Four findings that turned a relaunch hypothesis into a validated plan
An appliance brand's home care arm relaunching into a category dominated by two incumbents
Nova Essentials is the home care and laundry arm of a household appliance brand with over 35 years of washing machine engineering heritage, relaunching its fabric conditioner range into a category dominated by Comfort (HUL) and Godrej Ezee.
Despite strong appliance equity, Nova's category awareness stood at just 35%, and trial had not translated to habitual use. Leadership needed evidence-based answers on fragrance direction, packaging decisions, and positioning strategy before committing to a relaunch.
Four questions that defined the research
A nine-module quantitative study built on proprietary Flickly scoring frameworks
Flickly fielded a single-wave quantitative survey among confirmed fabric conditioner users, applying three proprietary frameworks, Fragrance Preference Score, Packaging Perception Index, and Concept Vitality Score, to turn subjective design and positioning calls into ranked, evidence-backed decisions.
Single-wave quantitative survey
n=200 confirmed fabric conditioner users, PAN India, Tier 1 heavy, ₹15 lakh+ household income, 100% washing machine owners, covering nine thematic modules.
Proprietary scoring frameworks
Three Flickly frameworks applied: Fragrance Preference Score for variant prioritisation, Packaging Perception Index for design direction, and Concept Vitality Score for positioning evaluation.
Same-price concept testing
Concept evaluation used a same-price forced-choice framing against each respondent's own named primary brand, isolating positioning preference from price considerations.
Bias-controlled packaging testing
Packaging evaluation used four randomised image stimuli in forced single-choice format to eliminate position bias.
Nova's challenge is not product performance, it is trial
- Nearly 1 in 3 users converted Nova into their primary fabric conditioner after trying it, confirming strong product acceptance once tried.
- 72.5% of category users face at least one barrier to regular use; skin sensitivity leads at 33%, an unaddressed territory no competitor currently owns.
- Fresh and Clean dominates fragrance preference with an FPS of 66.0; Floral is a clear secondary at 56.1.
- 60.7% of the market leader's value-loyal users would switch brands if it were temporarily unavailable, exposing habitual rather than emotional loyalty.
