Warc Briefing: Pre-testing

This briefing offers an overview of the history, theories and key trends related to Pre-testing or copy-testing.

Warc Briefing: Pre-testing

Definition:Pre-testing (also known as copy-testing) is the practice of airing pre-launch campaigns to target audiences in order to predict the likely effectiveness of campaigns and shape decisions over whether to pull or refine individual executions.

Quick facts

  • More than half of all TV campaigns lose money in both the short and long-terms, according to one academic pre-testing studyi.
  • Using recall as the main pre-testing metric risks rewarding campaigns which are "boring, ordinary and even unlikeable", a Unilever study found.ii
  • A study of IPA Effectiveness Papers controversially claimed that only 30% of ads which...

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