Defining and Refining a Beverage Category

Business Challenge

Maximize retail space allocation in an emerging category

A beverage company was investing in new product lines, and wanted to determine the best way to configure retail space for the new offerings. Consumer input was sought to understand how customers classify these beverages as well as how they refer to them.

TRC’s Solution

Consumers evaluated pairs of offerings on how similar or different they were perceived to be, and a map of the category was created. A follow-up Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) was conducted to map the competitive brands within the newly defined category.

Successful Results Implementation

• Client used the mapping to optimize which beverages would be sold together in retail situations
• Consumers’ suggested names for the categories helped to further define them
• Linking the beverage categories to consumers’ usage occasions can guide future promotions