client challenge
- Our client, a leading toy manufacturer, needed to increase sales generated by their catalog.
- They wanted to better understand how kids and their parents interacted with their catalogs – what drove purchases and what did not.
- With only a small internal research team, our client sought an external partner that could complement their team, expand their bandwidth, and increase their ability to gather actionable consumer insights quickly.
decision point approach
We conducted focus groups with parents and children stratified by child’s age group and geography.
- Pre-work: Before the sessions, participants were asked to review different toy and doll catalogs and be prepared to discuss overall appeal, purchase interest, clarity of messaging and likes / dislikes.
- Interactive Group Activities: During the focus groups, participants explored catalog pages and shared real-time reactions. They also reacted to proposed updates to page layouts, design elements and messaging.
- Deep dive: Specific catalog spreads were analyzed to uncover what resonated most and what drove product interest and purchase intent among kids and their parents.
impactful solutions
The research revealed key insights:
- Identified specific layouts, graphic elements and messaging tactics that successfully generated interest and purchase intent among both kids and parents.
- Highlighted less impactful elements that could be deprioritized or redesigned.
- Discovered that improvements in competitive products had diminished the perceived uniqueness of the client’s offerings.
client success
Armed with these insights, the client quickly implemented strategic revisions to their catalog, focusing on elements that most effectively captured kids’ and parents’ attention.
The client was able to reduce the production cost of the catalog by eliminating more costly features that were not impacting purchase interest.
The findings also provided valuable knowledge about how children engage with catalogs, enabling the client to enhance future catalog strategies and product presentations. Additionally, competitor insights prompted proactive steps to differentiate their products further in the market.
client testimonial
“These focus groups prompted us to make significant changes to our catalog direction, cutting costly features that kids and parents did not find interesting or relevant. In addition, decision point’s knowledge and expertise with our category led to bonus critical insights we hadn’t expected when the project started. Our catalog is an expensive marketing tool, and decision point’s work has helped us better optimize that revenue-driving investment.”
Senior Manager, Consumer Insights
