Maestrani's recipe: fast, flexible and close to the customer.
What is your role at Maestrani?
I have been at Maestrani for a year and a half and am Head of Marketing there. I am responsible for the entire range of marketing at Maestrani: This starts with the advertising of the brands, i.e. on posters, TV and digital channels. Added to this is the advertising in the branches, i.e. primarily at Coop, Volg and other customers. In addition, and this is where the collaboration with Innohack comes in, my team and I are responsible for product management. We provide ideas for new products. We pass on trends and what we observe in the market from the marketing team. We translate these developments for our development team so that they can then create a specific chocolate.
How did you come to work with Innohack?
Our managing director Christoph Birchler established contact with Innohack before I joined the company. We like their approach: it is innovative and very consumer-centric. Social media links provide access to consumers in their private lives, rather than in an artificial laboratory situation. We recognized great potential in this. We ultimately conducted various market research projects with Innohack to test whether we were getting the insights we needed. We had a good rapport with Yves and Raphael from the outset and were able to discuss things with them on an equal footing. They challenge us in what we do. This kind of positive-critical discourse is needed for innovation, even if it's not always easy to hear at first. But it helps a company move forward. We appreciate that very much about Innohack.
How do you conduct market research at Maestrani?
We get a lot of ideas from within the company. Either from research and development with new technologies or from marketing. We recognize trends in our industry or among consumers, or we receive input from social media. So we don't do any fundamental trend and innovation research with Innohack. The reason we work with them is different: we translate our innovation ideas into edible prototypes at an early stage. When we make a new chocolate, we need to know whether these prototypes will work as an innovation on the market. That's where Innohack comes in. Our advantage as an SME is flexibility in development. We can quickly test and validate our prototypes and see if they work. Innohack is the perfect partner for us with its speed, flexibility and proximity to customers. Above all, because of the iterative process. For example, if the chocolate needs to be darker, it goes back to research, is adjusted and then tested again. And all within a few weeks. That's a big advantage in our collaboration.
“Our advantage as an SME is our flexibility in development. We can quickly test and validate our prototypes and see if they work.”
So you then test the products live with consumers?
When we started working with Innohack, they only offered one service: the market test. This involved testing a product on the market, i.e. the packaging, marketing, etc. The result provided a wealth of information regarding price, benefits, etc. – a very detailed analysis. We get an answer to the question: does it work or doesn't it work? In my opinion, the market test makes sense when you are already towards the end of the innovation process. We once ran this case in the area of a premium chocolate product and it provided exciting insights. However, you can't use this market test too often – it would be difficult for an SME to do it several times a year. But we have to recognize market trends as early as possible and then develop iteratively. So we turned to Innohack and asked if there was a kind of “market test light” that could help us. One that would show us the most important answers and give us a rough direction. For this, you wouldn't have to go into too much depth, but you would have to act quickly. We tested this approach in the confectionery sector to launch a new product line if necessary. We asked relevant questions there to develop basic directions for recipes.
That means Innohack developed a new product for you?
Exactly. This new test is cheaper and faster. It takes two weeks from the briefing to the results. This live concept test has two fundamental advantages for us: we can use it several times financially, it is iterative and you can continuously optimize. Fast and agile, in other words.
In addition, Innhoack has developed a second product together with you: the so-called product test, where consumers can then test physical products such as chocolate? Can you describe what you did there?
We at Maestrani have two mainstays: our brand business and our private label business. So we also produce for long-term partners. We have a partner in America that sells vegan chocolate at the highest level of sustainability. We did another market test there, which was positive. This chocolate has been on the market for about three years, and we produce it here in Switzerland. The product is great, so we wondered whether it could also work in Europe and Switzerland. But if you want to gain a foothold in Switzerland, you have to convince Migros or Coop. So we did another test with Innohack (now part of HuggyStudio) to see if the concept could work in Switzerland. Our retail customers then tried the product and questioned whether Swiss consumers' tastes were comparable to those of American consumers. So the question was: the concept is well received by Swiss consumers, but are the flavors too?
“But if you want to gain a foothold in Switzerland, you have to convince Migros or Coop.”
So you needed a test in which consumers actually eat the chocolate?
Right! So we went to Innohack (now part of HuggyStudio) and asked: Can we form a panel from these people who have already evaluated the chocolate at the concept level in the market test, and send them the chocolate to try? Innohack had never done a test like this with a physical product before, but they solved it quite pragmatically. They sent the testers an email, and the candidates who wanted to participate then received a package of six chocolates from us. It had a QR code that led them to the questionnaire. So the people first tested the theoretical concept and then carried out a product and taste test. The results were both exciting and informative, and we were able to say exactly which of the different chocolates met the taste of the Swiss population.
The challenge for you is to get on the shelves of Coop and Migros, right? Did you go to the two retailers with the results of this test and use them as a basis for your arguments?
Exactly! I think this process was also helpful for Innohack. We pointed out to them that we need a test like this for product development, but even more so for our customer argumentation. They need a “trade selling story” before they include something in the listing. We have to argue to Coop or Migros why the product is good. To do that, we need good insights that we can then turn into catchy statements that help us to persuade our target audience. During our intensive exchange, Innohack gained insights into how we pitch such a story to our customers. We were very transparent and open and developed the pitch together with Yves and Raphael.
In doing so, Innohack made the market research even more personal and also supported you after the results were presented.
In traditional market research, the client usually receives the results of the market research. Perhaps the client is helped with the interpretation, but then the project is usually completed. With Innohack and our partnership-based collaboration, it's different. We go one step further and see how we can argue with the results. We take Innohack with us and think in terms of a sales story. This has also resulted in new products for Innohack itself. Yves and Raphael also come to us when they have a prototype and we help them to develop it further. We both benefit greatly from each other.
“innohack's approach is innovative and very close to the consumer. The social media link gives you access to the consumer's private life, rather than an artificial laboratory situation. We have recognized great potential in this.”
Valentin Haag, Head of Marketing Maestrani
