Ad test
Lotus Biscoff Goes Local: Which Billboard Wins India?
In a billboard test with 101 Indian sweet-snack buyers, two Lotus Biscoff made-in-India launch concepts tied on solo ratings (88% and 80% eye-catching, 81% and 83% likely to buy), but in a direct head-to-head Billboard 2 won 62% to 38% among those with a preference. Eye-catching power was the strongest driver of purchase interest.
Explore the findingsRate Billboard 1 eye-catching (4 or 5 out of 5)
Say they would likely buy Biscoff after either design
62% of those with a preference choose it
Based on 101 completed responses. Ad test.
What we set out to answer, and what we found
Two billboard concepts announce Biscoff is now made in India. Which one actually works?
Which billboard grabs attention first?
We showed 101 sweet-snack buyers two billboard designs, one at a time, and recorded their gut reaction and how eye-catching each one felt.
Does either one land the message?
The campaign has one job. It must say Biscoff is a global icon, now proudly made in India, without losing its premium feel. We checked whether each design gets that across.
Does either one make people want to buy it?
After each design, we asked how likely they would be to pick up Biscoff for their next coffee break.
Head to head, which one actually wins?
After seeing both, we asked people to pick a favourite outright.
Each billboard works on its own, and they score almost the same. Billboard 1 is rated eye-catching by 88% of people, Billboard 2 by 80%. Both sit around 4.2 out of 5 on average, a gap too small to call a real difference. Purchase interest is just as close: 81% would likely buy Biscoff after Billboard 1, 83% after Billboard 2.
Side by side, people lean towards Billboard 2. Asked directly which they preferred, 43% chose Billboard 2 versus 26% for Billboard 1. Among people who picked a favourite, that is a 62 to 38 lead, and it appears in almost every group, including people who know Biscoff well, daily snackers and people who always pair a biscuit with tea or coffee.
Both land the core message equally well, and both miss it equally often. About 39% say each billboard perfectly captures “global icon, now made in India, still premium”. A sizeable group still finds the local-India story unclear, or feels going local has cost some premium shine.
First impressions differ even though the ratings match. Billboard 1's top gut reaction is “Premium and High Quality” (53.5%). Billboard 2's is “Clear Brand and Logo Focus” (39.6%). They earn the same scores in different ways.
Eye-catching power drives the wish to buy. Across both designs, how eye-catching a billboard is predicts purchase interest by a wide margin, far ahead of whether the message landed perfectly. If the billboard grabs attention, purchase interest tends to follow.
Biggest Driver
The single strongest driver of wanting to buy
Who We Asked, and Where Biscoff Fits Today
Prior Awareness of Lotus Biscoff
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Knows it well | 51.5% |
| Heard of it, never tried | 48.5% |
Role in Household Snack Purchases
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Joint decision maker | 51.5% |
| Primary decision maker | 48.5% |
How Often They Pair a Biscuit With Tea or Coffee
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Always | 46.5% |
| Sometimes | 31.7% |
| Rarely | 10.9% |
| Never | 10.9% |
Where They Typically Buy Premium Cookies
Base: 101 respondents, multi-select
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Premium supermarkets (modern trade) | 58.4% |
| Quick-commerce apps | 55.4% |
| E-commerce platforms | 55.4% |
| Local kirana stores | 30.7% |
01. Biscoff already has a head start before this campaign runs. 52% say they know the brand well, and the rest have at least heard of it.
02. Every respondent has a say in which sweet snacks come home. 49% decide alone and the rest share the decision.
03. 45% eat sweet snacks or packaged desserts daily and a further 35% at least weekly, so for most of the sample this is a frequent, habitual category.
First Impressions: Both Billboards Grab Attention Almost Equally
Billboard 1: How Eye-Catching?
Base: 101, rating 1 to 5, mean 4.24
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| 2 | 4% |
| 3 | 8% |
| 4 | 49% |
| 5 | 40% |
Billboard 2: How Eye-Catching?
Base: 101, rating 1 to 5, mean 4.16
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| 2 | 3% |
| 3 | 17% |
| 4 | 42% |
| 5 | 39% |
01. 88% rate Billboard 1 a 4 or 5 for eye-catching, versus 80% for Billboard 2. The 0.08-point gap in the average is too small to matter.
02. Nearly everyone would stop and look at either one. 87% for Billboard 1 and 88% for Billboard 2 say the design makes them want to look closer.
03. Neither design has an attention problem. They differ in character, and the scores do not separate them.
Two Different Creative Personalities
Billboard 1: First Gut Reaction
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Premium and High Quality | 53.5% |
| Mouth-watering and Appetising | 16.8% |
| Crisp and Crunchy Focus | 16.8% |
| Cluttered or Unclear | 12.9% |
Billboard 2: First Gut Reaction
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Clear Brand and Logo Focus | 39.6% |
| Mouth-watering and Appetising | 26.7% |
| Striking and High Impact | 19.8% |
| Unappealing or Unclear | 13.9% |
A Dead Heat on the “Global Icon, Now Made in India” Message
What the Design Actually Communicates
Share of respondents per billboard
View the data behind this chart
| Billboard 1 | Billboard 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Nails it: global heritage + local launch + premium | 38.6% | 38.2% |
| Feels premium, but local-India message unclear | 25% | 28.1% |
| Local launch lands, but feels less premium | 27.3% | 25.8% |
| Falls flat: generic, not premium or iconic | 9.1% | 7.9% |
01. Both billboards deliver the full brief to almost exactly the same share of people, 39% for Billboard 1 and 38% for Billboard 2. Neither has an edge.
02. For both, a similar-sized group (25% to 28%) gets the premium positioning but finds the local-India story unclear. Another (26% to 27%) gets the local story but feels it has cost some premium shine.
03. Roughly half of viewers pick up only one half of the intended message, the premium cue or the local-made cue, and not reliably both.
Purchase Interest Is Essentially Tied
Billboard 1: Likely to Buy After Seeing This?
Base: 101, rating 1 to 5, mean 4.12
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| 2 | 5% |
| 3 | 14% |
| 4 | 46% |
| 5 | 36% |
Billboard 2: Likely to Buy After Seeing This?
Base: 101, rating 1 to 5, mean 4.14
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| 2 | 6% |
| 3 | 11% |
| 4 | 47% |
| 5 | 37% |
Billboard 1: What Stood Out Most
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Overall layout balance and background | 24.8% |
| Red Lotus Biscoff brand logo | 22.8% |
| Biscoff cookie pack visual | 22.8% |
| Close-up caramelised cookie texture | 16.8% |
Billboard 2: What Stood Out Most
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Biscoff cookie pack visual | 32.7% |
| Red Lotus Biscoff brand logo | 26.7% |
| Overall layout balance and background | 21.8% |
| Close-up caramelised cookie texture | 18.8% |
01. 81% would likely buy after Billboard 1 and 83% after Billboard 2, both averaging just above 4 out of 5.
02. On Billboard 1, attention is spread fairly evenly over the overall layout (24.8%), the logo (22.8%) and the cookie pack (22.8%). On Billboard 2 it goes more to the Biscoff cookie pack visual itself (32.7%).
Billboard 2 Wins the Direct Comparison, 62.3% to 37.7%
Having Seen Both, Which One Do You Actually Prefer?
Base: 101 respondents
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Billboard 2 | 42.6% |
| Billboard 1 | 25.7% |
| Equally good | 15.8% |
| Neither | 15.8% |
01. Rated separately, the two designs look the same. Asked to pick one, 43% choose Billboard 2 against 26% for Billboard 1, and among the 69 people willing to name a favourite that is a 62.3% to 37.7% lead for Billboard 2.
02. The lead holds among people who already know Biscoff well (48% vs 25%), daily snackers (52% vs 22%) and people who always pair a biscuit with their drink (49% vs 21%).
03. Only occasional, monthly snackers and people who rarely pair a biscuit with a drink swing the other way. These are smaller groups and matter less for this campaign.
Eye-Catching Power Does Almost All the Work
What Predicts Wanting to Buy, All Else Equal
Effect on purchase interest, both billboards combined; higher is stronger
View the data behind this chart
| Answer | Value |
|---|---|
| How eye-catching it is | +0.81 |
| Makes them stop and look closer | +0.10 |
| Nails the full message (icon + local + premium) | -0.05 |
01. How eye-catching someone found the design is by a wide margin the best predictor of whether they would want to buy Biscoff afterwards. Nothing else measured comes close.
02. Whether the design made someone stop and look closer adds a smaller boost on top.
03. Delivering the “global icon, now made in India, still premium” message perfectly does not, on its own, reliably add purchase interest once eye-catching power is accounted for.
What we would recommend
Practical priorities drawn from this study for further validation.
Lead with Billboard 2 for the mass campaign.
It wins the side-by-side comparison clearly (62% to 38% of those with a preference), and the lead holds among daily snackers, people who already know Biscoff and people who habitually pair a biscuit with their drink. That is the audience this campaign needs to move.
Do not read this as a photo finish that needs more testing.
The two billboards answer different creative questions. Billboard 1 wins on a premium, high-quality first impression. Billboard 2 wins on clear brand and logo recognition and on the head-to-head vote. If premium perception matters more in some markets or moments, consider a hybrid or a market-specific split.
Fix the “pick one, lose the other” trade-off before finalising either design.
Roughly half of viewers of either billboard come away with only one half of the intended story. Whichever design goes ahead, tighten the copy or visual hierarchy so the premium and made-in-India ideas land together.
Put eye-catching execution ahead of perfecting the message copy.
How eye-catching a billboard is predicts purchase interest far more strongly than whether it communicates the full brand message. If something has to give, protect the visual stopping power first.
Make quick-commerce and modern trade the anchor channels for the launch.
These two channels lead where this audience already buys premium cookies (58% and 55%), just ahead of e-commerce (55%). Timing billboard media with visibility on these platforms gives the attention the campaign earns a better chance of turning into a sale.
