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‘Go to market’ and beyond – understanding the bigger picture

‘Go to market’ and beyond – understanding the bigger picture


Delays, missed deadlines and Doing It Yourself…

Your project hasn’t come together on time and you’re no closer to product launch.  

You’ve still got questions: 

  • How best can we commercialise our new product? 
  • Is there a clear space for it on the market?  
  • How do we create a clear and credible ‘go to market’ plan? 

It’s no secret that procrastination is a big problem for internal teams, which makes delivering a project to a tight deadline difficult. 

Groundswell were brought in to provide external consultation and management for healthcare company Xyfil, with a distinct focus on delivering answers to those questions – we executed an evidence-based strategy, focused on the Xyfil’s key deliverables and delivered the project to a tight deadline. 

Production manager Nikita Mhatre said:

“I think it’s crucial to work with a company like Groundswell who understand what your objective is, because they will work to reach (and exceed) your expectations and execute the deliverables on time… And any work that they do will be fully backed up and fully researched.” 

Xyfil wanted to feel confident in a new product* they had been developing and were planning to launch. Expectations and deliverables included: producing research focused on the company’s commercial objectives, defining the key messages of the product, producing a competitors’ analysis and using feedback to create a suggested strategy and branding brief. 

“Our expectation was to build trust around the product and to define what makes our product different from those already on the market.” 

Nikita Mhatre

Xyfil had previously launched a product without extensive background information, so it was clear to the Groundswell team that we needed to focus in on two areas of research for the project: one-to-one interviews with relevant experts and academic research focused on the full scope of the intended market. 

During our qualitative research with healthcare professionals we: 

  • Explored their perceptions of the product in terms of design, value proposition and benefits to the user. 
  • Investigated the gap between available products and identified customer needs. 
  • Gauged reactions to early-stage product concepts, including product performance, design cues and wording. 
  • Defined the level and proof these experts would need to use, or endorse, a new product 

For the quantitative research, we acted as liaison between Xyfil and Lancaster University, enabling two students to undertake desk research. They focused on researching the full scope of the product’s target audience and more closely, compiled marketplace information on specific competitors, price points, key benefits and formulas. 

We worked closely with Nikita who noted that:

“Without Groundswell, we would not have found the right contacts for exploring this product. The project made us realise that we needed to create brand awareness and trust pre-launch, by giving peer to peer information about the product to help us with sales.” 

Focusing on a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research was vital to the success of this project. With the insights from this data, Groundswell used an evidence-based strategy to execute Xyfil’s deliverables.  

“We got exactly what we were looking for, but the process also allowed us to understand the bigger picture before the launch, so now we feel confident that our product will be a success. So, whether you are focused on brand recognition or building a brand strategy, I personally feel Groundswell’s services will be a valuable asset to your company.” 

Nikita Mhatre

Based in Preston, Xyfil is “one of the leading UK E-Liquid, personal care products and CBD manufacturers supporting brands worldwide”. They provide end to end manufacturing – taking brands from conception to reality. The UK is at the forefront on safety and quality for E-liquid products – as such, “British-made means quality” and Xyfil is continuing to lead the way in product development safety.

Head to their website here: https://xyfil.com/ 

*Please note, the product cannot be named due to it’s commercially confidential nature.


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