Standing out while fitting in: an objective measure of visual branding cohesion across a product portfolio
This research develops a new metric (PBCM) that can identify products within a portfolio that are eroding visual branding cohesion. We show how this new measure gives results equivalent to consumer evaluations of cohesion, without costly and time intensive data collection. The sampling frame for this research is 10 portfolios from five categories (dry dog food, instant coffee, toothpaste, shower gel and chewing gum) in the United Kingdom. In addition, 626 consumers were surveyed to investigate how PBCM affects a consumer’s ability to match an individual product back to its portfolio and recall the brand name. We find that products from high cohesion portfolios have significantly higher (17%) correct brand recall than those from low cohesion portfolios and are matched back to their portfolio by more than twice as many respondents (79% v 35%), significantly faster (2.3 vs. 3.8 minutes).
CitationWard, E., Romaniuk, J., Trinh, G., Beal, V., Dawes, J., (2024), "Standing out while fitting in: an objective measure of visual branding cohesion across a product portfolio". Forthcoming in the International Journal of Market Research
Are there generalizable patterns in line extension performance?
New product introductions, particularly line extensions (LEs), are common in consumer goods categories with no guarantee for success. Despite their commonality, brands that introduce LEs lack benchmarks about what success to expect. This study investigates the success of 36,994 LEs in each quarter for the first three years after introduction. Four indicators are calculated using consumer panel data to benchmark how long LEs survive (failure rate), how competitive they are in the category (market share) and how they are adopted by category buyers (penetration and repeat buyer rate). This research can help guide new product investment decisions because it provides context on what is feasible to achieve. Four market success measures are used, a departure from past benchmarking research which uses practitioner evaluation on metrics seldom used in practice. We provide 4 guidelines about when and how to measure LE and new product success more broadly.
CitationVictory, K., Tanusondjaja, A., Nenycz-Thiel, M., Romaniuk, J. (2024). “Are there generalizable patterns in line extension performance”. Forthcoming in the Journal of Product & Brand Management.
How to Signal Product Variety on Pack: An Investigation of Color and Image Cues
Line Extensions are among the most common form of product launch in packaged goods markets. As part of this process, brand managers must decide the visual design of the new variant’s packaging. To inform this decision making, this research aims to empirically quantify the efficacy of using colors versus images as signals of product variety on pack. We compare the use of color on 576 packs with perceptions of 1,853 category buyers across three categories in the USA. We find that for 84% of variant types, marketers use common colors to signal variety on pack, while consumers perceive that only 56% of variant types are represented by a particular color. Of greater concern, the colors used in practice and those expected by consumers align in only 16% of cases, while images are linked to variant types to a significantly greater extent (39% of cases). This suggests images are a stronger and more explicit signal of product variety than color. This study provides a series of valuable benchmarks for industry practice in the portfolio management domain.
CitationWard, E., Romaniuk, J., Trinh, G., Dawes, J., Beal, V. (2023). “How to Signal Product Variety on Pack: An Investigation of Color and Image Cues”. Forthcoming in the International Journal of Market Research.
Out with the… new and in with the old? Investigating the relationship between visually cohesive portfolios and consumer liking
To communicate a strong identity, a branded portfolio should appear visually cohesive, such that all products are connected through consistent use of logos, colours and design. Yet it is commonplace for marketers to design line extension packaging that intentionally juxtapose the Masterbrand in attempts to disrupt consumers and gain favour on-shelf.
This research investigates the relationship between visual cohesion and consumer liking of a portfolio’s appearance.
CitationWard, E. (2023) "Out with the... new and in with the old? Investigating the relationship between visually cohesive portfolios and consumer liking". To be presented at the European Marketing Academy conference 2023.
Dirichlet Implications for Portfolio Management
We extend the utility of Goodhardt’s NBD-Dirichlet model to demonstrate how it can be used to support portfolio decisions relating to retail assortments. The approach is based on analysing polarisation of loyalty, obtained via a transformation of the model’s S parameter, to investigate loyalty to attributes. Prior research on loyalty to attributes suffers from limitations of method or application, so we develop a full treatment of the statistical basis and analytical methods required for ongoing research in this area. We then demonstrate the utility of our approach through application to four sub-categories of coffee in the USA over two years. Importantly, we reveal the specific attribute levels (features) that generate the least and most loyalty, and show how this, when combined with market share, can be used to respond to the strategic context. Specifically, those attribute levels with low loyalty may be more suitable for seasonal or limited time offers for which maximising short-term custom is more important than repeat purchase; conversely, attribute levels with high loyalty may be more suitable for achieving long-term growth of brand share. In both cases attribute levels with higher market share are preferable.
CitationDriesener, C., Rungie, C. and Wright, M. (2021) "Dirichlet Implications for Portfolio Management". Forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour.
How common is new product failure and when does it vary?
This study aims to explore how common new product failure is in consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories and investigate the conditions in which the new product failure rate varies. This study analyses 83,719 new Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), which were introduced over eight years (2002–2009) across 31 CPG categories in the United States. Failure is the permanent cessation of sales, which is measured in consumer panel data. We find that one in four (25%) new SKUs are no longer bought one year later—a rate that increases to approximately 40% two years’ post-launch. New SKU failure was more likely for new launches that were introduced into higher revenue categories and by smaller share parent brands. Our findings can be used as a resource to aid marketing practitioners’ understanding regarding how common failure is for new CPGs and when there is greater associated risk.
CitationVictory, K., Nenycz-Thiel, ., Dawes, J., Tanusondjaja, A. (2020) "How common is new product failure and when does it vary?". Forthcoming in Marketing Letters.
The influence of packaging on quality and taste perceptions across varying consumer demographics
This study investigates the important managerial issue of whether the packaging language of the Western consumer packaged-food (CPF) products should be adapted for emerging markets. An experiment using a 2 (Western vs adapted packaging) x 2 (product categories) design was conducted instore with real products to enhance the study’s external validity. With Pakistan as the contextual emerging market, Pakistani shoppers (n = 188) were exposed to the English and adapted (Urdu) packaging of the two products, and rated their quality perception, packaging likability, and attributes associated with the packaging. They also tasted and rated their overall satisfaction with the taste, and chose their preferred packaging. Underpinned by standardisation and adaptation literature and symbolic perception theory, the findings show that consumers rated and preferred the English packaging more than the adapted packaging. Also, while the English packaging was associated with attributes including elegance and trustworthiness, the adapted packaging was viewed as more personalised. Furthermore, the findings hold across demographic variables of income and English language literacy. These findings run contrary to the prevailing strategy of Western global brands in emerging markets, where the usual practice is to localise the packaging of the brands as they enter the markets. The findings provide both theoretical and practical insights into the implications of localisation strategy of Western brands in emerging markets.
CitationKhan, H., Lee, R. (2020). "The influence of packaging on quality and taste perceptions across varying consumer demographics". Forthcoming in the Food Quality and Preference
Examining manufacturer concentration metrics in consumer packaged goods
The research compares three different market concentration metrics (Concentration Ratio, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, and Gini Coefficient) over the share of revenue (market share) and their application in consumer packaged goods markets. The metrics are further extended into measuring the share of the ownership of brands and stock-keeping units, to provide further insights into the nature of market competition. These metrics are reported across 16 categories between 2010-2014 from the United Kingdom. The Concentration Ratio results show an average market share of 88% going to the top 10 manufacturers, despite accounting for 19% of all manufacturers on average. Similarly, Gini Coefficients show large disparities in revenue shares across manufacturers (0.85), whilst the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index classifies most markets as being moderately concentrated. The research highlights the advantage of observing multiple metrics in measuring market concentration, as a single metric is unlikely to convey the nature of market competition. The results show Concentration Ratio for the top 4 or top 10 to be good proxies for Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, whilst the top 10% or top 20% market concentration can be used as proxies for Gini Coefficients due to their strong positive correlations. Rather than applying onerous Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and Gini Coefficient calculations and requiring the details for all competing entities as required, the result enables researchers and industry practitioners to diagnose the state of the competition by simply calculating the aggregate market share of the top N and the top N% manufacturers.
CitationTanusondjaja, A., Dunn, S., Miari, C. (2020). "Examining manufacturer concentration metrics in consumer packaged goods". Forthcoming in the Journal of Market Research.
How far is too far? Investigating purchasing across packaged goods and services categories for retailer branded products
Retailers are increasingly adding banks, gas stations, mobile services and even real estate agencies to their portfolio and branding these new ventures with the retailer name, such as Tesco Bank or Asda Money. The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of a retailer brand to stretch from traditional packaged goods categories to very different categories such as banking.
Using data from an online survey collected from 953 UK grocery buyers, this paper examines consumers’ behaviour towards UK retailer brands across four categories: soft drinks, chocolate, fuel and banking.
The results show that cross-category retailer brand purchasing is stronger between categories with similar buying behaviour (e.g. soft drinks and chocolate) than in categories with very different buying behaviour (e.g. soft drinks and banking). The behavioural spill over effects are stronger for retailer brands from the same chain and persist even for unrelated categories. However, apart from fuel, the strongest cross-purchasing occurs across competing retailer-branded offers within the same category.
Please contact the Institute for a copy of this article.
CitationNenycz-Thiel, M., Romaniuk, J. (2018) "How far is too far? Investigating purchasing across packaged goods and services categories for retailer branded products." Published in the European Journal of Marketing.
Portfolios: Patterns in brand penetration, market share, and hero product variants
This research investigates the contribution of each stock-keeping unit (SKU) within a brand portfolio towards total brand penetration and market share, by adapting a method called Saturation Curve Analysis. The study utilises UK and US data on 90,000+ SKUs across 15 packaged goods categories. The results show that while the optimal number of SKUs in a portfolio is category specific, the top-selling SKU contributes around 50% of the brand penetration and 40% of sales. This establishes a benchmark for monitoring brand performance. The results emphasise the importance of having top-selling SKUs readily available to the consumers, rather than sacrificing them for new product launches.
CitationTanusondjaja, A., Nenycz-Thiel, M., Dawes, J., Kennedy, R. (2017), "Portfolios: Patterns in brand penetration, market share, and hero product variants". Forthcoming in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.
