NeuroRelay

In 2010, Campbell Soup announced changes to its condensed soup labels and shelf displays in order to better enable shoppers to connect to the brand on a deeper level and concomitantly boost sales.  So they needed to change their packaging. The changes were based on a 2-year neuromarketing study in which researchers analyzed changes in consumers’ skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics as they viewed pictures of bowls of soup, logos and other gustatory stimuli.
Shopper-marketing experts have discovered that the shopper they’ve been observing, questioning and surveying all these years has had a second, silent partner along for the store visit: her subconscious. For years, Campbell’s researchers asked consumers whether they remembered an ad and whether it made them more likely to buy a product. But an analysis revealed that ads that consumers said made them more likely to buy a product had little relation to actual sales. People’s words didn’t fully capture their unconscious responses, according to Campbell VP of global consumer and customer insights Robert Woodard, so it sought to understand the neurological and bodily responses to an ad.

There were three companies (Innerscope Research Inc., Merchant Mechanics, and Olson Zaltman Associates) on board for the redesign campaign, and they were brought in at different stages to conduct different types of analysis, and each interacted with the other to triangulate the data in order to determine not just what consumers said but also what they thought and what they did. By the end of the two-year study, over 1,500 subjects were interviewed and tested using multiple methodologies–which ranged from traditional consumer feedback to cutting edge neuromarketing techniques. Also, they participated in a deep interview process called ZMET (The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) in order to contextualize the biometric measures that were used. By integrating biometric response with eye tracking and the measurement of pupil dilation, Innerscope was able to differentiate not only between positive and negative responses but also, within negative responses, between a bored, disconnected reaction and a more anxious, aversive response. Merchant Mechanics was brought in at the end of 18 months to relate actual in-store consumer behavior to Innerscope’s biometrics and to the findings of the deep interviews. They used a combination of proprietary micro facial expression analysis obtained by in-store cameras, in-aisle eye tracking and pupilometry, and intercept interviews. This work identified opportunities to improve the consumer’s emotional response to labels and shelf cards. The repositioning included changes to the label including removing the spoon, adding steam and redesigning the bowl. The more contemporary design aided consumers in recalling a positive emotional connection to soup as nurturing. Eye tracking found that consumers considered the famous red Campbell logo at the top of the product distracting — so the logo got smaller and dropped to a lower position on the label. Watch here a video from Wall Street Journal about this research.

The extensive research offered many things that savvy design or consumer feedback alone could not have predicted. The logo is smaller and the updated images will tap into emotions that consumers already associate with and want to feel about soup.

They also found that the standard photo of a spoon lifting the soup from the bowl provoked zero emotional response. Finally, they heard from customers that the soup didn’t look warm enough. They removed the spoon and updated the bowl to look more modern.
So next time you want a soup with science chunks, choose Campbell’s.