Consumer Insights in Real Time: How Rapid Hypothesis Testing Unlocks Growth
“Customer perception is reality.”
This timeless truth in marketing has never been more relevant for skincare brands. In an industry defined by fierce competition and ever-evolving consumer expectations, success requires more than just exceptional products.
Brands must align with the values of today’s consumers, with performance being paramount, while balancing critical, socially conscious values such as clean labels, natural ingredients, and brand practices surrounding sustainability, eco-friendliness, and cruelty-free practices.
Brands must align with the values of today’s consumers, with performance being paramount, while balancing critical, socially conscious values such as clean labels, natural ingredients, and brand practices surrounding sustainability, eco-friendliness, and cruelty-free practices.
Nicholas, the VP of Marketing at a prominent skincare company, grappled with this challenge firsthand. Once lauded for its innovation leadership, his company found itself losing relevance among younger consumers.
The missing ingredient? Clear and compelling communication regarding their brand’s superior performance and commitment to clean-label formulations.
Stuck in Analysis Paralysis: Struggle to Bridge the Gap Between Consumer Insights and Action
Nicholas’s brand had built a loyal following and enjoyed rapid growth. Yet, over the past year, sales slowed dramatically, and customer feedback pointed to growing sentiments of dissatisfaction.
Customers increasingly demanded transparency in the products they are using. However, Nicholas’s team failed to adapt. Promising product concepts failed in development, and marketing campaigns fell flat. The lack of progress frustrated the team, who felt paralyzed by data overload and indecision.
The consequences were mounting.
Missed growth opportunities and a failure to address shifting values left the company adrift, with its innovative edge dulled. For Nicholas, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Reclaiming their leadership required a bold pivot toward clarity.
Outpaced and Outshined by Sustainability-Driven Competitors
The breaking point came when competitors launched several products in the heart of the team’s category, each claiming a different piece of the eco-puzzle: one vegan skincare line with sustainable packaging, and another brand lauding their commitment to being cruelty-free. The competitors’ marketing campaigns struck a chord with socially conscious consumers, leveraging influencers and viral content to amplify their message.
Within weeks, the competitor’s products flew off shelves and increased their presence on Amazon, their sales also skyrocketed as they captured a previously untapped market segment.
The buzz around the launches was impossible to ignore—everywhere Nicholas turned, there were mentions of the rival brands, glowing reviews, and social media influencers singing their praises.
The fallout for Nicholas’s brand was two-fold: declining sales and a demoralized team. The huge financial loss was compounded by a growing sense of insecurity among employees, who doubted the brand’s ability to compete. They suddenly found themselves in a 3-horse race in a highly fragmented market.
Executive leadership, frustrated by the growing stagnation, considered slashing budgets for research and development—a move that could have sealed the company’s fate.
For Nicholas, this was a wake-up call. The company’s legacy was at stake, and the perceptual gap between them and their competitors was growing wider by the day.
He realized there’s a stagnation triggered by overanalyzing data and chasing the illusion of a perfect strategy. If they did not break free, the company’s identity as an industry innovator and leader would slip away.
He realized there’s a stagnation triggered by over analyzing data and chasing the illusion of a perfect strategy. If they did not break free, the company’s identity as an industry leader would slip away.
It was now or never—Nicholas knew he had to act, and act decisively, to reignite the spark that had once driven their success. To stay relevant, the company needed to demonstrate better alignment of its products with the values of eco-conscious consumers and reignite its connection with the market.
How Three Weeks of Rapid Hypothesis Testing Ignited Nicholas’s Brand Revival
While struggling with missed market opportunities, Nicholas discovered a CURVEJUMPER webinar where CEO Brian Myers highlighted a common issue: overanalyzing consumer insights for perfect growth strategies often leads to inaction, wasting time, and growth stagnation. This was something Nicholas could easily relate to as he was also suffering from the same problem.
CEO Brian Myers highlighted a common issue: overanalyzing data for perfect insights or strategies often leads to inaction, wasting time and stalling growth.
When Nicholas was introduced to CURVEJUMPER’s rapid hypothesis-testing methodology, he got a fresh perspective.
Skeptic, but still hopeful, Nicholas approached CURVEJUMPER. During the first meeting, CURVEJUMPER introduced Nicholas with their 3-week plan of engagement as part of their growth strategy consulting.
Nicholas approached CURVEJUMPER. During the first meeting, CURVEJUMPER introduced Nicholas with their 3- weeks plan of engagement.
Nicholas learned that instead of relying only on backward-looking, lengthy and dated analyses, CURVEJUMPER focuses on rapidly processing data to form strategic, common sense hypotheses about target consumer needs, and consumer behaviors, and then translate these needs into data-centric criteria to clarify, without a doubt, who the business values as a target consumer.
From these needs and consumer priorities, the CURVEJUMPER team rapidly creates ideas and renders them for evaluation, testing them alongside competitor products with real consumers, and using insights to drive immediate action.
In just three weeks, CURVEJUMPER outlined and executed a plan to get consumer insights and transform the businesses from insights to action, using timeless principles of segmentation, targeting, and brand positioning – but doing it with agility.
Through agile yet comprehensive intimacy sessions, using ethnographic methods, CURVEJUMPER defines optimal targets, sparks innovation with actionable ideas, revitalizes brands by addressing stagnation, and crafts compelling, segment-specific concepts and messages to fuel growth.
Through the process, Nicholas and his team gained actionable insights and identified three critical factors that would increase its market acceptance.
Younger consumers increasingly prioritize brands offering sustainable, clean-label, environmentally responsible products, and Nicholas’s company was clearly lacking this. As a result, he failed to align with values that competitors were tapping in.
A significant segment of customers demonstrated a willingness to pay a premium for product lines made with natural ingredients, provided it delivered both quality and exclusivity.
Today, consumers have shifted toward self-care and wellness, seeking products that not only enhance appearance but also contribute to mental and physical well-being. This is what Nicholas’s brand initially struggled to embrace in its marketing.
Additionally, the company faced hurdles adapting to digital engagements beyond the storefront. Younger consumers gravitated toward online shopping and were heavily influenced by social media and influencer endorsements. The company’s reliance on traditional marketing methods, made it less appealing compared to the more dynamic, digital-first campaigns of its competitors.
Armed with these comprehensive consumer insights, Nicholas’s team was able to craft a targeted growth strategy, driving innovation, aligning the brand with market demands, and ultimately fueling their path to renewed growth. His team quickly developed three prototypes based on these insights and tested them with consumers. The results were decisive: the skincare brand had the strongest appeal, and their clarity of clean label ingredients emerged as a key driver of interest and brand loyalty.
Over a period of time, Nicholas’s brand gained momentum:
Accelerated growth 3x faster
Competitive Agility
Evolution toward a rolling 18-month product pipeline
From Stagnation to Transformation: The Renewed Growth
In the following months, Nicholas’s team launched a revitalized line featuring clean labels, naturally sourced products that drive stellar skincare performance in eco-friendly packaging. The campaign focused on clarity, wellness, and performance—key drivers of the rapid testing process.
The results were remarkable:
A 25% increase in sales within six months.
Positive customer feedback praising the brand's alignment with their values.
Renewed confidence and morale among the marketing team.
Nicholas’s decision to embrace rapid hypothesis testing not only reignited growth but also established a culture of agility and innovation. He proved that actionable insights, gained quickly and acted upon decisively, could make all the difference in a competitive landscape.
As a strategic consultant, CURVEJUMPER delivered:
Customized Services without unnecessary add-ons
3x faster outcomes at 70% lower cost
Deep expertise in working with 50+ lifestyle brands
Agile consulting methodology
For Nicholas and his team, this wasn’t just a victory—it was a turning point, demonstrating the power of real-time consumer insights with hypothesis testing and unlocking business growth.
Unlock Consumer Insights in Real-Time with Rapid Hypotheses Testing!
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Brian Myers
Founder and CEO of CURVEJUMPER
Brian Myers is the Founder and CEO of CURVEJUMPER Growth Foundry who has specialized in Growth Acceleration, Business Design, World Class Marketing, Brand Management, Innovation, Design, and Growth Strategy for over 25 years. Brian has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, serves on the Kellogg Advisory Council, and is a prior SMD / Practice Leader for Accenture, Partner with Prophet, and General Manager / Brand Manager with SC Johnson and Son.