Whatis your role at Maestrani?
I've been with Maestrani for a year and a half as Head of Marketing. I am responsible for the whole range of marketing at Maestrani: This starts with advertising the brands, i.e. on posters, TV and digital channels. Then there's advertising in the stores, especially at Coop, Volg and other customers. In addition - and this now relates to the collaboration with Innohack - my team and I are responsible for product management. We provide impetus for new products. From the marketing team, we pass on trends and what we observe on the market. We translate these developments for our development team so that they can then use them to create a specific chocolate.
How did you come to Innohack?
The contact came about before my time with our Managing Director Christoph Birchler. We like Innohack's approach: it is innovative and very close to the consumer. With the social media link, you get into the private life of the consumer and are not in an artificial laboratory situation. We recognized great potential in this. In the end, we carried out various market research projects with Innohack to test whether we were getting the insights we needed. We had a good relationship with Yves and Raphael right from the start and were able to discuss things with them as equals. They challenge us in what we do. This positive and critical discourse is necessary for innovation, even if you don't like to hear it at first. But it helps a company move forward. We really appreciate that about Innohack.
How do you conduct market research at Maestrani?
Many of our impulses come 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 why we work with them is different: we translate our innovation ideas into edible prototypes at an early stage. But 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 our flexibility in development. We can test and validate our prototypes quickly and see if they work. With its speed, flexibility and proximity to customers, Innohack is the perfect partner for us. Especially because of the iterative process. If the chocolate needs to be darker, for example, it goes back to research, is adjusted and then tested again. All within a few weeks. This is a major advantage in our collaboration.
"Our advantage as an SME is the flexibility in development. We can test and validate our prototypes quickly and see whether they work."
So you test the products live with consumers?
At the beginning of the collaboration 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 was 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, it makes sense to use the market test if you are already towards the end of the innovation process. We ran through this case once 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 this several times a year. However, we need to identify market trends as early as possible and then develop them iteratively. So we turned to Innohack and asked whether there was a kind of "market test light". This would show us the most important answers and give us an approximate direction. You wouldn't have to go into too much depth for this, but act quickly. We tested this approach in the confectionery sector in order to launch a new product line if necessary. There, we asked relevant questions in order to develop basic directions for recipes.
Does that mean Innohack has 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 optimize continuously. It's fast and agile.
Innhoack has also developed a second product together with you: the so-called product test, where consumers can test physical products such as chocolate? Can you describe what you did there?
As Maestrani, we have two main pillars: our brand business and the private label business. So we also produce for long-standing partners. We have a partner in America who sells vegan chocolate at the highest level of sustainability. We carried out another market test there, which was positive. This chocolate has been on the market for around three years and we produce it here in Switzerland. The product is great, so we thought about whether it could also work in Europe and in Switzerland. But if you want to gain a foothold in Switzerland, you have to convince Migros or Coop. We then ran another test with Innohack to see whether this concept could work in Switzerland. Our retail customers then tried the product and questioned whether the taste of Swiss consumers is comparable to that of American consumers. In this respect, the question was as follows: Does the concept go down well with Swiss consumers, but does the taste?
"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?
That's right! We then went to Innohack and asked: Can we form a panel of these people, who have already assessed the chocolate at 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 took a very pragmatic approach. They sent the testers an email and the candidates who wanted to take part then received a package containing six chocolates from us. Inside was a QR code that led them to the questionnaire. People first tested the theoretical concept and then carried out a product and taste test. The result was exciting and informative, and we were able to say exactly which of the various chocolates meet the tastes of the Swiss population.
The challenge for you is to get onto the shelves at Coop and Migros, right? Did you then go to the two retailers with the results of this test and use them as a basis for your arguments?
Exactly! In my opinion, this process was also helpful for Innohack. We pointed out to them that although we need such a test for product development, we need it even more for the argumentation with our customers. 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 this, we need good insights, which we can then reformulate into crisp statements that help us to argue our case. During our intensive exchange, Innohack gained insights into how we place such a story with our customers. We were very transparent and open and developed the pitch together with Yves and Raphael.
Innohack has thus made the market research even more personal and also accompanied you after the results.
In traditional market research, the client normally receives the results of the market research. Perhaps the customer is helped to interpret the results, but then the project is usually completed. With Innohack and our partnership-based collaboration, things are 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 the 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. With the social media link, you get into the private life of the consumer and are not in an artificial laboratory situation. We have recognized great potential in this."
Valentin Haag, Head of Marketing Maestrani
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