Ad Testing with Tight Deadlines? Solution=Qualboards™

“We need to make an immediate decision on an ad campaign, and we’ve just gotten the draft storyboards. It’s too late to put together focus groups or one-on-ones…”

Real-World Example:
A regional telecommunications company, together with a consultant/moderator and advertising agency, needed to test a major television advertising campaign. Customers from the company’s 9-state region were recruited into two QualBoards™.

On day one the moderator covered introductions, telecommunications services used, interest level in new services, etc. Using the application’s whiteboard area, respondents were then shown actual storyboards of a 60-second television commercial. They were asked to provide feedback on the overall concept, key messages, and perceptions of the company and its services.

Day two gave the advertising agency and end client time to rework the storyboards based on the feedback they had received to this point. Meanwhile, the moderator probed answers and uncovered more information about favorite and least favorite images in the storyboards, respondents’ ability to recall the ad’s message, etc., which were also incorporated into the revision process.

On day three respondents were shown the re-worked storyboards and were again asked to give their opinions on the concept, messages and perceptions. The overall feeling about the revised storyboards was positive – a success for the ad agency and end client!

In the past, tight deadlines forced a consultant, advertising agency, marketing team and end clients to make decisions without conducting any qualitative research. With the evolution of the Internet, we now have more viable options for conducting time-sensitive online qualitative research, particularly with Qualboards™.

Unlike traditional focus groups and online chat focus groups, QualBoards™ are interactive online bulletin board discussions that take place over a period of time, typically 3-5 days. Respondents usually check in once or twice a day to participate and respond to comments from other participants and the moderator. Each day usually includes one or two topics similar to those included in a traditional discussion guide.

This application is great for advertising and website evaluations because it supports print, television or radio advertising -- as well as websites, logos and other graphic elements. Advertising materials can be placed in a built-in whiteboard or integrated into pop-up windows, both of which allow respondents to view the material and participate in the discussion simultaneously.

The real beauty of using QualBoards™ for ad concept testing is the flexibility and multi-day format. Advertising evaluation and new product development can be sped up significantly; by repeatedly incorporating one day’s findings into the next day’s discussion, researchers can literally collapse the product or creative development cycle to a few days.

As shown in the above example, clients can save valuable creative time and thousands of dollars in travel costs by utilizing the Qualboard™ methodology, not to mention the benefit of having customers from 9 different states in a discussion at one time.

For additional information about Qualboards™, please contact 20/20 Research Online – 615-777-2020.