White Caviar

CASE STUDIES

Our distinctive way of deconstructing and understanding behavior from first principles and building it back into a business-friendly framework has been at the forefront of our success with clients for many years to growth their brand share in the market.

We deliver human and behaviour-based insights and do so with their relevant cultural context.

positioning

Big idea exploration

communication

Maximizing campaign impact in a nascent category

cultural understanding

Perfume, role, rise and brand opportunities

innovation

A blueprint for winning design in the region

driving share

Category conversion

new entry

Exploring asia market expansion

targeting

Maximizing marketing investment

portfolio strategy

Portfolio empowerment

masterbrand communication

Expressing your brand values

market entry

Defining the road-to-market

cultural insight

Cultural trends and market dynamics

LAUNCH MESASUREMENT

Creating a new luxury icon

GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE

Global product
architecture

consultancy

Defining and guiding your marketing strategy

Insight that Moves Markets
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STOKKE - BIG IDEA REVELATION

Stokke needed to unlock the one defining cultural insight that would stimulate growth of Tripp Trapp in China. The approach chosen needed to unearth the big idea that would define the marketing strategy, building on the understanding of the concept of early parenthood in China, and how this impacts young parents’ attitudes and brand choice of durable parenting products like Tripp Trapp

We applied a multilayered & iterative research approach. From building an understanding of  the market familiarity and early hypothesis we tapped into the parenting value system, social influencers and purchase mindset towards the category, both through the lens of parent as well as product storytelling.

Our discussions went deeper, continuously checking the emerging consumer hypothesis and insights as we progressed through the sessions. No two groups followed the same flow of questioning, rather adjusted the dynamics in accordance with the emerging and evolving insights. Online sessions facilitated us to work across cities in the most time- and cost-efficient manner

Our resulting insights and strategic direction was the gamechanger for growth in China and the region. Tripp Trapp China achieved double digit growth as a direct result of the implementation of our study insights and successfully adjusting course in their China campaign direction and touchpoint development

MARTELL - MAXIMIZING CAMPAIGN IMPACT

The overall objective for this project was to prioritize and establish one of Martell’s products as the third pillar of their core range through a new content creative. Supported with high end production featuring major talents, the new campaign needed to establish Martell brand awareness in a still nascent category, assert Martell product unicity and superiority, establishing the product as the luxury pinnacle of their portfolio

The approach needed to develop a lifestyle campaign that would work across 2 products. We first, needed to understand which of the creative concepts Martell put forward had more potential to work for both products and for their respective target audiences; then what were the creative elements (creative devices, specific scenes …) that would work across both products and both target audiences, and also, what elements that Martell had to change or adapt according to each audience to best ensure their needs

We applied a 2-Phase, multi-layered approach and analysis following our signature HNWI protocol to engage with HNWI. We created an intimate atmosphere where HNWI feel comfortable to discuss with us on their lifestyle, thoughts and ideas around ultra-premium spirits and how to communicate around this in advertising. Our two-phase insight gathering approach allowed the creatives to make necessary changes in the communication directions in between, strengthening and validating the final development of the overall storyline, scenes and creative dynamics based on the early findings

Our insights and cultural interpretation helped Martell determine which creative direction was the more effective route for conveying product values resonating with the target audience. During our frame-by-frame discussions about creative content, we identified scenes that captured consumers’ interest, as well as elements that were found confusing or culturally mismatched. These insights provided critical guidance and modification routes for the Martell creative team. This program also gave Martell a clearer understanding of the needs of their target buyers, and their perception towards Martell products and brand values which now form the basis for Martell’s strategic discussions on how to prioritize different creatives for different target groups

Our HNWI protocol established a best practice principles to engage with HNWI in China in highly interactive and creative ways and has since been applied as best approach to address these audiences

ESTEE - PERFUME ROLE, RISE AND OPPORTUNITIES

Estée Lauder needed a deep understanding of the dimensions, sensory cues, drivers and language around fragrance and perfume in China to get a fresh perspective on category usage and rituals and identify the emerging opportunities for its perfume brands.

We took the team on a unique journey from understanding the perfume culture and market to defining who the perfume user is in 3 distinct modules, each revealing different aspects of the world of perfume in China, exposing different level of insight and perspectives around the evolving role and needs of perfume in the market, and how brands can leverage against that.

We applied a multi-phase and multi-layered approach. Through market immersions and observations, consultation of secondary sources, social listening and our years’ long market observations we revealed the deeper historic and cultural meaning around the needs for perfume to serve as the springboard to what is happening in the category – esp. the luxury/super luxury segment – today.

Depth interviews with perfume ambassadors gave us first-hand insights on the needs, questions and USP’s revolving around perfume and a topline view of the different types of perfume customers. Discussions with upper-class male and female category users further revealed what are the triggers, benefits, aspirations and advocacy around perfume and its emotional impact on the wearer in China today

User deep dives extended the program building on the hypothesis coming out of former research elements to (re)define the luxury scent experience and unearth the defining  interplay between character and occasion in the decision making as part of the purchase journey

The in-depth knowledge of the sensory dimensions, codes, language, needs and symbolism that is associated with scent were a game changer for Estée Lauder, changing the way they think about the perfume consumer in China. Our unique multi-layered approach provided them the tools to influence every aspect of the proposition and potential innovation territories for their brands in China through an authentic insight of the progression, role, personal as well as social motivations defining perfume wearing in China today, sharing actionable insights on how to tell the scent story in a distinctly meaningful way.

BUGABOO - BLUEPRINT FOR WINNING DESIGN

Bugaboo needed a deeper understanding of the Asian urban stroller market, the unmet needs urban parents have and how this influences their decisions on choice and purchase of compact urban strollers to strengthen its position in the compact urban stroller segment and drive future innovation.

To define how Bugaboo can win in this segment through its compact portfolio, our approach needed to unearth the needs of young parents / parents-to-be in Asia today, understand how they make their decisions in the category and understand how Bugaboo’s proposition is perceived or can be improved moving forward, ultimately to define what is the desired product offer for Bugaboo in Asia in the compact range and how the product under development addresses the key needs of this generation of young urban families.

We applied a multilayered approach and first established the key cultural dynamics around parenting and strollers through our yearslong market insights, fresh market observations and social listening while getting young parents / parents-to-be to think back about their motivations, choices and experiences with compact strollers early after project establishment through pretask

Face-to-face focus groups and showroom research enabled us to gather the deeper consumer insights across the segments in China, further enabling us to create the strategic foundation for further alignment and operationalization through workshopping with the local and global teams.

Our insights and recommendations led Bugaboo to rethink the planned initiative, understanding the product under development would fall short of meeting expectations or addressing the unmet needs in the market. Bugaboo went back to the drawing board, now with the understanding exactly how to innovate their current offering. After the creation of the design blueprint for China, we executed similar program tailored to reveal design specific expectations of the Japanese and South-Korean urban parents, completing the future design blueprint for the region

JAMESON - BRAND STRATEGY AND CONVERSION

Jameson was planning to expand its footprint in China to the southern provinces in pursuit of a wider opportunity to recruit more urban drinkers.

Our program therefore needed to investigate the opportunity how to convert beer consumers in growth markets, identify the opportunity to leverage IPA for the conversion both from a consumer and trade perspective.

We applied a multi-modular approach. By recording and documenting the category consumption, interpretation of the key moments of conviviality, category imagery and product placement we created a fresh understanding of the key drinking occasions and evolving competitor consumption in these occasions

Through focus group discussions and tasting-nights we further revealed the main triggers and barriers for adoption, while introducing the different product concepts and drinking recipes across various beer drinking segments

Trade owners further helped us place the insights against the backdrop of emerging drinking trends, and project specific market potential and expectations towards the trading dynamics, pricing and margins

Our insights enabled Jameson growth in the new markets by driving volume and acquisition. The findings revealed the key category dynamics defining brand choice and consumption, category specific triggers and barriers by moments of conviviality, enabling us to give very explicit recommendations around category and brand adoption, starting from the unmet consumer needs

WHITE CLAW - MARKET EXPANSION

Mark Anthony Brands International had important decisions to make around the potential route to market and the positioning of one of their brands in China. To guide their potential Asia expansion plan, the brand needed very clear guidance on the competitive landscape, cultural dynamics and evolved drinking patterns of the young generation as well as an understanding on the acceptance of their proposition, strengths, weaknesses and identify opportunities to activate their target

Our program needed to deconstruct the cultural dynamics around drinking habits, establish the category understanding and marketing principles that underlie success and assess the current proposition to define the ‘triangle of truth’ for China. The approach needed to be flexible to address nuances and changes in their rapidly evolving brand book.

We applied a 3 level approach, starting by setting out the key cultural norms and dynamics that may impact adoption or rejection of the product proposition, including a social media research to add in early insight around category experiences. Our category mapping and discovery (including a light semiotic analysis of the packaging codes at play) called out the main players, their activation-, product and pricing strategy and their perceived positioning.

A first series of short interviews enabled us to address initial questions around the themes that impact the brand position and define the triangle of truths to create initial hypothesis of how the brand can become ‘the disruptor’ versus existing choices in the market. Broader follow-up consumer discussions then steered the discussions from initial insight to a firm understanding of the needs, consumption to de(re)fine the positioning concept for the brand in China

The outcomes enabled the team to adjust the ‘triangle of truths’ for China and fix critical design elements of their proposition. By bringing the consumer early in the process and selecting distinctively diverse cities the brand was able to assess different scenarios for their future market expansion, understand positioning traps, firming up the concept and brand

VANS - SOCIAL HOT

The Vf company targeted to become more consumer centric, not just at the product development stages but equally aimed to maximize its return of investment through smart marketing spending. Identifying ‘social hot’ and ‘high-potential’ products within an expanding product portfolio will allow Vf to drive greater efficiency in marketing spending while at the same time helps gathering market insights to seed in the product innovation and initiative pipeline

Our approach has been evolving over the years through close collaboration into a more direct assessment of sales potential of products among KOL, targeted influencers and brand targets/consumers carefully selected as a function of relevance to the emerging product lines and focus.

Our approach evolved to optimize the program and available approaches against the internal needs and objectives.

Consumer panels allowed us to assess strength and weaknesses of current products on the market among recent brand purchasers to adjust product messaging and promotion

KOL panel discussions further helped us assess the appeal of future launches on the basis of expressed sales interest among KOLs across different target segments to direct launch marketing investment based on measurement of key KPIs like sales intent, product value perception, market relevance and uniqueness which can directly inform promotional content development

Lead consumer interviews in the form of FGD or in-home visits gave focus on the brand strengths, evolving and unmet needs to drive upcoming brand innovation and image in the market

Our insight programs enabled Vf to make necessary adjustment to existing communication and promotion content on its e-commerce channel and social media or better allocate marketing budgets to those SKUs with the highest sales potential. This approach has been applied to different brands within the total brand portfolio with varying levels of lead consumer or KOL engagements

ORIFLAME - PORTFOLIO STRATEGY

Skincare is a key category for Oriflame in China with 3 major skin care brands in the market. To instill growth, they needed (i) to explore the opportunities for enhancing the role and performance of the lead brands in the portfolio to better meet the market demand and drive future growth, (ii) gather insights to optimizing Oriflame skincare’s total portfolio and strategies to effectively navigate it, and motivate the Brand Partners to promote it; (iii) understand how to develop a successful skincare strategy for Tier 2 and Tier 3-4 markets and how to break through there.

Our approach therefore needed to establish how to drive future growth for Oriflame skincare brands in China by better meeting the market demand & understand how to navigate the challenges and how to motivate sales (in a direct sales context), starting from the unmet needs, the competitive landscape, the brand performance and resulting opportunities to drive growth in the target regions. At the same time, the research also needed to clearly identify the in-market and consumer drivers behind an observed loss of sales volume.

We applied a flexible plan making smart use of different methodologies. We used the cultural dynamics around skincare routines, brands and needs as a springboard for initial hypothesis before we mapped out the specific needs, routines, rituals and touchpoints of skincare users in China as a precursor for the deeper assessment on brand, product and activation mechanisms

Non-user insights added depth around the needs towards skincare in China, purchase dynamics, appeal of the brand propositions to understand first product usage (novice usage), and appeal of communication materials. Brand user interviews explored the real products experiences and performance over longer time as well as purchase and repurchase triggers and barriers. Insights from the direct sales projected the existing sales challenges in relation to new user acquisition, product performance, price and communication

The resulting insights have led to Oriflame adjusting their China strategy in terms of prioritization of portfolio (what brands and products to focus on and how), and brand messaging with tangible changes in their direct sales materials (what to say). Findings further equipped the team with a roadmap to creating ‘hero’ products within their categories and a series of design principles that underpin the premium positioning in the market.

THE GLENLIVET - BRAND EXPRESSION

The Glenlivet were creating a new Masterbrand Campaign for Taiwan region and Mainland China to position the brand as a prestige brand that has an original spirit and to solidify the Masterbrand campaign idea following the airing of earlier campaigns. The research needed to identify the strongest script in each of the regions, and see if one script works well in both markets or if The Glenlivet requires separate campaigns due to cultural nuances and interpretations of the main Masterbrand idea

We applied standard qualitative approach and cultural insight to evaluate the brand directions in the form of ‘Stealth’ focus group discussions, enabling us to work with consumers in a very focused way through each of the different campaign routes across the regions

The insights, scene-by-scene analysis and …. enabled The Glenlivet to make the necessary refinements to the lead campaign directions tested while getting broader insight in how consumers across both regions interpret and accept the bigger master brand idea, how its fits the regional narratives and what explains the higher acceptance of key animation effects applied in the creative as compared to past campaigns, placing us at the heart of their future creative developments

ETEX -CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

ETEX needed local insight to support its expansion of their rainscreen façade material in China and help in identifying the right city/region to focus, gain insight around the price positioning, road-to-market and future needs of the Chinese customers

The approach needs to reveal where to focus and how. Discussions with prominent intl. and local architects should inform us on the evolving market needs, current solutions, purchase considerations and processes as well as the uniqueness of the clients’ offerings.

2-step qualitative approach with in-depth industry expert interviews to understand the market trends, look at the current and competitive offering as well as the critical touchpoints to drive penetration and build awareness. Post-interview media review then brought to life the specifics of influential media touchpoints to support and drive local media content development

The insights allowed us to directly input with clear recommendations and actions in the client internal 5P market expansion model (people, product, place, promotion, price) and drive decisions for a China ‘growth’ strategy with clear direction around who to target and how (the positioning of their product based on the cultural expectations and decision-making processes/legislation).

At the same time the insights presented led to a solid understanding on the buying processes, product selection dynamics, relevant and  influential media as well as other market processes and dynamics that will impact their growth

MUZA - CULTURAL LENS

Our consulting partner in Europe needed to get a rapid but clear overview of the fast evolving coffee culture in China. The discovery needed to clearly present insights into China’s coffee culture, category evolution, competitive landscape and factors driving the evolution of coffee and category dynamics in the market

2-layered approach to present the market change and category dynamics. Our cultural discovery (incl. secondary research, our own in-market exposure, social listening and touchpoint analysis) was to reveal the role and importance of coffee culture (origins, outlets, …), its rapid expansion and market drivers of coffee drinking culture

A multi-level competitor analysis specifically looked at revealing the business model (the operational structure, key channels operated in), brand architecture (prioritized aspects & success factors (channel, location, product, service)), drivers of innovation (key expressions (product, service, experience, design)), and local assets (factors driving credibility and connection with Chinese consumers) of brands in China.

An in-market opportunity synopsis in the form of an advisory market perspective called out the opportunities and guidelines or watch-outs to successfully navigate the market

Our white papers on cultural and category insights provide a comprehensive and stimulating picture of where the market or a specific category is heading to. Our cultural discoveries support many of our partner agencies or clients overseas who have no direct presence in China to making informed, decisions early on when they need to assess and navigate the market opportunities, allowing them to integrate larger local category trends and market dynamics from China or the region in their global planning and decision making, product innovation or communication development.

We not only conduct similar work in other categories but also navigate relevant or emerging socio-demographic topics for media and trading partners

CHANEL - LAUNCH MESASUREMENT

Our client wanted to redefine luxury on make-up by iconizing their new product and understand how to make the product most desirable through engaging storytelling. They were the first to launch at an elevated price point beyond any competitor adding to the market challenge. They therefore specifically wanted to understand the underlying consumer needs towards elevated make-up services, the campaign effectiveness in terms of reaching its target consumer segments and the product and service differentiation potential from other ultra-premium brands and services

The approach needed to highlight the appeal and comprehension of key brand concept, assets and product messages among three core target groups while revealing current obstacles to be addressed. The study was initiated less than 2 weeks after launch; thus, we had to work around extremely low penetration of a product that was outpricing its immediate competitors.

Standard qualitative approach starting by decoding the personal context of different consumer segments through pre-task to understand the brand portfolio, drivers of iconicity and ultimate make-up experiences. As part of this exercise, we also measured the elevated boutique experience in the form of pre-interview boutique visits to understand the anticipation, actual perception of level of ‘elevation’ and feedback on key service KPIs

VIP event-style interviews enabled sharing thoughts and opinions towards the desirability of luxury make-up services, the uniqueness of ultra-prestige lipsticks and how well the campaign and in-store services meet the expectations.

The insights helped us to redefine the meaning and codes of luxury in a mainstream category to establish product authority, reveal what is driving iconicity and desirability for each of the target segments, and defined what are the expectations around elevated services, triggers and barriers to adoption of a luxury segment lipstick segment. The insights further assessed the appeal of the product launch communication, its effectiveness to break through and inspire each of its target audiences through relevant messaging and elevated service standards.

BLACKMORES - GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE

To become the #1 brand that connects with people through freedom of movement, the client needed to understand Chinese consumers emotional/higher order benefits associated with ‘move/movement’ to help shape their product portfolio and communications platform for its bone, joint and muscle supplement segments.

We therefore needed to unearth the unifying ‘move’ insight/deep human truth as well as separate insights by bone, joint and muscle to fit in the global needs and product architecture, support the overall business strategy as well as scale and efficiency. It also needs to highlight where local market differences in China exists to be able to balance local market tailoring with scale opportunities 

Our approach used cultural insights to establish the contextual understanding and needs for supplements facilitating movement as part of the progressing lifestyle and living conditions in China

Personal diaries further helped us reveal the meaning of movement, current challenges and solutions applied as well as the imagery associated throughout the movement journey for each of the segments

Category/segment specific focus group discussions further deepened the insights of the current and unmet needs related to managing bone, joints and muscle health, the solutions consumers refer to and how the client product portfolio can address their needs and becoming a reference for a more integrated way of managing ‘move’ related issues

The resulting insights led to the deeper understanding of market specific needs and interpretation of the concept of ‘move/movement’, enabling the validation of the broader global product portfolio and quantification of the local market opportunities. Our analysis further laid bare the behavioral patterns from experiencing first symptom to solution seeking actions, thereby providing valuable insight in relevant brand and product touchpoints in the purchase journey

VETTER - DEFINING AND ENACTING THE MARKETING STRATEGY

We help businesses grow in the market with clear and insight driven strategies. Our profound understanding of the market and Chinese agency dynamics helped our client operating in a very niche industry field establish and sustain a relevant and convincing China communication strategy, give the virtual visibility the brand needs and do so in a trusted and resource efficient way through mutual support model that would drive brand access, target acquisition, facilitate client engagement and promote brand advancement.

We needed to present a strategy to build a market relevant and customer centric communication strategy for China based on a deep understanding of the clients’ products and services on the one hand, and China customer and market needs on the other. The program also needed to recommend what content assets the brand should leverage and how.

Multi-faceted consulting support started  with a CHINA familiarization through monthly information sharing and Fact finding followed by an industry familiarization and on-boarding by team building with the local hires

Industry expert interviews revealed the local industry view on contract packaging operations, understand the procurement and supplier selection processes and unmet information needs which formed the foundation for our communication strategy recommendations

Our services further conducted a KOL VALIDATION through review of the activity of industry social media and industry influencers, review of marketing implementation against key KPIs, prioritizing industry conferences and forums as well as mapping out areas of booth improvement

Our services also aided the selection of the appropriate local social media partner (pre-), supervision and on-boarding

Our local presence and expertise enabled our client to make well informed decisions on their marketing focus and strategy by understanding the mindset of their potential customers and influential media. We laid out content roadmap and strategy addressing the key market priorities, a blueprint that still serves as the drive of social media content generation today.

Our consulting experience also helped them navigate a totally unknown market and select the right social media partner, build their local lexicon and adapt to cultural dynamics and traditions, enabling rapid acceleration of their marketing efforts and return of investment

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