A major international food brand with a robust line of medical nutrition products was contemplating the introduction of a new product. This product was conceived for patients with a particular set of chronic conditions that jeopardized their ability to receive adequate nourishment. If its introduction was successful, the product would create an entirely new class; it had no direct competitors. Was the company correct that there was sufficient need for this product – and what could it do to attract the attention of physicians who might recommend it?
The Beta Approach
Beta developed a concept test tightly focused on the needs – and frustrations – of target patients and their doctors. We recruited a paid sample of physicians based on their known medical specialties and history of treating target patients. A structured questionnaire was made available online in order to accommodate the doctors’ schedules and responses were available to our client in real time. Eight permutations of the proposed product were offered for evaluation.
Results
The concept test narrowed down the proposed pool of new product concepts from eight to two, saving Beta’s client millions of dollars in product development and marketing costs. In addition, our client was so pleased with our work that they invited us to become a preferred provider and perform additional studies for them on this – and other – concepts.
Industry: Healthcare/Pharmaceutical
Methodology: Concept test – online