Exploring the impact of branded on-trade touchpoints.
Our client (a beer manufacturer) needed to quantify the impact of branded activation on-trade to inform activation budget decision-making.
The Challenge
The leading beer manufacturer wanted to review their activation touchpoints due to their high operating costs.
The client needed to assess and confirm the role of various touchpoints by trialing different levels of activation and analysing its impact on sales, customer experience and its influence on brand perceptions.
This insight would be used to inform decision-making around roll-out.
Our approach
As a key objective was to quantify the impact of touchpoints on purchase decisions, we designed a study centered on behavioural observation.
We conducted a similar approach in six pubs, with different touchpoint combinations, to compare and contrast behaviours and perceptions.
- Eye-tracked bar visits: to capture how customers really behave and engage with the relevant touchpoints in the on-trade; to provide empirical evidence of the impact of the touchpoints.
- Qualitative intercepts: to explore the role of different touchpoints in influencing brand perception and subsequent purchase decisions.
The outcome
Establishing context
The research confirmed some internal hypotheses, but also brought to life extra challenges and considerations that informed the activation roll-out.
Optimising investment
The eye-tracking highlighted that some touchpoints were more impactful than others, which helped our client prioritise their budget accordingly.
Operational guidance
Our research was used to create guidance for pubs around location and maintenance of on-trade touchpoints, in order to maximise positive impact on brand perception and return-on-investment.