My Magic Carpet: the focus groups that shaped the launch

3 groupspet, rug and RV owners, who chose My Magic Carpet over its biggest competitor once price was on the table

My roleLed the research. I researched, found and vetted the focus group agency, kept it within budget, briefed it, and turned the findings into next steps.

TeamMe, leading, with the agency's moderator and my team observing.

Budget and timelineKept within budget. Dollar figures are confidential.

High chair messSpot that came from the baby concept

Muddy rugSpot that came from the muddy boots concept

HolidazeSpot that came from the holiday concept

The problem

Crystal Art Gallery was about to launch a new washable rug with a brand-new e-commerce site and paid social ads. Before spending on media, we needed to know who the buyer was, which ad ideas worked, whether the site made sense, and how the rug stacked up against the category leader. Guessing would have wasted the launch budget.

What I did

Found the right agency. Researched and vetted agencies and chose one that fit the budget and the job.
Set the research up. Three in-person groups of about five people each, split by who would buy: pet owners, rug owners and RV owners. Strict screening for online shoppers who are active on social media and who have shopped for a rug in the past year.
Tested what we were about to ship. Instagram ad concepts, an animated explainer video, a long-form infomercial, the new website, and the rug itself against the category leader, including price.
Turned findings into decisions. Which ads to make, what to change on the site, what to say about the product and how to price the message.

The result

3 ad ideas

rose to the top of the Instagram concepts: baby, muddy boots and holiday

How this was measured: from the focus group debrief. The ads we produced and ran came from these concepts.

Easiest to clean

the single-piece rug beat the two-piece category leader on cleaning, and its reinforced edges were a motivating feature

How this was measured: from the focus group debrief.

All groups

chose My Magic Carpet over the leader after the price discussion, even though it was less skid-proof

How this was measured: from the focus group debrief. This is directional: qualitative groups are small.

Under-played

benefits to push harder: stain-proof, odor resistance for pet owners, and the price advantage

How this was measured: from the focus group debrief, then built into the creative.

What I am not claiming. Focus groups are small and qualitative, so the findings guide decisions and do not predict sales. The agency, its researcher and the participants are not named.

How I got there

I treated research as the most efficient way to find out what works before committing the launch budget. Three groups, each a different buyer, told us what to make before we made it. Then I turned the findings into a short list of changes for the ads, the site and the messaging.

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