The Challenge

A leading bank in the UAE wanted to gain a deeper understanding of its brand equity in a competitive market. The objective was to assess how the brand was perceived by both its customers and those of competing banks, while identifying opportunities to strengthen its market position and enhance customer preference.

Our Approach

We conducted a comprehensive brand equity study using a mixed-method approach. This included qualitative focus groups to explore perceptions, expectations and emotional associations, followed by a large quantitative survey to validate findings and benchmark the brand against key competitors across a broader customer base.

The Impact

The study provided a holistic view of the bank's brand equity, highlighting its competitive strengths and identifying opportunities to further strengthen its positioning. By uncovering the key drivers of customer perception and preference, the research equipped the client with a clear evidence base to refine its brand strategy, reinforce its points of differentiation, and prioritise initiatives to enhance its competitive advantage.

The Challenge

A leading cinema chain was preparing for a major brand transformation and wanted to establish a clear understanding of its existing brand equity before redefining its visual identity and customer experience. The objective was to understand how consumers perceived the brand and identify the moments across the cinema journey that were shaping those perceptions.

Our Approach

We conducted a series of focus group discussions with patrons of the cinema chain as well as those of competing brands. We assessed brand familiarity, emotional associations, brand imagery and competitive positioning. Alongside this, we mapped customer journey and explored every stage of the cinema experience, from ticket booking and arrival at the venue to concessions, the movie experience and departure.

The Impact

The research provided the client with a comprehensive baseline of its brand equity and identified the experience touchpoints that had the greatest influence in shaping customer perceptions. By uncovering the moments that delighted customers as well as those that created friction, the study helped prioritise improvements to the overall cinema experience while informing the development of a refreshed brand strategy. The findings ensured that the rebrand was built on an experience that better reflected customer expectations and strengthened long-term brand affinity.

The Challenge

One of India's largest conglomerates sought to evaluate its brand equity within the infrastructure sector. The objective was to understand how the brand was perceived by key stakeholders, assess its competitive standing, and identify opportunities to strengthen its market positioning in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Our Approach

We adopted a mixed-method research approach, combining qualitative in-depth interviews with quantitative online surveys among key stakeholders across the infrastructure ecosystem across the length and breadth of the country. The study explored brand awareness, perceptions, associations, competitive positioning, decision drivers, and the attributes that influenced stakeholder confidence and preference.

The Impact

The research provided a comprehensive assessment of the brand's equity and competitive position within the infrastructure sector. It identified the brand's strongest differentiators, uncovered perception gaps that were limiting its competitive advantage, and highlighted the areas requiring strategic attention. The findings enabled the client to prioritise key issues affecting stakeholder perceptions, refine its brand positioning, and develop a communication strategy that amplified its unique strengths while addressing areas of concern.

The Challenge

A UAE bank commissioned a mixed-method research study to evaluate the financial literacy, cybersecurity and fraud awareness, financial needs, and effectiveness of the bank's financial education initiatives, communications, and key banking products (salary accounts, savings plans, and youth accounts) among UAE residents, with overall awareness currently at 65% and opportunities for further improvement.

The study covered four key groups: the general public, senior citizens, single mothers and people of determination.

Our Approach

The research combined focus groups, in-depth interviews and quantitative surveys with customers of the bank as well as customers of competing banks.

The study established baseline levels of financial knowledge, identified gaps in existing education and support, and evaluated how effectively the bank’s initiatives and communications were addressing the needs of each segment.

The Impact

The research provided clear recommendations on the financial and cybersecurity topics requiring greater attention, the most effective communication channels and learning formats for each audience, and opportunities for the bank to strengthen its services, educational initiatives and customer engagement.

The Challenge

Two major banks in the UAE were preparing to merge, creating a new entity with the potential to significantly alter the competitive banking landscape. A competing bank wanted to understand what the merger could mean for its own customers and market position.

The key questions were how the equity of the two merging banks might combine in the new entity, what strengths the new bank could inherit, where potential vulnerabilities might emerge, and whether the merger could influence customers of competing banks to reconsider their existing banking relationships.

Our Approach

We conducted a series of focus group discussions with mass, emerging affluent and affluent banking customers in the UAE, including customers of the two merging banks as well as customers of competing institutions.

We explored perceptions and equity of both merging banks, the associations and strengths each brought to the new entity, and how these were likely to translate into perceptions of the merged brand. We also examined potential areas of concern arising from the merger and assessed how the creation of a larger, merged entity could affect consideration, loyalty and switching behaviour among customers of competing banks.

The Impact

The research gave the client an early view of the competitive threat posed by the merger and identified the aspects of the combined brand equity most likely to strengthen the new entity’s appeal.

At the same time, it highlighted potential vulnerabilities and customer concerns that could create opportunities for competing banks. By understanding which customer segments were most likely to be influenced by the merger, and what might prompt them to reconsider their existing banking relationships, the study helped the client anticipate shifts in the market and identify where it needed to defend, reinforce or differentiate its own proposition.

The Challenge

We partnered with an international bank in the UAE to conduct a continuous brand tracking study for them. The client sought a robust understanding of how its brand was evolving over time, the effectiveness of its marketing investments, and its performance relative to key competitors across diverse customer segments.

Our Approach

We designed and executed a Quantitative brand tracking programme using Quantitative interviews with mass, emerging affluent and affluent banking customers across multiple nationalities. The study benchmarked the bank against its competitive set, tracking key brand metrics including awareness, consideration, usage, recommendation and advocacy. In addition, we evaluated the impact of advertising campaigns, sponsorships and other brand-building initiatives to understand their contribution to overall brand equity.

The Impact

The programme became an integral part of the bank's strategic planning process, providing a consistent view of brand performance and competitive movement over time. By tracking shifts in customer perceptions and measuring the effectiveness of marketing initiatives, the research enabled the client to optimise its communications, strengthen brand positioning and make informed, evidence-based decisions that supported long-term brand growth.

The Challenge

A leading milk brand in Ethiopia wanted a robust way to monitor the strength of its brand over time and understand how it was performing within a competitive market. The client needed to assess how consumers were progressing through the brand funnel, from awareness to advocacy; while also understanding the perception and image of the brand vs. competitors. In parallel, it wanted to evaluate whether its advertising campaign was cutting through and contributing positively to brand perceptions.

Our Approach

We designed and conducted a large-scale quantitative brand tracking study through the length and breadth of Ethiopia, measuring the client brand alongside key competitors across the full consumer decision journey. The tracker assessed awareness, familiarity, consideration, usage and advocacy, together with perceptions of the brand across a range of image and equity attributes. This provided a clear view of where the brand was strong, where it was losing consumers through the funnel, and how its positioning compared with the competitive repertoire. Alongside brand health, we measured advertising awareness and campaign effectiveness, examining campaign recognition, message take-out and the extent to which the communication was reinforcing the intended brand associations.

The Impact

The tracker gave the client an ongoing, evidence-based view of both brand performance and communication effectiveness within the Ethiopian milk market. By connecting movement across the brand funnel with shifts in brand imagery and advertising response, the study helped identify the areas where the brand was building momentum and where greater focus was required. The findings provided clear direction for strengthening brand positioning, improving campaign effectiveness and tracking whether marketing investments were translating into stronger consideration, usage and advocacy over time.

The Challenge

A global hair care solution provider was planning its entry into the UAE. Before launching, they needed to get a real handle on consumers who experienced severe hair fall, what they cared about most, how they could position their offering for a diverse, multicultural audience.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative research employing multiple focus groups and In-depth Interviews with UAE residents, mix of Arab, Asian and Western ethnicities who were struggling with severe hair fall. These sessions decoded the emotional fallout that consumers were dealing with, ways and means they used to tackle the situation currently, their frustrations with existing solutions, and what they needed / expected from an effective hair fall treatment.

The Impact

The client received a clear, ground-level view of how different cultural groups perceived and dealt with hair fall and what solutions were most compelling for them. By highlighting these distinct needs and expectations, the research helped the brand fine-tune its market entry plan, product lineup for launch and tailor it’s messaging to align with regional expectations, ultimately strengthening its potential for success in a competitive market.

The Challenge

A digital bank was planning to enter the UAE market as a fully digital, app-only provider with no physical branches. They needed to understand what different consumer segments, spanning young professionals, older adults, men, and women, sought from an online-only banking experience. Crucially, they also needed to gauge how UAE residents would perceive a new foreign digital player, particularly when it came to institutional reputation, and brand trust.

Our Approach

We designed and carried out a targeted qualitative research study exclusively featuring expats living across the UAE, including users of competing banking platforms and conventional banks to uncover critical service gaps in the market. Through a series of focus groups split across various demographic segments, we explored what consumers valued most in digital banking. The discussions elicited daily financial habits, needs and expectations from mobile banking features, and openness to consider dealing with a new entrant with no physical branches or existing bank backing it.

The Impact

The research provided the client with a clear roadmap for their UAE launch, helping them tailor their digital offering to meet the exact financial habits of consumers. By identifying key gaps in the existing options, the study equipped the bank to refine its value proposition, build credibility, and design a market entry strategy that resonated with diverse user groups in the region.

The Challenge

A leading dairy brand wanted to build a deeper understanding of how jar cheese fits into the everyday lives of consumers in Iraq. Beyond measuring consumption, the study needed to uncover the habits, practices and attitudes that shaped category usage especially, when and how jar cheese was consumed, who in the household used it, the occasions and meals it featured in, how it was incorporated into recipes, and the role it played within the wider household diet. The client also wanted to understand what consumers expected from jar cheese, the cues they used to assess quality, and how these behaviours and expectations differed across socio-demographic groups.

Our Approach

We conducted a comprehensive Usage & Attitude study combining qualitative focus group discussions with face-to-face quantitative interviews.

The research explored the full repertoire of category behaviour, including consumption frequency, occasions, serving practices, recipe usage, household preferences and the role of jar cheese alongside other food and cheese products. We also examined consumers’ attitudes towards the category, their expectations of an ideal product, and the sensory and functional cues they associated with quality. The quantitative phase enabled us to size and compare these behaviours and attitudes across different consumer and socio-demographic groups, providing a robust view of both established habits and emerging opportunities.

The Impact

The study gave the client a detailed picture of how jar cheese was used, experienced and evaluated in Iraqi households. It identified the consumption occasions and practices that were most important to the category, as well as the product attributes and quality cues that mattered most to consumers. By connecting everyday usage behaviours with underlying attitudes and expectations, the findings helped the brand identify opportunities to refine its product proposition, packaging and communication around the way consumers genuinely used the category; strengthening its relevance within local households and informing future growth opportunities.

The Challenge

A major dairy brand wanted to understand how powder milk was consumed in Ethiopia and the role it played within everyday household routines. The study aimed to uncover the occasions that drove consumption, the ways powder milk was prepared and incorporated into meals besides being consumed as milk, and the needs it fulfilled for different family members. The client also wanted to understand the product cues consumers relied on when choosing between brands, including expectations around taste, texture, solubility, packaging and pack size.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative focus group discussions and quantitative face to face interviews to explore powder milk usage in the context of consumers’ daily lives. Rather than looking at consumption in isolation, we examined the routines and practices surrounding the category; from morning beverages and cooking to baking and family feeding occasions. We explored who used the product, how it was prepared, what influenced brand choice, and the factors that signalled quality and value. The study also enabled us to identify usage patterns and expectations and how these were shaped by distinct cultural, household and market dynamics.

The Impact

The research gave the client a richer understanding of the different roles powder milk played, and highlighted the consumption occasions, preparation practices and product expectations that mattered most.

The insights informed decisions around product offering, pack-size strategy, pricing strategy and communication.

The Challenge

A hair oil brand wanted to develop a clearer understanding of who was buying its products in KSA and how its consumer profile compared with buyers of competing brands.

The objective was to move beyond broad demographic assumptions and identify the characteristics of the brand’s most relevant consumer groups by providing a stronger basis for defining the priority target audience for future communication and marketing activity.

Our Approach

We conducted a quantitative consumer profiling study using exit interviews with shoppers at the point of sale across Saudi Arabia. By speaking to consumers immediately after purchase, we were able to identify buyers of the client brand as well as competing hair oil brands and build a detailed profile of each group. The research compared consumers across key demographic and behavioural characteristics, allowing us to understand where the client brand was strongest, how its buyers differed from the wider category, and which consumer segments offered the greatest strategic relevance.

The Impact

The study gave the client an evidence-based definition of its core consumer and helped identify the bullseye target audience the brand should prioritise. By distinguishing the consumers most closely associated with the brand from the broader category audience, the findings provided clear direction for communication strategy, media targeting and future brand activity. This enabled the client to design its messaging and marketing efforts around a more sharply defined consumer rather than relying on a broad or assumed target profile.

The Challenge

An airline wanted to move beyond conventional demographic segmentation and develop a deeper understanding of its customer base; what shaped their choices, aspirations and expectations, both as consumers and as travellers.

The objective was to uncover the motivations, anxieties and influences that defined different customer mindsets, and to understand how these translated into expectations of an airline. At the same time, the client wanted to identify where its experience was meeting those expectations and where there were opportunities to create greater relevance and differentiation.

Our Approach

We conducted one-on-one ethnographic sessions designed to immerse ourselves in consumers’ lives and understand the deeper motivations behind their behaviour. The research explored participants’ aspirations, personal values, anxieties, role models, passions, lifestyle choices and the brands they felt most connected to, helping us build rich psychographic profiles of different customer types.

Alongside this, we mapped their end-to-end airline journey; from researching and booking a flight through the airport experience, onboard journey, arrival and reaching their destination. At each stage, we explored what customers were seeking emotionally and functionally, where expectations were being fulfilled, and where gaps or frustrations emerged.

The Impact

The study gave the airline a more human and nuanced understanding of its customers, revealing not just who they were, but what mattered to them and why. By connecting customers’ broader life values and aspirations with their expectations of air travel, the research helped the client identify the needs and experiences most likely to build affinity with different customer profiles. It also highlighted where the airline was already delivering strongly and where it needed to step up across the journey.

The resulting psychographic profiles provided a richer foundation for customer segmentation, experience design and brand communication, enabling the airline to create propositions and experiences that were more closely aligned with the lives and expectations of the customers it wanted to serve.

The Challenge

A leading cleaning solutions brand wanted to understand consumers at a deeper level than product usage alone. The objective was to explore the role cleaning played in consumer’s lives, what motivated them to clean, how it made them feel, what anxieties or tensions surrounded it, and what a clean home represented to them personally and socially. The client also wanted to move beyond a single view of the category and identify distinct consumer groups based on the different needs and motivations that drove their cleaning behaviour.

Our Approach

We began with in-depth ethnographic sessions that explored consumers’ lives, aspirations, anxieties, value systems, alongside their relationship with cleaning and their home. We examined what cleaning meant to them, the emotional and functional rewards they sought from it, how they felt when their home was clean or unclean, and the underlying motivations behind different cleaning routines and behaviours. This allowed us to identify a set of distinct need-based consumer segments, each characterised by a different relationship with cleaning.

We then quantified these segments through a rigorous quantitative phase, enabling us to size each group and build a clearer understanding of their demographic, behavioural and attitudinal profiles.

The Impact

The study reframed cleaning from a purely functional household task into a set of distinct emotional and behavioural needs. By identifying and sizing the different need-state segments, the research gave the client a more actionable way to understand the market and prioritise the consumers most relevant to its brands.

It provided a stronger foundation for segmentation, innovation and communication strategy, helping the client develop products and messaging around the deeper motivations that cleaning fulfilled in consumers’ lives.

The Challenge

A leading UAE bank wanted to understand how its customer experience was performing in a highly competitive market; not only in absolute terms, but relative to the experiences being delivered by other banks.

The objective was to identify where the brand was creating advocacy, where it was falling short, and which parts of the banking experience required the greatest attention. The client also needed to understand how these patterns varied across Retail (Mass, Emerging Affluent and Affluent customers) and B2B segments, and across users of different banks, different locations, ethnicities, genders.

Our Approach

We conducted a large-scale quantitative customer experience study among customers of the client bank and key competitors across the UAE.

Using NPS as the core measure of advocacy, we benchmarked the client at both an overall relationship level and across critical dimensions of the banking experience, including account opening, cards, personal finance, branch visit, call centre, mobile app interactions and other key service touchpoints.

This allowed us to move beyond the headline NPS score and understand the experiences driving it, identifying where the client held a competitive advantage, where gaps existed, and how these varied across customer segments and geographies.

The Impact

The study gave the bank a clear view of its customer experience position within the competitive landscape and, more importantly, identified the areas that mattered most for improvement.

By pinpointing the service dimensions where the client was underperforming relative to competitors, the research helped distinguish between issues requiring immediate attention and areas where the bank was already delivering strongly.

The findings provided a clear basis for prioritising customer experience initiatives, directing investment towards the touchpoints with the greatest potential to strengthen satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy, and ultimately improve the bank’s competitive position.

The Challenge

A leading UAE bank wanted to understand the strength of employee engagement across the organisation and the factors shaping how people felt about working for the business.

The challenge was not simply to identify whether employees were engaged, but to understand why different departments were experiencing the organisation in very different ways, with their own concerns, expectations and perspectives on leadership, culture and ways of working. With significant organisational changes also underway, the bank needed to understand how these shifts were being experienced across teams and how they were influencing employees’ connection with the organisation.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative sessions with employees annually across different departments and functions to understand how the employee experience varied across the organisation.

The research explored what employees valued, the frustrations they encountered, and how organisational culture and ongoing changes were shaping engagement. By comparing perspectives across functions, we identified both organisation-wide themes and team-specific concerns, including where change was being embraced, where uncertainty remained, and how this was affecting employees’ confidence in and connection with the bank.

The Impact

The study gave leadership a clear view of how engagement, culture and organisational change were being experienced across different parts of the bank. By highlighting the distinct concerns and priorities of individual functions, it helped identify where targeted interventions were needed and where broader organisational action would have the greatest impact.

The findings also showed how ongoing changes were influencing employee sentiment, helping the bank refine communication, address emerging concerns and strengthen alignment. As an annual programme, the study provided a consistent benchmark for tracking progress in engagement over time.

The Challenge

A leading personal care company wanted to enter the curly haircare category with a proposition built around real needs of Arab curly hair consumers. The challenge was to understand the language, routines, frustrations and unmet needs of curly-haired consumers, and use those insights to shape a differentiated product range, proposition and communication strategy.

Our Approach

Phase 1: Identifying the Opportunity
We conducted focus groups with Arab curly hair consumers, alongside in-depth interviews with influencers and salon experts, to decode category language, care routines, pain points and unmet needs. This helped identify where existing solutions were falling short and where there was space for meaningful innovation.

Phase 2: Shaping and Testing the Range
Insights from the first phase informed the architecture of the range, including the role of each product, expected benefits, ingredient cues and overall positioning. As initial formulations were developed, we placed products with consumers for in-home use and followed up with in-depth interviews to understand performance, relevance and fit within existing routines.

Phase 3: Refining for Launch
Products were refined and retested across multiple rounds, with ongoing consumer and influencer feedback helping optimise both the formulations and the proposition ahead of launch.

The Impact

We partnered with the client from early-stage opportunity identification through to final launch, using consumer insight to guide the range at every stage of development.

The result was a curly haircare range co-created around genuine needs of Arab curly hair consumers, with clear product roles, stronger relevance and a positioning and communication strategy grounded in how consumers think about and care for curly hair.

The Challenge

A leading ice cream manufacturer in the UAE wanted to understand how its products performed against key competitors on the sensory attributes that matter most to consumers.

The objective was to identify where the brand was winning or falling short on taste, texture, sweetness, flavour intensity and aftertaste, and determine where product refinement could strengthen preference and differentiation.

Our Approach

We conducted a Central Location Test using a structured Quantitative questionnaire employing the blind sensory evaluation methodology.

Pre-recruited consumers evaluated multiple products sequentially across selected flavours, rating overall acceptance and preference as well as key organoleptic attributes. Individual testing stations, controlled serving protocols and palate cleansing between samples helped ensure unbiased and comparable feedback across brands.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear sensory benchmark against competition and pinpointed the specific attributes driving preference.

By identifying both formulation strengths and areas requiring refinement, the findings helped the brand optimise its taste profile, improve consumer appeal and strengthen its competitive position in the UAE ice cream market.

The Challenge

A leading food seasonings brand wanted to strengthen its presence in the UAE by developing a spice range that could compete effectively with established players while appealing to the country’s diverse consumer base.

The challenge was to understand how different households cooked, the flavour profiles they preferred, and how the client’s blends performed against key competitors in real meal preparation. These insights needed to guide the refinement of the range before commercial launch.

Our Approach

Phase 1: Testing in Real Kitchens

We placed unbranded spice blends in households across the UAE and asked consumers from different ethnic backgrounds to prepare standardised dishes using the client product alongside competing options. We conducted Ethnography sessions with the consumers in the presence of dishes they curated. This allowed us to observe how the blends performed in real cooking conditions and understand reactions to flavour, aroma, intensity, balance and overall meal appeal.

Refining the formulations

Insights from the first round were translated into clear product development direction, highlighting the flavour adjustments and formulation changes most likely to improve appeal across different consumer groups. The client then refined the blends based on these findings.

Phase 2: Validating the Improved Range

The reformulated products were placed back into consumers’ homes for a second round of cooking trials. This helped validate the changes, assess whether the revised blends delivered greater preference, and identify any final adjustments required before launch.

The Impact

We partnered with the client through successive stages of development, using real-world cooking behaviour and consumer feedback to shape and refine the range. The research helped transform broad flavour preferences into concrete formulation decisions, enabling the brand to build a more competitive spice portfolio tailored to the culinary habits and taste expectations of UAE households. By validating the improved products in consumers’ own kitchens, the client was able to move towards launch with greater confidence that the range would deliver both relevance and taste appeal in market.

The Challenge

A leading Juice brand in UAE needed to evaluate the taste performance of its juice products against key market competitors. They wanted to understand consumer preferences regarding flavor intensity, sweetness, mouthfeel, and aftertaste to identify opportunities for product enhancement and differentiation.

Our Approach

We conducted a Central Location Test (CLT) using a structured Quantitative questionnaire employing blind testing methodology in UAE. Participants evaluated multiple juice options sequentially across various flavors, assessing acceptance and preference across key sensory.

The Impact

The research provided the client with actionable insights into how their juice formulations compared against competitors within UAE market. By pinpointing exact sensory strengths and areas requiring product tweaking, the study enabled the brand to optimize its flavor profile and strengthen its competitive positioning.

The Challenge

An established international personal care brand wanted to evaluate and optimize its product fragrances for UAE and Saudi markets. Specifically, the objective was to assess consumer perceptions across different scent profiles to align with regional expectations and to assess the emotions evoked by each scent profile and if these were aligned with the brand values.

Our Approach

We designed and executed a Central Location Test (CLT) using a structured Quantitative questionnaire across UAE and KSA. Using custom-designed questionnaires, we exposed consumers to various personal care fragrance samples in a controlled environment where each respondent tested multiple options. Consumers systematically evaluated each scent, providing detailed feedback on emotional engagement, fragrance notes, and overall sensory appeal. We then applied penalty analysis to generate data-driven recommendations for optimization.

The Impact

The CLT provided the client with quantitative, actionable data on how their fragrance formulations performed among consumers. By pinpointing the exact emotional triggers, scent notes, and preference drivers that resonated best in both markets, supported by rigorous penalty analysis, the brand was able to refine its product line and align its fragrance profiles with local expectations.

The Challenge

An international cleaning product brand operating in the region sought to evaluate its formulations in real-world home environments across UAE and KSA. Specifically, the goal was to track how consumer behavior evolved over time, observing dosage habits, routine shifts, and changes in product usage across different circumstances or household cleaning events.

Our Approach

We executed a comprehensive longitudinal quantitative in-home usage test. To capture accurate, continuous feedback, we combined face-to-face structured interviews during product usage (upon finishing the first pack and subsequent packs). This methodology allowed us to track user experiences over time, measuring consumer ratings across performance, ease of use, fragrance, and overall satisfaction while monitoring shifting dosage and application routines.

The Impact

The research supplied the client with robust quantitative data on how their cleaning formulations performed during actual household tasks in UAE and Saudi markets. By gathering multi-stage feedback over time, the study enabled the manufacturer to identify key strengths, pinpoint areas for product improvement, and ensure their cleaning line met the rigorous performance and behavioral expectations of regional consumers.

The Challenge

A dairy brand wanted to identify the most effective packaging format for its jar cheese range in Iraq.

The objective was to understand how consumers responded to different shapes, sizes and design cues, whether each option expressed the right brand imagery and values, and which format best balanced visual appeal, practicality, perceived value and category fit.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative research employing In-depth Interviews to evaluate a range of packaging prototypes with consumers.

The sessions explored first impressions, visual appeal, imagery and associations, size and format preferences, ease of use, perceived quality and category suitability. We also examined how different design choices influenced perceptions of modernity, value, brand fit and shelf standout.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear view of which packaging cues strengthened the brand, and which risked diluting its intended positioning. The findings helped identify a packaging direction that combined strong brand expression with usability, category relevance and shelf impact, while enhancing perceived value and resonance with Iraqi consumers.

The Challenge

An international personal care brand wanted to identify the most effective packaging formats across multiple product categories. The objective was to understand how consumers responded to different shapes, sizes and proportions, and how these design choices influenced visual appeal, perceived volume, ease of handling, brand fit and overall product value.

Our Approach

We used a mixed-method approach combining Central Location Testing with Qualitative exploration.

Consumers evaluated a range of packaging prototypes in a controlled setting using a structured questionnaire, assessing visual appeal, handling comfort, size and volume perceptions, and overall preference. Qualitative sessions then explored the reasons behind these reactions in greater depth, including emotional response, practical usability and alignment with the brand. This enabled us to understand not only which designs performed best, but also the specific cues driving preference across different product categories.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear view of how pack shape, size and proportions influenced both functional and brand perceptions. By identifying the design cues that strengthened usability, perceived value and consumer appeal, the research helped the brand optimise packaging choices across its portfolio and select formats that were better aligned with consumer expectations while strengthening shelf presence.

The Challenge

An international dairy brand was developing a new milk proposition for Saudi Arabia and needed to determine which ideas offered the strongest market potential. The objective was to understand which functional benefits and value propositions resonated most with consumers, which audience segments each concept appealed to, and how pack size and pricing could be optimised to strengthen relevance and purchase appeal.

Our Approach

We conducted Qualitative concept testing with target consumers across Saudi Arabia, exposing them to a range of milk propositions. The research explored how clearly each concept was understood, the benefits consumers found most compelling, the reasons behind preference and purchase intent, and the consumer segments most likely to respond to each idea. We also tested expectations around pack size and pricing to understand how the proposition could be shaped into a more compelling market offer.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear view of which propositions had the strongest potential and why. By identifying the most compelling benefit territories, priority consumer segments and optimal pack and price considerations, the research helped the brand focus investment on the ideas with the greatest potential and provided a stronger foundation for product development and launch in Saudi Arabia.

The Challenge

A leading local bank wanted to strengthen its proposition across a broad range of financial needs, from everyday banking and personal lending to car finance, home finance and Gen Z banking.

The objective was to understand how different customer groups responded to the proposed concepts, which benefits and features held the greatest appeal, and where each proposition needed to be refined to better meet expectations.

Our Approach

We conducted a qualitative concept development study using focus groups with prospective customers. Participants were exposed to a range of proposed banking concepts and service pillars, allowing us to assess clarity, relevance, differentiation and overall appeal. We explored the specific features and benefits driving interest, identified points of confusion or weakness, and examined how expectations varied across different financial needs and audience segments.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear view of which propositions had the strongest potential and the specific elements that needed to be strengthened.

The findings helped the bank prioritise high-value features, refine weaker concepts and sharpen its overall proposition across multiple banking categories. This provided a more robust foundation for product development, positioning and communication, while ensuring each offer was better aligned with the needs of its intended audience.

The Challenge

A leading oral care brand was developing a pipeline of new product initiatives and needed to determine which concepts had the strongest potential across a diverse set of markets.

The objective was to understand how consumers in Algeria, Morocco, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq responded to different product ideas, which benefits were most compelling, and where propositions needed to be adapted to reflect local needs, expectations and category dynamics.

Our Approach

We used a mixed-method research programme combining qualitative and quantitative techniques across all five markets.

Consumers were exposed to a range of product concepts to assess clarity, relevance, differentiation and purchase appeal. The research also explored the reasons behind preference, the formulation features consumers valued most, and the communication cues that strengthened or weakened each proposition.

By comparing responses across markets, we were able to distinguish ideas with broad regional potential from those requiring more targeted localisation.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear basis for prioritising its innovation pipeline across the region.

By identifying the strongest concepts, the benefits that resonated most, and the areas requiring refinement, the research helped the brand sharpen both product propositions and communication. It also enabled the client to focus investment on the ideas with the greatest potential while tailoring selected concepts to the needs of individual markets.

The Challenge

A leading international hair care brand was developing a pipeline of new product concepts and needed to determine which ideas had the strongest potential in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The objective was to understand how target consumers responded to each proposition, which benefits were most compelling, and where concepts needed to be refined before progressing further in development.

Our Approach

We conducted a mixed-method research programme combining qualitative and quantitative techniques across both markets. Consumers were exposed to a range of product concepts to assess clarity, relevance, differentiation and purchase appeal. The research also explored the reasons behind preference, how easily the core proposition was understood, and which product or communication elements required optimisation.

This enabled us to identify not only the strongest ideas, but also the specific changes needed to make each proposition more compelling.

The Impact

The study gave the client a clear basis for prioritising its innovation pipeline across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

By identifying the concepts with the strongest consumer potential and pinpointing where refinement was needed, the research helped sharpen value propositions, improve message clarity and focus investment on the ideas most likely to resonate in market.

The Challenge

A leading international hair care brand was preparing a major advertising campaign for the UAE and Saudi Arabia and wanted to optimise it.

The objective was to ensure the creative idea and messaging resonated with regional consumers before launch and then assess how effectively the campaign performed once in market.

Our Approach

We used a phased qualitative and quantitative approach across both markets. Before launch, qualitative focus groups were used to test early creative concepts, helping refine the core message, execution and overall creative direction. Following rollout, we conducted face-to-face quantitative interviews to evaluate campaign performance, measuring awareness, message take-out, engagement, relevance and overall effectiveness.

This allowed us to connect pre-launch learning with real-world campaign response.

The Impact

The research gave the client a clear basis for strengthening the campaign before launch and validating its effectiveness once live.

By identifying which creative and messaging elements resonated most strongly, the study helped optimise the final execution. The post-launch evaluation then showed how successfully the campaign was cutting through, being understood and contributing to stronger brand engagement across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The Challenge

A leading oral care brand wanted to test a new advertising concept before rollout in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The objective was to understand how the creative would land with local audiences, whether the messaging was clear and compelling, and whether the visuals and tone felt culturally relevant before committing to final production.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative focus groups with diverse consumer segments across both markets.

Participants were exposed to the advertising concept and taken through a structured exploration of message clarity, emotional engagement, cultural resonance, visual appeal and overall relevance. The discussions also identified points of confusion, potential disconnects and opportunities to strengthen the creative before launch.

The Impact

The research gave the client a clear view of how the campaign was likely to be received across different audience groups in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

By identifying the elements that resonated, those that required refinement, and the cultural cues that mattered most, the study helped the brand sharpen its messaging, strengthen the creative execution and move into production with greater confidence.

The Challenge

A leading dairy brand wanted to evaluate a new advertising campaign before launch in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The objective was to understand how regional consumers responded to the creative idea, visual treatment and core messaging, and identify any refinements needed before moving into final production.

Our Approach

We conducted qualitative focus groups with key consumer segments across both markets. Participants were taken through the proposed creative to assess emotional engagement, message clarity, relevance to local lifestyles and alignment with the brand proposition. The discussions also helped identify elements that resonated strongly, areas of disconnect and opportunities to sharpen the storyline and execution.

The Impact

The research gave the client a clear view of how the campaign was likely to be received across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

By identifying the creative elements that worked well and those requiring refinement, the study helped strengthen the storyline, improve message clarity and enhance local relevance before launch, giving the brand greater confidence in the final campaign execution.

The Challenge

A digital bank wanted to improve its onboarding journey and ensure new customers could open an account with minimal effort and uncertainty.

The objective was to identify where users encountered friction, hesitation or confusion, and understand which parts of the interface, content or process were creating barriers to completion.

Our Approach

We conducted one-on-one usability sessions focused on the end-to-end onboarding journey. Participants worked through the account opening process while we observed their interactions in real time, assessing ease of navigation, form completion, clarity of instructions, interface intuitiveness and moments of hesitation.

The sessions helped us pinpoint where users struggled, what caused uncertainty, and which design or content elements needed to be simplified, clarified or reworked.

The Impact

The research gave the bank a detailed view of the friction points affecting the onboarding experience and the specific moments most likely to disrupt completion.

By identifying unclear instructions, unnecessary complexity and usability bottlenecks, the study provided a clear roadmap for streamlining the journey, improving task completion and creating a more intuitive onboarding experience for new customers.

The Challenge

A bank wanted to evaluate and improve the digital journey for changing credit card limits, ensuring the process was clear, intuitive and easy to complete.

The objective was to identify where customers encountered friction, hesitation or uncertainty, and understand how the interface, information flow and screen design could be improved to create a smoother experience.

Our Approach

We conducted one-on-one usability sessions focused on the end-to-end credit card limit modification journey.

Participants worked through the process while we observed their interactions in real time, assessing navigation, clarity of instructions, comprehension of key information, screen layouts and ease of completing each step. The sessions helped us identify moments of confusion, unnecessary complexity and areas where the experience could be simplified.

The Impact

The research gave the bank a clear view of the usability barriers affecting the credit card limit change journey.

By pinpointing unclear instructions, layout issues and points of hesitation, the study provided practical direction for simplifying the flow, improving confidence and making the overall experience faster and more intuitive for customers.

The Challenge

An international bank wanted to improve its digital journey for sending money abroad and ensure customers could complete transfers with ease and confidence.

The objective was to identify where users encountered friction, uncertainty or hesitation, and understand how clearly the experience communicated critical information such as fees, exchange rates, transfer status and expected delivery.

Our Approach

We conducted one-on-one usability sessions focused on the end-to-end international money transfer journey.

Participants completed the transfer process while we observed their interactions in real time, assessing navigation, clarity of information, ease of completing each step and overall confidence in the experience. Particular attention was given to how users understood fees, exchange rates, transfer timelines and tracking information, helping identify the moments most likely to create confusion or anxiety.

The Impact

The research gave the bank a clear view of the friction points affecting both usability and trust across the remittance journey.

By identifying unclear information, navigation barriers and moments of uncertainty, the study provided practical direction for simplifying the flow, improving transparency and strengthening customer confidence, ultimately helping create a smoother and more reassuring digital transfer experience.

The Challenge

An international hair fall solutions brand wanted to improve the digital journey through which consumers identified the right products for their individual hair needs.

The objective was to understand where users experienced friction or uncertainty across the diagnostic need-scoping survey, product recommendation and purchase journey, and whether the experience built sufficient confidence in the personalised recommendations being made.

Our Approach

We conducted one-on-one usability sessions focused on the end-to-end digital journey, from diagnosis through to product selection and purchase.

Participants completed the experience in real time while we observed navigation, survey comprehension, ease of progression and reactions to the recommendations generated. Particular attention was given to whether users understood why specific products were being suggested, whether the recommendations felt credible and personalised, and where hesitation or drop-off occurred.

The Impact

The research gave the brand a clear view of the friction points affecting both usability and trust across the journey.

By identifying confusing survey questions, weak recommendation cues and navigation barriers, the study provided practical direction for improving the diagnostic experience, strengthening confidence in product matching and creating a smoother path from discovery to purchase.

The Challenge

A leading global social media platform needed to evaluate whether users would be open to mandatory ID verification and determine which verification mechanisms would find the highest acceptance. To ensure the findings captured the diverse digital behaviors of the entire Arab world, the study was strategically conducted in UAE, leveraging its unique international and multicultural mix of residents.

Our Approach

We designed a comprehensive, multi-layered qualitative study combining moderated focus groups and individual in-depth interviews. Rather than just testing verification screens, we dove deep into broader psychological and social themes to truly understand how people operate online. We explored:

Digital Identity & Social Media: What online presence means to users, how they navigate their digital lives, and the boundaries of what they feel they can or cannot do on social media.

The Impact of Fake Accounts: How encountering fake accounts affects users emotionally, how it influences their trust, and what behaviors or expressions it forces them to hold back.

ID Verification Concepts: Exposing participants to different verification options to measure their comfort levels, address privacy anxieties, and identify which verification methods feel least intrusive.

The Impact

The research provided the client with profound, nuanced insights into the psychological relationship between identity, trust, and platform security. By uncovering how different user segment's view authenticity and safety online, the study enabled the platform to design a transparent verification rollout, select the most acceptable authentication options, and build a more secure, trusted community experience.

The Challenge

Understanding whether the brand promise was being delivered consistently across the network

For a leading coffee chain with locations across the UAE, delivering a consistently strong experience was critical to protecting the brand and building customer loyalty. The client needed an objective view of how effectively service and operational standards were being executed across stores and, importantly, where gaps in the experience were occurring.

Our Approach

We designed and conducted a comprehensive mystery shopping programme across the UAE, evaluating the full customer journey from arrival through ordering, service and consumption. Shoppers assessed a broad range of experience drivers, including speed of service, staff engagement, order accuracy, store ambience and cleanliness, as well as food and beverage presentation, taste, freshness and temperature.

Beyond individual store scores, we analysed performance across locations and experience dimensions to identify recurring friction points, inconsistencies and the areas with the greatest opportunity for improvement.

The Impact

The programme provided the client with a clear, evidence-based view of how the customer experience was being delivered across its network highlighting both strong practices to reinforce and gaps requiring intervention. Findings helped focus operational improvements, staff coaching and training, and store-level accountability, providing a stronger foundation for delivering a more consistent brand experience across the UAE.