At Rethink, we’re big believers in using research— at the right stage in the process.
We regularly do both qualitative and quantitative research to understand customers before we attack a problem. Sometimes we gather people around our boardroom ping-pong table to ask them their thoughts on a particular brand or category. Sometimes we work with outside research partners to do surveys or more formal focus groups.
We believe research can be a great tool in framing a problem and pointing us towards a strategic solution. But we do not believe research can accurately gauge the potential of a creative idea at the concept stage. That’s why we don’t pre-test rough comps, storyboards or animatics with consumers.
Pre-testing can be great if your idea is based on a tried-and-true formula. Then you can easily compare it to other ideas that use similar formulas.
The problem is, ideas based on formulas are exactly the kind that get ignored in today’s ultra-cluttered media environment.
At Rethink, we know to get results you need to be fresh and surprising and deliberately different. Unfortunately, different doesn’t always test well, especially at the concept stage.
That’s because people tend to respond best to things they're familiar with. Truly new ideas rarely make it through the research process unscathed. It's worth noting that Seinfeld received the lowest pre-test scores of any show in NBC history. It’s also worth noting that Apple Computer never focus tests new product ideas.
The focus group format itself is problematic, because it’s simply not how real people experience real advertising. In groups, people are basically paid to pay attention. In the real world, every ad needs to fight for itself.
Another problem is that most people don’t have the capacity to imagine how a rough idea will look in its finished form. Testing concepts is like asking someone to taste a cake while it’s still just batter in a bowl. Concepts need to be fully baked, complete with icing, before you can judge them.
To that point, we often show finished ads to consumers in focus groups so we can fine-tune them and make them work even harder. We also regularly use research to gauge the on-going success of our campaigns and our clients’ brand health.
For more on our philosophy, click here.