Make a critical difference in the success of your campaign: the importance of measuring ad recognition.The testing process for advertising effectiveness is often complex, expensive and absolutely vital, but if your process doesn't measure ad recognition, it can be absolutely wrong. This is because the most common techniques don't always give the whole picture about how an ad performs. An ad may score well on research metrics metrics Managed care A popular term for standards by which the quality of a product, service, or outcome of a particular form of Pt management is evaluated. See TQM. such as brand awareness, advertising awareness, media choice and message, but falter on recognition and lose out in the fierce battle for agribusiness agribusiness Agriculture operated by business; specifically, that part of a modern national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and byproducts. mind-share. The ad recognition question is easy. Simply show the advertisement without the brand and logo and ask, "Do you remember the brand this ad represents?" Unfortunately, the question is often overlooked due to budget constraints A Budget Constraint represents the combinations of goods and services that a consumer can purchase given current prices and his income. Consumer theory uses the concepts of a budget constraint and a preference ordering to analyze consumer choices. and logistics. It can be difficult to get physical copies of the ads in front of an audience large enough to be statistically significant. PUTTING IT ONLINE CHANGES EVERYTHING Posting the brand-blinded ads on the Web makes all the difference, allowing cost-effective presentation at the right moment in the survey. One market research firm that has had good results measuring ad recognition for its clients is AllPoints Research in Winston-Salem, N.C. "We recently conducted a Web-based study that compared four different ads within the context of their full campaigns to identify the reasons why otherwise strong, competent advertising was ineffective in the field," explains Tara Olson, co-owner. "Our study demonstrates how including ad recognition in the process can help in making fundamental decisions about a campaign: stay the course or make changes." ONE MORE QUESTION: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS AD? The basic method of determining audience awareness, recollection and association of ads with their products has traditionally been through a specific set of metrics: * Unaided un·aid·ed adj. Carried out or functioning without aid or assistance: made an unaided attempt to climb the sheer cliff. and total brand awareness--Are consumers familiar with the product or service name and value proposition? * Unaided and total advertising awareness--Do consumers think they've seen ads for the product before? * Form of media where the ad was seen or heard (print, radio, TV, Internet, etc.)--In what media should the advertisement be run? Is it being seen by the right people? * Message communication--Does the ad say what it should say? Do consumers respond to what is being said? There are a number of ways to gather these data, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and they are the foundation of a good marketing research study. Most often, though, the information is gathered in an environment where the respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. aren't able to look at the ads in question. The usual studies simply ask them to recall if they've seen ads for the brands and products (i.e., unaided advertising and brand awareness), and then to make statements based on that recollection. "What happens if the respondent In Equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding in equity. The party against whom an appeal or motion, an application for a court order, is instituted and who is required to answer in order to protect his or her interests. is thinking of the wrong ad?" asks Sherrie Aycock, co-owner. "What if respondents are simply mistaken or confused, which in itself could be a red flag for the effectiveness of the ad?" The abstract nature of that recollection leaves the marketer uncertain as to whether or not the target audience actually viewed the brand's advertisement and whether the audience associates the advertisement with the brand. AN INCREMENTAL Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. INVESTMENT IN EXPONENTIAL 1. (mathematics) exponential - A function which raises some given constant (the "base") to the power of its argument. I.e. f x = b^x If no base is specified, e, the base of natural logarthims, is assumed. 2. RESULTS The agribusiness audience is one of the most challenging to undergo study. It's sophisticated, discerning dis·cern·ing adj. Exhibiting keen insight and good judgment; perceptive. dis·cern  ing·ly adv. and maybe a little jaded jad·ed adj. 1. Worn out; wearied: "My father's words had left me jaded and depressed" William Styron. 2. , so agrimarketers have to continually con·tin·u·al adj. 1. Recurring regularly or frequently: the continual need to pay the mortgage. 2. hone their messages to gain a razor-thin competitive advantage with their advertising. Including ad recognition in a study is an incremental investment that can pay off exponentially ex·po·nen·tial adj. 1. Of or relating to an exponent. 2. Mathematics a. Containing, involving, or expressed as an exponent. b. in performance. Ad recognition in small face-to-face focus groups is nothing new. It has simply been skipped in larger telephone or mail studies. The logistics of blanking out the names, color reproduction and printing would add significant time and cost to that portion of a study, sometimes looming looming: see mirage. larger than the cost of the campaign itself. Since Web-based tools can ensure that the respondents are, in fact, responding to the ads agrimarketers are interested in--not a recollection of what may not even be the right campaign or brand--there's no reason to omit o·mit tr.v. o·mit·ted, o·mit·ting, o·mits 1. To fail to include or mention; leave out: omit a word. 2. a. To pass over; neglect. b. ad recognition. AN AD RECOGNITION CASE STUDY AllPoints Research recently completed a marketing study for a Fortune 500 agribusiness client to show how adding an ad recognition component to its research could help the product team make better decisions in the long run. The study objectives were to evaluate brand awareness and advertising message, and to assess campaign recognition and association of the brand with the campaign. The client needed to make decisions about frequency and reach, or whether a new campaign should be developed to replace an underperforming campaign. Aycock explains, "We presented a Web-based survey to 200 respondents who had been qualified and recruited via telephone. The respondents were eventually allowed to view four print ads from which brand names, corporate names and logos had been removed. All of the ads were judged to be creatively competent, and each promoted a different product." The ads' relevant attributes are shown in the top portion of the table on page 52. Note the differences and similarities between message focus, campaign length, message consistency and message impact of each product. Before the research team showed the respondents the actual ads, data were compiled from the questions that asked about brand and campaign awareness. Aycock continues, "It was apparent that total brand awareness for all products was high. Results for unaided brand awareness indicated that significantly more target customers perceived the products represented by Ads One and Three to be "top-of-mind" than they did Ads Two and Four." It was also inferred that there was a strong awareness of print advertising for all products. In many cases, this measure alone has been used to verify recognition of advertising. "This is the pitfall pit·fall n. 1. An unapparent source of trouble or danger; a hidden hazard: "potential pitfalls stemming from their optimistic inflation assumptions" New York Times. ," says Olson. "While we might have assumed that we were ready to make some decisions about the campaigns at this point, we still had some uncertainty about the accuracy of the recollection. Had the respondents truly associated the correct ad with the correct product or brand?" Without visual cues, the respondents must rely on their memories and recollections of the ads. It was determined that this measure of awareness needed to be validated val·i·date tr.v. val·i·dat·ed, val·i·dat·ing, val·i·dates 1. To declare or make legally valid. 2. To mark with an indication of official sanction. 3. and confirmed by the final ad recognition step. A link to the ads posted online was sent via e-mail. WHICH ADS MADE THE CUT? Upon seeing the ads, respondents indicated that Ad One was recognized by a majority of participants. Nearly two-thirds associated it with the correct product. This correlated cor·re·late v. cor·re·lat·ed, cor·re·lat·ing, cor·re·lates v.tr. 1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation. 2. with the previous "top-of-mind" metric. Ad Two didn't fare so well. For it, ad recognition and association were nearly nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non . The overwhelming majority didn't remember seeing the ad. Those that did recall the ad didn't associate it with the right products or any of the other products in the product line. Still, this correlated with previous findings. So far, so good. Results for Ad Three were barely higher, with low recognition and association of the ad with the product. The positive awareness measured in the first portion of the study was powerfully contradicted by the poor ad recognition. An otherwise strong perception from multiple metrics was eroded e·rode v. e·rod·ed, e·rod·ing, e·rodes v.tr. 1. To wear (something) away by or as if by abrasion: Waves eroded the shore. 2. To eat into; corrode. by this one question. Ad One had strong ad recognition and strong brand-name association--good for a campaign in the market for two years. In addition, the clarity of the message communicated indicated this ad had not yet reached burnout Burnout Depletion of a tax shelter's benefits. In the context of mortgage backed securities it refers to the percentage of the pool that has prepaid their mortgage. status; hence the recommendation to stay the course and run for another year. In comparison, Ad Four had medium ad recognition and weak brand name association; however, this ad had been on the market for only one year. The medium level of ad recognition reveals this new ad campaign is penetrating--an indication that repetition REPETITION, construction of wills. A repetition takes place when the same testator, by the same testamentary instrument, gives to the same legatee legacies of equal amount and of the same kind; in such case the latter is considered a repetition of the former, and the legatee is entitled for another year may achieve the desired results. BETTER DECISIONS WITH FRESH AND DEEPER INSIGHT By aligning a·lign v. a·ligned, a·lign·ing, a·ligns v.tr. 1. To arrange in a line or so as to be parallel: align the tops of a row of pictures; aligned the car with the curb. the advertising characteristics with the study results, the researchers made some striking observations. The conclusion changed the course of the advertising strategy for the better. Although unaided and total brand awareness and source of advertising data were comparable for all four products, the results of the ad recognition were varied. The added measure of ad recognition differentiates the campaigns of Ads One and Four from those of Ads Two and Three. These additional data gave the product teams insight for decisions on whether to continue or discontinue dis·con·tin·ue v. dis·con·tin·ued, dis·con·tin·u·ing, dis·con·tin·ues v.tr. 1. To stop doing or providing (something); end or abandon: their existing campaigns. The researchers report that they were able to confidently recommend that campaigns for Ads One and Four should continue to allow them time to penetrate the market consciousness. They recommended that Ads Two and Three be reworked to refocus Verb 1. refocus - focus once again; The physicist refocused the light beam" focus - cause to converge on or toward a central point; "Focus the light on this image" 2. the product message and update the ad for a long-term benefit. In addition, the recognition measures reinforced the benefit of keeping a consistent message, as long as the message has an impact on the target audience. Tamara McLendon is a freelance contributing writer. GIVE ABSTRACT CONCEPTS A REALITY CHECK Olson and Aycock say they think of ad recognition as an acid test that adds a practical, common-sense measure to an otherwise abstract process. A Web-based approach makes it manageable and inexpensive. In the demanding agribusiness market, where clients demand an ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). approach to their marketing expenditures, it's a facet facet /fac·et/ (fas´it) a small plane surface on a hard body, as on a bone. fac·et n. 1. A small smooth area on a bone or other firm structure. 2. of research that can make important and financially significant changes in a campaign.
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Characteristics Ad One Ad Two
Years ad has run 2 1
Clarity of message Yes No
Message consistency
over 3 years Yes No
Target market
response to message Impactful No Impact
Study results Product 1 Product 2
Total brand awareness Strong Strong
Unaided brand awareness Strong Medium
Correct identification
of source of ad Strong Strong
Recognition of ad Strong Weak
Correct
association
between ad
and brand name Strong Weak
Business decisions Stay Refocus the
the course product
message,
update the
ad-think
long-term
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Characteristics Ad Three Ad Four
Years ad has run 1 1
Clarity of message Yes Yes
Message consistency
over 3 years No Yes
Target market
response to message No Impact No Impact
Study results Product 3 Product 4
Total brand awareness Strong Strong
Unaided brand awareness Strong Medium
Correct identification
of source of ad Strong Strong
Recognition of ad Weak Medium
Correct
association
between ad
and brand name Weak Weak
Business decisions Refocus the Stay
product the
message, course
update
the
ad-think
long-term
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