Case study: pre-testing mould-breaking ads

Sue Burden, head of Brand and Communications Research at TNS UK, describes how pre-testing can be used with ads that are trying to be totally original and unexpected.

Case study: pre-testing mould-breaking ads

Sue Burden

Pre-testing and ad agency creatives are rarely close allies. The research industry knows that brand communications pre-testing suffers a bad press among ad agency creatives. Their views can often be based on 'industry myths' or a personal experience from many years ago – but, whatever the reason, creatives may see pre-testing as a process that stifles creativity and brings ads down to a homogenised, standard format.

When it comes to ads that are seeking to break the mould, this resistance can become an impenetrable barrier: How could consumers overcome 'the shock of the...

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