01
Client context
Consumption habits had shifted, and the company's last category study was several years old.
02
Business challenge
Teams relied on outdated assumptions about occasions, consumers and competitive roles.
03
Research objective & questions
Map category usage, occasions and need-states, and identify unmet needs worth targeting.
- Who consumes the category, how often and on which occasions?
- Which needs drive choice on different occasions?
- How do brand repertoires and switching work?
- Where are the gaps no brand serves well?
04
Methodology & approach
- In-home interviews
- Observing consumption and pantry behaviour.
- Occasion mapping
- Diary-based occasion capture.
- U&A survey
- Large-sample survey across regions and demographics.
- Need-state analysis
- Mapping occasions to needs and brands.
05
Sample & geography
- ~30 in-home IDIs
- ~2,500 survey respondents
- Geography — India (multi-region)
06
Key findings
- Healthier snacking occasions were growing fastest during work hours.
- Regional taste preferences created opportunities for local variants.
- Consumers switched brands frequently for novelty in some occasions.
- No brand owned the 'better-for-you but tasty' need-state.
07
Business implications
- Develop a better-for-you range targeting work-hour occasions.
- Introduce regional flavour variants.
- Plan a rotation of limited editions for novelty-driven occasions.
08
Outcome
The company gained an occasion and need-state map and three prioritised white-space opportunities.
Example engagement — Shows how Hoog approaches this type of question. Not a specific client project. Findings are directional.