At a glance, product claims might seem simple – short, punchy statements about what your product does or why it’s better. But behind every great product message is a thoughtful strategy built through structured claims evolution. Getting there takes more than clever wording – it requires research-backed refinement, iteration, and alignment with brand objectives.

A structured claims evolution process moves you from scattered message testing to a consistent, strategic progression of validated claims. Rather than testing different angles in isolation, you build on previous learnings to improve claim clarity, resonance, and effectiveness over time. This leads to stronger consumer connection, better campaign performance, and more informed business decisions.

Here’s why it matters:

1. It Aligns Messaging with Strategic Goals

Strong claims do more than communicate product benefits – they support your positioning, reinforce brand equity, and connect with key audience needs. A structured approach ensures that every claim is tested with these broader goals in mind, so you’re not just improving wording, but building toward impactful, long-term messaging.

2. It Differentiates You in Competitive Markets

Generic claims are easily ignored. With a structured evolution process, you can test unique angles and emotional hooks in a deliberate sequence, honing in on what sets you apart. Whether it’s performance, design, sustainability, or simplicity, your claims become sharper and more relevant in crowded categories.

3. It Makes the Most of DIY Research Tools

Tools like the Zappi platform have made it faster and more affordable to test messaging. But speed should never replace strategy. Structured claims development helps teams maximize the value of these DIY insights platforms by treating the research as a journey – not a one-off test. Insights stack, patterns emerge, and decisions get smarter with each iteration.

4. It Saves Time and Budget Over the Long Term

By avoiding ad hoc testing and focusing efforts through a clear evolution path, teams waste less time chasing weak ideas or creating copy that never fully resonates. Over time, structured claims evolution leads to clearer, more convincing messaging – without the need for constant do-overs.

It’s worth noting that even the best DIY platforms don’t replace expert interpretation. Many teams are turning to On Demand Talent to oversee their claims evolution roadmap – applying research expertise to ensure that outputs serve a broader communication strategy while building internal capabilities along the way.

The Zappi platform enables teams to quickly test multiple variations of product messaging across different consumer audiences. But while the dashboards and metrics are powerful, knowing how to interpret them accurately is essential to distinguish high-potential claims from mediocre or risky ones.

How can you tell if a claim is resonating – or failing to engage? Let’s break it down.

Understand the Right Metrics

The Zappi platform provides a range of KPIs that can guide your message optimization process. Among the most useful for claims testing are:

• Clarity: Do consumers understand what the claim means?
• Believability: Does the claim feel realistic and credible?
• Relevance: Does the claim connect to a consumer need or value?
• Uniqueness: Does it stand out compared to competitors?
• Purchase Intent Uplift: Does the claim move the needle on likelihood to buy?

Strong claims typically perform well across all or most of these dimensions. But it’s not always black and white – a claim might score high on clarity but low on uniqueness, giving you a clear opportunity for refinement rather than dismissal.

Look Beyond the Scorecard

While dashboards offer a helpful overview, qualitative feedback and open-ended comments are often just as valuable. They can reveal tone issues, cultural sensitivities, or unmet expectations that numbers alone don't capture. On Demand Talent can play a key role in analyzing this context and uncovering the “why” behind performance gaps.

Segment & Compare Across Audiences

Strong claims may perform differently across target groups. Segmenting feedback by demographics, attitude groups, or usage frequency helps you understand who the message truly resonates with – and where you may need tailored versions. This is where insights expertise is essential for making targeted refinements instead of one-size-fits-all messaging.

Use a Progressive Lens

Not every claim is meant to be a home run on the first try. Testing claims as part of a development ladder – where each round builds on prior learning – enables you to improve underperformers strategically. Some may become stepping stones to stronger final messages, especially when tested in sequence.

For example, if an initial claim communicates performance but lacks emotion, adding in a benefit framing or user tension in the next version may lift both relevance and appeal. Zappi gives you that real-time feedback loop – but strategic claims evolution requires expert navigation to use it well.

This is where SIVO’s On Demand Talent can help: guiding you through the data, prioritizing claim variants, and refining messaging with a strategic eye. Their experience helps ensure that you don’t just test more – you test smarter.

Once you've identified top-performing claims using the Zappi platform, the next step is to organize them into a cohesive claims progression set. This is a strategic framework of messaging that unfolds over time, helping your brand establish deeper consumer trust and drive product preference long-term.

What is a Claims Progression Set?

A claims progression set is a sequence of product messages that evolve from emotional appeal or awareness-building into detailed functional benefits and category-specific proof points. Rather than relying on a one-off winning claim, this method layers your messaging to support different stages of the customer journey. It's a tool for structured growth.

Why a Progression Set Matters

Consumers often need multiple interactions with your claims before taking action. A progression set lets you:

• Tell a consistent brand story over time
• Match messaging to the evolving consumer mindset
• Reinforce trust through complementary claims
• Scale your communications across touchpoints and formats

For example, a fictional natural snack brand might start with a top-level emotional claim like “Feel Good with Every Bite,” then move into more functional territory with “Made with 5 All-Natural Ingredients,” and eventually focus on a category differentiator like “#1 in Gut-Friendly Snacks as Rated by Real Consumers.”

Using Zappi to Map the Progression

Zappi insights allow you to look beyond a simple winner-versus-loser view. By reviewing multiple test rounds or segments, you can track how certain claim types (emotional, functional, comparative) perform with different audiences or use cases. This data helps construct a thoughtful progression that adapts across:

• Time (campaign phases)
• Channels (retail, digital, out-of-home)
• Targets (new vs. returning customers)

Well-structured claims evolution shouldn’t just end after finding a single “top” statement. With the right insights and a bit of planning, a progression set can turn small wins into long-term messaging success.

As DIY research tools like Zappi become more widely used, they empower brands to move faster and conduct more testing in-house. But there’s a common challenge – an abundance of data doesn't always translate into clarity. Knowing how to interpret those insights and what to do with them is where expert guidance becomes essential.

Why DIY Tools Aren't Always DIY-Enough

Zappi and similar insights platforms streamline claims testing and message optimization with ready-to-use dashboards and benchmarks. But when you're faced with conflicting performance results or nuanced audience differences, getting to a strategic conclusion can get complicated. Without experienced oversight, there's a risk of misreading the data or making decisions based on surface-level performance alone.

Here are a few real-world problems where expert input can make the difference:

• Two claims perform similarly – which one aligns better with brand strategy?
• An emotional claim tests well but underperforms in conversion – what’s missing?
• Claims resonate with niche segments but not the core – how should targeting shift?

What Experts Add to the DIY Equation

Experienced consumer insights professionals bring strategic thinking and storytelling ability that platforms alone can’t replace. Their value goes beyond chart reading – they synthesize data into direction. This results in:

• Sharper claim interpretation aligned to your brand’s goals
• Adjusted testing plans based on early insights
• Improved claim iteration with meaningful rationale
• Less wasted time chasing inconclusive data

Think of the platform as the map and the expert as the guide who knows the route. The strongest market research strategy uses both. It’s no surprise that brands building their internal testing capabilities often still lean on outside expertise to ensure their investments are paying off.

This is where SIVO’s flexible support model comes in.

When you’re accelerating claims testing using a DIY platform like Zappi, having the right talent in place is what turns test results into confident decisions. But for many teams, bandwidth and strategic expertise are in short supply – that’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent comes in.

What Makes On Demand Talent Unique?

Unlike freelancers or general marketing consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent professionals are seasoned insights experts with deep experience in claims development, consumer behavior, and strategic message testing. They integrate quickly into your team – often within days – and immediately add value through their:

• Functional knowledge of tools like Zappi
• Ability to translate data into actionable narrative
• Understanding of cross-functional needs (Brand, Innovation, Comms)
• Strategic recommendation skills backed by real consumer insights

Flexible Help When and Where You Need It

Whether you're refining weak product claims with data or scaling a structured claims evolution process, our professionals can fill talent gaps without the long timelines or costs of hiring full-time. Need help running multi-round testing? Building a claims progression set? Or aligning messaging across geographies or channels?

SIVO’s On Demand Talent provides:

• Temporary coverage during team transitions or growth
• Specialized skills for key initiatives like message optimization
• Coaching for in-house teams to build internal capabilities
• Strategic direction when internal priorities shift quickly

Let’s say a fictional beauty brand is building out a cross-market claim strategy. Their internal team knows the category but lacks the time and tools to work through the complexity of multiple rounds in Zappi. With the right On Demand professional onboard, they bridge the gap – interpreting claim performance nuances, running iterations, and guiding the messaging story across regions. All of this without expanding headcount or pausing the timeline.

In today’s faster, leaner research environment, flexibility is strategy. On Demand Talent helps insight teams move from fragmented message testing to sustained claims development that fuels long-term growth.