Collaborating with the right consumers at the right time to fuel Fanta's innovation funnel

Collaborating with the right consumers at the right time to fuel Fanta's innovation funnel

Fanta tapped into the power of diverse consumers via an iterative innovation approach; that is how they gathered 140 raw ideas, leading to 21 consumer validated concepts.

 

The challenge

Soft-drink brand Fanta needed fresh inspiration to fill its innovation funnel; there was to be a strong focus on disruptive innovation, and it should target its core audience: teens. Therefore, two key areas were put forward to explore: ‘Sensory Pleasure’, which is all about new and exciting taste experiences; and ‘Collective Fun’, revolving around product/ packaging concepts to drive fun and sociability.

Our solution

To address this challenge, we used a four-step innovation approach:

NextGen immersion
We started by exploring the world of teens via secondary research; our in-house thought leadership on NextGen further fueled this, such as the content from our frAgile – NextGen marketing – bookzine.

Internal and external creative crowdsourcing
We shared the first-phase insights with our proprietary creator network eÿeka, in a global ideation contest. Its brief: “Create a new Fanta drink for teens that will offer a new taste and a fun experience”. As a result, the eÿeka creators shared 112 unique, out-of-the-box ideas. We also involved Fanta’s internal stakeholders – they delivered 28 ideas, leading to a total pool of 140 ideas.

From idea to concept
The first selection was based on their disruptive nature, brand fit and uniqueness; furthermore, we used 54 of the initial ideas in a two-day ideation and concept-writing workshop with the Fanta team.

    • On day one, the team explored, clustered and polished the ideas.
    • The second day, we transformed the ideas into 14 concepts, with clear benefits and reasons to believe. A sketcher immediately visualized how the products might look. Fanta’s internal stakeholders further elaborated on these concepts; as a result, 21 concepts were ready for evaluation by everyday consumers.

Concept evaluation
In a final step, 172 teens from two of Fanta’s target markets (Poland and Romania) were to evaluate and further fine-tune the ideas in the Fanta Tournament Square, an online consumer community.

 

The impact

By embracing an iterative innovation approach, including the power of internal and external crowds on different levels, Fanta was able to fuel their innovation funnel. In merely 10 weeks’ time, we went from immersion to out-of-the box concepts, validated by teens, their core target group. The team is now working on an idea execution – launch in 2021.

Coca-Cola quote

“I was amazed by the speed and creativity of the eÿeka community. Within two weeks, the eÿeka community provided us with more than 110 ideas responding to the brief we sent them. The ideas were all well detailed. Out of the 110 ideas, we selected 54 to present to our stakeholders to further evolve them. I found this process very efficient, and I would recommend it.”

Sandra Savonitto, Sensory science manager at Coca-Cola

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