4550: Evaluating Communications Professor Campbell 2/15/05

Plan for the Day

Two Levels of Evaluation Questions “Micro” –Questions regarding specific marketing communications Prediction Assessment “Macro” –Questions regarding general responses

Purposes of “Micro” Ad Testing Ad Development –Identify relevant points of difference or positioning Understand targets’ wants, needs, views –Test rough ads to select finished ads –Identify means for improving communication Ad Prediction –Test finished ads before media placement –Assign relative initial exposure levels for ads in a pool of ads Ad Assessment –Test to check whether the ad seems to be “working”

Pretest Measures Time looking Physiological measures –Galvanic Skin Response –Pupil dilation –Voice stress –Brain scans? Moment-by-moment measures –Turn a dial to indicate level of interest at each moment while watching an ad

Pretest Measures, continued Message Recall –Unaided –Aided Preference

Management Judgment Ad Test “Expert system approach” Asks: –“Is the ad on strategy?” –“Does the execution seem right?” Checklist –Target audience action objectives –Communication objectives and positioning –Execution guidelines/ attention tactics Multiple judges

Pluses and Minuses of Pretests

PACT Principles of Copy Testing 1Provides measurements that are relevant to the objectives of the advertising 2Requires agreement about how the results will be used in advance of each specific test 3Provides multiple measurements -Single measures are generally inadequate 4Based on a model of consumer response to communications: the reception, comprehension, and response to stimuli 5Allows for consideration of whether the advertising requires repetition 6Recognizes that how “finished” the execution is affects response 7Provides controls to avoid context effects 8Takes into account proper sample definition 9Can demonstrate reliability and validity

Thought for the Day... It costs just as much to run an ineffective ad as it does to run an effective ad

Methods for Predicting/Examining Effectiveness Focus Groups One-on-one interviews “Theatre” Tests –“Survey” response Sales Response –Split cable test Purchase diaries BehaviorScan

Assessing Effectiveness Recall tests “Persuasion”

Which Ad Pulled Best? Gallup & Robinson –Test magazine placed in home –Interviewed the following day –List of ads appearing in the magazine is read and respondents are asked which they remember. If claim to remember, asked the impact questions

Impact Intrusiveness (PNR) –The % of respondents who can accurately describe the ad the day following exposure Idea communication –The distribution of respondents’ descriptions of what was communicated by the ad (the selling propositions) and their reactions Persuasion (FBA) –Distribution of how buying interest was affected

Advertising Effectiveness Recall alone is not predictive of effective ads Recall and Persuasion combined is reasonably predictive Recall + Persuasion + Media spending is even better

Other Methods for Assessing Effectiveness

Is a Super Bowl Ad a Good Marcom Investment?

Measuring Effectiveness, Conclusions Use implicit measures of memory and disposition –Brand recall, consideration set –What they know about a brand –Overall and specific attitudes –Brand choice Test with your target Test in contexts that match “real” ad exposure Choose measures that are relevant to your communication objectives!

Ad Testing Ad test design must fit with the advertising strategy! TEST