EMBRACE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TESTING Despite having earned my living in market research for a number of years I am highly sceptical about the value of ‘ad testing’, especially focus group testing. All too often people tell you what you want to hear. More over experimental research has shown time and again that people do not […]

EMBRACE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TESTING Despite having earned my living in market research for a number of years I am highly sceptical about the value of ‘ad testing’, especially focus group testing. All too often people tell you what you want to hear. More over experimental research has shown time and again that people do not know how they will respond to advertising messages. Focus group is an unnatural environment in which group dynamics are very influential. Even with highly strategic questioning, while potentially useful, the results are unreliable. Whilst market research may be of some value in testing advertising messages, overall I would be reluctant to recommend traditional ‘ad testing’ to a client. That said – the power of contemporary ‘ad testing’ is another matter altogether. The online environment provides for the systematic testing of: Advertising messages can be tested and fine tuned with any number of options being considered.…