More than nine in 10 (91%) people surveyed would like to vote on what they want to see in a new food product before it launches, according to new audience data from Twisted Labs, part of Jungle Creations, which has launched a new proposition designed to bring social intelligence earlier into the product development process.
More than two thirds (69%) have also seen a good idea online and thought a supermarket brand should make it, suggesting audiences are already looking to social as a source of product inspiration, rather than simply somewhere to discover products that already exist.
In response, Twisted Labs has launched Social to Shelf, a new proposition designed to help brands use social intelligence earlier in product development. It helps brands identify areas of consumer demand, test ideas in the real world and understand which opportunities have the potential to translate into viable products.
The launch reflects Twisted Labs’ belief that social should play a role in shaping products, not simply marketing them once they have been created. The ideas people engage with, recipes they save, conversations they participate in and products they buy can provide valuable signals about what audiences want before a product reaches the shelf.
Rather than treating social primarily as a channel for marketing products once they have been developed, Social to Shelf brings it much earlier into the process. Twisted Labs analyses audience behaviour and cultural signals to distinguish short-lived trends from areas of sustained interest, before using real-world purchase behaviour to test whether that interest can translate into genuine demand.
Mallory Simmonds, CEO of Jungle Creations, said: “For years, the conversation around social has understandably focused on how brands leverage it to influence what people consume. But there’s a broader opportunity to listen to what audiences are telling us about what they actually want brands to make.
“People are constantly sharing ideas, adapting recipes and responding to new concepts online. Analysis of those behaviours can tell food brands a huge amount about where demand is heading.
“The Social to Shelf concept is about connecting those signals to real-world behaviour, helping brands make informed investments in product development and maximise the marketing and revenue impact of that innovation.”
Further data from YouGov Profiles demonstrates how beha
The approach reflects what Twisted Labs describes as URL to IRL: using social behaviour to identify potential demand, taking ideas beyond the feed to test them with real consumers, and using purchase behaviour to understand whether an opportunity has the potential to scale towards retail.
The launch is supported by Social to Shelf: How social media became the world’s biggest R&D lab, a new paper from Twisted Labs exploring the changing relationship between social, consumer demand and product development. It includes further insight into how brands can distinguish short-lived trends from longer-term opportunities, what established businesses can learn from creator-led product development and how social intelligence can be connected to real-world purchasing behaviour.
