Case Study
Collaborative, Iterative, Immersive, and Agile Creative Evaluation
overview
Our client, a renowned beverage brand, made the decision that in order to reach more consumers, they would need to diversify their offerings. As they embarked on the next phase of growth, they needed an updated campaign that leverages the brand power to drive the full brand portfolio holistically. The primary focus of the campaign was to highlight the master brand and infuse it with a more vibrant and distinctive personality. Additionally, the campaign sought to evolve by capturing pivotal moments that resonated with and empowered the target audience. Knowing that they needed to move quickly with their advertising agency to develop and optimize the campaign, they turned to C+R to bring the consumer perspective into the entire process.
THE PROBLEM
Need to evaluate creative concepts for relevance and acceptance and identify optimizations in a short period of time
There were several objectives that we needed to address for our client. The first step was to ground the client and agency team with an in-depth understanding of consumer perceptions towards the brand. Once this foundation was established, we needed the target consumers to evaluate the creative concepts to determine their relevance and acceptance. Based on initial feedback on the concepts, we needed to identify areas for improvement and optimizations, with a focus on enhancing their relevance to ensure maximum impact. This called for an agile approach, since the client and agency teams needed to develop the campaign in a short period of time.
OUR APPROACH
Immersive Online Discussion + Verbal Debrief and Alignment on Optimizations + Webcam Focus Groups for Optimized Ideas
C+R’s qualitative team conducted an immersive online asynchronous discussion with twenty-five consumers. The purpose of this phase was to dive deeply into what consumers thought of the creative concepts. During the discussions, we explored beverage occasions and subsequent emotions around them. Participants completed evaluation activities such as mark-up exercises, and provided video-recorded feedback on a manifesto, mood board, and script.
The decision to expose participants to the concepts individually was intentional, as it provided them with ample time for reflection and ensured that their feedback was grounded before moving on to the focus group phase.
After the online discussion, C+R facilitated a 2-hour meeting with the client and agency team to share initial findings, discuss specific areas of interest to explore in the focus groups, align on focus group participants, and most importantly, to identify potential optimizations to the creative concepts prior to the focus groups.
Our last phase entailed four webcam focus groups (3-4 participants in each). The client and agency team were present in the virtual backroom with post-group debriefs. The debriefs provided the chance to iterate the discussion flow and content between groups. During this phase, we were able to uncover consumers’ reactions, discuss what each creative concept communicated, and gauge overall appeal, uniqueness, emotional resonance, and optimizations.
The result
Iterative Approach was a Hit and Led to Great Inspiration!
In a short period of time, C+R was able to provide clear direction for optimizing the creative concepts, including the key qualities/characteristics that resonated with the target audience’s values, interests, aspirations, and emotions. The team was appreciative of the way we outlined the specific elements that were “landing well” vs. those where they should use caution and that should be avoided.
This iterative approach inspired both the client and agency team. With numerous touchpoints strategically integrated throughout the iterative process, the team actively engaged in a collaborative effort that proved to be highly beneficial. Through this constructive collaboration, the creative concepts were further honed and optimized prior to quantitative testing, allowing the team to refine their ideas and make informed decisions. By immersing themselves in this research experience, the team developed a heightened understanding and connection with their target consumer.
proven experience
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