In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of twenty of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Under the terms of the Nestlé acquisition, each of the purchased confectionery brands was permitted to use the Nestlé parent brand name for one year after the close of the sale. After that time, the Nestlé Crunch Bar would be rebranded with the Ferrara parent brand (i.e., Ferrara Crunch Bar). As the Nestlé Crunch Bar brand transitioned to its new owners, it was time for some serious brand analysis to assess the brand equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar and plot a course for its future growth. How strong/weak was the brand? What were its sources of brand equity that could be leveraged in brand storytelling? Which types of messages might attract new consumers to the brand and what might work to cause infrequent users to purchase more often? Did the product itself need to be changed? Were there brand extension possibilities? Luckily, an old consumer research study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar conducted by Professor Gerald Zaltman was found on the shelves at Harvard Business School. The study used an innovative market research methodology developed by Professor Zaltman, the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), which had proven to be useful to brand managers hoping to better assess and understand their brands. The research methodology and raw data from Professor Zaltman's ZMET study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar are presented in the original case as tools to help students assess and understand the brand equity of the Nestlé Crunch Bar and map its future strategic course. In this (B) case, the data from the study is analyzed and an executive summary of the results is presented.

In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of twenty of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Under the terms of the Nestlé acquisition, each of the purchased confectionery brands was permitted to use the Nestlé parent brand name for one year after the close of the sale. After that time, the Nestlé Crunch Bar would be rebranded as Crunch Bar with an endorsement from its new parent brand, Ferrara Candy Company, a division of Ferrero SpA. As the Nestlé Crunch Bar brand transitioned to its new owners, it was time for some serious brand analysis to assess its brand equity and plot a course for its future growth. How strong/weak was the brand? What were its sources of brand equity that could be leveraged in brand storytelling? Which types of messages might attract new consumers to the brand and what might work to cause infrequent users to purchase more often? Did the product itself need to be changed? Were there brand extension possibilities? Luckily, an old consumer research study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar conducted by Professor Gerald Zaltman was found on the shelves at Harvard Business School. The study used an innovative market research methodology developed by Professor Zaltman, the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), which had proven to be useful to brand managers hoping to better assess and understand their brands. The research methodology and raw data from Professor Zaltman's ZMET study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar are presented in the case as tools to help students assess and understand the brand equity of the Nestlé Crunch Bar and map its future strategic course.

Is our memory involved in the development of new insights? If so, in what ways? In this article the author attempts to connect the dots between memory and insight -- two thought processes that are normally treated independently. In so doing, he shows that the connecting thread among the dots involves the 'making of meaning', and that the needle for weaving the connecting thread is the concept of co-creation. A better understanding of this, he argues, can deepen our knowledge about consumer behavior and improve research methods and marketing practice.

Tibal Fisher made a fortune selling trendy, inexpensive home furnishings to baby boomers. With that generation beginning to enter its sixties, he sees a huge opportunity in products for aging consumers. Focus groups and surveys confirm strong market demand for such items, and the media love the idea. So why is TF's NextStage, his new line of stores for older consumers, a disaster? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0807A and R0807Z. Donna J. Sturgess, global head of innovation for GlaxoSmithKline, thinks Tibal's research missed the subconscious associations in customers' minds-the deep metaphors that reveal people's true feelings about products. The solution: Find ways to generate positive emotional associations, as GSK has done with its weight-loss product. Alex Lee, president of household-products maker OXO International, says consumers are attracted by brands they associate with the type of people they'd like to be-not the type they are. TF's NextStage must avoid trying to get customers to "act their age" and using labels and positioning that call attention to their senior status. Yoshinori Fujikawa, a professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, says certain businesses-those led by executives with a talent for sensing what their customers want-can forgo deep research into customers' feelings, at least in the short term. But over the long term, firms need to have an organizational capability to create a systematic method for discovering what's going on in customers' minds. Lewis Carbone, CEO of market research firm Experience Engineering, points out that customers often are unable to articulate their deepest feelings. That's why companies need to go to the trouble to work with them one-on-one to find out what's driving them toward-or away from-a brand.

Tibal Fisher made a fortune selling trendy, inexpensive home furnishings to baby boomers. With that generation beginning to enter its sixties, he sees a huge opportunity in products for aging consumers. Focus groups and surveys confirm strong market demand for such items, and the media love the idea. So why is TF's NextStage, his new line of stores for older consumers, a disaster? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0807A and R0807Z. Donna J. Sturgess, global head of innovation for GlaxoSmithKline, thinks Tibal's research missed the subconscious associations in customers' minds-the deep metaphors that reveal people's true feelings about products. The solution: Find ways to generate positive emotional associations, as GSK has done with its weight-loss product. Alex Lee, president of household-products maker OXO International, says consumers are attracted by brands they associate with the type of people they'd like to be-not the type they are. TF's NextStage must avoid trying to get customers to "act their age" and using labels and positioning that call attention to their senior status. Yoshinori Fujikawa, a professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, says certain businesses-those led by executives with a talent for sensing what their customers want-can forgo deep research into customers' feelings, at least in the short term. But over the long term, firms need to have an organizational capability to create a systematic method for discovering what's going on in customers' minds. Lewis Carbone, CEO of market research firm Experience Engineering, points out that customers often are unable to articulate their deepest feelings. That's why companies need to go to the trouble to work with them one-on-one to find out what's driving them toward-or away from-a brand.

Tibal Fisher made a fortune selling trendy, inexpensive home furnishings to baby boomers. With that generation beginning to enter its sixties, he sees a huge opportunity in products for aging consumers. Focus groups and surveys confirm strong market demand for such items, and the media love the idea. So why is TF's NextStage, his new line of stores for older consumers, a disaster? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0807A and R0807Z. Donna J. Sturgess, global head of innovation for GlaxoSmithKline, thinks Tibal's research missed the subconscious associations in customers' minds-the deep metaphors that reveal people's true feelings about products. The solution: Find ways to generate positive emotional associations, as GSK has done with its weight-loss product. Alex Lee, president of household-products maker OXO International, says consumers are attracted by brands they associate with the type of people they'd like to be-not the type they are. TF's NextStage must avoid trying to get customers to "act their age" and using labels and positioning that call attention to their senior status. Yoshinori Fujikawa, a professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, says certain businesses-those led by executives with a talent for sensing what their customers want-can forgo deep research into customers' feelings, at least in the short term. But over the long term, firms need to have an organizational capability to create a systematic method for discovering what's going on in customers' minds. Lewis Carbone, CEO of market research firm Experience Engineering, points out that customers often are unable to articulate their deepest feelings. That's why companies need to go to the trouble to work with them one-on-one to find out what's driving them toward-or away from-a brand.

What do your customers really think? Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman discusses his novel market-research method for revealing consumers' unconscious thoughts about everything from fabric sprays to the Internet.

An important distinction is drawn in psychology between explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to consciously held beliefs about an individual or object that often draws on the remembering of experiences in the past. In contrast, implicit knowledge refers to the cognitive associations a consumer holds between two constructs that exist outside his or her conscious awareness. Although it is possible that explicit and implicit knowledge correspond, the exciting opportunity for marketers is that often there is a discrepancy; that is, what a consumer believes explicitly may have no bearing on his or her actual behavior.

Summarizes selected research on music and its impact on mood and shopping behavior, and its impact on the communication of ideas.

In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of twenty of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Under the terms of the Nestlé acquisition, each of the purchased confectionery brands was permitted to use the Nestlé parent brand name for one year after the close of the sale. After that time, the Nestlé Crunch Bar would be rebranded with the Ferrara parent brand (i.e., Ferrara Crunch Bar). As the Nestlé Crunch Bar brand transitioned to its new owners, it was time for some serious brand analysis to assess the brand equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar and plot a course for its future growth. How strong/weak was the brand? What were its sources of brand equity that could be leveraged in brand storytelling? Which types of messages might attract new consumers to the brand and what might work to cause infrequent users to purchase more often? Did the product itself need to be changed? Were there brand extension possibilities? Luckily, an old consumer research study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar conducted by Professor Gerald Zaltman was found on the shelves at Harvard Business School. The study used an innovative market research methodology developed by Professor Zaltman, the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), which had proven to be useful to brand managers hoping to better assess and understand their brands. The research methodology and raw data from Professor Zaltman's ZMET study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar are presented in the case tools to help students assess and understand the brand equity of the Nestlé Crunch Bar and map its future strategic course.

The steps in the ZMET interview are listed and defined as well as information on using the data.