the case for expecting an error*

Lessons on Choice Architecture. Pampers, India.

The Issue at Hand? Despite product superiority and more than five times the media spends of its main competitor, and a higher number of well-tested pieces of communication, Pampers, the market leading in diapers, registered decline in sales and a slower growth than its key competitors in India. A systems approach auditing all available information showed that high awareness scores for Pampers, was not being translated to high enough sales in store. It was as though, all the effort made by Pampers in driving awareness and consideration was being brought to a naught. The task at hand, was to Drive Positive Engagement and Conversion in store.

The Opportunity? Using principles of Choice Architecture, and through a deep observation and understanding of the consumer and all her context cues, we identified different sources of barriers, that when overcome, could help create the change needed.
 
Who’s the Shopper?  
While all communication in media targeted was towards the mom, the actual shopper especially in tier 2 and 3 cities in India, was, in fact, the dad. Also, these dads came to the store, more often than not, on two wheelers. And even if they came to the shop with Pampers on their shopping list, they left with a Mammy Poko or a Huggies (competitor brand) because a pack of Pampers was hard to carry & transport on a two-wheeler while both Mammy Poko and Huggies had big plastic carry handles that they could use to secure the product to their two wheelers. Recommendation included a change in packaging that allowed the pack to be carried easily on two wheelers.
 
Pads and Diapers! Not Same, Same! 
Pampers and Whisper (fem care) were placed in the same aisles in store, stacked next to each other. Their packaging used the same color palette –blue and white. Dads would come into the shop with Pampers on their shopping list but on seeing it placed next to the sanitary pads would change their choice at the POS & go for a visibly different brand - the orange colored Mammy Poko or Huggies rather than risk the embarrassment of being seen standing next to a fem care product. Recommendation included clearly separating the fem care products from baby care products and influencing choice through differentiated color and visual cues, and a differentiated in store display.

Visuals Override Words. 
Superior much? In order to indicate superior absorbency, Pampers packaging showed 6 cups of water being poured into the diaper at one go, while Huggies showed 1 cup of water being poured with a sign that showed it being multiplied 5 times ( 1 glass X 5). Consumer reaction to the Pampers? “No one pees so much. Which child pees 6 glasses at one go? Unbelievable! The diaper must be so thick and uncomfortable. I don’t need a diaper to absorb so much”  Whereas the reaction to Huggies? “My child pees about a cup every time. So yeah, that amount of pee being shown is just right, Also s/he pees about 5-6 times during the day. This feels right for me”. Recommendation included changing the language around superior absorbency visually communicating absorbency through better cues.

Too Expensive! In crowded retail environments, and within the context of other brands communicating price, Pampers appeared more expensive because of the way information was visually communicated, leading people to switch their choice in store. At Rs 560 for a pack, Pampers appeared much more expensive than Rs. 475 a pack for Huggies, except that the fine print shows Pampers having 30 diapers, while Huggies had 24 in the pack – making it actually more expensive than Pampers. Recommendation included presenting price information in a way that communicated the price parity with clarity & the discounts available in a manner that enabled easy comparisons.

Benefit communication A key consideration in choosing diapers was in the words of moms, “its ability to allow air to pass through” and “for it to be as elastic and flexible as underwear”. Recommendations included highlighting these two benefits with visual cues in packaging & through reiterating it across supporting print material.
 
Reducing Attribution Confusion.
Simplifying Brand Architecture in Store to help consumer pick the right SKU’s through visual demarcation of an age – stage approach. 
Driving Complementarity. A key problem that new parents face is getting the little ones to sleep undisturbed through the night. Pampers equity & strategy linked the product superiority to a night of undisturbed sleep but online & in store environment did little to bring the equity to life. Recommendation included putting Pampers next to bath time products and bundling them together with massage oils and lullaby music in supermarkets. An equity driving nudge in store.
 
Nudging through Connections that Matter. 
The prevalent situation was that most of the media spends for Pampers was on TV, and almost all the digital spends were on promotions and discounts. The reality of moms indicated a different need, however. Observing moms as they navigated their day, we saw that they ‘caught’ TV rather than watched TV, and used TV more as a radio than a visual medium, pointing to the importance of auditory cues. 
Also, Mobile was to them, the Modern Day Pacifier - the one device they needed to manage their child, as they craved for content to keep their child meaningfully occupied, especially when in any kind of transit and to provide inspiration on things to do with her child. Recommendations included diverting investments to mobile content that mom could use to choreograph fun times with her child.
 
And the Result? Through mindfulness of the actual user experience, various nudges were inserted across the consumer journey. Also, context and content cues were used to help influence people’s choice of the brand. These nudges drove significant changes in people’s behavior. The high awareness that Pampers enjoyed, now, translated into high engagement scores and healthy conversion at the POS & without an increase in marketing budgets, and helped reinstate Pampers back to the strong leadership position in India.
 
*‘Expecting Error’ is a key feature of choice architecture. Translated to the world of marketing and branding, this means paying disproportionate attention to all the cues that drive receptivity, to all the interactions that influence choices, right up to the last mile, to the in store experience, to all the cues emanating from the brand, including packaging - to help people navigate their choices, and drive conversion with simplicity & ethics. And, through all of it, being cognizant of the fact that Choice Architecture is not about ‘acting’ only in the interest of the brand, but also about acting in the interest of the people that the brand wants to super serve.