Wolt unleashes consumer insights around the globe, tuning into the street heartbeat
In the past six years Wolt, a Helsinki-based company from Finland, has redefined how food is ordered and delivered. Ultimately the service is about convenience; use the app to have your lunch delivered to you in the middle of your busy workday, or rest on the sofa and have your tortillas delivered to you while watching a football match. After kicking off in Finland in the summer of 2015, Wolt has expanded to 23 countries and over 200 cities, functioning as the link between 14 million customers and 50 000 restaurants and retail partners. According to Wolt, the company’s mission is to build a new infrastructure that involves restaurants, retailers, couriers, and naturally, consumers. Building a new infra calls for meaningful and quick insights.
Local insights, global arena
Food is an essential element of any culture. Streets are the everyday arena for all of us who commute for work, studies, hobbies, or to see friends. This is also the arena of Wolt, whose couriers are a familiar sight on the streets in over 200 cities.
“It is a fascinating setting where we operate in”, opens Alo Valtere, Vice President, Brand at Wolt. “We are there in people’s daily lives, present during their workday as well as in their leisure time. It is fascinating to develop a global urban brand and figure out how to communicate it in ways that functions just the right way everywhere around the globe – From Tokyo to Tbilisi. It is fun to see and learn the differences between cultures and countries, and to understand that certain things are the same across the world”, Valtere adds. “We are in a people-business, where our courier-, restaurant- and retail partners, and ultimately our customers, play the lead roles. We want to be there for them. This is basically what we want to be known for.”
Understanding local cultures and behaviour require direct and fast insights, directly from the spot. In June 2021 Wolt started to collaborate with Crowst to enable that what we call an insights pulse.
Film concept testing supported with cultural flavour
Wolt wants to ensure that it’s products and marketing feel and function the right way across the world.
“We are now working on an ad film that basically outlines what Wolt is all about as a service and as a company. We try to communicate this in a warm and delightful way. But it is not always easy to know how different people perceive things. Warm to me may feel rude to someone else. As delightful may also feel cheesy. And to be sure we do not appear rude and cheesy, we want to ask our audience directly before it is too late. For the creative process, starting with the film’s storyboard and visual approach, down to the storyline and details of the film, we wanted to hear the views of the locals around the globe – just to be sure”, says Valtere.
Wolt teamed up with Crowst to source the consumer views and opinions from selected cities in Finland, Germany, Hungary, Greece and Japan. Based on the needs and goals linked to the film design and desired resonance, Crowst created the study structure, targeting and execution plan where the study was conducted in five local languages.
Concept testing on the film under work, as part of the creative process of Wolt.
“We presented the film’s visuals and animated storyboard to the respondents to find out how it is received by people representing different cultural backgrounds. We wanted to see whether there were some factors we haven’t considered, some red flags that we can still sort out before completing and having the final version of the film”, Valtere describes. “We got exactly what we wanted; the sentiment from our target group from the cities that are different enough. Based on the study results we are able to tune the film sketch, making sure it feels the way we want it to feel”, affirms Valtere.
In the study 1200 consumer responses were sourced, distributed among the five above-mentioned countries. As part of the response process, each respondent viewed the film sketch from start to finish and answered the concrete questions on the style, visuals, characters, and storyline. Based on the study results changes and tweaks were made to the film, including e.g. the visual style and thematic factors as part of the storyline.
“We have been very satisfied and also impressed. The film will be better now. And this was what we aimed for. Crowst has shown how the creative concept testing should look like. Agility, speed and insights relevance count.” -Alo Valtere, Vice President, Brand at Wolt
“We have been very satisfied and also impressed. The film will be better now. Crowst has shown how the creative concept testing should look like. Agility, speed and insights relevance count”, Valtere closes.
The film will be launched in the Autumn 2021. It is designed for urban people around the world, and it includes shared insights from locals representing five countries.