Millennials, and busy energizing moments...
In a presentation exploring how to translate consumer insights into winning new products, InsightsNow CEO Dr David Lindahl told delegates that people in focus groups are in a "rational mode".
However, when consumers go into a store, or eat your product at home, they are operating at an "emotional level", and this is what manufacturers must explore if they are to find out what consumers really want, he said.
By thinking about a category such as meal replacement in a more open-ended way, manufacturers can also unlock new opportunities, he suggested.
Take meal replacement, which is currently a $2.3bn category in the US. In reality, it could be worth more than double that, he said, if you explore - via analysis of social media as well as qualitative surveys - consumers' meal replacement 'moments', what options they have, what choices they make, and how satisfied they are with those choices.
For example, for many Millennials, meal replacement is not about drinking a Slimfast shake or having a protein bar, but eating a pot of Chobani and a Coke Zero while making the children's lunchboxes, he said. "It's about capturing that busy energizing moment."