An Empathy Trek is more than just a research trip – it’s a transformative learning experience. When business stakeholders in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) space spend time with real consumers, they begin to see challenges and needs in new ways. While traditional consumer insights are essential, empathy-based fieldwork adds texture, emotion, and context that can shift thinking and inspire innovation.

Bringing Insights to Life

While data dashboards and reports offer valuable information, they can sometimes feel removed from the day-to-day realities of consumers. An Empathy Trek makes those data points come alive by letting stakeholders see firsthand how their products fit (or don’t fit) into people’s lives. This leads to deeper understanding of consumer behavior and more meaningful connections with audience needs.

Boosting Cross-Functional Alignment

CPG stakeholder groups – from marketing to product development to executive leadership – often operate in silos. When these teams experience the same empathy-driven research moment together, they develop a shared language and set of observations. This builds alignment early in the innovation process, helping avoid disconnects later down the line.

Examples of Impact

Imagine a packaging team witnessing real consumers struggle to open a product they’ve designed – or a brand manager seeing how a household’s limited storage space influences shopping decisions. These “aha” moments are hard to unsee and create lasting perspective shifts that guide better business decisions.

Real value CPG stakeholders can gain from an Empathy Trek:

• Understanding the emotional drivers behind purchase decisions
• Spotting unmet needs and opportunities not visible in surveys or focus groups
• Gaining clarity on the consumer journey in context
• Building stronger conviction around customer-centric strategies
• Fostering more engaged and inspired internal teams

Organizations that involve stakeholders early and directly in qualitative research like Empathy Treks often find that insights are not only better understood, but also more likely to be acted on. At SIVO Insights, we design CPG research experiences that promote not just awareness, but deeper empathy that drives innovation forward.

One of the most important steps in Empathy Trek planning is setting expectations early and clearly. Stakeholders who are new to qualitative consumer research may not know what to expect – or how to translate what they see into actionable insight. That’s why good stakeholder briefing isn’t optional; it’s essential.

Start with a Clear Purpose

Before heading into the field, ensure everyone understands why this Empathy Trek is happening. What questions are you trying to answer? Are you exploring unmet needs, validating early product ideas, or understanding the shopper journey? Aligning on the objective keeps everyone focused during the experience.

Paint a Picture of the Experience

Many CPG team members are used to structured meetings and quantitative reports, so a facilitated home visit or store shadowing can feel unfamiliar. Help them feel comfortable by sharing what they’ll be doing and what role they’re expected to play. For example:

 
• Will they be observing, asking questions, or participating in discussion?
 
• How long will each session last?
 
• What types of environments will they be visiting – homes, retail, digital platforms?

By removing the element of surprise, you make room for curiosity and deeper observation.

Share Guidelines for Behavior

It’s also important to prepare stakeholders to engage respectfully and effectively with consumers. Simple tips go a long way: - Dress casually but appropriately - Avoid interrupting or leading consumers - Listen fully before reacting - Let moderators facilitate the session A short pre-trek orientation – whether in person or virtual – can help explain these nuances. SIVO often facilitates these briefings to ensure stakeholders feel confident and ready.

Define What Success Looks Like

Finally, help stakeholders understand what a “successful” Empathy Trek looks like. It’s not about solving problems on the spot or making immediate decisions. Rather, it’s about learning to observe differently, asking better questions, and capturing sparks of insight that can be explored further in analysis.

Some common goals include:
- Gaining a richer picture of the consumer’s daily routine
- Identifying new context around product usage
- Spotting contradictions between what people say and do
- Gathering quotes, photos, or moments that can be shared back with broader teams


When you invest just a little time in market research prep and stakeholder alignment, you'll get much more from the actual field experience. Preparing CPG teams for empathy research in this way makes the process smoother, the insights richer, and the outcomes stronger. In the next section, we’ll explore how to structure in-the-moment learning and post-session debriefs to maximize what your team takes away – and bring it back to the business.

Effective Empathy Trek planning starts well before anyone enters a consumer’s home or retail environment. One of the most important steps in CPG market research preparation is aligning stakeholder goals before the trek begins. Without clarity upfront, it's easy for observations to feel disconnected or result in misaligned takeaways. Here are key tips for guiding better alignment in your pre-trek stakeholder briefing.

Uncover Individual and Shared Objectives

Start by sitting down with stakeholders—individually or in small groups—and ask a few guiding questions to understand what each person hopes to gain. Look for overlap between business functions like Marketing, R&D, Sales, and Insights. Finding shared goals allows the Empathy Trek to support broader organizational priorities while still addressing individual team needs.

Translate Business Goals into Learning Goals

Executive priorities are often stated in business terms like "expand into new usage occasions" or "improve product relevance." Turn these into human-centric questions such as:

• How do consumers currently solve this need without our product?
• What moments in their day prompt this behavior?
• What language do they use to describe this experience?

This shift helps frame the Empathy Trek through a research lens, making it easier to observe meaningful behaviors without jumping straight to solutioning.

Discuss What Stakeholders Should (and Shouldn’t) Expect

Setting clear expectations plays a crucial role in preparing CPG teams for empathy research. Reinforce that:

• Empathy Treks are about observing depth, not measuring quantity
• There may be moments of quiet or reflection – that’s normal
• The focus is on listening, not evaluating or testing hypotheses

This guidance helps stakeholders enter the experience with curiosity rather than judgment, enabling richer observations and deeper customer understanding.

Bring Everyone Back to the Consumer

In the fast-moving world of CPG research, it's easy for business goals to dominate. But real impact comes from connecting those goals to what real people think, feel, and do. When all stakeholders are aligned not just on what they want to learn, but why it matters to the consumer – the Empathy Trek becomes a shared, intentional journey toward innovation.

Stakeholders attending an Empathy Trek often wonder: "What happens after?" Helping them understand how their field observations will translate into actionable consumer insights builds investment and clarity. By outlining the connection between what they see and what decisions can follow, you turn passive observation into purposeful participation.

Highlight the Role of Observation Personas

Empathy Treks often uncover patterns and emotional truths that later surface as consumer archetypes or journey maps. Let stakeholders know their firsthand observations directly shape these outcomes. Each quote written down or need captured in the field plays a role in defining broader themes about the consumer’s world.

Connect Stakeholder Roles to Insight Activation

Clarify how participants’ observations will inform their own workstreams. For example:

• Marketing teams can derive more resonant messaging by hearing the consumer’s voice directly
• Innovation leads may identify whitespace through a deeper grasp of unmet needs
• R&D teams might reinterpret product feedback through an emotional lens, not just functional input

This shows that qualitative research insights aren’t just "nice to know" – they’re critical tools for strategic and tactical decisions.

Outline the Debrief Strategy

Let stakeholders know that the Empathy Trek doesn’t end when they leave the field. Afterward, insights teams or moderators will:

• Synthesize themes across visits
• Highlight pivotal emotional moments
• Map insights to business opportunities

Encourage stakeholders to share initial reflections during the debrief session. These collective impressions often seed the building blocks for larger CPG insight frameworks SIVO might develop.

Reinforce the Power of Shared Learning

Part of what makes Empathy Treks special is that everyone sees the human side of the consumer journey, together. That shared emotional connection can lead to more aligned and energized teams. By clearly explaining how observations will be turned into action, you remove ambiguity and increase stakeholder ownership in the research process.