If the future of media is ideas, how can you tell which ones will work? Millward Brown’s Sue Elms visits the frontiers of media research.

Brands want ideas. They know that a strong communications idea delivered in an engaging way is more important than ever, if they are to connect with consumers across an expanding media landscape.

However, brands are also cautious. Whether it is a standalone media “stunt” – such as The Reebok Sofa Games – or a long-term platform – such as Dove’s Real Beauty – the majority of marketers want reassurance that these new connections will deliver. Will they provide flashes of energy for the brand or create a longer-term platform?

Companies want to avoid wasting money and management time and in the worst cases they need to be wary of damaging the brand. Chevy in the USlooked bad when environmentalists picked up on a video creation campaign that allowed them to make negative videos.

The new frontier of communications planning is using research to improve the generation, development and testing of new connections ideas before they go live. Idea generation involves exploring and testing new territories for a brand in people’s lives (for instance “performing at work”) researchand identifying new connection points (such as “branded online approaches to help people show they are ahead of the game”).

The challenge is to turn these abstract ideas into a fully formed media campaign. We call this “concept testing”. It is now possible to test concepts at every stage of the process, as long as there is something to show the consumer. It could range from the simple abstract concept of “let’s do an online game” to the possible expressions of that game and the final execution. We’ve developed a research platform – called IdeaBlog – that allows communities of respondents and moderators to share, develop and test ideas and content via discussion, URLs, images and videos, mapping games and polling. The community is limited to a tight consumer target and runs for a few days – or even a few weeks, where necessary, – avoiding the huge biases that exist in self-selecting community groups.

Our criteria for effectiveness remain largely consistent no matter what communications activity is being developed or deployed.

There are two questions we have to answer for every idea generated. First, will the activity engage the audience? If it doesn’t, it will not be remembered and will fail to have any effect at the moment of purchase. Relevance and emotional resonance are the watchwords for engagement. Anything that is relevant to an individual’s interests, preoccupations and concerns will be attended to. Anything that is not or that interferes with these concerns will be suppressed, such as spam and cold calls.

The second question is: will it affect brand associations in the right way? How is your activity going to impact on what people think or feel about the brand and how will they perceive the brand experience?

The activity needs to contribute something to the brand that reinforces or develops the brand idea – the brand’s central “truth” – that is conveyed to consumers through its communications activities. And, in a world where the media palette encompasses all channels, it is also important to know what one activity will add to other activities in the communications campaign.

Communications planning agencies are increasingly using research to explore people’s lives and generate new ideas to connect consumers with brands. However, it is imperative that these agencies continue to engage with research to develop and optimise those ideas.

Approaches that are already used for optimising creative can also be used to optimise media ideas. Interactive community research tools can provide ongoing dialogue for ideas, for example, the development of a new programme of activity around a platform such as “good food”.

Taking the time to evaluate the consumer response at every stage of the development process will ensure that the right ideas are executed correctly and deliver a far higher pay back.

 

Case Study: A missed opportunity to maximise

In a study conducted for a drinks brand, we evaluated a live campaign that included a brand microsite and branded pages on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace and used online adverts to drive traffic to these sites.

Had we tested these things earlier, many changes could have been made to significantly enhance the activity’s effectiveness.

It was clear that the microsite was the strongest performer and had a highly effective home page. However, the more detailed content needed considerable work; branded giveaways were undesirable, the games were too down-market and the information was not considered to be up to date.

The Facebook and MySpace pages added to the overall campaign, but after an initial positive reception, the activity remained a bit too corporate and it should have kept these pages better updated.

The online ads also failed to drive traffic to either the branded sites and microsite, which was a big concern because the power of the other activities depended on this traffic generation.

Overall, the campaign worked, but it could have been so much better with earlier consumer feedback and guidance.

 

Harnessing channel insights from pre-testing

One thing that always surprises me is just how few planners look at pre-test information.

Yes, it’s mainly aimed at evaluating the effectiveness creative, but there’s also a host of useful information that can help inform the shape and weights to be used in the media schedule.

Even a single medium pre-test can inform the media plan and foster effective consumer connections. If one element of the advert stands out, such as a personality, a sound or a moment, for example, it can be taken and used in other ways.

A classic case might be if a TV advert has very powerful music, then a cheap way to remind people of the TV campaign is to extend the music into a radio campaign.

Maybe an ad has talk-ability and could be adapted in a way that results in even more people talking about it. At the most Basic level, if one element of the ad shows high impact, pre-test information shows that you don’t need to spend so much money on it.

Multimedia pre-testing can help planners by identifying the relative and combined strengths of each element of the campaign. It can reveal how the individual channels work in isolation, as well as together, to deliver the overall strategy and the impact this has on different parts of the brand.

This is important because activity in one channel often affects or “fills in the blanks” from the takeout for an ad in another channel.

Modern media planning is a thoughtful art and more thoughtful planners will find such insights immensely valuable when presenting their ideas and schedules to clients.

 

Case study: pre-testing feedback can help build effectiveness

In one recent telecoms campaign, the TV ad was a top performer and had strong emotional appeal, branding, and communicated its two key objectives. The findings suggested that it should be used as the emotional, more continuous mainstay of the campaign. Once the activity is established, continuity is more important than high weekly reach and so it could be used in less premium airtime and adapted for online use.

A newspaper ad met the factual communication objectives and achieved brand connection, but had low appeal. The ads were vital to add depth so the research indicated that a rise in planned reach might be desirable to ensure enough people saw both. One media solution to overcome the low appeal was to use proximity to relevant editorial. The addition of magazines could increase reach and receptivity. A transport poster did best out of the outdoor executions.

It was well branded and likeable, but was weaker than TV and print in the delivery of its key communication points. Instead, it could be used to extend the length of campaign by repeating the “learnt” brand messages from other media. The higher frequency and dwell time facilitated by public transport helped it better establish communication points and this also made it suitable for other locations with high levels of traffic, close up contact, or dwell time.