BBDO's Andrew Robertson: Experimenting trumps testing

This event report addresses the future of marketing research, based on the views of Andrew Robertson, president/ceo of agency network BBDO.

BBDO's Andrew Robertson: Experimenting trumps testing

Geoffrey PrecourtWarc

For Andrew Robertson, BBDO's president/ceo, marketing research essentially relies on two methodologies.

"In 'testing,'" he proposed, "what you're trying to do is get people to respond in an artificial environment to a stimulus that, you then extrapolate, will result in something else.

"With 'experimenting,'" by contrast, "you actually put it out there. You see what happens. You either adjust, kill or double down on the work that you're doing."

And which approach is most likely to gain ground in the future? "We're going to be able to experiment much, much more...

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