Introducing Curated Norms for Activate It: a sharper benchmark for what's next

Some concepts look like sure things on paper, then stall the moment they hit the shelf. Others feel risky in the room and go on to define a category.

Often the difference isn't the idea itself. It's what you compare it against.

Innovation moves fast. What people want changes, new brands shift what "good" looks like in a category, and concepts are being tested faster than ever. The way we benchmark them needs to keep up. Active norms management isn't a bonus — it's essential.

A norm is simply a benchmark: a way to see how your concept scores against others in the category. But a benchmark is only as useful as it is trustworthy. It feels validating to report back that your concept tested in the top X% compared to hundreds of others.

When insight teams are challenged on the data and asked "what are we benchmarking against?", they need a norm they can stand behind. They need a benchmark that lets them confidently help the wider teams decide whether a concept should be optimized, greenlit, or killed. Everyone wants the same thing: a benchmark that genuinely represents the category.

And that's where size can quietly work against you. Most norms are built by pooling huge amounts of data over time, which gives you scale. But a "large" norm isn't the same as a "good" norm. As iterative testing and AI-generated concepts enter the database industry-wide, sheer volume can start to blur a category rather than capture it. Because when you can't easily see what's in a benchmark, it's hard to know whether you're comparing your idea against the real diversity of the market. That's the gap representativeness closes.

So we’ve added Curated Norms to Zappi's Activate It solution to give you a clear, representative read on how a concept could perform in its category.

Curated Norms are a carefully selected, category-relevant set of concepts, either existing or newly tested, chosen to reflect the real diversity of a category. They are:

• Representative: We ensure the norm truly reflects the diversity of the category it represents. We do this by carefully balancing the types of brands, types of products within the categories, and innovations included.

• Robust: We build our norms to be statistically trustworthy and actionable. This means ensuring they have the right statistical properties to provide stable, reliable, and meaningful benchmarks.

• Relevant: We are systematically reviewing and augmenting our existing databases to ensure concepts are relevant to today's market. 

Zappi is the only company in the world offering this.

The idea is simple: we choose what goes in, rather than letting it pile up on its own. Where we already had data, we focused on getting three things right: the concept, the product description, and the audience it was tested with.

We mix up the brands so a few don't take over. We mix up the sub-categories so the norm reflects the real variety in a category. A "Beer" norm, for example, should cover lager, ale, stout, and more, so it captures the full range of tastes and occasions. And we keep the concepts recent and new-to-market rather than dated.

Then we keep them current, reviewing them regularly so the benchmark stays in step with where the category is going.

Check out our Curated Norms here

It comes back to trust and confidence. Curated Norms give you a clearer answer to the question that matters most: “How much commercial potential does this concept have in its category?”, and a benchmark you can put in front of your teams without hesitation.

When your benchmark genuinely reflects the category, the whole process gets sharper: insight teams have a number they can trust, marketing teams can act on it with confidence, and the right ideas move forward for the right reasons.

Curated Norms for innovation are available in the US for FMCG and QSR, covering 34 categories, with more categories and markets to follow in 2026.

Learn more about Curated Norms on our Knowledge Base, or chat with us today.