Ciao Bella Gelato Gets a New Look with Help from Affinnova

In benchmark testing of the top two concepts, Affinnova learned that both packaging designs were greatly preferred by consumers over Ciao Bella’s current packaging.

Aug 5 2011 --- Affinnova, Inc., the global leader in marketing innovation software and services, was selected by Ciao Bella Gelato, one of the country’s premier frozen specialty makers, to assist in a product packaging redesign. Utilizing Affinnova’s innovation technologies, Ciao Bella was able to pick a new packaging design that had 65% greater appeal to consumers compared to their current design.

As frozen treats go, New York-based Ciao Bella is the cream of the crop. The company’s gelato and sorbet are based on traditional Italian recipes and are found on supermarket shelves and in their own retail outlets across the country. In order to maintain their market position, Ciao Bella decided to make a packaging change for their gelato and sorbet products.

Ciao Bella selected Affinnova and its optimisation technology to determine what product packaging would have the most appeal to Ciao Bella’s target audience. Affinnova employed its IDDEA II innovation platform to explore more than 6 million packaging design concepts directly with current and potential Ciao Bella consumers. Through this process, the concepts were quickly narrowed to two leading candidates. These top two concepts then underwent further testing to determine how they matched up against Ciao Bella’s current packaging designs.

In benchmark testing of the top two concepts, Affinnova learned that both packaging designs were greatly preferred by consumers over Ciao Bella’s current packaging. In fact, the top concept achieved 65% greater appeal to consumers than the current design. Furthermore, both new concepts were also more-preferred by consumers of rival sorbet and gelato companies. Through Affinnova’s research, Ciao Bella was able to decide on a new packaging design that greatly appealed to consumers of competing products while dramatically improving the appeal of its packaging to its loyal customers.

“With Affinnova, we were able to resolve the subjective debate around a package change by objectively incorporating consumer preference to test all of our options,” said Deborah Holt, Vice President of Marketing at Ciao Bella. “We found that both of our top concepts performed equally well, and they outperformed the current package by 65%.”

Affinnova’s IDDEA II innovation platform enables marketers to develop a limitless number of concept variations and then quickly and accurately assess all options. A dynamic evolutionary algorithm engages target consumers in a “survival-of-the-fittest” process that identifies the concepts with the highest market potential from virtually any size test field. Once identified, top concepts can be measured against relevant benchmarks to determine the next step. The process maps each concept on two dimensions – breadth and intensity of appeal – further gauging a product’s potential for success.

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