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Promotion Testing Research
In the world of marketing, consumer promotions can be described as a vast wasteland.
Large sums of money are spent on promotions of dubious merit and unknown effects.
Fewer than one out of every 100 promotions is submitted to any type of pretesting
or research evaluation. Once promotions are aired, they are very difficult to
evaluate based on sales response because of competitive activity, seasonality,
weather, and other confounding variables. So the average company really does
not know if its promotional investments are a boon or a boondoggle. To help
improve promotion effectiveness, Decision Analyst offers these services.
PromotionOpt™ (Promotion Optimization)
PromotionOpt™, a Decision Analyst proprietary system, is used to help
create prototype promotional concepts by determining the optimal combinations
of the variables.
How Does PromotionOpt™ Work?
Once the basic variables of effective promotions for a brand are identified,
based on qualitative research and/or ideation, PromotionOpt™ is a research
service to help create prototype promotional concepts, using choice-modeling
experiments. Different offers, messages, themes, illustrations, imagery, etc.,
can represent thousands of possible promotions. PromotionOpt™ tests subsets
of all of these possibilities to predict the effectiveness of every possible
combination of promotional elements. Each respondent usually sees five to 10
scenarios (i.e., combinations of variables). Choice modeling is used to derive
the potential selling value of all possible combinations. The top 10 or top
15 promotional concepts thereby identified are ready for normal quantitative
testing.
PromotionScreen®
A low-cost comparative promotion screening system to evaluate early-stage promotion
ideas and concepts in batches of 10 to 20 at a time, typically in print ad format.
How well a promotion works depends on the strength of its appeal and its fit to the category and brand. PromotionScreen® allows a
large number of promotional ideas/concepts to be evaluated at relatively low cost. The greater the number of promotional ideas tested, the more likely it is
that really outstanding promotional ideas/concepts will be identified.
How Does PromotionScreen® Work?
The promotion concepts or ideas are translated into rough print ads—each
consisting of a headline, an illustration, and the promotional text (or the
concept can be text only). A sample of 200 to 300 target-audience consumers
are recruited to review and evaluate the rough print ads via the Internet.
Each respondent sees all of the rough print ads (up to 20) twice. First, the respondent reviews all of the promotional ads or ideas. After the
second viewing, the respondent answers questions about each ad. The answers to these questions feed into a mathematical model that computes an overall index
score for each ad. These comparative index scores identify the promotional concepts and ideas that are worthy of further development and testing.
PromotionCheck®
An Internet-based monadic promotion pretesting system to evaluate early-stage
promotion ads and storyboards. Detailed diagnostic feedback helps in refining
the promotion concept.
PromotionCheck® is designed to tell you approximately "how good" the promotion is and to provide rich diagnostic feedback in the form
of verbatim comments to help you "flesh out" and improve the promotion before it is aired or is submitted to a more comprehensive evaluation.
How Does PromotionCheck® Work?
A representative sample of target-audience consumers are recruited to our survey
site to review a promotional idea. Typically, 75 target-audience consumers are
asked to review and evaluate the promotional ad.
A promotion can be tested on the following forms:
- Rough or finished print advertisement
- Television storyboard or animatic
- Finished (or near-finished) TV commercial
- Radio script
- Radio commercial (rough or finished)
- Outdoor billboard
Each promotional ad or commercial is tested monadically. That is, each respondent sees and evaluates only one promotion. After respondents review
the promotion twice, they are then asked a series of standard closed-ended questions (that can be compared to normative data), plus a series of open-ended
questions to determine how the promotion could be improved. The report includes answers to standard questions, compared to Decision Analyst's action standards,
as well as verbatim responses to open-ended questions.
PromotionTest®
A comprehensive monadic promotion pretesting system designed to predict the
effectiveness of the finished (or near-finished) promotion ad or commercial compared
to normative data.
PromotionTest® provides a comprehensive overview of the promotion's probable
effectiveness, including extensive diagnostics as well as the effects of the
promotion on the brand's image. The SellingPower™ score can be compared
to normative data (competitive and historical) to aid in predicting the promotion's
likely impact. It's especially important to measure the effects of promotions
on brand image over time, so that promotional activity is building the brand—not
destroying it. Promotions can be tested in the following forms:
- Rough or finished print advertisement
- Television storyboard or animatic
- Finished (or near-finished) TV commercial
- Radio script
- Radio commercial (rough or finished)
- Outdoor billboard
How Does PromotionTest® Work?
A representative sample of target-audience consumers is selected from one of our Internet panels. These consumers match the target population in terms
of geography, gender, age, income, ethnicity, and category usage. A total of 300 respondents come to Decision Analyst's encrypted web server to view
the promotion and complete a battery of questions and diagnostic ratings. Each promotion is tested monadically (i.e., no respondent evaluates more than
one promotion). The results are tabulated and the promotion's SellingPower™ score is calculated. This score is compared to our action standards for successful
new promotions.
SellingPower™ Model
This predictive mathematical model calculates an overall SellingPower™ score for the promotion, based on the following variables:
- Persuasion (brand purchase intent)
- Brand reinforcement
- Possible increase in frequency of usage
- Attention value
- Brand registration
- Stimulation
- Empathy/Identification
- Wearout
- Memorability
- Pass along potential
Focus groups and depth interviews are valuable techniques to explore consumer
motivations, perceptions, and proclivities related to various promotional concepts
in a product category. Good qualitative research can help define the spectrum
of promotional possibilities, and help identify the key elements of successful
promotions. It’s really difficult to develop successful promotional programs
without good qualitative research to provide basic understanding to guide that
development. Once promotional concepts are developed, qualitative research can
be valuable in fine-tuning the concepts. However, focus groups and depth interviews
should not be used to predict the success of various promotions. That task is
reserved for quantitative methods.
Most companies tend to fall into a promotional rut and keep repeating successful
promotions until their appeal is destroyed. A better approach is ideation. Let
creative consumers help you develop better promotions. Once basic consumer motivations
are understood via qualitative research, then creative individuals can help in
the promotion development process. Highly creative individuals are the key. They
can help create “starter” ideas for breakthrough promotions. Decision
Analyst maintains a panel of over 2,000 highly creative people (called Imaginators®),
who work in small groups, online or offline, to generate hundreds of promotional
ideas for a brand. Naturally, these starter ideas must be developed into final
promotion concepts by marketing staff or agencies and should go through standard
promotion-testing procedures
Promotion Testing Services
Decision Analyst is a leading international marketing research and marketing
consulting firm with over 3 decades of experience in testing promotional ideas
and concepts. Our American Consumer Opinion®
Online panel has over 8 million consumers around the globe ready to evaluate
your promotional ideas online. Decision Analyst is a world leader in Internet-based,
online promotion testing.
If you would like more information on Promotion Testing, please contact Jerry
W. Thomas, President/CEO (jthomas@decisionanalyst.com),
or call 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166.
Additional Resources from Decision Analyst
Brochures
Promotion Testing Case Histories
