How Etos uses community research to increase market share among Millennial Mums
Drugstore Etos wants to increase its market share among Millennial Mums. A dynamic target group that is difficult to reach. This group of pregnant women and brand-new mothers is constantly innovating and there is a lot of competition within the industry, both in physical stores and online.
Challenge
Etos wanted to know how these (expectant) mothers think and act. In order to strengthen and further expand their market position.
- What does Etos do well?
- Are there areas for improvement?
- What parts do they need to strengthen to maintain and expand their own identity?
Through research in our Research Community, it was possible to gather these insights. This is how Etos found out how to attract these Millennial Mums to them.
Vision
Finding out the motivations and barriers of your target audience
With the help of the Blauw Community, we explored what the drivers & barriers are to going to Etos and what drivers & barriers are to buying baby products at Etos.
The Blauw Community consists of members, who give their opinions and ideas on various topics. The Community has existed for over three years and is up & running, which makes quick research possible. Because the platform is used by multiple clients, the costs are relatively low.
For this survey, we invited only Millennial Mums. These are mothers (born between 1977 and 2000) with at least 1 child aged 0 to 3. For two weeks we discussed various issues with them, such as:
- Since becoming mothers, have Millennial Mums started buying differently, going to different places, paying attention to different things?
- How important is online shopping to them? Is the hypothesis true that as a brand-new family, you have less time and shop more online?
- What sources do they take seriously? Are they advice from salespeople or, for example, childcare workers?
- What do Millennial Mums need? In terms of store, product range and advice?
The nice thing about a community is that you can ask questions in between. In a questionnaire it is not possible to ask more questions and during a group discussion this possibility is also limited (only during the discussion itself). With an online community, the duration is just a bit longer, giving you the opportunity to go deeper into a subject through progressive insight.
Solution
One community, multiple research opportunities
Community research also offers a broad spectrum of methods (modules) to retrieve information. Depending on the type of information needed, one or more methods are used. Sometimes you want to learn from members' reactions to the issues, as well as from members' reactions among themselves. Then methods with a high degree of interaction, such as a forum and online chat, are appropriate. Sometimes you want to gauge individual opinion, without the influence of others. Then questionnaires or diary assignments are more suitable.
Challenge
One option is to have members do a challenge assignment. This is a challenge assignment that engages members' creativity. Submissions can include text, photos, video, collages and are judged and completed by other members. In the case of Etos, we asked community members: What can Etos do to make people visit more often? Some really great ideas came out of that. One person worked out a whole new themed corner.
Stepboard module
For this community research, we also used the stepboard module. This module allows you to present members with a number of questions in a chronological order, allowing you to control the structure of the discussion. Here we asked out the drivers and barriers for Etos and its competitors.
Result
Qualitative information among a wide audience
The results of a qualitative study offer an indicative picture of how the total group thinks about your brand/company. With an online community, there is mass quality. The group of respondents is larger than other forms of qualitative research, such as interviews and focus groups. So although the group of respondents is smaller than in a quantitative survey, you can still get a very clear understanding of your target audience.
Moreover, the results of Online Community Research provide a lot of information that you would not find out with a quantitative survey. Delving deeper into opinions, desires, needs and motivations often reveals unexpected, additional information. Insights you wouldn't have thought of initially.
Via the forum, for example, we found out the target group's favorite brands, brands they would come to Etos specifically for. We also found out what Etos is already good at and how they can distinguish themselves even more from other drugstores.
Blauw has extensive experience with this industry and its target group, which enables us to make very concrete recommendations. Thanks to this Online Community research, Etos has a clear picture of where the Millenial Mums' future opportunities lie. This gives them a valuable advantage over their main competitors.
Want to know more about our community surveys? Read more here
case
Featured
expertise
Marketing Strategy
A strong and future-proof marketing strategy puts the consumer at the center. Increase your success from understanding consumer behavior and needs within your category
Wondering if we can do something for you?
