Client
Global Savoury Snacks Brand
Background
Trade placement research and retail ideation for a snack innovation launch.
A global snacks leader was preparing to launch a breakthrough snack concept into the Dutch retail market within a product category that did not yet exist in the retail landscape. The central challenge was not the product itself, but where to place it. The innovation sat between multiple food occasions and aisle types, none of which offered a perfect fit. A clear, evidence-based trade placement strategy was needed before the brand could build a compelling retailer selling story.
A comprehensive three-step field research programme was designed and executed across multiple stores in the Netherlands and the UK. Research combined in-store market tours, open-source consumer and retail context analysis, and savoury category sizing using retail panel data.
Aisle-by-aisle scoring assessed each placement option against two dimensions: category relevance for the innovation and brand equity fit for the brand.
Outcome
Full GO/NO GO placement map developed across 11 aisle types, with five eliminated and four shortlisted as viable primary or secondary placement options;
Pricing and pack architecture benchmarked against key competitors in each aisle, confirming the innovation's positioning within the mainstream-to-premium sharing segment;
Retail context decoded: experiential store layouts identified as a structural opportunity for secondary impulse placements. Retailer-specific strategies differentiated for the two major chains, with distinct recommendations on brand secondary placement based on each retailer's own-label strategy and category priorities.
