Understanding the potential of Unilever’s new, sustainable laundry relaunch

unilever laundry case study
How an innovative approach to testing in real home environments helped Unilever understand consumer response and provide direction for their laundry re-launch.
Global Laundry CMI Manager, Unilever:

“Having this flexible approach was critical for the project as we were talking about a) a massive restage b) a new proposition from a

Sustainability perspective – hence we absolutely needed a more detailed diagnostic. Having a richer list of attributes and JARs (Just-About-Right scales) was critical to give us a clear and detailed diagnostic on the full mix performance (e.g., understanding the fragrance journey in detail, specific questions on the Packaging, which was a key element of the mix, detailed product diagnostic etc).

Learnings from the test were implemented: reassurance that packaging is appealing for consumers hence no gross negatives and R&D working on a longer term product improvement roadmap.”

Challenge

The Unilever laundry team was working on a relaunch of one of their leading global brands with an enhanced, more sustainable pack design and superior product performance and fragrance. Unilever needed research to understand consumers’ response to the change in packaging and formulation across several moments of usage, and to gauge performance vs. the competitor benchmark.

Approach

We used Kantar’s product testing approach, ProductEvaluate through Home Tester Club, the world’s largest online review and ratings community, to test the new product in real home environments. Customised modules drilled deep into the performance areas required for the different target audiences.

Insight

Within a week we found that the more sustainable approach surpassed consumer expectations, and most welcomed the change. A clear win and further justification for Unilever’s shift towards sustainability.

Unilever launched the new packaging and formulation with the confidence that consumers would welcome it, and the holistic approach provided guidance to futureproof the re-launch.

Impact

Unilever commended the methodology, noting that, as well as the quantitative rigour and KPIs required for comparability, it has two great advantages: lower time and lower investment – without compromise on the quality and depth of analytical thinking and insight delivery.

Get in touch
product testing brochure banner

Rethinking product testing: a focus on learning

Read our brochure to learn how we apply our ProductEvaluate solution with the Home Tester Club community of over 3.5 million consumers.
Download brochure