LISTEN CASE STUDY
How Chubbies uses Listen Labs to gather deeper customer insights and drive product innovation.
Drive product innovation
Impact TLDR:
24x increase in youth research participation: Overcame scheduling barriers and grew from 5 to 120 participants.
Enhanced product development: Improved fit across all sizes with visual wear testing.
6x faster market validation: Quickly confirmed influencer strategies, matching long-term findings in a fraction of the time.
Cost-effective, nuanced research: Accessed high-quality insights typically beyond the reach of smaller companies.
Chubbies is a brand that knows the importance of a conversation. First launched in 2011 by four friends as an online shorts company in the San Francisco Bay area, Chubbies has expanded into retail stores selling “the most well-rounded, custom-built-for-the-weekend apparel on the planet.”
“It’s all about joy. It’s all about bringing people together,” said Brett Roddis, the Vice President of Product at Chubbies. “Everyone’s invited to the party.”
Brett Roddis
Chubbies prides itself on being a brand intently focused on the user experience and data insights. Lauren Neville, who has been on the Chubbies team for years and now serves as the Director of Insights and Innovation, explained that their team focuses on providing an amazing experience for their customers from start to end. “We're on the front line hearing from the customers and then taking that back to the rest of our team,” she said, “The customer has a voice, and we're just the person that gets to deliver it.”
We were excited when Lauren and Brett invited us to join forces in their search for better ways to collect customer insights. Listen Labs is now helping Chubbies stay distinctly user-focused, with a better understanding of more of their audience.
The problem: limited insights from traditional binary surveys and focus groups
Chubbies, a vibrant shorts brand known for its bold designs and playful marketing, faced a big challenge in collecting meaningful consumer insights. They wanted to get inside the heads of their playful, shorts-loving community before making any big decisions.
"We've always been data-driven," explained Lauren. "We're a fun, silly brand, but at the end of the day, when you make data-driven decisions, it's just best for the company."
The stakes were high. Relying on intuition rather than data could lead to costly missteps. Lauren explained, "If you make a product, design, or silhouette that nobody's looking for, that affects the whole company." And there could be an even bigger ripple, affecting marketing efforts, key performance indicators across departments, and the success of wholesale partners.
At first, Chubbies tried out simple yes-or-no surveys. However, this approach didn’t capture all that customers had to say. "With that binary yes or no answer,” Brett explained, “we were missing the nuance."
To make up for these limitations, the company sometimes tried focus groups. While this method allowed for more in-depth discussions, it also came with new challenges. "Groupthink is real" Brett pointed out, highlighting the potential for individual opinions to be swayed by the majority. On the flip side, chatting up customers one-on-one would take forever and be a scheduling nightmare.
Chubbies was searching for a solution. How could they gather the rich, nuanced consumer feedback they needed while avoiding the pitfalls of their previous methods? Brett and Lauren utilized Listen Labs to balance depth of insight with speed and scalability, becoming a brand even more committed to customer focus and inclusivity.
Use-case 1: Youth research
One of Chubbies’s biggest challenges was conducting research with younger audiences, an important age group for some of their product lines. They tried to run an online focus group, similar to what they’d done with adults, but it came with many scheduling challenges. It was a mess trying to find a time when everyone said they were available and then hoping everyone would show up.
When they tried this method with kids, Lauren found even more scheduling challenges than they’d experienced with the adults. “There’s school, sports, dinner, and homework.” she said, “I had to find a way to hear from them that fit into their schedules.”
Lauren compared one focus group with five kids to the 120 kids they could interview through Listen Labs. They found that Listen combined the scale of surveys with the deeper insights of focus groups.
“I thought Listen Labs was great because the AI can hear what the kid is saying and ask follow-up questions,” she said. “It realizes sentiment, and there’s an interaction.”
Listen matched the overall findings from traditional methods and provided even deeper information. “The kids weren’t being influenced by the four other kids on the call,” she said, addressing their groupthink concerns. “It seemed like they felt they could just be themselves and give honest opinions and not feel embarrassed.”
Brett agreed, “They were in front of a screen and talking to the AI, and it just felt like we unlocked a lot of nuances that we would probably never have gotten if an old guy like me was trying to ask these young kids questions. Especially for Gen Z or Gen Alpha kids, this felt like it was a lot easier and more natural to them.”
Use-case 2: Visual insights
Chubbies' bright and creative prints make them stand out. To test what designs their customers will like, they need to run print tests, which Listen Labs has helped them improve.
With Listen, they can show new and existing customers prints for swim trunks or shirts and get them to vote. Previous methods would have stopped at the rankings. With Listen, interviewees can provide the why behind their answers, helping designers brainstorm better ideas in the future.
“Once the products our customers are voting on come out and are sold, we'll have the data to compare to the initial rankings and their rationale,” Lauren said.
Use-case 3: Wear testing
An important part of any clothing brand is making sure the products fit correctly. To do that, companies conduct wear tests. For Chubbies, past wear testing meant sending products to customers and getting back yes-or-no surveys.
But now, because Listen Labs uses and records interviewees' videos, customers can wear the product on camera. Rather than just a still image, the design team can see the products in motion on the user. Rather than just reading notes on paper, they can hear the customer describe how they feel while wearing it.
“Our design team only had one model to try their items on,” Lauren said, “Now they can see it on the entire size range. We’ll have an actual person saying, ‘I like this, but this part is weird,’ and they can walk the team through where it’s weird, where it’s too tight, too short, or too anything.”
The ability to design with better data on a broader range of sizes and body shapes has helped reduce return rates and improve customer satisfaction.
“On a survey, someone can say, ‘This fit too small,’ but that leaves us wondering: where did it fit too small? Where do we need to make these changes?” Lauren said. “Being able to see it on actual bodies, on everyone’s timeframe, becomes incredibly more helpful.”
Use-case 4: Marketing
Another use Chubbies has found for Listen is understanding how their customers see influencers used for marketing.
“Prior, the insights team didn’t really test for marketing,” Lauren explained. It began as a new project during their partnership with Listen Labs to test all that was possible for the brand.
Brett explained that influencer test results from Listen were much faster. “It was amazing because it correlated back to the findings that our team had already gotten over a longer period,” he said. “It helped us unlock those insights quicker.” Feedback was, on average, 6x faster using Listen.
“We want influencers to talk about our product,” Lauren said, “By doing this one survey with Listen Labs, we now have a playbook of the do’s and don’ts for influencers.”
It came back that they disliked overdramatic language, cheesiness, or someone trying to make a sale. When they ask for influencer input, they can show them this guidance for Chubbies customers.
“Even though they’re influencers, they’re still a voice of Chubbies,” said Lauren, “We need to be more prescriptive with them about going out there and advocating for us.”
Overall, being able to use Listen has changed their marketing process for the better. “It’s no longer just the loudest voice in the room running away with what they think the promotion should be,” said Lauren. “There’s cohesion. The data and results speak for themselves.”
Use-case 5: Post-purchase feedback
After the release of a product that people are buying, clothing brands want to know what people think. Chubbies wanted to know what they should fix or if they should invest more in that particular product.
“In clothes, it’s never going to be perfect the first time,” said Lauren. “But having these follow-ups with the customers after they've gotten to buy is incredibly impactful for our business.”
Chubbies is now able to get beyond the binary. They can understand why customers like the product, how they use it, how it feels, and what they want from the brand.
Listen Labs’s impact on Chubbies data insights
Listen Labs has helped Chubbies improve their data collection and customer understanding. The team has been able to unlock deeper customer insights with five core benefits:
More nuanced feedback: Moving beyond binary surveys to capture qualitative insights.
Improved accessibility and 24x scale: Reaching more customers, including younger audiences, without scheduling hiccups.
Visual insights: Gathering valuable visual data for product testing and design improvements.
6x faster, more accurate market research: Quickly validating marketing strategies, particularly for influencer campaigns.
Improved post-purchase feedback: Gaining detailed insights on product performance and customer satisfaction after sales.
With better data, Chubbies can live up to its customer-focused goals, and Lauren and Brett can tap into those insights in new ways.
“The partnership that Listen Labs provided us has been exceptional,” Lauren said. She shared that while they have worked with other survey and data collection platforms in the past, none compared to their experience with Listen. “We are getting more of our team involved. Now, the founder of Chubbies wants everyone to have a login and utilize it to discover as much about the customer as possible.” From marketing to design and every team in between, Listen has increased interest in the data across the company.
Chubbies doesn’t take this easy access to deep data for granted. “These types of insights have been previously unattainable for smaller companies like us that don't have a massive budget,” said Brett. But with Listen, they have been able to dream bigger when it comes to understanding their audience. “We're small, but we're incredibly curious. We're always looking for newness that goes beyond the traditional approach in this space. Obviously, Listen Labs answers a lot for us.”
By embracing AI-powered research with Listen Labs, Chubbies can better serve their audience thanks to nuanced customer feedback on designs, fit, and marketing campaigns.
Chubbies is a brand that knows the importance of a conversation. First launched in 2011 by four friends as an online shorts company in the San Francisco Bay area, Chubbies has expanded into retail stores selling “the most well-rounded, custom-built-for-the-weekend apparel on the planet.”
“It’s all about joy. It’s all about bringing people together,” said Brett Roddis, the Vice President of Product at Chubbies. “Everyone’s invited to the party.”
Brett Roddis
Chubbies prides itself on being a brand intently focused on the user experience and data insights. Lauren Neville, who has been on the Chubbies team for years and now serves as the Director of Insights and Innovation, explained that their team focuses on providing an amazing experience for their customers from start to end. “We're on the front line hearing from the customers and then taking that back to the rest of our team,” she said, “The customer has a voice, and we're just the person that gets to deliver it.”
We were excited when Lauren and Brett invited us to join forces in their search for better ways to collect customer insights. Listen Labs is now helping Chubbies stay distinctly user-focused, with a better understanding of more of their audience.
The problem: limited insights from traditional binary surveys and focus groups
Chubbies, a vibrant shorts brand known for its bold designs and playful marketing, faced a big challenge in collecting meaningful consumer insights. They wanted to get inside the heads of their playful, shorts-loving community before making any big decisions.
"We've always been data-driven," explained Lauren. "We're a fun, silly brand, but at the end of the day, when you make data-driven decisions, it's just best for the company."
The stakes were high. Relying on intuition rather than data could lead to costly missteps. Lauren explained, "If you make a product, design, or silhouette that nobody's looking for, that affects the whole company." And there could be an even bigger ripple, affecting marketing efforts, key performance indicators across departments, and the success of wholesale partners.
At first, Chubbies tried out simple yes-or-no surveys. However, this approach didn’t capture all that customers had to say. "With that binary yes or no answer,” Brett explained, “we were missing the nuance."
To make up for these limitations, the company sometimes tried focus groups. While this method allowed for more in-depth discussions, it also came with new challenges. "Groupthink is real" Brett pointed out, highlighting the potential for individual opinions to be swayed by the majority. On the flip side, chatting up customers one-on-one would take forever and be a scheduling nightmare.
Chubbies was searching for a solution. How could they gather the rich, nuanced consumer feedback they needed while avoiding the pitfalls of their previous methods? Brett and Lauren utilized Listen Labs to balance depth of insight with speed and scalability, becoming a brand even more committed to customer focus and inclusivity.
Use-case 1: Youth research
One of Chubbies’s biggest challenges was conducting research with younger audiences, an important age group for some of their product lines. They tried to run an online focus group, similar to what they’d done with adults, but it came with many scheduling challenges. It was a mess trying to find a time when everyone said they were available and then hoping everyone would show up.
When they tried this method with kids, Lauren found even more scheduling challenges than they’d experienced with the adults. “There’s school, sports, dinner, and homework.” she said, “I had to find a way to hear from them that fit into their schedules.”
Lauren compared one focus group with five kids to the 120 kids they could interview through Listen Labs. They found that Listen combined the scale of surveys with the deeper insights of focus groups.
“I thought Listen Labs was great because the AI can hear what the kid is saying and ask follow-up questions,” she said. “It realizes sentiment, and there’s an interaction.”
Listen matched the overall findings from traditional methods and provided even deeper information. “The kids weren’t being influenced by the four other kids on the call,” she said, addressing their groupthink concerns. “It seemed like they felt they could just be themselves and give honest opinions and not feel embarrassed.”
Brett agreed, “They were in front of a screen and talking to the AI, and it just felt like we unlocked a lot of nuances that we would probably never have gotten if an old guy like me was trying to ask these young kids questions. Especially for Gen Z or Gen Alpha kids, this felt like it was a lot easier and more natural to them.”
Use-case 2: Visual insights
Chubbies' bright and creative prints make them stand out. To test what designs their customers will like, they need to run print tests, which Listen Labs has helped them improve.
With Listen, they can show new and existing customers prints for swim trunks or shirts and get them to vote. Previous methods would have stopped at the rankings. With Listen, interviewees can provide the why behind their answers, helping designers brainstorm better ideas in the future.
“Once the products our customers are voting on come out and are sold, we'll have the data to compare to the initial rankings and their rationale,” Lauren said.
Use-case 3: Wear testing
An important part of any clothing brand is making sure the products fit correctly. To do that, companies conduct wear tests. For Chubbies, past wear testing meant sending products to customers and getting back yes-or-no surveys.
But now, because Listen Labs uses and records interviewees' videos, customers can wear the product on camera. Rather than just a still image, the design team can see the products in motion on the user. Rather than just reading notes on paper, they can hear the customer describe how they feel while wearing it.
“Our design team only had one model to try their items on,” Lauren said, “Now they can see it on the entire size range. We’ll have an actual person saying, ‘I like this, but this part is weird,’ and they can walk the team through where it’s weird, where it’s too tight, too short, or too anything.”
The ability to design with better data on a broader range of sizes and body shapes has helped reduce return rates and improve customer satisfaction.
“On a survey, someone can say, ‘This fit too small,’ but that leaves us wondering: where did it fit too small? Where do we need to make these changes?” Lauren said. “Being able to see it on actual bodies, on everyone’s timeframe, becomes incredibly more helpful.”
Use-case 4: Marketing
Another use Chubbies has found for Listen is understanding how their customers see influencers used for marketing.
“Prior, the insights team didn’t really test for marketing,” Lauren explained. It began as a new project during their partnership with Listen Labs to test all that was possible for the brand.
Brett explained that influencer test results from Listen were much faster. “It was amazing because it correlated back to the findings that our team had already gotten over a longer period,” he said. “It helped us unlock those insights quicker.” Feedback was, on average, 6x faster using Listen.
“We want influencers to talk about our product,” Lauren said, “By doing this one survey with Listen Labs, we now have a playbook of the do’s and don’ts for influencers.”
It came back that they disliked overdramatic language, cheesiness, or someone trying to make a sale. When they ask for influencer input, they can show them this guidance for Chubbies customers.
“Even though they’re influencers, they’re still a voice of Chubbies,” said Lauren, “We need to be more prescriptive with them about going out there and advocating for us.”
Overall, being able to use Listen has changed their marketing process for the better. “It’s no longer just the loudest voice in the room running away with what they think the promotion should be,” said Lauren. “There’s cohesion. The data and results speak for themselves.”
Use-case 5: Post-purchase feedback
After the release of a product that people are buying, clothing brands want to know what people think. Chubbies wanted to know what they should fix or if they should invest more in that particular product.
“In clothes, it’s never going to be perfect the first time,” said Lauren. “But having these follow-ups with the customers after they've gotten to buy is incredibly impactful for our business.”
Chubbies is now able to get beyond the binary. They can understand why customers like the product, how they use it, how it feels, and what they want from the brand.
Listen Labs’s impact on Chubbies data insights
Listen Labs has helped Chubbies improve their data collection and customer understanding. The team has been able to unlock deeper customer insights with five core benefits:
More nuanced feedback: Moving beyond binary surveys to capture qualitative insights.
Improved accessibility and 24x scale: Reaching more customers, including younger audiences, without scheduling hiccups.
Visual insights: Gathering valuable visual data for product testing and design improvements.
6x faster, more accurate market research: Quickly validating marketing strategies, particularly for influencer campaigns.
Improved post-purchase feedback: Gaining detailed insights on product performance and customer satisfaction after sales.
With better data, Chubbies can live up to its customer-focused goals, and Lauren and Brett can tap into those insights in new ways.
“The partnership that Listen Labs provided us has been exceptional,” Lauren said. She shared that while they have worked with other survey and data collection platforms in the past, none compared to their experience with Listen. “We are getting more of our team involved. Now, the founder of Chubbies wants everyone to have a login and utilize it to discover as much about the customer as possible.” From marketing to design and every team in between, Listen has increased interest in the data across the company.
Chubbies doesn’t take this easy access to deep data for granted. “These types of insights have been previously unattainable for smaller companies like us that don't have a massive budget,” said Brett. But with Listen, they have been able to dream bigger when it comes to understanding their audience. “We're small, but we're incredibly curious. We're always looking for newness that goes beyond the traditional approach in this space. Obviously, Listen Labs answers a lot for us.”
By embracing AI-powered research with Listen Labs, Chubbies can better serve their audience thanks to nuanced customer feedback on designs, fit, and marketing campaigns.
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Listen to your customers
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Listen to your customers
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