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Creating And Measuring The WOM-Worthiness
Of New Products: A Case Study
By:
Karen Kraft, Felicia Rogers, and Gwen Ishmael
Most word-of-mouth (WOM) marketers would agree that having a great product
is a major key to the success of a word-of-mouth campaign. However, coming up
with and developing great product ideas that will be talked about can be a daunting
task. Additionally, how can a marketer know that an idea is really “great”
and will be talked about by consumers? These are the issues that face new product
managers in companies everywhere, including one client of Decision Analyst.
This company had identified a white space in their market and desired to fill
it with a new product offering which would be marketed primarily via a word-of-mouth
generating campaign. The client desired to develop a breakout new product that
would be both “WOM-worthy” and would meet or exceed established
marketing research action standards that they have used traditionally as stage-gates
before approving any new product launch.
Knowing that word of mouth would be the primary marketing tool used for this
new product, the company partnered with Decision Analyst from the first steps
of new product innovation through final testing of the marketing platform to
be used at the onset of new product launch. The following outlines the innovation
and marketing research techniques used to come up with a new product that would
be WOM-worthy and would also score highly on their traditional measures of new
concept and product success.
Step One: WOM-Minded Innovation
While there are many techniques available for new product idea generation,
the task of coming up with a new product idea that would get consumers talking
lends itself perfectly to consumer-based ideation. Initial idea generation for
this project was conducted via an all-day session among Decision Analyst’s
proprietary panel of creative consumers, the Imaginators®. While the Imaginators®
was initially developed as a panel of highly idea-centric creative consumers
to assist in new product ideation, additional research has shown that this group
is also more WOM-involved than the general population in the U.S.
WOMUnit Sending
| |
U.S.
General Pop. |
Imaginators® |
| Percent Who Have Sent At Least
One WOMUnit In The Past 30 Days |
81.5% |
88.8% |
| Average Number Of Different Product
Categories About Which A WOMUnit Was Sent In Past 30 Days |
4.9 |
7.1 |
|
| Note: A bold number indicates the value is significantly higher
than the U.S. General Population, at the 95% confidence level. |
WOMUnit Receiving
| |
U.S.
General Pop. |
Imaginators® |
| Percent Who Have Received At
Least One WOMUnit In The Past 30 Days |
70.0% |
82.1% |
| Average Number Of Different Product
Categories About Which A WOMUnit Was Received In Past 30 Days |
3.9 |
5.5 |
|
| Note: A bold number indicates the value is significantly higher
than the U.S. General Population, at the 95% confidence level. |
Being both highly creative and more WOM-involved, the Imaginators® were
chosen as an ideal group to assist in coming up with a WOM-worthy new product
idea. Additionally, during the selection process for this particular innovation
session, Imaginators® were screened to ensure that they were highly involved
with the client’s category as both product users and WOMUnit senders and
receivers.
Over the course of the day-long innovation session, over 500 idea fragments
were generated by the Imaginators®. These fragments were then initially
evaluated by all key client stakeholders (the marketing research department,
new product brand managers, R&D staff, and their advertising agency) and
10 were selected for further development into full new product concepts. Each
idea was distinctly different from the others and included at least one feature
that could be the “it” factor that would spread quickly, and undistorted,
as a WOMUnit in a WOM campaign. The next step was to determine which, if any,
of these 10 concepts truly contained that “it” factor.
Step Two: WOM-Minded Concept Screening
To determine which of the 10 concepts was potentially the most WOM-worthy,
again consumer input was desired. A technique known as Maximum Difference (MaxDiff)
Scaling was identified as optimal to use to screen for WOM-worthiness because
it is based on the hypothesis that new product concepts that maximize both purchase
interest and uniqueness have the best potential for success. Additionally, products
that consumers are excited about purchasing and products they find unique are
products that are likely to be talked about.
The 10 concepts were tested among 400 potential target consumers identified
within American Consumer Opinion® Online, Decision Analyst’s proprietary
consumer panel. During the survey, respondents were shown several sets of three
concepts each. From among each set of three concepts, respondents were asked
to select the concept they would be most likely to buy, and the concept they
would be least likely to buy, as illustrated here:
This exercise was then repeated for each subset of concepts; however, in the
second exercise respondents were asked to select which concept was most unique
and which was least unique. Using discrete choice analysis, preference scores
for all of the concepts on both measures were derived from the answers. The
preference results were then expressed as scores (from 0 to 100) and mapped
to determine which had the most potential for success (i.e., which, if any,
scored high on both purchase interest and uniqueness).
The map clearly illustrated that Concept X was the most promising for further
product development. Consumers were both highly interested in purchasing it
and rated it extremely unique. The next step was to determine specifically what
it was about Concept X that generated such high interest and could potentially
be the ideal WOM marketing message.
Step Three: Monadic Concept Evaluation
Concept X was then put through a monadic concept evaluation that included traditional
new concept measures such as overall appeal, purchase interest, uniqueness,
confusion, and attribute ratings. When compared to the client’s new product
action standards in terms of purchase interest and uniqueness, Concept X scored
exceptionally well.
| |
Concept X
|
Action Standard |
| Top-Box Purchase Interest (Percent Definitely
Would Buy) |
28% |
18% |
| Top Two-Box Purchase Interest (Percent
Definitely/Probably Would Buy) |
62% |
55% |
| Top-Box Uniqueness (Percent Very Unique)
|
45% |
30% |
Additionally, two key WOM measurements were included in the questionnaire.
Consumers were also asked their likelihood to recommend this product to someone
else, followed by an open-ended question asking what they would tell someone
about Concept X. Concept X scored extremely well on likelihood to recommend:
- 24% definitely would recommend
- 61% definitely/probably would recommend
- Less than 4% would not recommend
The open-ended results indicated that most respondents felt that there was
one key feature of Concept X that they would tell others about. This feature
was then recommended as the centerpiece around which the WOM campaign would
be developed for Concept X. The only concern that emerged from this monadic
concept test was the product name. Consumers did not feel it fit well with the
concept and its key point of differentiation.
Step Four: WOM-Worthy Product Name Generation And Testing
Concept X was then exposed online without a name to a group of 15 Imaginators®,
who were given the assignment to generate names that would be easy to remember,
fit with the product description, and would be something they would recommend
to a friend. Over 225 potential names were generated, three of which were selected
for final testing. Concept X was then again tested monadically among three groups
of target consumers, each group evaluating the concept with a different brand
name. One name clearly emerged as the winner, and the advertising agency and
brand team put together the full marketing message for one final test before
product and WOM campaign launch.
Step Five: Final Marketing Message Testing
Concept X (now Product X) was tested a final time among members of American
Consumer Opinion® Online. Respondents evaluated the concept and full marketing
message in conjunction with an in-home product trial. While the product lived
up to consumers’ expectations, the marketing message did not clearly communicate
the primary benefit of the product. This was the same benefit that was identified
as the main WOMUnit which would be sent as a result of the initial concept.
The client and their agency then modified the marketing message and it was retested
again with the product description. This final check determined that both target
and nontarget consumers were still extremely interested and excited about the
product and that the new marketing message to be used in the WOM campaign clearly
communicated the WOM-worthy benefit of Product X.
Final Steps: Test Marketing And Tracking
Product X will soon be test marketed in five markets. In each market, WOM marketing
efforts are planned, with slightly different tactics planned for each. However,
all tactics will be centered around the breakout benefit, which was initially
generated by the Imaginators® and tested thoroughly throughout concept and
product development. Market-level tracking is planned and the survey will measure
both traditional measures (such as awareness, trial, and usage, etc.) as well
as WOM-centric metrics (WOMUnit creation, sending, receiving, etc.).
The client is extremely pleased and is very optimistic about their new product
launch. This system, which was used to generate, develop, and test the idea,
enabled them to blend traditional new product development and measurement techniques
with techniques that will help them maximize the effectiveness of Product X’s
upcoming WOM campaign. This case illustrates that it is possible for companies
to come up with the “next great product idea” that will get people
talking, without abandoning the time-tested traditional marketing research metrics
on which many corporate action standards are founded.
Copyright © 2006 by Decision Analyst,
Inc.
This article may not be copied, published, or used in any way without written
permission of Decision Analyst.
About the Authors
Karen Kraft (kkraft@decisionanalyst.com)
is a Research Consultant, Gwen Ishmael (gishmae@decisionanalyst.com),
is a Senior Vice President and Director of Insights & Innovation and Felicia
Rogers (frogers@decisionanalyst.com)
is an Executive Vice President at Dallas-Fort Worth based Decision Analyst.
They may be reached at 1-800-262-5974 or 1-817-640-6166.
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