Snack Factory Innovates in a Crunch
Like most small companies, innovation is a vital part of Snack Factory LLC’s business strategy for its Pretzel Crisps brand. In fact, the brand’s tagline is “Rethink your Pretzel”, because that’s exactly what it did when it created a thin, flat-baked pretzel cracker in 2004.
“When it comes to our marketing strategy, innovation is what fuels our ideas and moves the brand,” says Snack Factory Vice President of Marketing Perry Abbenante.
In line with that philosophy, the company reinvigorated the Pretzel Crisps Deli Style line with new flavors and brighter packaging in 2010. The new packaging would also be featured on all product launches going forward.
Along the way, one DeIi Style flavor in particular — Buffalo Wing — hit a high note with consumers, proving to Snack Factory that they are looking for new, vibrant flavors that appeal to their adventurous sides and keep their taste buds excited.
“Flavor notes such as bold and spicy are a real crowd pleaser, and you can find them across the board in the snack food category,” says Abbenante.
Thus, in 2011, the Pretzel Crisps marketing team started brainstorming some potential flavor ideas for two new SKUs in the bold and spicy category as well as a packaging configuration that would best resonate with consumers.
With the goal to announce the new flavors at an industry tradeshow in June 2011, the marketing team had to work fast and efficiently. The creative brainstorming process produced hundreds of possible flavor and packaging variations that they wished to explore, yet traditional market research methods would dramatically restrict the number and diversity of concepts that they could test with consumers.
To expedite the process, Snack Factory deployed Affinnova’s optimization technology, IDDEA II, which enabled the marketing team to test almost 182 combinations of flavor and packaging options with approximately 800 consumers to identify the highest performing top concepts.
“By working with Affinnova, we could test and analyze the results of countless variations through statistically valid online surveying of large, representative consumer groups, all within about six weeks and at an affordable cost,” reports Abbenante. “Affinnova could also show us how the appeal of top concepts compared to competitive products.”
Through the vetting process, five unique concepts emerged on top, primarily differentiated by flavor as the strongest driver of consumer choice. The top concepts showed different levels of preference by sub-group and that packaging had strong synergies with flavor and some impact on choice.
A measurement phase then ranked three of the five top concepts that showed the strongest potential to compete in the new space. Results showed how the new top concepts were likely to perform in market vis--vis the current line as well as against similar competitive products on the market today.
In the end, the top two flavor concepts were Jalapeno Jack and Chipotle Cheddar. Both flavors hit market in mid-August as part of the Bold & Spicy Pretzel Crisps category.
While sales data is not yet available, Abbenante is certain that the two new SKUs will hit another high note with consumers.
“We believe we’ve explored all of our options using Affinnova’s optimization and measurement technology and have confidence in our new products and their ability to perform at retail.”
FAST FACTS
Words of Wisdom
”We had to be open to the concepts that evolved and not limited to any preconceived notions of what we thought consumers wanted.”
— Perry Abbenante, Vice President of Marketing, Snack Factory, LLC
Company at a Glance
Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps are incredibly thin, flat-baked pretzel crackers that tout a savagely loyal following across the country with more than 62,000 Facebook fans.
Inspiration for Expansion
The success of its Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps flavor in 2010 prompted Snack
Factory to pursue entry into the popular bold and spicy category of snack foods.
The Favorites
Affinnova’s platform allowed Snack Factory to test 180 flavor and packaging combinations on 800 consumers. Jalapeo Jack and Chipotle Cheddar emerged as consumer favorites for its new Bold & Spicy line of Pretzel Crisps.
“When it comes to our marketing strategy, innovation is what fuels our ideas and moves the brand,” says Snack Factory Vice President of Marketing Perry Abbenante.
In line with that philosophy, the company reinvigorated the Pretzel Crisps Deli Style line with new flavors and brighter packaging in 2010. The new packaging would also be featured on all product launches going forward.
Along the way, one DeIi Style flavor in particular — Buffalo Wing — hit a high note with consumers, proving to Snack Factory that they are looking for new, vibrant flavors that appeal to their adventurous sides and keep their taste buds excited.
“Flavor notes such as bold and spicy are a real crowd pleaser, and you can find them across the board in the snack food category,” says Abbenante.
Thus, in 2011, the Pretzel Crisps marketing team started brainstorming some potential flavor ideas for two new SKUs in the bold and spicy category as well as a packaging configuration that would best resonate with consumers.
With the goal to announce the new flavors at an industry tradeshow in June 2011, the marketing team had to work fast and efficiently. The creative brainstorming process produced hundreds of possible flavor and packaging variations that they wished to explore, yet traditional market research methods would dramatically restrict the number and diversity of concepts that they could test with consumers.
To expedite the process, Snack Factory deployed Affinnova’s optimization technology, IDDEA II, which enabled the marketing team to test almost 182 combinations of flavor and packaging options with approximately 800 consumers to identify the highest performing top concepts.
“By working with Affinnova, we could test and analyze the results of countless variations through statistically valid online surveying of large, representative consumer groups, all within about six weeks and at an affordable cost,” reports Abbenante. “Affinnova could also show us how the appeal of top concepts compared to competitive products.”
Through the vetting process, five unique concepts emerged on top, primarily differentiated by flavor as the strongest driver of consumer choice. The top concepts showed different levels of preference by sub-group and that packaging had strong synergies with flavor and some impact on choice.
A measurement phase then ranked three of the five top concepts that showed the strongest potential to compete in the new space. Results showed how the new top concepts were likely to perform in market vis--vis the current line as well as against similar competitive products on the market today.
In the end, the top two flavor concepts were Jalapeno Jack and Chipotle Cheddar. Both flavors hit market in mid-August as part of the Bold & Spicy Pretzel Crisps category.
While sales data is not yet available, Abbenante is certain that the two new SKUs will hit another high note with consumers.
“We believe we’ve explored all of our options using Affinnova’s optimization and measurement technology and have confidence in our new products and their ability to perform at retail.”
FAST FACTS
Words of Wisdom
”We had to be open to the concepts that evolved and not limited to any preconceived notions of what we thought consumers wanted.”
— Perry Abbenante, Vice President of Marketing, Snack Factory, LLC
Company at a Glance
Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps are incredibly thin, flat-baked pretzel crackers that tout a savagely loyal following across the country with more than 62,000 Facebook fans.
Inspiration for Expansion
The success of its Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps flavor in 2010 prompted Snack
Factory to pursue entry into the popular bold and spicy category of snack foods.
The Favorites
Affinnova’s platform allowed Snack Factory to test 180 flavor and packaging combinations on 800 consumers. Jalapeo Jack and Chipotle Cheddar emerged as consumer favorites for its new Bold & Spicy line of Pretzel Crisps.