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Promotion Testing
Why Test Promotions?
In the world of marketing, consumer promotions might be described as a vast wasteland. Incredible sums of money are spent on promotions of dubious
merit and unknown effect. Fewer than one out of every 100 promotions is submitted to any type of pretesting before it is run.
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 promotion investments are a boon or a boondoggle.
We have tested hundreds and hundreds of promotion ideas and concepts over the past two decades, and have found that the better ideas will often be 5 to 10
times more effective than the poorer promotion ideas. This means that pretesting promotions can pay big dividends. Consistently running the very best
promotions tends to have a cumulative positive effect on brand share and brand profitability.
To help improve promotion effectiveness, Decision Analyst offers three major Internet-based pretesting services:
PromotionScreen®—A low-cost comparative 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 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
consumer 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 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
Promotion Testing Services
Decision Analyst is a leading international marketing research and marketing consulting firm with over 30 years 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 by emailing jthomas@decisionanalyst.com
or calling 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166.
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