How Weetabix used behavioural insight to drive sales

How Weetabix used behavioural insight to drive sales

Introduction Summary Trinity McQueen s collaboration with Weetabix developed ground-breaking new insights into how people buy breakfast cereal. Inspired by principles from behavioural economics, we triangulated new methods to evidence habitual system-one shopping behaviour, resulting in a simplification strategy that made the whole category easier to shop and Weetabix brands easier to find. This new shopper insight contributed to commercial success for the Weetabix Food Company, who delivered growth in a declining market, with the Weetabix brand itself reaching its highest market share on record. The profile of insight increased at Weetabix following the research; they invested in a new shopper insight team. And this new, compelling understanding of the cereal shopper also changed Weetabix s relationships with retailers, helping them build trust and develop collaborative working relationships. The project marked a real standout point for us, demonstrating to our key retail partners that we had significant insight into their shoppers and also the implications of this on their category Trinity McQueen worked closely with us to prepare for all of our engagement sessions with retailers, ensuring we were well equipped with both the data and the understanding. Mark Perry, Category Strategy Manager

The business issue The next time you are in a big supermarket take a look at the breakfast cereals and try to count them. There is so much choice, so many pack sizes, so many sub-categories and so many promotions that it would take the average person hours to evaluate them all. It s no wonder that many people just default to buying what they always buy or what s on offer. In 2015, Weetabix wanted to learn how people navigate this busy retail environment how they see the category, how they behave in aisle and what actually leads to their purchase decision at the moment of truth. As industry leaders, Weetabix (owners of multiple brands including Alpen and Ready Brek) has a huge amount of knowledge about consumption behaviour and food trends. But the team needed a much stronger understanding of ways to enhance performance in store. Our brief was to provide actionable insight to the cereal category teams at 8 major UK retailers. Each needed bespoke guidance around how to attract and retain cereal shoppers, and ultimately grow sales and market share.

The challenge Our challenge was threefold: To generate new insights, not just confirm existing knowledge As you might expect, the volume of data available to Weetabix was extensive. We had to generate new understanding of the cereal shopper, moving the discussion on and helping to change behaviour in store. To deliver accessible findings which retailers could action immediately As always, our research had to be robust. But in retail, a gram of practice is worth a kilogram of theory. Insights need to be explained and understood in seconds to have impact. We needed to structure our moderation, analysis and reporting with this outcome in mind. To help Weetabix build trusted and collaborative relationships with retail partners Our advice had to withstand scrutiny from 8 experienced commercial category teams, each with different needs. The goal was to improve the category experience, making it easier for people to shop for cereal, thereby improving commercial outcomes for retailers and for Weetabix.

Our solution Much of supermarket shopping is done on autopilot, and we needed to unpack this habitual, system-one behaviour. Drawing on the expertise within the client team, we used principles from behavioural economics to help map the likely biases at play. Then, we created hypotheses around priming, loss aversion and choice architecture. Our approach captured system-one and system-two responses in order to develop interventions to encourage behaviour change in-store. The triangulation of the seven methodologies gave us strength and depth. Our methods included:»» Static at-fixture cameras evidencing shopper behaviour over 72 hours A quali-quant methodology allowed us to code interactions by cereal type in granular detail, identifying recurring behavioural patterns and developing hypotheses to investigate. It enabled us to measure dwell time, the number of sub-categories shopped and segment shoppers by mission (e.g. top up or main shop).»» Eyetracking With this method, we could see what people actually look at when they are on shopping autopilot. Shoppers were recruited to undertake their normal shopping trip, but were asked to wear Eyetracking glasses. They were not prompted about our category of interest. Afterwards we interviewed them, probing them on their real behaviour. This was invaluable in generating insights on merchandising and in-store promotion.»» A robust buyer survey & Kantar panel data We recognised that to answer questions fully and provide a robust justification for our recommendations hard numbers were required for the business cases.

Our solution Capturing habitual shopping behaviour (System-one thinking) Evaluating in-store influences (e.g. range, packaging, merchandising. price, promotions etc.) Understanding when, where and how people consume cereals (consumption behaviour, usage and attitudes towards health in cereal) Creating decision trees for 6 cereal types (to inform packaging and merchandising) An in-depth retailer audit of cereals (Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury s, Co-op, Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl) Observation and hypothesis generation Fixed in store cameras In-store observation/ intercept interviews Staff interviews Shopping evaluation and biometrics Cereal usage and attitudes across retailers Long term purchasing trends and switching data Accompanied shopping trips Eye tracked shopping trips & post interviews Online survey Kantar panel data analysis

Landing the story The project was a success because we didn t show all the data we told the story. What we left out was as important as what we left in. Storytelling was baked-in; we structured moderation, hypothesis generation and analysis with the outcome in mind, whilst theming the narrative in terms of protagonists vs. antagonists made our feedback intuitive.

Synopsis In-store outcome: a SIMPLICITY strategy The research changed Weetabix s in-store strategy and tactics to the theme of simplicity simpler packaging, fewer SKUs and fewer competing promotions. Our recommendations were based on evidence of system-one thinking at fixture. Had we not spent time obsessively coding hours of video footage of real shopping behaviour, relying on survey data alone, outcomes would have been radically different. Our recommendations developed interventions to change behaviour. We discovered that shoppers navigate the cereal fixture by brand, so packaging and POS was changed to make all Weetabix brands as clear as possible, making them easier to find. We also encouraged coordinated promotions, as these optimise choice architecture, making the category easier to shop. The new designs are consistent across all flavours to create standout at the point of purchase. Merchandised together, these coordinated designs act to prime shoppers as they enter the aisle.

The Alpen example Kantar data showed us premium muesli brands had eroded Alpen s market share, Eyetracking told us it was hard to find on shelf, and qualitative testimony told us its heritage was not clearly communicated. Weetabix refreshed Alpen s packaging and proposition after the research; the new packaging uses the brand history to create a stronger identity in the MCG category (muesli, granola, crisp), with bolder colours and a simplified design giving the packs improved standout.

Business outcomes A better shopper experience leading to improved sales Strategic changes made by Weetabix following the research improved the shopping experience, as much for the category s benefit as Weetabix s. It also contributed to improved sales; the Weetabix Food Company delivered growth in a declining market, and the Weetabix brand itself reached its highest market share on record. Changing how Weetabix speaks to retailers Commercial plans now start with the shopper. One of our biggest retailers had a major change to their buying function, with many people who have never worked in the category before. The shopper moment of truth research acted as a great start to a new conversation, bringing them up to speed. Our relationship with this account has significantly improved since as we were able to be a strong contributor to their learning as they take on a new category. Stephen Lomax, Shopper Insights Manager Supporting Weetabix s position as category experts Developing such a comprehensive knowledge of the cereal shopper helped build trusted & collaborative partnerships with retailers. Weetabix have since invested in a new shopper insight team to further embed the shopper voice and co-create category strategies with retailers. They have become the trusted supplier for in-depth shopper insight, which is used to benefit the category as a whole.

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