{"id":1145,"date":"2026-05-12T07:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fisgroup.mastersofbrands.co.uk\/?post_type=service&p=1145"},"modified":"2026-05-29T18:13:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:13:06","slug":"concept-labs","status":"publish","type":"service","link":"https:\/\/fisgroup.mastersofbrands.co.uk\/service\/create-and-refine\/concept-labs","title":{"rendered":"Concept Labs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Concept Labs<\/p>\n \n

Concept Labs for food and drink, developing concepts with consumers before they go to test<\/h1>\n \n

Iterative concept development with consumers, structured to refine, sharpen and evolve concepts before they reach formal testing. Sits between ideation and screening: the developmental phase that makes concepts robust enough to test credibly. Senior food and drink specialists run the work throughout. Designed to make concept testing more efficient and concept development more commercially credible.<\/p>\n \n \n <\/div>\n\n

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What Concept Labs are actually for<\/h2>\n

Most concept testing fails not because the methodology is wrong but because the concepts are not yet ready to test. They came out of a workshop or hothouse at the right level for ideation but the wrong level for testing. They need consumer-informed development before they can be tested credibly: the language sharpened, the proposition tightened, the executional details refined, the boundaries clarified. Without that development phase, concepts go into formal testing in a form that does not represent the brand’s best work, and they fail (or succeed) for reasons that have more to do with concept maturity than with consumer interest.<\/p>\n

The structural problem is that most innovation programmes run ideation and testing as adjacent phases without the developmental step that connects them. Concepts get generated, then tested, with the development happening in internal team rooms (or not happening at all). The consumer perspective enters the work at testing rather than at development, which means the testing reveals whether the internal team’s interpretation of consumer interest was right rather than whether the concept itself was strong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Concept Labs is the iterative developmental methodology that closes this gap. The work brings consumers into structured sessions where concepts are explored, refined, sharpened and evolved across the session itself, not just reacted to in a snapshot. Senior food and drink specialists facilitate the work and lead the synthesis. The output is a set of consumer-informed, sharpened concepts ready for formal testing (Concept Screening) or for direct development (NPD briefing, brand work).<\/p>\n

It is not the right tool for every brief. If the brief is structured testing of defined concepts to prioritise, Concept Screening is more efficient and proportionate. If the brief is competitive comparison of ideas at scale, Idea Testing is structurally different. If the brief is generating new ideas rather than developing existing ones, Creative Workshops or Hothouse go further. Concept Labs sits specifically when the concepts exist but need development before they can be tested or built.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What we do differently<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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  1. \n Step 1<\/span>\n
    Iterative development, not snapshot reaction<\/h6>\n

    The structural difference between Concept Labs and most concept research. Concept Labs sessions are designed for concepts to evolve through the session itself. Concepts arrive at the start, get tested against initial consumer reaction, get reworked live, get retested, get refined. The work is developmental rather than reactive. Most concept research captures a snapshot reaction; Labs capture a development arc. The arc is what produces concepts that are sharper at the end than at the start.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

  2. \n Step 2<\/span>\n
    Senior food and drink interpretation throughout<\/h6>\n

    The technical difficulty of Concept Labs is reading what consumer feedback actually means for the concept rather than taking the feedback at face value. Consumers say what they think; concepts have to be developed against what the feedback actually signals. Senior food and drink specialists interpret throughout, which is the layer that makes the developmental work commercially useful. We do not delegate the interpretation to junior researchers because consumer feedback is often the opposite of what concepts actually need.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

  3. \n Step 3<\/span>\n
    Output is sharper concepts, not just consumer reactions<\/h6>\n

    The deliverable is the developed concept set, not a research report on consumer reactions. Concepts arrive at the start of the work in their initial form; they leave at the end in a sharper form, with the development tracked across the session and the rationale for each change documented. The output is ready to go into formal testing or development rather than requiring a translation step. The work pays for itself in the concept improvement, not just in the consumer evidence.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

  4. \n Step 4<\/span>\n
    Designed to integrate with the broader innovation toolkit<\/h6>\n

    Concept Labs sit between ideation (Creative Workshops, Hothouse, Co-creation) and validation (Concept Screening, Idea Testing). The methodology is designed for this bridge position: concepts arrive from the ideation phase, leave for the validation phase, with the Labs work doing the development that the ideation phase did not finish and the validation phase cannot do. The integration is what makes Labs efficient in a programme rather than a standalone exercise.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n \n <\/ol>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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    What we use Concept Labs for<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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    Concept development after a workshop or hothouse<\/h4>\n

    You have run a Creative Workshop or a Hothouse and the concept output needs development before it can go to formal testing. Concept Labs take the ideation output, develop the concepts with consumers across the session, and deliver a sharper set ready for screening or NPD briefing. The most common Concept Labs use case in the architecture.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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    Brand and campaign concept refinement<\/h4>\n

    You are developing brand or campaign concepts and need consumer-informed refinement before the concepts go to creative agency or formal testing. Concept Labs sharpen the language, tighten the proposition, refine the executional direction with consumers in the room iterating on the work rather than reviewing it.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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    NPD concept sharpening before formal testing<\/h4>\n

    Your NPD pipeline has concepts that need development before they go to consumer screening. Concept Labs refine the concept architecture, sharpen the consumer language, surface the executional details that make or break concepts at screening stage, and deliver a tested-ready set rather than the rough output from ideation.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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    Range concept development for portfolio work<\/h4>\n

    You are developing a range of concepts (for a portfolio brand, a major launch, a category extension) and need development that handles range coherence as well as the individual concepts. The session structure handles range thinking explicitly: how concepts work together, where the gaps sit, how the range reads as a coherent set to consumers.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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    Proposition development for major launches<\/h4>\n

    You have proposition direction for a major launch but the proposition needs to be developed with consumers before it goes to creative agency or commercial casing. Concept Labs take the proposition direction, develop it across multiple sessions with different consumer cohorts, and deliver a sharpened proposition ready to brief.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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    Concept rework for ideas that failed initial testing<\/h4>\n

    Your concepts have been through formal testing and underperformed, but the leadership team thinks the underlying ideas are strong. Concept Labs take the failed concepts, surface what specifically failed (concept structure, language, executional detail, audience fit), and develop the concepts iteratively with consumers to deliver a sharper version ready for re-testing.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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    1. \n

      How a Product Testing project runs<\/h2>\n

      From developed product to launch-ready evidence<\/h5>\n <\/li>\n \n
    2. \n Step 1<\/span>\n
      Scoping call.<\/h6>\n

      Twenty minutes on a call. You tell us the concepts to develop, where they came from (workshop, hothouse, internal development, external agency), the strategic context they sit in, the next phase of work they need to be ready for (formal testing, NPD development, brand work, commercial casing) and the timeline. We tell you whether Concept Labs are the right tool, what format makes sense, how many concepts can be developed credibly in the format, and roughly what it will cost. Where the brief would be better served by going directly to Concept Screening or by another approach, we will recommend that honestly.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    3. \n Step 2<\/span>\n
      Concept preparation.<\/h6>\n

      Senior team works with the client to prepare the concept input set: how concepts are presented for the Labs (stimulus design, executional level), what is fixed and what is open to development, what the development boundaries are, and what success looks like at the end of the work. The preparation phase is more involved than a focus group brief because the concepts need to be ready for iterative development rather than just for reaction.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    4. \n Step 3<\/span>\n
      Consumer recruitment.<\/h6>\n

      Specialist recruit through food and drink panels and trusted local recruiters. Properly briefed screeners, full quality checks. Recruitment is scoped specifically against the concept set: audiences who can speak credibly to the category, the occasions, the propositions being developed. Profiles signed off by the client before sessions are confirmed.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    5. \n Step 4<\/span>\n
      The Concept Lab sessions.<\/h6>\n

      Senior food and drink specialists facilitate the sessions, structured for iterative development rather than for reaction capture. Concepts arrive, get tested against consumer reaction, get reworked live by the team (sometimes with consumer input directly), get retested, get refined. The methodology is adapted live to what the room is producing, with the developmental arc captured throughout. Multiple sessions or cohorts where the brief requires it.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    6. \n Step 5<\/span>\n
      Synthesis and developed concept deliverable.<\/h6>\n

      Senior team synthesis across the sessions into the structured deliverable: the developed concept set, the development rationale (what changed and why), the concepts that strengthened during the work and the ones that did not, and recommendations for the next phase. The deliverable lands within two weeks of the final session, scoped specifically for Concept Screening, NPD briefing or brand work as appropriate.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n \n <\/ol>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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      Three Concept Lab formats<\/h2>\n

      Three formats. Scoped against the concept set, the development depth and the cohort structure. Concept Labs flex against the brief and the concept volume. The three formats below are the typical Lab shapes we run, with the format selected at scoping rather than assumed. Some briefs need a single-session focused Lab; others need multi-session iterative development; the largest programmes run Lab work integrated across multiple weeks alongside broader innovation work.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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      Single-session Concept Lab<\/h2>\n

      One focused session with a single consumer cohort, typically four to six hours, developing a defined set of concepts (typically six to twelve). Suited to focused briefs where the concept set is contained, the development needs are specific, and the next phase of work is well-defined. Typically delivers the developed concept set within three to four weeks of scoping. The lowest entry point for Concept Labs work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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      Multi-session Concept Lab<\/h2>\n

      Three to six sessions across two to four weeks, multiple consumer cohorts, with development happening iteratively across the sessions. Suited to most major Concept Labs briefs: workshop or hothouse output that needs development at scale, brand and campaign concept refinement, range development, proposition development for major launches. Typically delivers fifteen to thirty developed concepts (or a smaller set of deeply developed propositions\/territories). The most common Concept Labs format.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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      Concept Lab programme<\/h2>\n

      Sustained Concept Lab work integrated across a broader innovation programme, typically running six to twelve weeks with multiple session waves and concept development streams. Suited to major innovation programmes where Concept Labs work runs alongside ideation, testing and NPD development in a continuous flow. Typically delivers a structured pipeline of developed concepts across multiple platforms or territories, with the development integrated into the broader programme rhythm rather than as a standalone phase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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      Food and drink is all we do<\/h2>\n

      We are not a generalist concept research agency that takes the occasional food brief. Food and drink is the only sector we work in. Our senior team knows the categories, the consumers, the occasions and the commercial realities of food and drink specifically, which means the developmental interpretation that happens live in the Lab sessions is anchored in what actually matters for the concept commercially. Generic concept research can capture consumer reaction; sector specialists can read what the reaction means for development specifically.<\/p>\n

      That focus is why we work with 11 of the UK’s top 40 food and drink brands.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n

      \n Meet the Team<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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      Other ways to create and refine ideas<\/h2>\n

      Concept Labs is one tool in the broader Create and Refine Ideas toolkit. Depending on the brief, one of these might be a better fit, or a stronger partner alongside the Labs work.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n