Understanding Regional Preferences for a Global Beverage Brand

Client Background 

A leading North American beverage company sought to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, focusing on young adult consumers across multiple product lines. The brand held strong global recognition, but the company needed to translate this equity into consistent, repeatable demand in markets shaped by culturally distinct taste profiles and consumption habits. 

Client’s Challenge 

Despite strong brand visibility driven by digital campaigns and influencer partnerships, conversion rates in priority urban markets did not meet expectations. Consumer trial did not consistently translate into repeat purchase, and early product feedback suggested gaps in local relevance. The company needed a clear understanding of regional taste preferences, cultural drivers, consumption rituals, and retail interaction patterns to refine product formulations, packaging decisions, and communication strategy. Without these insights, future launches risked low adoption and weak positioning against entrenched local competitors. 

How Mordor Intelligence Helped 

• Conducted Direct Consumer Research: Engaged with consumers across three metro cities through in-home interviews, store visits, and targeted surveys to understand daily beverage occasions, sensory expectations, and brand perceptions. 
• Assessed Distribution and Retail Perspectives: Collected insights from retailers and distributors to understand stocking priorities, point-of-sale behavior, and drivers of impulse purchases. 
• Benchmarked Competitive Offerings: Analyzed global and local competitors across flavor trends, packaging formats, merchandising tactics, and consumer interaction at retail. 
• Identified Gaps in Local Relevance: Mapped unmet needs and the cultural factors influencing purchase decisions, revealing that the brand’s existing value proposition lacked flavor resonance and regional authenticity. 
• Developed Persona-Driven Profiles: Created detailed profiles capturing generational motivations, social influencers, and trial behaviors, linking them to product attributes and messaging opportunities. 

Key Findings 

• Local taste preferences skewed toward bolder, region-specific flavor notes that differed from the client’s global portfolio. 
• Consumers associated the brand with premium quality but felt the formats and flavors were not tailored to local consumption rituals. 
• Competitors leveraged nostalgia, cultural cues, and local storytelling, strengthening emotional resonance. 
• Retailers highlighted packaging size and price point as key barriers to higher turnover in fast-moving urban outlets. 

Our Industry Coverage 

Mordor Intelligence has delivered customer needs analysis projects across sectors including consumer goods, healthcare, finance, technology, and logistics. Our work helps clients understand how customer priorities shift across segments, contexts, and geographies. We support organizations launching new solutions, entering new markets, and refining retention strategies through customized, multi-method research approaches.

Through structured insights and contextualized customer research, Mordor Intelligence enables brands to align products, messages, and experiences with what regional consumers value most.