Michelle Niedziela
Scientific Director of HCD Research, Flemington, USA

Recently, I was in a client meeting, reviewing consumer behavioral data from a recent study on a personal care product. The conversation turned to how to use the new data to develop new claims. The client team brought up a few approved claims from another study they’d performed to see if the new data could somehow add to or fit in with the current claims.

As we read over the previous claims, one of the attendees said, “you know, these claims look really familiar.” And she took to Googling the phrases used in the claim. “Wow, our claims sound exactly like these claims for dog food.” And as we dug even further, it became clear that the more optimized a claim became after testing, the less of a product differentiator it seemed. All of the claims in the category sounded the same.

“All natural ingredients.”

“Made with real XYZ.”

How does that happen? How does a claim developed and tested for a personal care product end up sounding nearly exactly the same as a claim made for dog food? Further, if all products claims are optimized in the same way, how can you differentiate your product with these clai ...