Connecting Insights to Transformative Design
Client CONAGRA
Project HEALTHY CHOICE
OVERVIEW
Conagra engaged Lextant in the process of turning around the Healthy Choice brand. The goal was simple: deliver a relevant, compelling brand experience to win in market and, in the process, test a new user-centered experience approach to product development.
IMPACT
30%
Growth in all Healthy Choice segments, fueled by Lextant’s insights.
01 THE CHALLENGE
Reinvigorate the Healthy Choice Brand
Conagra Brands’ portfolio of frozen food brands had become stale – losing sales and relevance as consumers’ tastes shifted to more on trend ingredient profiles and healthier options. The organization’s structure and the processes it was using to create and test products was not translating into meaningful innovation and sales. And, the development cycle was taking too long.
02 THE RESPONSE
Setting the table for growth.
Lextant began by developing a deep understanding of consumers’ desired experiences exploring areas around mindful eating, premium experiences, plant based and animal proteins, ingredient profiles, vegetable-only eating and more.
Lextant synthesized the results with proprietary analytics to create a model of the key drivers of the Healthy Choice experience. The team then applied its proprietary Insight Translation process to articulate exactly how the brand needed to look, feel, taste and smell to deliver the consumer’s desired experience.
Equipped with this precise roadmap for brand revitalization, the Conagra team was able to move innovation forward with focus and pace. All stakeholders were aligned on what it would take to deliver accelerating speed to market.
03 THE RESULT
Ongoing Impact & Competitive Advantage
The culmination of this effort was the launch of Healthy Choice Power Bowls, that built on the brand’s legacy equity with innovation centered on consumer desires for a variety of recipes including plant-based proteins, more recognizable, modern ingredients and flavor profiles, easier to use bowls vs traditional trays and more sustainable packaging. A new brand design completed the process signaling change in the market with significant impact:
- Generating sales increases of over 25% for two consecutive years
- Expanding the market for Healthy Choice brand by appealing to millennials who hand not previously engaged with the brand
- Returning the entire Healthy Choice profile to growth through the halo effect of the new brand experience
The longevity of the insights generated with Lextant set the foundation for future, lean innovation. Conagra has used Lextant’s tools to foster a design culture grounded in rigorous behavioral science and an in-depth understanding of ideal experiences that continues to drive Conagra brands beyond incremental growth toward disruptive change.
