Summary
A national restaurant brand wanted to introduce a new menu item inspired by a fast-growing food trend. Before investing in production and marketing, they used Arima’s InstaPoll to validate the idea with real consumers across their target markets. In less than 24 hours, they collected high-confidence demand signals showing strong appeal (+31% above menu benchmark) and clear regional hotspots.
With data in hand, the team launched the item, and it became one of their top three most successful limited-time offers of the year.
Challenge
The restaurant team believed the trend could attract younger diners and drive incremental traffic, but they needed clarity on:
- Overall appeal: Would people actually want this, or was the trend just social-media hype?
- Purchase intent: What percentage would actually try the item?
- Audience fit: Which demographics and lifestyle segments aligned with the concept?
- Regional variation: Would it perform equally well across the country?
- Marketing strategy: What motivations and barriers should they address?
Without consumer validation, the brand risked a costly rollout with uncertain demand.
Solution: InstaPoll + Integrated Consumer Insights
The brand ran a New Concept Test through Arima’s InstaPoll, asking: “How likely are you to try this menu item if we launched it?” with response options ranging from Very Likely to Very Unlikely.
Within hours, they received statistically reliable insights:
1. Appeal & Purchase Intent
- 73% of respondents said the concept was appealing
2. Demographic & Psychographic Findings
- Highest excitement from ages 18–34 (82% appeal)
- Health-conscious consumers showed above-average interest
3. Geographic Hotspots
- Mississauga and select Toronto neighborhoods showed the highest appeal, significantly outperforming the national average.
- Other store regions showed below-average interest, helping the brand avoid over-distribution and reduce inventory risk.
4. Cross-Tool Integrations
By connecting their InstaPoll results with other Arima tools, the team uncovered:
- Persona Builder: top 2 audience segments that over-indexed by 30–40%
- Location Intelligence: store clusters with projected higher trial potential
- Cross-Media Planner: most efficient channels to reach high-intent segments
They now had a data-backed go-to-market plan in under 48 hours.
Result
The InstaPoll indicated clear demand and the launch reflected exactly that.
At launch:
- Stores in high-interest regions saw +26% higher first-week trial
- Repeat purchases were 18% higher than the brand’s average for trend-based items
- The item drove a 9% lift in incremental transactions in the strongest markets
Overall impact:
- The new menu item became one of the brand’s top 3 limited-time successes of the year
- The brand added the item (in select locations) to its seasonal rotation based on performance
