Ipsos Confectionery Trials

​

In 2019 Ipsos approached Zest with the challenge of finding a  representative UK sample of confectionery consumers, with the aim for them to trial numerous products over an indefinite period - We're still going!

​

The challenge was to find participants that would be engaged over a long period, to allow for a consistent viewpoint on a wide selection of products. 

​

Community meets product testing

In order to find suitable consumers we set the project up to run as if it were a long term online community. This meant setting expectations from the very start, but more importantly making the recruitment stage more in depth with the inclusion  of an audition style video task. 

​

The additional steps that we put in place meant only those who would be dedicated to the research even put themselves forward, giving us a great starting point and resulted in a dedicated panel of product testers.

​

Perfect Product Placement

To ensure that products arrive with testers in the perfect condition, each product batch is assessed to determine what type of packaging and delivery method is needed. Some products have required extra protective packaging, some temperature controlled. After 2 years of placements not a single package has arrived and not been able to be tested.

​

A quick pivot

The initial community of testers was recruited to represent the nation, so includes testers based from all over the UK. The latest batch of products however, required in person collection from our St Albans facility and the manufacturer was not able to send the limited product to multiple locations.

​

This meant a quick 'top up' of local testers was needed for this product at short notice. We quickly re-visited previous applications and identified the suitable testers, onboarded and have successfully delivered the latest round without delay.

​

Engaged Longevity

Testament to the teams recruitment, quality checking and understanding of consumers as well as wondaful personal skills has meant that the entire community of testers is still with us and testing products 2 years since the project began. This not only means that the feedback provided is consistent and the process is understood, but takes away any additional admin from our client in setting testers up on their platform.

 

If you have a product which would benefit from feedback direct from your consumers, then why not get in touch to see how Zest can help?

​

​

​