Valspar Webinar Recap: When Innovation Meets Shopper Insights

Learn How Valspar Gained Deep Consumer Understanding Around a Reemerging Category Using Quick Reads

In a recent survey we conducted, “The State of Agile Market Research,” only 16% of respondents were confident they knew what agile market research is; however, 77% of respondents plan on more agile adoption in the next twelve months. Since so many of our respondents are planning on adopting more agile methodologies in the next twelve months, we wanted to discuss agile research methods, uncover some of the top barriers to agile research adoption and give examples of real-life challenges Valspar faced and how they overcame them to change the game.

So what is agile research? Agile research is a fast, flexible and affordable approach to research that allows you to conduct quality research in days instead of weeks and gives you the flexibility you need to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research. Agile research combined with quick consumer reads gives you the ability to conduct smaller waves of research more frequently which allows the consumer voice to be heard throughout the entire product development process.

We asked over two-hundred researchers and marketers what barriers they face when adopting new research methods like agile market research and here is what we found:

In our most recent webinar, Brian Ley, Director of Consumer & Marketplace Insights at Valspar, shared some of the barriers and challenges Valspar was facing at both the research and the business level and how through education and quick read research, they were able to get quality insights to breakdown the barriers to agile research adoption.

Research Challenges:

• First Insights Professional in Company: Needed to build trust within the organization and prove quick reads were a viable research option that produced quality insights quickly.
• Journey to Consumer-Led Organization: Needed the right vendors and tools that allowed them to capture consumer feedback sooner and more often allowing them to infuse the voice of the consumer throughout the entire product development process.
• Juggling Multiple Priorities: Valspar needed to figure out how to juggle the longer term, very strategic studies with the quick turn research that could get them actionable insights fast. Needed a partner that could fit in with their current process and not slow down timelines.

Business Challenges:

• Get buy-in Internally on New Message and Consumer: Had to prove to the internal teams that they could sell a product in a reemerging category with a new message and to a new consumer.
• Test and Refine Message on New Innovation: Needed to get feedback from targeted consumers to ensure they understood and were receptive to the new message which would lead to in-market success.
• Shopper Insights: Stay Competitive and Be a Thought Leader: Needed to validate an internal hypothesis on an unmet need prior to a meeting with the retailer in order to be seen as a thought leader in the space.

By leveraging online agile methodologies and quick reads, Valspar was able to get targeted consumer feedback quickly and affordably. The research results validated the insights team hypothesis and by infusing the consumer voice into their presentations to internal teams and the retailer, the insights team gained trust and is seen as a thought leader with the retailer. Quick-read research gave Valspar the flexibility they needed to conduct research early and often throughout the entire product development process, from early exploratory research to message testing and refinement, which enabled them to become a consumer-led organization.

Want to learn more about the Valspar case study and how quick-read research helped them overcome common research challenges, watch the full webinar now!