Focus on advertising: When, why & how

to use qualitative research

By: Daniel Oromaner
Editor's note. Daniel Oromaner is president of the Qualitative Difference, Port
Washington, New York.
Advertising is expensive-personnel, agency, development, and
media, all add up to a sizable investment in a brand. Today,
production costs for an ad can easily run $500,000. An amount that
is dwarfed by media expense. Recently, Gillette launched their
Sensor razor with a world-wide media budget of 100 million dollars!
Was the money well spent? Does advertising work? Do most
companies feel their ads are perfectly tuned to their audience and
message? Are companies making the best use of their air buys?
John Wanamaker said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is
wasted, and the trouble is I don't know which half. " Similarly, most
of today's corporate executives do not feel confident about their
advertising. There have been some exceptional campaigns, but
most ads seem to fall into a never-never land of recall,
communication and effectiveness.
My perspective is a narrow one. I conduct qualitative research-with a
specialty in copy research. Recently, I found that many more
advertisers have been using this technique; in fact, a few of my
clients never used qualitative in their ad research until just a few
years ago.
Considering that this application is relatively new, I will address the
following key questions: When should you use qualitative
advertising research? What should you consider in planning such
research, and what are the new qualitative techniques for exploring
all types of advertising?
Unique value of qualitative copy/ advertising research
Media-I have used qualitative advertising research to study
television, radio, print, FSI, and direct mail executions. I have found
the technique to be valuable in all cases, although the production
costs for television generally necessitated the testing of rougher
commercials.
Strategy or copy development-Focus group participants can be very
creative. In discussing your product, their thoughts, ideas and
consumer language may spark your creative team. Their view of the
marketplace may even help determine the strategy or objectives for
an ad or campaign.
Copy refinement-This is the best use of qualitative advertising
research. Focus groups give immediate feedback, and copy can be
changes during or between groups. I have found that the addition or
change of just two or three words can often make the difference
between clear, likable communication and a commercial that misses
the mark. And, since better than 90 % of finished TV commercials
are aired (regardless of how they scored in copy tests), the time for
revision is pre-production!
Below the surface exploration-Some of the most successful
commercials evoke a mood, or an emotion. Professional probing and
projective techniques are often needed to help the respondents
verbalize feelings and associations.
Quick, competitive assessments-In a category where comparative
advertising proliferates, qualitative advertising research can provide
a rapid reading on how consumers are reacting to a competitor's
new ad or claim. It can also provide direction as to whether you
need to counter with your own advertising. AT&T, for example,
regularly schedules focus groups to test their ads and their
competitors' ads for this purpose.
"Disaster checks"-Sometimes marketplace necessities do not leave
time to quantitatively test finished commercials. A quick series of
focus groups can tell whether the finished spot will be an asset or a
liability.
Methodological considerations
One-on-one's versus groups-For copy development and refinement,
focus groups work well. The group can encourage creativity, and the
ideas of each respondent spark associations and ideas from others.
Reacting to, and building upon each other's ideas can be an
effective means of creating the theme of an ad, or refining an
execution.
For disaster checks, or when you need to determine if subtle points
or moods are being conveyed, in-depth interviews work best. This is
also true for business-to-business ad research, where differences in
knowledge among the group members might lead to different
reactions individually versus in a group.
Number of ads to test-Qualitatively, it is generally better to test
more than one ad at a time. Using three executions gives the
respondents a basis for comparison, helps them verbalize their
thoughts and feelings, and minimizes fatigue and confusion. If you
only have one execution to test, you can also include one or more of
your old ads, or one or more of your competitors' ads.
Unfinished commercials-According to research conducted by Harvey
Magier of Consumer Outlook, Inc., 'Rough and finished commercials
evoke similar patterns of consumer response...Finished commercials
do not create meaningfully stronger positive attitudes toward the
brand." However, 'finished commercials are significantly more
emotionally involving and entertaining than rough executions," so
either they should not be tested together, or this difference should
be factored into the results. If the ad relies heavily on emotion or
imagery, the format should approximate finished as closely as
possible.
Key reaction variables-My experience (which for the most part was
confirmed by the findings of the Advertising Research Foundation's
Copy Research Validity Project) is that you need to elicit reactions in
three areas, easily remembered by the acronym "ALL."
Attention is first. According to a 1988 Roper Report, 37 % of 2,000
respondents changed channels with their remote control during
commercials. Nineteen percent didn't change channels, but they
muted the sound. In television, radio, or print, if the ad doesn't
immediately catch the attention of the consumer, the message may
never get across.
The second variable is Liking. The importance of liking as a measure
was one of the key findings of the Validity Project. Some researchers
explain the importance of the measure by reasoning if the ad isn't
funny or clever, the consumer won't pay attention over repeated
exposures. Therefore much of the message will not get through.
Others reason that liking the commercials of a brand or company
provides an overall positive reaction toward that product or
company. Whatever the reasons, if the respondent likes the ad (you
can ask if it is one of the best ads they've seen recently), the ad will
probably be more effective in accomplishing its objectives.
Learning is the third variable. This may be thought of as a
persuasion variable. Experience and research have found that
effective commercials often tell what's unique about a product.
Learning about a product or service is important for most strategies,
and qualitative methods can easily tell you IF there was learning and
WHAT was learned.