Every concept or proposition we have tested has been different in some way. Quite often we are involved at subtly different stages of the proposition / concept development process. Plus every target audience is different hence there should be no “off the shelf” solutions for proposition or concept testing.

Given the differences that exist between every project, concept and target audience we often discourage clients from placing too great an emphasis on comparative benchmarks. We will always take a measure of things like appeal and consideration, but the relative “success” of each test has to be taken in context.

Appeal and consideration are important measures for testing propositions and concepts, but of course we do far more than this. We use other quantitative measures to understand fit with and impact on brand, impact on behaviour (to understand cannibalisation risks), etc. Our approach is also grounded in ensuring the research is as “real” and as tangible for the research participants as possible – getting them in the mind-set of when they would make decisions regarding those products and services. Hence we also use qualitative methods – digging deeper, playing “devil’s advocate”, using techniques to access emotional responses.