Impact TL;DR

• Existing customer knowledge became reusable research context. Historical user data and interview samples could inform new studies instead of remaining isolated in past reports.
• Multiple product decisions explored together. Flavor concepts, packaging directions, and the overall proposition could be tested as one connected experience before launch.
• Human testing could start with stronger candidates. Early synthetic research helped the team identify questions, tensions, and promising directions to carry into prototypes, sensory work, and in-market validation.

Our partner

Vitasoy develops beverage products for consumers whose choices are shaped by more than taste alone. The name of a flavor creates an expectation. Packaging signals an occasion, benefit, and level of quality. The product proposition has to fit an existing routine—or give consumers a compelling reason to create a new one.

The company already had valuable knowledge in historical customer data and previous interview samples. The opportunity was to make that knowledge more useful during the earliest stages of product development, when teams still have the freedom to compare and improve different directions.

"iMario helps us understand how consumers may respond to a new product while there is still time to improve it."

Lina Song, Digital Product Manager, Vitasoy

The problem

New beverage development brings several decisions together at once. A flavor concept can be appealing in isolation but inconsistent with the brand. A package can stand out visually but create the wrong expectation about sweetness, ingredients, or usage occasion. A proposition can test well overall while masking very different reactions between consumer groups.

Teams need feedback early, but conventional research often begins after ideas have already been narrowed into a small number of prototypes. That timing makes every test more consequential and leaves less room to explore alternatives.

Vitasoy wanted a way to learn before that point: to use what it already knew about its customers, explore more directions, and identify the questions that deserved deeper human validation.

The partnership: Extending existing insight into the next product decision

iMario enabled the team to ground synthetic consumer studies in Vitasoy's historical user knowledge and interview material. Rather than starting with generic personas, the research could reflect known attitudes, routines, needs, and category language from the audience the business understood.

New product ideas could then be introduced through the same kinds of materials available to the team at an early stage: a concept statement, flavor description, packaging visual, benefit hierarchy, or intended usage occasion.

Synthetic consumers responded individually and explained the reasoning behind their reactions. The team could compare not only which direction generated stronger interest, but also what expectation each idea created, what felt credible, and where the proposition became confusing.

Use-case 1: Testing flavor concepts before sensory prototypes

iMario cannot physically taste a beverage, and synthetic feedback is not a substitute for sensory testing. Its value comes earlier in the process.

Before a formulation is finalized, flavor names and descriptions already carry meaning. They suggest sweetness, intensity, familiarity, healthfulness, and the occasion in which the product belongs. Synthetic consumers can react to those signals and reveal whether the concept creates anticipation or hesitation.

For Vitasoy, this made it possible to explore how different audience profiles interpreted potential flavor directions, what they expected the product to taste like, and which language made an idea feel distinctive or credible. Those reactions could help the team prioritize the concepts worth turning into physical prototypes and define what subsequent sensory research needed to test.

The result was a clearer bridge between an idea on a page and the human tasting work required before launch.

Use-case 2: Understanding what the packaging promises

Packaging is often the consumer's first encounter with a new beverage. Before anyone can judge the product itself, the package has already communicated who it is for, what it might taste like, and why it deserves attention.

Vitasoy could place alternative packaging directions in front of synthetic consumers and explore several layers of response. What did they notice first? What flavor and benefit did they infer? Did the design feel consistent with the intended positioning? Would they recognize the product quickly enough in a busy retail or digital environment?

Because the interviews captured explanations rather than a single preference score, the team could separate visual appeal from communication clarity. A design might be attractive but create the wrong product expectation. Another might communicate the category clearly but fail to offer a reason to switch.

Those distinctions helped turn packaging feedback into specific design questions instead of a subjective vote.

"By grounding synthetic consumers in what we already know, iMario gives us a faster way to explore flavors, packaging, and product ideas before launch."

Lina Song

Use-case 3: Seeing which product works for whom—and why

An average response can hide the most important product signal. A concept that divides opinion may be weak, or it may be highly relevant to a specific audience whose needs are not visible in the total.

iMario allowed Vitasoy to compare reactions across different consumer profiles while preserving the individual reasoning behind each answer. The team could explore who saw a product as part of a daily routine, who treated it as an occasional choice, and who rejected it because the proposition conflicted with their expectations.

This helped move the discussion from “Does the market like it?” to more decision-ready questions: Which consumer is this idea for? What job does it perform for them? What would prevent trial? Which message or design cue could address that barrier?

Earlier learning, more focused validation

The partnership did not remove the need for product prototypes, sensory panels, or research with real customers. It made those investments more focused.

By using existing customer knowledge to explore new ideas with synthetic consumers, Vitasoy could identify promising directions and potential problems sooner. The product team could arrive at human testing with clearer hypotheses, better stimulus, and a stronger understanding of where the most consequential uncertainties remained.

Related: what synthetic individuals are, a pre-launch packaging and pricing study, how iMario research reports are built.