The challenge
There has been a Gin Revolution in the UK in recent years. The premium gin category has seen years of remarkable, consistent growth, and one of Beam Suntory’s premium gins has been at the forefront. However, growth has begun to slow as consumers explore a wider range of tonics mixed with more traditional, still very good gins.
Beam Suntory wanted to use a combination of Quant and Qual research to explore the most appealing Gin ‘serves’ amongst consumers in the UK and US. The goal was to rejuvenate strong growth for the brand and give the entire category a boost. A new gin wouldn’t achieve this, but more interesting ways to enjoy it would.
The solution
First, they leveraged Toluna Start’s quantitative capabilities with a concept test that targeted 120 Gin Drinkers in the UK and US and had eight KPIs embedded. From the moment of initial briefing, it took just five days to get the insights they needed to narrow down from six initial gin serve concepts to four.
From there, they used Toluna Start Qual’s asynchronous activities to engage ten respondents from each market for more in-depth exploration.
The asynchronous activities enabled Beam Suntory to cover multiple topics in a short space of time—ultimately providing the insights needed to take two concepts to in-market testing.
“I was really excited about the launch of Toluna Start Qual because the qualitative aspect really allows me to add depth of understanding into any project. Through the combination of quant/qual, we got to the decision faster and with more understanding than if we’d done just quant on its own.”
International Insights Director, Beam Suntory
The impact
In just two weeks, Beam Suntory was able to confidently commit spend to the next stage of concept development—in-market product testing—with an understanding of the why and not just the what.
Working with a single partner through an integrated quant/qual approach made it easier and quicker to make decisions while juggling other commitments.
“The qual/quant speed was phenomenal, from the discussion guide delivery to the quick turnaround of a report. Having a consistent Toluna team working throughout the process removed a lot of the heavy lifting for me.”
International Insights Director, Beam Suntory
