focus on Consumer Sensory Experience

Kate Binner presenting a poster at Eurosense

This article was created by Kate Binner, in collaboration with Reckitt, to be displayed at the EuroSense 2024 conference in Dublin.

1: The context

Understanding the holistic journey consumers go on when buying products is crucial as it provides a comprehensive view of their decision-making process. Consumers don’t just evaluate a product based on a single factor like price or taste; they consider a multitude of extrinsic and intrinsic elements, including brand perception, packaging, in-store or online experiences, social influence, and emotional connections and the product sensorial and efficacy.

By understanding this full journey, we can create more effective strategies to meet consumer needs, enhance satisfaction, and build stronger brand loyalty. It allows companies to identify and address potential pain points, tailor marketing messages more precisely, and innovate products that resonate more deeply with consumers. Ultimately, this holistic understanding leads to better product positioning, increased sales, and a more sustainable competitive advantage.

So how did we understand the holistic journey to give our client the edge on the competition…

2: The objective

Our consumer healthcare client wanted to grow their market share in one of their key OTC markets
They knew customer-centricity was key to developing a best-in-class proposition
This meant we needed to understand both extrinsic and intrinsic attributes

3: The methodology design: Experience Mapping

A 3-tier approach allowing us to get closer to the moments that matter.

This method is based on the principle that people see things holistically, so we need to understand and design holistically too. We believe that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Home Usage Test

Participants were placed 1 of 4 products, (client brand, plus 3 competitors) and tasked with completing a number of activities over a 7-day period
Through a combination of written, video and photo tasks, participants evaluated the entire product journey, from purchase to product efficacy and packaging, and compared it against key competitor products of their choice
Participants were also given the chance to design their ‘ideal’ products from the packaging, through to the taste and efficacy

In-depth Interview

30-minute in-depth interview held via Zoom with each of the 48 participants
The interview focused on breaking down the illness journey into manageable steps, and how participants interact with these products at different parts of that journey
The focus of the interview then turned to product-specific details, to further unpick details of the product participants had been testing

Co-creation Session

N=7 participants from each of the 4 product cells met for a 3-hour, face-to-face co-creation session to refine ideas and develop the idea

The session touched on:

Brand exploration to understand participant
Perception of what each brand stands for
Packaging formats, to explore the possibility of disrupting the category with something unique

The core of the sessions focused on participants helping to ‘build their ideal’ products based upon different stages of the illness journey, taking into account key intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes such as brand, packaging, taste, texture, intensity, ingredients and desired effects.

4: The outcome – The Experience Map

Here we show how using an innovative ‘experience mapping’ approach drawing on multiple methods, meant we could uncover meaningful commercial insights to consolidate customer centricity in the product development and marketing teams.

We identified for our client:
14 key touchpoints identified in the healthcare journey – from buying the product on shelf to finishing the product

The relative importance of each touchpoint
Where our client’s product delighted or didn’t meet expectations for each of those relevant touchpoints
Where the competitor’s product delighted or didn’t meet expectations for each of those relevant touchpoints
Gaps in the market and where we can optimize and grow share
A clear detailed report of each touchpoint
The end result – clear recommendations, of key competitors to ensure they win actions and where our client have the edge

Without the full context of an experience, from trigger to buy in-store, usage, sensorials and end of product life, we only have part of the story.

Experience Mapping: In summary

Helps you find your edge– exactly where to innovate and how
Identifies what elements drive and deliver a superior consumer experience
It defines the path to superiority within a competitor / variant set
It uncovers the small details that make a big difference to the consumer; the ‘edges’ that differentiate you from the competition and help you win in market

NB: A detailed review of each touchpoint was provided to support the brand placing on the Experience Map.

If you would like to discuss Experience Mapping further, please contact [email protected], who would be happy to talk through your needs.