Don’t Fall for the Data Dump
Your CPG brand is growing. Distribution is expanding, sales are climbing, and retailers are interested. But continuing to build that momentum brings complexity. It gets harder to see who your customer really is, what’s driving loyalty, and where the brand should go next.
Who should we actually target? Why aren’t we seeing repeat? What do we launch next?
This is where too many CPG brands hit the wall. As much as we love early wins, they don’t always translate into lasting scale.
Our founder Shawn Edwards has seen it all: brands that think they’re scaling but are quietly stalling. Here’s what he’s learned about growing with purpose—and why conducting consumer research is only the starting point.
What Most CPG Founders Get Wrong About Scaling
“It’s not uncommon for a founder to create a product and take it to market with an idea of who that target should be—but they may not have a deep understanding of that person,” Shawn explains.
Oftentimes, CPG founders launch with a loose picture of their consumer (maybe a Millennial mom, probably shops at Target), but they haven’t validated who she really is. What gets her excited. Why she picks one brand over another on a Tuesday afternoon when she’s tired and the kids are cranky.
That gap shows up everywhere: in positioning that doesn’t stick, in products that don’t quite fit, and in performance that plateaus.
We love helping brands meet their actual buyer in the wild—and figure out what makes them tick. Because once you really see them, everything else gets clearer.
The Hidden Risks of a “Healthy” Looking Brand
“You can grow through distribution and velocity, but that doesn’t mean your brand stands for anything,” Shawn explains. “And if your product doesn’t meet expectations or your story doesn’t land, repeat won’t happen.”
A brand can be flying off shelves thanks to channel expansion and good timing. But if it doesn’t mean anything to the consumer, that’s not a foundation. That’s luck with an expiration date.
Here’s what we dig into when a brand looks healthy on paper:
- Do customers actually feel something about the brand?
- Is the product delivering on what it promises?
- Are we solving a real, motivating need—or just filling shelf space?
The biggest CPG brands aren’t just bought—they’re remembered, recommended, and they become part of someone’s routine.
The One Question Most Founders Don’t Ask
“Do we really know who we’re building for?”
Justin’s, a small, growing, (and delicious) natural nut butter brand, didn’t. They were growing fast, but without a real handle on who their customer was or how they actually used the product day to day.
Through a tailored Attitude & Usage study, we identified that Justin’s squeeze packs were a key trial driver—deepening purchase and driving loyalty across the brand. A follow-up quantitative shopping study pinpointed the categories their buyers shop, which Justin’s used to boost squeeze-pack placement at key retailers. The result? A 1% lift in brand penetration within a year, over 90% of which was a direct result of the incremental placement of the squeeze packs. Considering the brand had only 2% penetration to begin with, this is what we’d call huge.
The joy of solving that puzzle together? Watching a brand suddenly have a clear direction instead of just hoping the next product idea would stick.
From Insight to Action: What Actually Moves the Needle
Here’s what happens when research works the way it should:
- It helps you tell a better story. Lily’s started by talking about sugar content. But after our Brand Health Evaluation and Brand Equity Tracking, they shifted to an emotional promise: joy without compromise. That made all the difference—and helped them close a $425M sale to Hershey.
- It guides your innovation roadmap. Yasso was stuck at $50M. Our Consumer Segmentation Study uncovered why people reached for frozen novelties and where better-for-you options could win. That led to years of successful innovation—and an eventual acquisition by Unilever for what’s rumored to be near $800M.
- It shows you how to win now. Not six months from now. Not after a 100-page research deck nobody knows what to do with. Right now.
We’re in it for those moments when everything clicks. When a brand suddenly knows exactly where they’re going and why.
Why DIY Doesn’t Cut It When the Stakes Are High
“Software’s not the problem. It’s the missing context,” Shawn explains.
Look, we get it. DIY tools seem efficient. But when founders use them, they often collect the wrong data—or get the right data but don’t know how to act on it. And when you’re trying to scale? That’s a risk you can’t afford.
We’ve seen DIY lead to misleading signals, lost time, and wasted money. We’ve also been the ones called in to untangle the mess and start over.
There’s a reason we exist: because growth-stage brands need more than software. They need partners who’ve been there before.
If You Do One Thing This Quarter…
Invest in a consumer segmentation study.
Understand your consumer’s behavior, emotions, and expectations on the days when your brand either becomes part of their life—or doesn’t.
This work becomes your foundation for everything: retail conversations, investor pitches, product roadmaps that actually make sense.
And honestly? It’s some of our favorite work to do. There’s nothing quite like watching a client’s face when they finally see their consumer clearly for the first time.
Growth Should Feel Clear, Not Chaotic
You’ve built something people want. Now let’s figure out how to give them more of what they’re actually looking for.
mindsight’s whole job is turning research into a roadmap. You bring the ambition and the hustle. We’ll bring the map and the compass.
Because when you’re building something that matters, guessing isn’t good enough.
Ready to see what’s really possible for your brand?
Let’s have a conversation about where you’re stuck and how the right insights can get you unstuck.
