Case study - Concept, Packaging & Ad Test for a Plant-Based Beverage Launch

Client objective

De-risk a new product launch and close the gap vs. the main competitor by validating the concept, pack communication, and ad performance before going to market.

Situation

A manufacturer in the plant-based beverages category planned to introduce a new product concept: a plant-based drink naturally sweetened with a specific plant, positioned as delivering a taste boost with no added sugar. The team needed clarity on whether the claim was credible, how it should appear on pack, and whether the communication could generate strong interest.

Challenge

1. Low target incidence: heavy consumers of plant-based beverages are a relatively narrow audience, requiring efficient recruitment and screening.
2. High objective load vs. survey length: the study needed to cover concept, packaging, ad testing and include the core brand KPIs: without becoming too long or cognitively heavy.

Solution/ approach

We ran a quantitative online survey using a sequential monadic design to integrate a Concept Test + Packaging/Pack Test + Claim Test + Ad Test among heavy users of plant-based beverages (recruited via a screening questionnaire from an online panel).

• Concept testing: appeal, relevance, differentiation, credibility, comprehension, purchase intent + diagnostics (including open-ends).
• Pack & claim testing (A/B): pack with claim hidden vs. claim visible to quantify claim impact on expected taste, healthiness, trust, value, and shelf standout.
• Ad testing / copy testing: attention, clarity, brand linkage, message takeout, likeability, persuasion.
• Association checks: image association battery to validate taste/sweetness associations and support positioning.

Outcome

• Claim credibility issue (but a strong “health hook”):
  The plant used for the sweetness claim showed low spontaneous association with sweetness, which reduced claim believability. In contrast, “no added sugar” tested as a highly relevant and motivating benefit.

• Communication misfit vs. category expectations:
  The ad underperformed benchmark expectations, being perceived as not emotionally engaging, which weakened persuasion and memorability.

Impact - Client decision

Based on the evidence, the client decided on whether to go ahead or to pause the launch on the Romanian market, refine the claim strategy and pack messaging, and develop a more engaging communication route before re-testing.

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