Pavel Shegolev
10 Jan 2019
Fastuna — the new meaning of automated research
Launching Fastuna created a buzz within the research community. We could see how impressed many people were with the concept while clients who tried the tool gave especially good feedback. People asked us how it all started and why. So, let me answer all of the questions in order.
How was this idea born?
As in majority of cases the idea was born amid regular work hours and chats during tea breaks :).
I was helping a company test packaging designs and product concepts. There were quite a few of them. A natural need occurred to make this process more effective — to cut down the time between setting objectives and obtaining results. Shortly afterwards I encountered like minded friends in the consumer insights industry and discussed the concept with them. It turned out the idea wasn't new and many in the industry shared the need for faster streamlined solutions. But at the time it was nothing more than an idea. So we met up with them, had a nice cup of tea and decided to turn this idea into reality.
I was helping a company test packaging designs and product concepts. There were quite a few of them. A natural need occurred to make this process more effective — to cut down the time between setting objectives and obtaining results. Shortly afterwards I encountered like minded friends in the consumer insights industry and discussed the concept with them. It turned out the idea wasn't new and many in the industry shared the need for faster streamlined solutions. But at the time it was nothing more than an idea. So we met up with them, had a nice cup of tea and decided to turn this idea into reality.
What is the idea about?
The idea is about standardising and automating frequent and relatively typical research projects.
I used to work for large FMCG companies where it was common to test multiple ad materials, packaging and label designs. One research manager would have up to 10 internal clients — it’s a heavy workload. We standardised briefs and questionnaires in order to simplify the launch process for such projects and to reduce the number of possible discussions and updates. However, due to technical shortcomings at the time automating all of the research processes was not possible. Consequently, the development of online surveys and tools within the past ten years changed this.
I used to work for large FMCG companies where it was common to test multiple ad materials, packaging and label designs. One research manager would have up to 10 internal clients — it’s a heavy workload. We standardised briefs and questionnaires in order to simplify the launch process for such projects and to reduce the number of possible discussions and updates. However, due to technical shortcomings at the time automating all of the research processes was not possible. Consequently, the development of online surveys and tools within the past ten years changed this.
How did the name Fastuna come to be?
Speed is our main advantage. Our platform helps make business decisions fast. This is where the name came from.
Fast + Tuna = Fastuna.
Tuna is one of the fastest schools of fish on earth, which travels across the whole "blue ocean".
One of my favourite books also played a part here "Blue Ocean Strategy" (Renée Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim). It is about creating new demand while making competition irrelevant. Our idea is in fact the embodiment of this strategy. We are also confident that it can help our clients find such "blue oceans" for their products and services. Of course, as researchers we ran a brief survey amongst potential clients in order to test the name. Fastuna appealed to them.
Fast + Tuna = Fastuna.
Tuna is one of the fastest schools of fish on earth, which travels across the whole "blue ocean".
One of my favourite books also played a part here "Blue Ocean Strategy" (Renée Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim). It is about creating new demand while making competition irrelevant. Our idea is in fact the embodiment of this strategy. We are also confident that it can help our clients find such "blue oceans" for their products and services. Of course, as researchers we ran a brief survey amongst potential clients in order to test the name. Fastuna appealed to them.
How is the project doing after the launch and what does the future hold for Fastuna?
Full platform launch took place in December 2017. We can safely call the project successful: over 1000 orders in 12 months. Amongst the regular platform users we have banks, creative agencies, food and cosmetics manufacturing companies and many more.
The fast ready made solution approach isn't competing with the classic approaches but rather expands the scope and situations for applying research in business practices. The number of problems that can be solved via the Fastuna platform has doubled since launch. We also added functions which allow to use the platform in an AGILE way. There are still plenty of ideas to develop. We are always open to user feedback. Today we are confident that we have created a truly useful product which carries a great and widely applicable value.
The fast ready made solution approach isn't competing with the classic approaches but rather expands the scope and situations for applying research in business practices. The number of problems that can be solved via the Fastuna platform has doubled since launch. We also added functions which allow to use the platform in an AGILE way. There are still plenty of ideas to develop. We are always open to user feedback. Today we are confident that we have created a truly useful product which carries a great and widely applicable value.
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