Blog Posts

How to get the biggest slice of the meat-free pie

In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity” – Albert Einstein.

This old adage has never felt as relevant than with the current boom we are witnessing in sustainability that has emerged from the global climate crisis. From climate pledges to EV vehicles, brands are racing to position themselves as ’green’ to win over the growing market of environmentally conscious consumers.

Fridge shelves in supermarket

This is especially true for the rapidly growing meat replacement market, which (unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years) you have probably seen appearing more and more on your TV screen, social media feed, and supermarket shelves. This is no coincidence: the meat replacement market has boomed over the last 5 years, with the global market value growing by over 210% since 2016 to $7.7Bn annually, and is predicted to continue this growth (reaching approximately $16.7Bn by 2026)[1].

Unfortunately, big opportunities also mean increased competition. Growing demand has led to an explosion of brands entering the market with their own answers to meat replacement products. From market leaders (including California based Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods) to supermarket private label, everyone wants a piece of the meat-free pie.

With so much competition, it is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to win the sales of meat replacement shoppers. Knowing where and how to communicate with shoppers has never been so important.

How Nepa got involved

In 2021, Nepa partnered with one of largest meat replacement brands in the Netherlands, who wanted to better understand the omnichannel shopper journey for meat replacement shoppers in the Dutch market. Through our Paths to Purchase solution, we set out to identify and understand how they could optimise their communication strategy at key points of influence across the shopper journey, in order to drive growth within existing and emerging channels.

What did we find?

Tracking more than 1,000 shoppers over a 6 week period, we found that the biggest opportunity to drive penetration growth of meat replacement brands in the Netherlands was actually among the biggest meat consumers! ‘Carnivores’ (shoppers who consumed meat daily) were the consumers most likely to try out a new brand of meat replacement products.

Interestingly, we also found that environmental concerns were among the top factors driving meat-eaters to try out meat replacement brands. This is hardly surprising: meat-free diets are becoming increasingly advocated as an effective way of reducing personal carbon footprint; and with meat-replacement products producing between 30 – 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional meat [2], they are often recognised as a sustainable alternative.

What else?

But understanding who to talk to and what to communicate alone is not sufficient to beat the competition (after all, nearly all meat replacement brands position themselves as sustainable). It is equally important to understand where to speak to shoppers.

Through touchpoint conversion analysis we examined which key points influenced consumers most across their shopping journey. The results showed diverse and nuanced shopper journeys: consumers were both exposed to and influenced by brand touchpoints across the omnichannel landscape, as well as pre-shop and in-shop.

Above all, however, we found that shoppers were most influenced by brand interactions in-shop. This is an intuitive finding: the meat replacement market is young and growing, with many shoppers being light category buyers who are yet to settle into routine purchase habits, suggesting that they commonly make brand purchase decisions once in the shop aisle.

What does this mean for the future?

As the lucrative value of sustainable product offerings draws the attention of more brands, they are faced with an increasingly competitive market as contenders jostle for the approval and loyalty among the growing population of conscious consumers.

Understanding who to talk to and what to talk to them about has never been so important in order to stay ahead of your competition.

Want to know more about how Nepa can help you? Contact us today!

[1] https://www.statista.com/forecasts/877369/global-meat-substitutes-market-value
[2] https://gfi.org/resource/environmental-impact-of-meat-vs-plant-based-meat/

Blog Posts

What is dynamic marketing intelligence, and why do you need to know about it?

If you were alive in the 18th century you would have been aware of ‘the longitude problem’. A huge issue at the time, it meant that without the ability to measure longitude sailors became lost as soon as they got into open waters. Determining longitude on land was fairly easy compared to the task on the ocean. A stable surface to work from, a comfortable location to live in while performing the work, plus the ability to repeat determinations over time made for almost perfect accuracy. But thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations, were dependant on resolving ‘the longitude problem’ at sea.

Fast forward to today and what has the ‘longitude problem’ to do with marketing you ask? Well, right now, most marketeers are lost at sea when it comes to their marketing data. Marketeers make choices and judgements based on incomplete information. Like the seafarers of the 18th century, they are not able to map their true position.

This is because building brands is a long-term effort. You need to know what has gone before in order to set your direction. Companies grow by establishing long-lasting and meaningful connections with consumers. However, most marketing information is based on separate fixed points in time (like the land the sailors had left behind), rather than being a true reflection of the continual ebbing and flowing of a turbulent sea. Just like a boat on the ocean, marketers need to follow the currents and winds for smooth sailing. It is only by understanding the breadth and depth of that sea, in other words by gathering data and adjusting our understanding continually, that we can successfully resolve our 21st Century longitude problem.

Our solution, dynamic marketing intelligence, leverages your data to support informed, flexible, and responsive decisions in a way that is agile and fast moving. It gives your marketing the edge because you are always aware and always ready.

We call it dynamic because we measure data continuously, taking into account the myriad changes that occur in a market on a daily basis. You cannot have a real understanding of what is going on based on occasional measurement. You cannot switch off human behaviour, so why switch off your data? By integrating measures of attitudinal data ongoing, you find the reasons behind changing behaviour, and avoid making expensive mistakes. By constantly measuring your marketing mix and your consumers’ perceptions, we enable you to build a marketing strategy aimed at creating long-term relationships and growth.

The longitude problem was solved by a clockmaker, John Harrison, who spent four decades creating the first clock (chronometer) that was sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea. Like the clock, dynamic marketing intelligence allows you to sail on, make continual adjustments to your route, and progress smoothly to your ultimate destination.

Want to find out how to make your marketing plain sailing? Get in touch!

Blog Posts

Market research consulting services

Nepa provides market research consulting services to leading organisations. Our offering encompasses a broad range of consumer insights solutions to help businesses grow and become more profitable.

What is market research consulting and analysis?

Market research consultants are experts at conducting targeted research on behalf of clients. They uncover new opportunities and make data-driven optimisation suggestions to marketing strategies, with the intention of generating a higher return on investment.

Market research consultants use qualitative data – like surveys and questionnaires – and quantitative data to evaluate customer experiences, brand positioning, and the competitive market. They highlight both the weak and strong points of your marketing strategy and make actionable suggestions for improvement.

Why choose Nepa?

We’re proud to have worked with some of the most well renowned global brands, including H&M, Spotify, and Kellogg’s. Here’s what one of our clients say about our market research consultancy services:

Success stories

We chose Nepa as a brand insight partner after doing a study with them where they really showed their skills in understanding our brand and our opportunities. Since this is a global assignment, the collaboration will be an important component in our strategy going forward since our brand’s strength is of highest priority for us.

Eleonore Säll, Executive Vice President of Global Brand
Bordeaux , Aquitaine / France - 11 25 2019 : Gant sign store luxury shop in street boutique

Read more…

Market research consulting services

As a market research consultancy company, we offer a wide range of services to aid businesses with data analysis and strategy.

By partnering cutting-edge data analysis techniques with our team of market research consultancy experts, we empower leading brands to drive profits, growth and sales:

1. Brand Tracking

Our brand tracking identifies what your target market is looking for from your core products, services and processes.

The continuous tracking of customer sentiment through qualitative data puts your brand into context. This data is then used to harness your strengths – and remediate your weak points – to ensure you stay one step ahead of the competition.

2. Marketing Mix Modelling

We continuously evaluate and optimise your media investments, capitalising on areas where your competitors fall short and making the most of your marketing mix modelling.

Ensure you outperform your competitors and don’t miss a chance to increase the ROI of your media activities with the implementation of a clear marketing mix model.

3. Customer Experience

Improve your customer relationships and maximise sales by optimising your customer experience. Uncover gaps that your business can build on to boost CX.

By finding new opportunities through the use of qualitative data, we make new suggestions for your marketing strategy. This allows your business to create positive customer experiences and improve your brand perception.

4. Paths to Purchase

Using our paths to purchase solution, we analyse each of your key online and offline touchpoints. This brings you and your customers together to encourage brand growth along your paths to purchase.

By improving your path to purchase touchpoints and brand reputation, you’ll drive both sales and profitability through a data-driven understanding of the moments that matter in your customer journey.

5. Innovation Acceleration

We establish priorities based on data through our innovation acceleration and market research consulting services. This is to identify key areas of improvement, which are based on current successful marketing strategies.

Blog Posts

What consumers and shoppers want from brands in the future

Nepa’s UK Managing Director Lindsay Parry was at the Quirk’s Event London 2022 last week hosting a fascinating panel discussion featuring BV Pradeep, former Global VP – Consumer & Market Insight at Unilever and Jeannine Ferguson, Marketing & Innovation Director at sustainable packaging specialists DS Smith about what consumers and shoppers want from brands in the future, and therefore, what we should be planning for and doing to make sure our brands stay future proofed.

Nepa's Lindsay Parry hosting a panel discussion at the Quirk's Event London 2022

As part of its ‘Future View – The next 10 years consumer study’, Nepa surveyed more than 5,600 Consumers and Shoppers across 7 global markets about their view on topics including Food & Drink, Shopping habits, E-commerce, Sustainability and Entertainment and how they expect their behaviours and needs may change.

In addition, Nepa interviewed key insight experts from leading global organisations including Mondelēz, Unilver, Vodafone, Reckitt and L’Oréal to understand from their viewpoint what changes we could experience and how that would impact brand insights and marketing teams.

Here are some key reflections from Lindsay following the panel discussions:

1.  The importance of Omnichannel for the brand experience

Shoppers want an in-store experience when purchasing online. For example, when buying an expensive designer outfit, consumers want it to come packaged with the same ‘unwrap’ experience as you’d receive in store. Nike and other brands already recognise this and the power of packaging for online deliveries… but many brands aren’t yet using the online experience to re-enforce their brand experience.

More than a third of respondents to Nepa’s consumer survey said they expect to do at least 70% of their shopping online rather than instore in 10 years’ time. That figure increases to over half of Chinese shoppers and two-thirds for those in India, highlighting the innovation in retail channels being forged across Asia which brands will need to adapt to in the near future.

Chart illustrating that 38% of global consumers expect to do the majority of their shopping online by 2031

READ ALSO: Understanding consumers: What gets them to the checkout?

2.  The power of local versus global insights…

… especially for global brands. Citing the example of Axe/Lynx deodorants, panellist BV Pradeep explained that it had initially been produced and launched with the same strength of scent in all markets. Early sales were below expectations in both Japan and India but for very different reasons. In Japan, where personal space is crucial, the scent was seen as too invasive and too ‘rude’ to other people’s personal space. In India, the scent was not seen as strong enough! In both cases this crucial cultural difference had not been uncovered through product or ad testing at a local level.

3.  We must continue to increase our understanding of consumers and their needs

At a time when increased cost of living is affecting buying behaviours as priorities change, keeping on top of what consumers and shoppers want from brands in the future is more important than ever.

Brand marketing and consumer insights are seen by some businesses as bottom line costs which can be removed, particularly when there is pressure to make savings. The feeling from the panellists (and echoed by the Quirk’s event audience) is that understanding consumers, their needs, and the many cultural nuances globally, is critical and should be considered an investment that will drive ROI, innovation, penetration…and competitive advantage.

What next?

It’s safe to say there are going to be some very exciting times ahead interpreting shopper, consumer and retail behaviour for a better world!

COMING SOON:  Nepa Originals report: ‘A view from the future – Outlook on what the future holds from foresight experts.’

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help!

Blog Posts

Nepa at Quirk’s London: An event for Marketing Research and Insight Professionals

What do consumers and shoppers want from brands in the future? Together with Unilever and DS Smith we’ll answer this question at Quirk’s London. Join our session to find out what we should be planning to make sure our brands are future proofed. With an Insights and Marketing expert perspective we’ll look at what the next 10 years has in store for a variety of industries including Food & Drinks, Health & Wellbeing, Entertainment as well as sustainability.

If you are going to be at  Quirk’s, London, please come by and join the panel discussions on Thursday May 5th 2022 at 10:45 to 11:15 GMT. Follow the link for more information and details.

Blog Posts

What lies ahead for OTT video?

With annual revenues for over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platforms projected to reach €427 billion by 20261, competition for customers is fierce.

At a time when energy costs and inflation are putting a squeeze on disposable incomes, having the right streaming product with the right content at the right price, is crucial.

Even Netflix, the clear market leader and home of huge global exclusives Bridgerton and Squid Game, has revealed a significant slow down in new customers, missing its forecast and admitting that competition from the likes of Disney+ is likely to impact future growth.

UPDATE 20/4/22 – This week, the streaming giant reported that in the first quarter of 2022, it lost 200,000 subscribers — its first subscriber loss in over a decade. These losses are expected to continue, as Netflix forecasts a global paid subscriber loss of 2 million for the second quarter. Shares declined by 23% in after-market trading, eliminating $30 billion in market value.

Having seen customer numbers soar during the early lockdowns, Netflix’s ability to continue growing at the same rate was always going to be a challenge. It is reported to be considering a firmer stance on password sharing among its premium tier subscribers, having looked the other way until now. Converting those friends and family benefiting from a shared login into paying subscribers could be its biggest growth opportunity.

Even more competition?

By the end of 2020, US consumers subscribed to four streaming services on average and paid $47 monthly.2  Along with the mainstream providers, more services are trying to compete by offering niche content (e.g. Indie movie focused MUBI and Crunchyroll with the world’s largest library of Japanese Anime) along with ad-supported platforms delivering free content or ad-free versions for a low monthly fee.

READ ALSO: That’s so OTT! The fast-changing media landscape in India

Niche players and global expansion

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) recently announced it had secured a number of live sports rights deals to support the UK launch of its subscription streaming service Viaplay later this year, continuing its expansion outside its home markets.

Although the focus for now is on sports with a Nordic connection (Ice Hockey, speed skating and handball among the rights picked up), NENT has shown its ambition in other markets by picking up more mainstream sports. Viaplay is the home of Formula 1 in both Finland and the Netherlands for example.

Viaplay’s UK launch will mean the service is available in 12 markets in total, and NENT expects to add at least four more by the end of 2023.

Ad-supported platforms

Ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD) services such as ViacomCBS’s Pluto TV and Amazon’s IMDb TV are also also trying to maximise their slice of the user pie.

As well as clamping down on password sharing, Netflix is exploring lower-priced, ad-supported plans after years of resisting.

Google recently announced that it is making full seasons of ad-supported TV shows including Hell’s Kitchen available to stream free on YouTube, promising up to 100 new titles each week.

In the UK, Channel 4 allows All4+ users to stream 1,500 shows ad-free if they’re willing to pay £3.99 a month. ITV is set to follow a similar concept with the launch of it’s own ITVX in the second half of 2022, bringing together curated themed channels and access to BritBox all in one place.

What next?

With all this competition and so much revenue up for grabs, OTT video providers have to plan carefully or risk making expensive mistakes.

The OTT space is evolving quickly and presents huge opportunities for brands and broadcasters when they get it right.

Nepa has already helped decision makers get a better understanding of…

  • Market opportunity sizing
  • Consumer demand and willingness to pay
  • Go to market strategy
  • Optimum price and package tiering structure
  • Promo testing
  • Script concept testing
  • Willingness to pay to watch ad-free content
  • Continuous brand tracking
  • Customer experience and NPS monitoring


By Sam Richardson, Account Director Nepa UK

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help you.

1https://www.statista.com/outlook/amo/media/tv-video/ott-video/worldwide
2https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/us-consumers-pay-average-47-dollars-monthly-svod-streaming-1234890534/

Blog Posts

Looking into a crystal ball: future trends in FMCG and Retail

The food and beverages industry has seen much development in its approach to sustainability, and our recent study has revealed just how far people are prepared to go (or not to go) to support sustainable products in food and drink. We asked 5,600 consumers in seven large markets: United Kingdom, United States, India, China, Sweden, Brazil, and Germany, about their opinions on what they wish will happen in the future, looking at a variety of industries such as FMCG, Food and Beverage, Packaging, and Retail.

Sustainability was one of the focal points of the study since it’s becoming a growing concern for many individuals in everyday life. As a result, many people are starting to transform their habits to be more mindful of the environment, and brands have also developed towards a greener way of operating.

With that said, there are differences in specific markets’ attitudes to food, beverages, and sustainability. For example, we found that people in the UK are unwilling to make long-term changes when giving up things they enjoy. On the other hand, India and Brazil are more open to extreme changes in their diet.

So, what do consumers wish will happen 10 years down the line?

Edible Packaging as a New Snack

We found that innovative trends such as edible packaging provide an opportunity for brands to plan and stand out in the future. Whether it be rice flour, wheat, or sorghum, we found that consumers are ready to eat their boxes for a more sustainable future.

It’s a big thumbs up from all markets, with over 70% of people in India and China, 55% in Brazil and 44% in both Sweden and the UK approving of edible packaging. So don’t be surprised if you see people eating their cereal box at some point soon.

Vegan or Red Meat?

When it comes to red meat alternatives, we found that UK respondents want to stay loyal to their roast beef. When asked if they wish to see vegan products outselling meat in the future, only 36% of people responded positively! 53% even said they are unlikely to stop eating red meat at all.

Swedish respondents also stay devoted to their meatballs, as 57% of people said they would not stop eating red meat, which is slightly higher than the global average of 52%

On the contrary, Indian respondents continued to support more sustainable options, with 68% of people wanting to see plant-based outselling meat in the future. A further 52% of Brazilian respondents are happy to see vegan alternatives outsell red meat.

Artificial Meat and Plant-Based Dairy Products

Artificial meat has become another trending topic in the food and sustainability sectors, with much talk about this product becoming widely available soon.

However, when asked if they would want to see lab-grown food available in supermarkets, only 25% of UK respondents felt positive, and 28% were highly negative about the possibility. The UK is also unwilling to fully embrace non-dairy alternatives, with only 35% of people wanting to see plant-based milk outsell regular dairy milk.

Swedish respondents were also not in favour of lab-grown alternatives, with 22% feeling positive and 29% rejecting the possibility altogether. However, India is the most open country to animal-based options, with 45% of people feeling optimistic about lab-grown products and 55% wanting non-dairy milk products to outsell dairy.

Shopping in a Virtual Store

As well as changes to the food and beverage industry, retail is another sector that could potentially see shifts in how consumers engage in terms of consumption and utilisation.

For example, when asked how they would feel about completing grocery shopping in a virtual supermarket, most responded positively, with 79% of Chinese and 78% of Indian respondents being favourable to the concept. Alternatively, Sweden was less receptive to the idea with 34% of positive respondents, as were Germany with 35%.

Social media has also become a monumental tool for consumers in modern times but divides opinions between markets. When asked about social media becoming the primary channel for buying ‘top-up’ groceries, 69% of respondents from Sweden and 53% from the US were against this idea. In contrast, 64% of respondents in India and a significant 79% in China would like to see that happen, reflecting the appetites in both markets social media and retail innovation.

The variance in markets is wide, as our data demonstrates – although being sustainable is a must, brands can’t afford not to consider the differences in needs and wishes around the world.

By Lindsay Parry, Managing Director at Nepa

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help you!

Blog Posts

Tydy and Nepa Collab – Onboarding, Productivity and Diversity

Onboarding, Productivity, Diversity and a Changing World of Work

Tydy, Employee Experience Platform shares latest insights into employee behavior and sentiment

Qualitative & Quantitative Research powered by Nepa India Pvt Ltd

MUMBAI, India (February 28th, 2022) – As a leading Employee Experience solution, Tydy helps HR leaders drive innovation by simplifying and unifying workplace processes across the entire employee lifecycle – from onboarding to offboarding.

In its quest to better understand what drives employees to be their best at work, Tydy in collaboration with Nepa India Pvt. Ltd., its qualitative and quantitative research partner, launched three EX 2021 reports – ‘Onboarding Out Of Office’, ‘Pandemic Playback’ and ‘Diversity Matters’.

Nepa India conducted qualitative deep dives with employees from various walks of life and set the foundation for a quantitative study with 800+ employees across four metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore). The quantitative read was conducted amongst entry, mid and senior level employees across industries like IT/ITES, Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods, Retail, BFSI and E-commerce.

The study sheds light on the difference in employee sentiment and experience between those who joined their new jobs before and after COVID, giving us an interesting insight into its impact on employees. The reports also cover themes like onboarding gaps, thoughts around career progression, diversity & inclusion, work-life balance, among other things.

To get access to the complete reports, please visit the following links:
1. Onboarding Out of Office
2. Post Pandemic Playback
3. Diversity Matters

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help you! 

Blog Posts

New Food Magazine, Sustainable Packaging News & Bakery and Snacks

LONDON, United Kingdom (February 19th, 2022) – Nepa spoke to over 5,600 consumers around the world to find out their views on what they think will happen for the next 10 years. One of the topics was food, packaging and sustainability – see articles below.

Click to read the full articles here:
New Food Magazine – Would you eat a cereal box to save the planet?
Bakery and Snacks – Brits would be happy to eat their cereal boxes for a more sustainable future

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help you! 

Blog Posts

OTT: The Fast-Changing Media Landscape in India

In 2021, approximately 2.2 billion people used OTT streaming services worldwide, growing from 1.9 billion in 20191.  When we talk about Over-the-top (OTT) media, we mean a streaming service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. These services bypass the traditional distributors of media services such as cable, broadcast, and satellite television. Netflix, AppleTv, Disney +, are just some of the platforms that have entered the entertainment scene in recent years, catering to the burgeoning audience who want on-demand content across all screens and devices.

The increase in streaming services is matched by high consumption especially since the start of the pandemic. In India, especially, OTT boomed very early on, thanks to early adoption by national broadcasters, with up to 80 million active, subscribers2, OTT in India is no longer a niche category and has huge growth potential.

It is not surprising to see an increasing number of brands opting to advertise on OTT platforms. But this new way of providing media content brings new challenges and opportunities. So, what does the Indian OTT landscape look like?

  1. Content with no boundaries

Compared to a pre-OTT era, now the boundaries of national and international content are blurred.

In India, regional content is on the rise, with an increase of regional titles in the digital space emerging in a very short time-period. What we’ve noticed is that regional media effectively brings together the three main elements of the media ecosystem: brands, consumers, and broadcasters.

Brands can reach their addressable audience effectively through these platforms with better targeting at higher frequency for optimized spends, as opposed to traditional touchpoints like TV, Print and Radio amongst others, for example. OTT has democratized marketing levers too, this is due to the creating of a new advertising ecosystem. Whereas previously brands would advertise blind to viewers on networks through typical broadcasting avenues, brands can create targeted ads to OTT subscribers. Consumers have access to more diverse and relatable content, having access to untold stories that cut across cultures. Broadcasters now have the chance to represent a demographic which is completely unrepresented in mainstream media.

However, to make regional content go global it is important to keep the cultural nuance intact, this treatment can have mass appeal to audiences.  So that means dubbing or subtitles won’t do the trick, what viewers are looking for is authenticity and content that cuts through.

  1. The challenge of paying premium

The challenge of today’s media consumption is that viewers expect to have entertainment at their fingertips without having to pay a premium for it. But high-quality content is expensive.

With 27% of Indian viewers paying for subscriptions, we see willingness to pay for good quality content is increasing, but at a very slow pace.

  1. Different content means different devices

The choice of content and device in India is often determined by socio-economic conditions, even family dynamics and identity play an important role.

We’re in a market where mobile is the be all and end all, it’s almost the choice by default. But when it comes to media consumption there are different factors that influence the choice of device.

It’s not only about what’s the best technology available, but it’s more about the type of content and genre the viewer wants to see. Is it a movie to watch with the whole family? Is it a sports match to watch with friends? Or is it a show that only you are interested in?

Depending on the type of content and moment of the day, the device of choice will be different. Of course, watching something with a group of people means a bigger screen, while mobile is reserved to individual use.

The OTT situation in India is varied and presents untapped opportunities for brands and broadcasters. We’re just at the start of what is shaping up to be a media consumption revolution with more diverse and authentic content for all. Literally, watch this space!

By Esha Nagar, Managing Director Nepa India

 

Want to know more? Contact us today and our brand experts will help you!

 

1https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1207843/ott-video-users-worldwide

2 https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/top-story/story/india-had-70-80-mn-paid-ott-subscribers-in-2021-sector-in-scaling-stage-cii-bcg-319095-2022-01-14