Successful product innovation requires a tremendous amount of input.
Do you have a “million dollar” idea?
Is there white space in the category?
Is the category growing?
Are there in-market products that are failing to meet a consumer need?
What larger market trends are driving consumer preferences?
The best product innovation teams synthesize all this information to create products consumers love. But even the best product teams need “North Star'' metrics.
That’s why more and more brands–especially in the CPG space–are turning to in-home usage testing (IHUT) to run taste tests for flavor, sensory tests, pack testing, claims testing, and more.
Below, we’ve rounded up 15 examples of the way brands are using IHUT to get the North Star metrics they need to guide their product innovation.
Clorox worked with Highlight to recruit two groups of consumers who had purchased their products in the past three months.
Highlight recruited both cohorts from our nationwide community of testers, all within 3 days.
The test was conducted over the course of seven days, during which time Clorox collected both quantitative and qualitative data.
From competitive testing, the Clorox product innovation team was able to better understand purchase intent and price sensitivity factors. Claims testing also provided clarity on performance and efficacy, enabling the team to make quick product tweaks before going to market.
In the end, Clorox gained:
Clorox’s project owner and Head of Growth Insights, Shilpa Khanna, said “Highlight was a cost-efficient, visual solution that provided trusted insights–fast.”
Highlight’s product testers also enjoyed the test. One male tester aged 51 said, “The package had everything needed. The paperwork spelled out exactly what to do and in what order. Made for a simple home care test.”
Another female tester, aged 25, added “I liked the detailed open-ended questions that it asked. I felt like I was really heard.”
As the Clorox product innovation team continues to employ agile product innovation, they continue to deploy IHUT as a way to keep their strategy data-driven.
Learn more about Clorox and agile product innovation for CPG brands
Talking Rain came to Highlight to ask a simple question: Which new flavor prototype will be most likely to delight consumers?
The question was simple, but shipping 200, blind-packaged prototypes nationwide and collecting data in-real-time is no simple task. That’s where Highlight jumped in with our community of testers, logistics solution, and data dashboards.
Talking Rain used Highlight to curate a custom segment of the Highlight product tester community, including a combination of current shoppers and those who are open to trying Talking Rain products.
As soon as product testers received their samples, they started conducting the test and submitting their results. The Talking Rain team was able to watch these results come in live via Highlight’s data dashboards.
Highlight’s integrated solution and best practice guidance enabled the Talking Rain team to get high-quality data. At a 100% survey completion rate, they were able to go to market with the confidence only data clarity can bring.
Talking Rain’s senior manager of product development described her experience with Highlight as “nothing but a positive experience. Pleasant to work with and knowledgeable team, plus fast turnaround on getting the feedback on the product made this platform the number one on our list for in-home use consumer testing.”
The White Space Innovation team at Church & Dwight came to Highlight with two goals in mind:
That’s where Highlight came to the rescue. The Church & Dwight team used the Highlight platform to select three groups of product testers, including pairs of adults and their children.
For their quantitative evaluation, the Church & Dwight team collected consumer reactions on metrics like taste, texture, purchase intent, and perceived health benefits–a key measure of success for the team on their goal to reach “health-aspiring” parents. The team could access live data results in their Highlight dashboards only three days after the smoothies were shipped.
For their qualitative evaluation, the 75 product testers (and their children!) uploaded over 200 photo testimonials and in-depth reviews of the product that were automatically uploaded to Vitafusion’s new DTC site, so they could launch with plenty of reviews before completing a single sale via the site.
Beliv’s juices are well-known and well-loved in Latin American markets, but as they plan to enter US markets, they need consumer insights to understand how to adjust their formulations, go-to-market strategies, and prove to retailers how much US consumers will love their juices, too.
That’s why Beliv used Highlight to recruit 180 current drinkers of “better for you” sodas to participate in a head-to-head in-home usage test. From the data they gathered, Beliv got the insights they needed to:
Wile creates products that enhance the well-being of women at all different stages of life. Their marketing and innovation teams needed feedback on their in-market perimenopause support supplement to understand consumer perceptions of efficacy.
As an emerging brand, Wile made prudent use of their product testing bandwidth. With the Highlight platform, they designed a multi-faceted research project that would give multiple teams the data they needed to succeed.
Wile’s product team designed a 30-day trial to measure consumer perceptions of symptom relief and gauge purchase intent. Their marketing team designed a qualitative survey for the purpose of collecting reviews and testimonials for product promotion.
Highlight’s community of product testers was crucial to giving the Wile team access to their niche group of consumers. Their products were shipped to women currently experiencing perimenopause or menopause symptoms, who, after completing their 1-trial, directly uploaded their feedback to the Highlight platform to achieve a 103% completion rate.
In less than five weeks, the Wile teams had:
Learn more about claims testing with our Ultimate Guide.
King’s Hawaiian’s famous rolls are a staple at many a pool party, barbeque, or holiday party. But their innovation team wanted to understand where there may be opportunity for in-market product updates or additions to their current line of products.
Using the Highlight platform, King’s Hawaiian sent 180 samples to a customized recruit from the Highlight product tester community composed of both current King’s Hawaiian customers and potential customers.
In less than two weeks, the team had the data they needed to devise their new innovation roadmap, including:
King Hawaiian’s senior manager of consumer insights said “The Highlight team was incredible to work with… Their online dashboard was easy to use and enabled me to monitor the results in real-time so I could keep my team informed throughout the study.”
Mondelēz’s internal VC, SnackFuture Ventures, needed to understand what consumers really thought of their newest sustainable snack.
When developing products that are “better for you” and “better for the planet”, innovation teams need to know: Does this product’s messaging resonate with our target consumer? And does the product meet (and hopefully exceed) the mark on flavor?
Learn more about how sustainability preferences should guide product innovation.
That’s why Mondelēz used Highlight to send 90 samples nationwide to a custom segment of the HIghlight product tester community selected for their “better for you” purchase habits. In less than ten days, the team had the data they needed to adjust product formulation and messaging.
Said SnackFutures’ insights lead: “Highlight gives product testing at home a fresh look and feel which was missing in the industry.”
BloxSnacks has built a brand with a big personality. Kids love their primarily YouTube-focused marketing efforts, but their products were still new to classic big box retailers.
The BloxSnacks team needed data to demonstrate the initial success of their FruitBlox product, and show the opportunity retailers have by distributing the BloxSnacks brand.
That’s why they used Highlight to recruit 120 parents of kids aged 8 to 12 to test 3 flagship FruitBlox flavors. Parents and kids took point-in-time surveys to:
Consumer data collected via the Highlight platform and testing community gave BloxSnacks:
Consumer data helps at every stage of the product innovation process–including before there’s even a physical product to test.
That’s why ready-to-drink cocktail brand Country Luau came to Highlight before embarking on in-home usage testing. All brands should use data to de-risk their product development, but especially for an emerging brand like Country Luau, understanding consumer preferences before investing capital in prototype formulation was crucial.
They targeted testers within the Highlight community who live in specific regions of the country and expressed interest in country music. In less than 48 hours, the Country Luau team uncovered:
Additional open-ended responses through qualitative testing provided in-depth responses that were invaluable for tweaking the brand’s product positioning and messaging. For example: “Refreshing, fruity flavor with just enough ‘kick’ to make it country. My hope is that it's unique from other seltzers and that the fruit essence really comes through."
The team at Country Luau was able to put the data to use right away. Said their founder: “The survey was used very tactically for decision-making around flavor names, pricing, and packaging design.”
Journ Beauty’s product and marketing teams needed consumer data to foolproof their new tinted eye serum for go-to-market launch.
They used Highlight to ship 2 different SKUs to their target audience, strategically composed of both men and women across multiple skin tones. “It was very powerful that HIghlight offered a pool of people with different skin tones and skin concerns,” said Journ Beauty’s CEO and founder. “This will be something we’ll leverage in the near future as we launch more products.”
Highlight’s product testers used the eye serum for at least three consecutive days before completing the survey–after which Journ Beauty’s teams had immediate access to results in the Highlight data dashboard.
In less than 10 days, Journ already had the data they needed to adjust their formula and product positioning. Through strategic use of both quantitative and qualitative testing, they got a full picture of consumer perceptions of the product.
Emerging brand Explorer Cold Brew needed to know what was working and what wasn’t with their new direct-to-consumer website. They also needed data to fuel their future innovation plans.
That’s why they turned to Highlight. Using Highlight, they sent 324 samples of 4 SKUs to a nationally representative group balanced by gender, age, and region. As testers started submitting their feedback, the Explorer Cold Brew team could see the data in their Highlight dashboard immediately.
The team received tons of quantitative and qualitative feedback on their website, including reactions to their brand story and messaging. With the physical product to try, testers weighed in on on-pack taglines and product benefits as well.
The comprehensive approach to physical product testing gave the Explorer Cold Brew the unique opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the consumer’s holistic end-to-end experience of their brand, from online presence, to packaging, to product efficacy.
Fable Foods needed real consumer reactions to their plant-based burger prototypes. They decided to conduct two sets of tests:
Importantly, these patties had to be:
Highlight’s logistics solution put the frozen, blinded patty prototypes in the hands of nearly 200 product testers across the US, who conducted the taste tests over the course of the next 10 days, who completed the test at a 95% rate, and then uploaded their feedback to the Highlight data dashboards.
After less than two weeks, the Fable Foods team was able to access their results via:
Before going to market with their new Snackable Olives product, Freestyle Snacks wanted to measure consumer reaction to taste, flavor, and packaging.
They used Highlight to ship samples to product testers who are regular purchasers of “better for you” snacks that live in specific regions of the US where the brand has current distribution.
Almost immediately, results started rolling in. Highlight product testers uploaded their survey results at a 92% completion rate, giving the Freestyle Snacks team:
Highlight also provided the “better for you” snack industry benchmarks the Freestyle Snacks team needed to tell a compelling sell-in story to new retailers and win more distribution.
Cats may not be able to directly tell you what cat litter they prefer–but with the Highlight community of product testers, you can ask owners what their cat’s preferences are.
In preparation for a new product launch, one national cat litter brand used Highlight to assess reactions to a new lavender fragrance and its corresponding packaging.
Cat litter is not only a higher cost product than your typical CPG item. It’s also more expensive to ship thanks to its heft. That’s why this brand chose to test with a smaller sample size. That made supplementing quantitative surveys with qualitative feedback absolutely critical.
(Apparel brands restricted to testing small sample sizes–take note for your next wear test!)
Using Highlight’s best practices guidance, the cat litter brand designed a study robust enough to gather the comprehensive feedback they needed. Verbatims were captured at the point of pouring the cat litter, and then testers completed a survey at the end of a week-long trial. Ten respondents submitted video feedback, and five respondents participated in 45-minute long online in-depth interviews (IDI) to share every detail of their product experience.
At the end of their research, this cat litter brand had:
A women’s wellness brand needed to test efficacy perceptions with a very niche consumer group: Those more than 38 weeks pregnant.
Highlight was able to recruit this low-incidence rate group of product testers in less than seven days, and despite the demands of a 30 day-long trial, achieved a 109% completion rate for the test.
Within only four days of field testing completion, the wellness brand team received:
The wellness brand then returned to re-test their products with the same recruit against their main competitor’s products to gather even more data.
Once you’ve got your consumer insights, it’s time to turn data into strategy.
If you’re not a full-time data analyst, don’t worry. Highlight has the best practices and detailed guidance you need to understand your IHUT results.
Learn more from our guide: Turning Data Into Better Products.