Many brands grow by entering emerging categories
This is how Realsight helped one brand fulfill its potential

the challenge

A key brand within the Sara Lee Corporation asked Realsight to determine the best strategic entry point into an emerging category.

A number of small competitive brands were showing strong growth, and Sara Lee's corporate expertise provided the R&D necessary to develop similar types of products.

Early development work with an innovation company suggested direction for development of a particular product. However, the variety of different types of alternatives appearing on store shelves did not provide a clear strategy for developing a long-term business.

The brand team came to Realsight for direction that could tap into the everyday lives of the people and how they use the product category the brand team was targeting.

uncovering the consumer reality behind the category

Realsight collected over 2,000 online diary entries and 800 hours of video footage from over 150 consumers within target households. Our situational analysis, along with additional survey and syndicated analyses, revealed the dynamics behind the consumption:

Uncovered 25 different situational "markets," each with its own competitive set and underlying motivations for behavior

Projected the size, growth potential and value of these markets to Sara Lee

Discovered the relative strengths and weaknesses of competitors already in each market, as well as their performance against the key needs

Delivered the situational requirements of these types of uses.

redefining the category

Realsight redefined the product category for the brand team, providing clarity to previous assumptions and directing the team toward a better path to success.

Instead of a loosely-defined $2 Billion category, we found that-from a consumer perspective- the competing products represented over $40 Billion in annual sales! This was a much larger potential market than originally presumed, providing three distinct first mover advantages:

1. Opening the door to brand leadership, as the existing brands have low consumer loyalty.

2. Tapping into more emotional/social consumption situations that occur at home.

3. Extending the boundaries for future growth across other product categories.

an immediate strategic entry point

Through a deep understanding of the brand's investment requirements, Realsight identified an immediate $3 Billion strategic opportunity that represented consumer-relevant usage situations for the planned new product line.

The strong motivational foundation we uncovered helped the brand team redefine their product line from a singular product format to a platform of multiple product formats, each with its own success criteria.

The new situation-focused platform significantly improved consumer relevance. At the same time, we recommended a more clearly-defined competitive set. The new product would now have marketing leverage, while in turn insulated if from direct competition.

Most exciting was the realization that the category has great potential for line extension and growth beyond a single product form.

provide the gateway to longterm growth

Realsight also uncovered a second $3 Billion situation market opportunity that the business team had not realized was open for innovation. The new market represents a territory thebrand could own using a different existing manufacturing capability. This opportunity has defined the direction for the brand's long-term pipeline.

expanding the existing consumer target

Finally, the brand team acquired a much clearer picture of their prime prospect's behavior in both of the newly identified situational market areas.

The resulting long-term business plan opens the door to reach an attractive, growing multicultural consumer base across both opportunities.

a happy beginning

The Sara Lee and Realsight partnership is considered a success for many reasons:

1. Providing a view of the category that better reflected consumers' actual product use and reframing the competitive set

2. Directing development opportunities for the existing new product in the pipeline and creating a platform of multiple product forms

3. Uncovering a second market opportunity the brand could own as no major competitors were focused on entering the market