Advertising Research
Advertising testing remains a perennial point of argument and debate between researchers, clients and agencies. With a debrief scheduled the week before the first production meeting it is a project guaranteed to cause angst, anguish and occasionally anger.
Much of this is to do with the timing. Researching at the end of the development period it appears that although everyone working on the advertising is highly experienced and done this kind of thing before, they aren’t sure whether what they have is any good. In no other area of business, scientific or technological development would people follow this timing.
What everyone else does is research and check along the way; first thoughts, refinements and final concept. By the time you reach the end you know the stuff works. At Socratics we try to follow a similar methodology. Instead of doing six groups at the end, do six groups throughout an advertising development project. New insights and ideas can be developed, creative ideas embellished and tested and a final product produced that everyone has confidence in.
Car crashes are often caused by people slamming on the brakes at the last moment and trying to change direction. They are avoided by people thinking ahead, knowing where they are going and having confidence in all their decisions.