The challenge - to understand POS material effectiveness among distributors, retailers and consumers

We were challenged to devise a research programme in six international markets that would help the company understand how to make best use of a valuable POS paint guide asset which was distributed via distributors to merchants for use/ distribution to end customers.

The printed guide used high quality colour printing, making it was expensive to produce and distribute. The insight needed to establish whether the guide was easy to use and enabled customers (and merchants) to choose the right product. 

The solution

 Our approach was to use a mix methodology phased programme:

1. Qualitative interviews among merchants (chandlers and boat yards) to understand how they used the guide, how they distributed it, what they thought of it, and how it could improve

2. Quantitative interviews among boat owners to understand their awareness of the guide, whether they’d received one, and what they thought about it.

3. In-depth online qualitative interviews using online bulletin boards for a detailed review of the guide and contents

“There is a tremendous amount of good information coming out of the research that we have done. We have to do it more often.”
Head of Customer Insight
Akzo Nobel

The outcome

We linked external commercial data such as known volumes of owners per market to inform the overall awareness model. The report provided recommendations on the volume of guides to produce; how best to distribute the guides; the likely longevity of the guides over a number of years (pass on/ guide retention); and, what merchants and owners liked/disliked about the guide in terms of content, structure and information provided.