Harris Interactive

Pre-testing philosophy
The purpose of marketing communications is to develop and strengthen the bonds between the brand and the customer. These bonds are catalysts to intent, purchase, loyalty and even advocacy, maximising brand performance. Our research model, Connections-BasedSM Research, employs a number of variables to address and measure both positive and negative changes in customer connections, including customers’ cognitive, behavioural, emotional and aspirational ties to a brand. In this way, companies can integrate and leverage their marketing mix across media, and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns based on the stated objective. Data collected by Harris Interactive over the past five years, and across multiple industries, provides empirical evidence that Connections-Based Research is a critical element to generating more accurate in-market models, and is highly effective at measuring the bonds that drive consumer behaviour.


Distinctive features
The Connections-BasedSM Pre Testing System is a modular component of the full Connections-BasedSM Research System, and can be sold separately as a stand-alone offering or as an integral part of a comprehensive Connections-Based offering. The Harris Interactive advantage is in its diagnostic capabilities relative to consumer connection; specifically, understanding the bond between the brand and the consumer, what drives it and how any and all communications help to build or reinforce that bond.


Measures
Analytics depend on the strategy against which we are testing, and the key business and marketing objective tied to the marketing communication vehicle or campaign. The approach is highly consultative. While we collect multiple metrics around the constructs of Branding*, Communication* and Persuasion* (including change in Consumer Connection* dimensions – cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and aspirational ties to a brand), we always analyse to the specific and stated objectives of each execution. We sometimes do regression to understand the drivers of the key metrics. Results are compared relative to relevant benchmarks in our database (comparing the best of the best*, relative to strategy, rather than to a norm or average).
(* indicates key measure)


Media and disciplines tested and presentation method

TV*	TV ad – three exposures
Press*	Press ad – three exposures, with eye tracking
Radio	Radio ad – repeated three times
Cinema	Cinema ad – three exposures
Posters	Poster ad – three exposures
Direct mail	Direct mail item – three exposures
Internet*	Internet ad – three exposures
Sponsorship*	Sponsorship ad – three exposures
PR*	PR material – three exposures
Packaging*	Packaging shot – three exposures (with concept description if required)

1. *Campaign effect by monadic test for each media treatment, and campaign exposure to measure campaign.
2. *‘Scene by Scene’ testing: After the respondent has seen the ad three times and rated it, they are presented with a number of still frames (representing various scenes within the ad) and asked to rate them on up to four attributes each; this answers the challenge of interpreting which part(s) of the ad are most effective, more accurately than continuous solutions offer by trace measures.