The document discusses the role of advertising testing in marketing. It makes three key points: 1) While advertising testing is important for accountability, too much emphasis on testing can stifle creativity if insights are not effectively communicated. Testing works best when results are turned into stories that inspire further creative work. 2) Advertising testing is generally 70-80% accurate in predicting ad performance, which provides value for ensuring marketing budgets are well spent. However, critics say it can limit creativity if results are just numbers without context. 3) Large brands like Nike that seem not to test still achieve strong results, but this has more to do with how decentralized their operations are rather than not testing. Testing reduces risks

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POINT OF VIEW
STAN STHANUNATHAN
ADMAP JUNE 2012
would rather spend that money on driving
better production value.
The unfortunate reality is that, in the
insights function, way too much emphasis
is placed on measuring the past, testing and
tracking performance. This has a strong ‘rear
view mirror’ leaning. While it is important to
learn from the past, it is counter-productive
if we mainly live in analysing the past. The
role of insights is to inspire and provoke
people to take decisions that drive
transformational growth. We would all serve
our clients much better if we invest more
money on obtaining deeper understanding
of the human condition. We should provide
insights that spark creativity early in the
process. This invariably results in
communications that create strong brands.
The bottom line is that ad testing works.
In fact, it is one of the few areas where we
can clearly demonstrate a strong ROI. In my
view, it is good, responsible business practice.
We should always remember that insights,
creativity, marketing etc, are a means to an
end. The end is delivering strong, sustainable
and profitable business results. And ad testing
enables that.
In this march towards driving testing
discipline, we should ensure that the right
balance between the art and science of
marketing is struck. The science side of ad
testing is well developed. The onus is on the
insights professionals to convert test results
into stories that inspire the creative
development process. This can be best
achieved by disseminating findings through
‘Creative Enhancement Workshops’ as
opposed to stand-up, fact-filled presentations.
Finally, while ad testing is useful and
necessary, it needs to evolve significantly.
Rapid growth of user-generated content is
going to require a redefinition of what testing
is all about. In addition, technology-enabled
testing approaches are going to change the
landscape – neuroscience, facial
expression decoding, and other biometrics
will go mainstream. Evolution of ad testing
is going to be further accelerated by the
rapid revolution taking place in digital media,
combined with internet/mobile platforms
becoming ubiquitous. This is going to change
the way the ‘what’ and ‘how’ feedback is
obtained from people. While all the seismic
shifts of the plates are happening, let us not
forget what David Ogilvy once said: “Never
stop testing, and your advertising will never
stop improving.”
Ad testing isn’t dead
Ad agency creatives say ad testing stifles
creativity. Clients (especially Insights
departments) insist they need accountability.
While research agencies believe that ad
testing works and there is enough proof of
that. So who is right?
With billions of dollars spent on media
annually, marketing accountability is a
business imperative, especially in a challenging
economic environment, and delivering against
this expectation is not optional.
Most ad testing approaches deliver
upwards of 70-80% accurate read of the
potential impact of the ad. Very rarely have I
come across ads that test well but did poorly
in the marketplace. So, this level of accuracy
should surely make any CFO happy.
Yet agency creatives’ criticism that testing
stifles creativity is also sometimes valid – too
often, the conversation, post-test, revolves
around a lifeless set of numbers. The emphasis
for researchers should be on powerful
storytelling, highlighting the implications,
inspiring and provoking the creatives. When
this happens, they start seeing the value in
testing. They don’t just get a pass/fail report
card on their work. They get valuable insights
for making ads work better in the future.
Ad agency creatives tend to quote Nike
and Apple as examples of successful brands,
which, they claim, do not test advertising. It
is true that these companies have been very
successful producing great creative work. But
it had very little to do with them not testing
the advertising. Testing or not is a function
of how companies are structured globally. If
organisations are decentralised, having the
discipline of testing reduces the risk of
poor quality copy going on air in certain
locations where capability level might not
be as strong. It is naïve to assume that all
countries can produce great advertising
all the time. The cost of running bad copy
is very high… both in terms of media cost
as well the potential damage it can cause
to the brand. Companies in such situations
should test ads before they are aired. At the
same time, marketers should embrace risk
a bit more. If an ad tests well in a few
markets, they should be bold
enough to roll it out to
other countries and
not spend more
money on testing
it in every market
where it is going
to be aired. I
13
it had very little to do with them not testing
the advertising. Testing or not is a function
of how companies are structured globally. If
organisations are decentralised, having the
discipline of testing reduces the risk of
poor quality copy going on air in certain
locations where capability level might not
be as strong. It is naïve to assume that all
countries can produce great advertising
all the time. The cost of running bad copy
is very high… both in terms of media cost
as well the potential damage it can cause
to the brand. Companies in such situations
should test ads before they are aired. At the
same time, marketers should embrace risk
a bit more. If an ad tests well in a few
markets, they should be bold
enough to roll it out to
other countries and
not spend more
money on testing
it in every market
where it is going
to be aired. I
ADM June Stan_2nd.indd 3 5/22/2012 16:25:27