How to write better product concepts White Paper - Insight Driven - June, 2013

© INSIGHT DRIVEN Brand Consulting & Communication GmbH, Hamburg – www.insightdriven.de June 2013 1
How to
Write Better Product Concepts
– and why it’s worth the effort.
Written product concepts are one of the most important stages in the
development process for a brand’s marketing and communication
activities. As all subsequent steps build upon these concepts, a brand’s
future success depends directly on just how well they are constructed.
For marketing departments, written concepts often lead to a sobering
moment of truth. As consumers and experts alike evaluate them
unadorned, with no visual support, those that have not been thought
through thoroughly are often rejected out of hand. For a written concept
to be really successful, every word and phrase has to be just right.
Interestingly, it’s often the junior members of a marketing team who are
asked to write the concepts that a brand’s future may depend upon.
Fortunately, it is possible to learn how to write concepts well, although
a great deal of practice is needed before excellent results can be
achieved on a regular basis.
A White Paper from:
INSIGHT DRIVEN
Brand Consulting &
Communication GmbH
Feldbrunnenstr. 52
20148 Hamburg
www.insightdriven.de
melschoen@insightdriven.de
Tel. +49 40 33441519-0

How to Write Better Product Concepts
This White Paper explains how to write excellent product concepts for a brand,
to improve that brand’s chances of being successful both in concept tests and
in the marketplace. Pragmatic guidelines are included, as well as a fictitious,
worked example, which is built up step-by-step to illustrate the method.
With these Guidelines and quite a lot of practice, anyone working in marketing
should be able to write better concepts – and, as result, find themselves doing
their whole job a little better too!
Introduction
„We look for different skills in our marketing teams today than we used to.
Nowadays, we place more importance on negotiating skills, experience of
dealing with retailers, social media capabilities, being able to handle a heavy
workload, etc. Anyone who meets these qualifications shouldn’t have too
much trouble writing a few lines for a product concept, should they?”
Written product concepts are a standard part of the marketing and
communication development process at many companies nowadays. There’s
good reason for this: Reliable learnings can be gained from testing product
concepts for new products, re-launches, etc. for a relatively small investment.
To maximise the learnings gained from written concepts, they need to be
excellently constructed, which is unfortunately rarely the case. For
confirmation of this, ask any market research company about the quality of the
written concepts they are asked to test – they won’t be very complimentary.
Why aren’t marketing departments producing better written concepts? Many
companies simply underestimate the time, effort and experience required to
produce high quality concepts on a regular basis. Working in the abstract also
doesn’t suit everyone. Companies would, in fact, be well advised to place the
responsibility for writing concepts with those who really enjoy the challenge.
Concept Writing
Tip No. 1
Plan four hours (!)
on average for
each written
concept that’s
required.
Typical Product Concept Structure
Product concepts are structured in a broadly similar way from one company to
the next. Usually, they consist of just three paragraphs:
1. Consumer Insight
2. Benefit
3. Reason to Believe
A short summary line is often added at the end, to tie the main ideas together.
Anyone following this structure to write their own concepts should bear in mind
that the three paragraphs aren’t separate boxes that can be filled out in any
order. On the contrary, they’re a linked chain of thoughts, where each builds
on the one that’s gone before. The three paragraphs should also fit together
perfectly, without leaving any unanswered loose ends.
Taking a closer look at each paragraph:
Concept Writing
Tip No. 2
Write concepts as
a linked chain of
thought, rather
than as a series of
boxes to be filled
out and then put
together.

Consumer Insight
Consumer Insights should be the starting point for all written concepts and the
platform to build the whole idea upon. The insight chosen should highlight one
of the Target Group’s specific needs, beliefs or feelings about the product
category or brand concerned. The aim is to create a kind of tension that can
be answered later by the Product Benefit.
Insights needn’t be written in the personal form, „Sometimes I …” but it is
helpful to do so: It’s easier to spot “manufacturer speak” and wishful thinking,
when the words are formulated as if they’re coming from consumers’ mouths.
Some purists insist that Consumer Insights should always revolve around
personal conflicts that need resolving. In practice this isn’t a must, as often an
unfulfilled wish or the mention of a recurring, unmet need is the best choice.
Finding actionable insights requires in-depth knowledge of your consumers, so
it’s advisable to re-visit a brand‘s complete market research findings – even
those collected for other purposes – for clues. This knowledge can then be
supplemented by learnings from online sources such as forums, blogs etc.
The following guidelines should also be helpful when searching for insights
with the potential to spark good ideas:
• Identify Consumer Insights, don’t invent them.
Resist the urge to formulate an Insight that just happens to lead
straight to the Benefit you think your brand should be promising. There
is little chance such an Insight will reflect true consumer thinking.
• Pursue only those Insights the majority agree with.
Ignore one-off opinions, even interesting ones, if they’re not
representative of the Target Group. If you don’t, the concepts will be
rejected in market research and you’ll probably have to start again.
• If necessary, research Insights directly.
Set up tailor-made qualitative market research, to answer specific
questions you cannot yet answer. Valuable learnings can be gained
even from small-scale qualitative tests, for a fairly small investment.
Fictitious Example – The FakeCake Company
Our step-by-step worked example is for a fictitious manufacturer of ready-
made cakes – The FakeCake Company in Ovenbach. Facing increased
pressure on prices from both private labels and cheap imports, they’re looking
for relevant insights to help develop and launch a unique, new product range.
Group discussions have provided valuable information, particularly about the
psychology of today’s purchasers of ready-made cakes.
The Insight chosen is formulated as follows.
“Even when visitors surprise me, I like being able to offer them cake, but I’m
not very good at baking. Frozen cakes are pretty big and take too long to
defrost, while most ready-made cakes look so industrial, I can’t offer them
to anyone I like. But I can’t always go to the bakery...”
Concept Writing
Tip No. 3
Use the most
perceptive insight,
not the most
obvious one.

Benefit
In a written concept, the Benefit is the brand’s answer to the tension that’s
been set up in the chosen Insight. The Benefit is usually a combination of
rational and emotional/ psychological elements, which explains how the
brand’s product can resolve the issue that’s been set up.
The Benefit should be written in a way that makes the brand appear to be as
unique as possible – no simple task, as most products in today’s crowded
categories offer pretty much the same advantages. It’s important to do so,
however, because the degree of differentiation achieved has a direct effect on
both brand preference and the price premium a product can maintain.
The following guidelines should also be helpful when formulating Benefits to
match the chosen Insights:
• Avoid the superfluous.
Don’t list all of a product’s attributes, just those that help provide an
answer to the chosen Insight. If this means an important selling point
is missing, then the wrong insight has probably been chosen.
• Don’t exaggerate.
Resist the urge to describe your product in terms that are objectively
too favourable. Overpromise can sometimes lead to product trial but
disappointment always leads to long-term rejection of a product and
even other products that the brand offers.
• Write descriptively with no hard-selling and no poetry.
Don’t write concepts like advertising copy. Their purpose is to explain
ideas in a neutral way, not to sell or romance them. Obvious sales
patter can even lead to a good idea being rejected in a test situation.
The Benefit for The FakeCake Company
Building on the above Insight:
to anyone I like. But I can’t always go to the bakery…”
FakeCake has come up with the idea of baking small, ready-made cakes that
are not uniform in form or appearance and look almost like home-made. Both
the surface and the edges of the mini-cakes are just a little different each time.
The Benefit in the written concept is formulated as follows:
Now there’s FakeCake Originals: Individually-shaped Mini-Cakes that look
almost like home-made. The three delicious varieties are perfect for sharing
with a guest – or with yourself.
Reason to Believe
The „Reason to Believe” or RtB, (also sometimes known as a “Reason Why”
or “Support,”) is a simple explanation of how the brand’s product can deliver
the Benefit being promised in a credible way.
A Reason to Believe should be short and to the point and ideally contain a
word or two that is not commonplace in the category concerned. Here too, it is
worthwhile trying to be different from the competition.
Concept Writing
Tip No. 4
If no functional
differentiation is
possible, make
the brand seem
unique on a
psychological/
emotional level.
Concept Writing
Tip No. 5
Avoid using
difficult
terminology and
the language of
other brands.

The following guidelines should also be helpful when formulating a Reason to
Believe to suit the Benefit being promised:
• Don’t write a shopping list.
Resist the urge to list all of a product’s positive properties and
concentrate instead on those that differentiate the product and support
the Benefit directly. Some category „musts” might be necessary too.
• Use the simplest possible terminology.
Avoid words and expressions that pose as many questions as they
answer. In most product categories, consumers have only limited time
and patience to try to decode terminology or interpret information, in
order to understand what is actually being said.
The Reason to Believe for The FakeCake Company
As an explanation for offering the above Benefit:
The Reason to Believe in the written concept is formulated as follows:
No two FakeCake Originals are completely alike, because every one of
them is finished by hand. Whether it’s Chocolate-Cranberry, Wild Orange or
Country Cheese, each is a true Original.
The Complete Written Concept
Now the only thing missing is a summary line at the end to round off the
concept. This line should contain no new information and also work on its own,
when seen separate from the concept.
The written concept for FakeCake Originals is now complete:
No two Originals are completely alike, because every one of them is finished
by hand. Whether it’s Chocolate-Cranberry, Wild Orange or Country Cheese,
each is a true Original.
FakeCake Originals – individual Mini-Cakes for sharing.
The Acid Test for Written Concepts
Concepts that have been written using the above guidelines should already be
strong and have a good flow to them but one question still remains: Can they
be reduced enough to appear in summary form on the front of a pack –
assuming, of course that the product in question is sold in a pack?
Concept Writing
Tip No. 6
Keep Reasons to
Believe simple –
they’re rarely the
main reason for
product purchase.
Concept Writing
Tip No. 7
Reread concepts
and be your own
toughest critic –
ensure they flow
well and there are
no loose ends.

The front of the pack is the most important advertising space for any product
sold from a supermarket or drugstore shelf. It’s only the pack front that can
communicate with consumers before they take the product off the shelf – the
most difficult hurdle to be surmounted before a product is actually bought.
As consumers never actually get to see written concepts, they need to be
reducible to a few words that capture the essence of the idea and can appear
on the pack-front. This is the acid test.
The best way to conduct the acid test for a written concept is simply to
underline the key words in the concept and answer two questions:
• Can they all be integrated onto the front of the pack?
• Do they communicate the essence of the concept?
Doing the acid test for FakeCake Originals:
No two Originals are completely alike, because every one of them is finished
by hand. Whether it’s Chocolate-Cranberry, Wild Orange or Country Cheese,
each is a true Original.
FakeCake Originals – individual Mini-Cakes for sharing.
The points that should appear on the front of the pack are:
• FakeCake Originals Mini-Cakes
• No two completely alike
• Finished by hand
• Ideal for sharing
• Chocolate-Cranberry (or other flavours)
The Fakecake concept passes the acid test. The most important elements can
be included on the pack-front and they communicate the essence of the idea.
The Reality of the Supermarket
Written concepts are a means to an end. Once they’re approved and tested,
they don’t appear again anywhere in the form they were written - they’ve
performed their job. Traces of them, however, should be perceivable in all
marketing and communication activities especially, as mentioned, on the pack-
front. This is still far too rarely the case.
Concept Writing
Tip No. 8
Ensure that the
essence of the
concept can be
summarised on
the pack-front.

To confirm this, take a few extra minutes the next time you go to the
supermarket and have a closer look at some of the products on the shelves.
How many pack fronts communicate the most important information about the
product, as it would have appeared when underlined in the above acid test for
written concepts? There won’t be many, whichever supermarket you visit.
For those working in marketing, you probably don’t even need to visit the
supermarket to confirm this. Take a critical look at the front of your own
brand’s packs and ask yourself whether they communicate the essence of
your product concepts – the Insight, the Benefit and, if relevant, the Reason to
Believe. If they don’t, then either the concepts they were based upon weren’t
that strong – if indeed there were any – or they haven’t been transferred
successfully to the front of the packs.
Whatever the reason, it’s never too late to put things right and use your
brand’s most important advertising space to the greatest effect.
About Insight Driven:
Insight Driven is Mel Schoen’s brand and communication consultancy in Hamburg with
huge experience in:
• Strategic consulting for brands, including finding relevant Consumer Insights
and integrating them into positionings, strategies and product concepts (!)
• New product and service innovation based upon relevant Consumer Insights.
Insight Driven also conducts a whole programme of Workshops and training sessions.
INSIGHT DRIVEN
Brand Consulting &
Communication GmbH
Feldbrunnenstr. 52
20148 Hamburg
www.insightdriven.de
melschoen@insightdriven.de
Tel. +49 40 33441519-0

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