Our survey says

It’s something that sets our process apart, with consumer surveys offering the ability to engage highly targeted audiences and in turn directly inform key creative and strategic decisions.

Putting ideas to the test

For any organisation, we understand that committing to a brand refresh or overhaul can be a big leap. And where creatives tend to embrace the exciting and unfamiliar, many businesses and key stakeholders may typically be more risk-averse, particularly from corporate or traditional industries. For some, it might even go against everything they do on a day to day basis; a potential step into the unknown where results aren’t guaranteed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The power that brand can harness is huge, and that power shouldn’t be lost in fear of risk.

With the help of intuitive and rapid survey tools, we can stress test everything from consumer habits to naming strategies and creative elements; all to a demographically targeted audience, just like your very own customers. In fact, some respondents might even be them.

This can be done at each stage of the creative process, with an iterative approach dramatically reducing risks and helping to optimise creative output. From here, we’ll be able to gain crucial and valuable insight that can inform decision making on every single level.

Take a choice of three different brand identities as a simple example. Alongside a series of questions that set the scene in line with the creative brief, we’ll be able to ask your predefined audience which identity resonates most and why. As well as adding confidence and validating recommendations, this quantifies the likely reception of your brand before it’s released to the big wide world.

Answering the big questions

Essentially, the insights gained from testing are used to answer four key questions — concept validation, whittling down options, refining a winning idea and comparing reception by demographic.

The first of these — concept validation — is all about making sure your creative or branding element will resonate. This involves validating your ideas before you invest more time, money and energy from the creative team.

Secondly, whittling down options can cover everything from testing broad brandscapes and moodboards, to fully finished wordmarks and products. This is about presenting different assets to your audience which will ensure you don’t follow a poor idea down a rabbit hole.

Next up, refining a winning idea. This will be the natural step after you’ve settled and agreed on an idea or concept. You can continue to check in with consumers to optimise your creative; tweaking and adjusting elements to increase the longevity and appeal of your campaign or asset.

Lastly, comparing reception by demographics is all about audience segmentation. This reveals how the replies to your survey vary between different demographics, which can go on to determine things like marketing channels, key messages and creative refinements.

Client Relationship Director, Paul Bell, said:

“Our powerful testing and survey tools have brought new insights for ourselves and our clients. It’s ultimately provided a clearer process that minimises risks and provides maximum return on investment.

“Aside from the obvious impact of more informed creative decisions, testing reveals in-depth consumer behaviour that for many businesses has simply never been exposed. This hugely important data can factually provide answers to often complex questions and back up difficult decisions with long-lasting strategic impact.”

Diving deep

In its simplest form, the process involves evaluating consumer responses to a product, brand or idea before it’s introduced to the market. However, our testing platform goes much further than simply providing top-level results.

Robust data can be completely broken down and effectively analysed, making numbers insightful and meaningful. Filters can be toggled to zoom in on specific demographics such as gender, age, location and household income. Results can even be analysed to assess specific consumer choices and replies. Additional testing is also possible to either a fresh pool of respondents or a previously surveyed sample.

Move over subjectivity

Perhaps most importantly, uninformed subjectivity has become largely redundant. Of course there’s still room for personal feelings, gut reactions and the final say, but with consumer testing we’re removing the obstacles of individual preference and replacing them with fact-based results that shed light on what really matters to your customers and clients.

Creative Director, John Taylor, said: “Rapid consumer testing is another string to our BetterBrandBuilder bow. It’s allowed us to back up our creative directions in a way that’s more informed and calculated than ever before.

“We’ve always been confident in our decisions, but as well as bringing confidence and clarity to clients, testing allows us to validate our key recommendations that ultimately have a big strategic impact on the brands we work with.”

Whether it’s surveying thoughts on a logo for a hair extensions company or gauging public opinion on a naming strategy for a housing development, consumer testing will go a long way to ensuring risks are reduced and the decisions you make are strategically relevant.

Ultimately, that means a more informed, more effective and better built brand. Something that’s beneficial for us all.