IRI Launches New Product Portfolio Tool

Information Resources recently announced the launch of Attribute Drivers. This new analytic service helps consumer goods manufacturers optimise their product portfolios by understanding the value of specific product attributes, including brand name.

'While our Mix Drivers service quantifies the role of advertising and promotions in driving incremental sales,' said Neil Canter, executive vice president of IRI's Analytic Insights Group, 'Attribute Drivers quantifies the role of product attributes in delivering 'base' sales, which typically represent 70% or more of a brand's total sales. Combining these two analytic tools will provide brand managers with a thorough understanding of all the major factors influencing their sales.'

The first clients to leverage Attribute Drivers have found it valuable for identifying new item opportunities and for targeting items for elimination. The model's simulation capability quantifies the volume and share impacts of potential item additions and deletions. In addition, the analysis compares attribute preferences across consumer segments, enabling brand managers to design products targeted to particular consumers. For example, brand managers may find that small package sizes are important in attracting loyal users of competitive brands, or that heavy category buyers have high preference for particular flavours not currently offered by their brand.

Attribute Drivers' brand preference scores provide a measure of brand equity that does not rely on perceptual measures. In conjunction with the importance rankings, this offers valuable insight for positioning and advertising strategies. For example, when a brand name is found to be the most influential factor on product choice in a category, a manufacturer who finds preference for their brand to be lagging will want to explore ways to strengthen their brand's image. Alternatively, the manufacturer may decide to focus on new product opportunities in the second most important product attribute, such as expanding into another form (e.g. shelf stable to refrigerated).

These kinds of insights are made possible by sophisticated statistical models applied to IRI's national household panel purchasing data. Attribute Drivers is unique among attribute preference models because it is based on actual purchase data across thousands of panel households. The large sample size additionally enables extensive segmentation capabilities.

'Continuing in the tradition of innovative panel data applications at IRI, Attribute Drivers provides fact-based consumer insights which will give our clients a competitive edge,' said Pat McGraw, senior vice president, Analytic Product Development. 'These types of panel data applications are becoming especially valuable in the CPG industry because they do not rely on retailer provided scanner data.'

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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