Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

1 1 Utt I IV I ttl VI \J from WILLIAM E. HOLDEN, Fuller & Smith & Ross Inc., New York * Pretesting: when it should be done The most important function of today's advertising agency — what it must do in order to profit and progress in the vast, hotly competitive and often fuzzy marketing picture — is for the agency to improve the effectiveness of the client's dollar. A tired old bromide? Or is it? Consider this against a basic agency-client fact of life that in any medium (whether TV, radio or print), it costs more to do the same job and to reach the same people today than it did 10 years ago. It behooves the agency to look further and deeper into the speediest possible ways and means of pinpointing a client's needs and consumer wants. We rely on basic research to determine who the customer is, where he is, what he wants and to what appeals he will respond. We have access to all kinds of measuring devices, rating systems and market surveys. These help clarify a multitude of needs, wants and preferences. And yet a confusing picture often emerges. A reason is the unprecedented traffic jam between the flow of new products and the buying consumer, the jam created as products proliferate and their distribution becomes hazy. More New Products » There are now more new products, more improved "old" products, more direct selling, more chains, cooperatives and new kinds of discount operations than ever before. American industry is better than ever at "finding needs," and fantastically better at filling them, too. In this new situation, the thundering junction of products and sellers and buyers, the advantage lies with the agency that's the innovator and the diversifier. I do not mean to mourn for the "good old days" of advertising when the agency head was of necessity often a jack-of-all-trades (and frequently master of some). The services that can be rendered clients today are more widespread, more diversified and more challenging — a situation that is good and that is healthy. But the crying need is for the agency to concentrate more on isolating, determining and delivering the single selling difference of a product. This is where the effectiveness of the client's dollar enters, and also where there's a necessity for speedier research techniques. Efforts to improve the efficiency of marketing and research methods have been focused on consumer interviewing and analytical approaches, and on the use of computers in simulation studies. But little has been done to reduce the 32 "time gap" between management's need for answers and the ability of marketing and research to provide the answers. Marketing elements in today's business operate at a wide range of speeds. Often research and development produce a finished item in a short period, only to find market pretests requiring months of planning. Again, advertising and promotion efforts at times involve deadlines for finished creative approaches that can't wait for the results of slow-moving consumer "concept" studies or market pretests, and sales personnel often find it impossible to "sell in" a product according to established timetables. These "clocks running at different speeds" often upset complex test market plans, or even entire market introductions, and in addition to causing delays give competitors time to observe strategies and tactics. Emphasis On Speed ■ We need faster reporting methods, faster data processing and informational retrieval, new and more imaginative ways of getting reliable research results to the right people at the right time. At FSR, for example, we have invested considerable effort and money in developing research techniques that help reduce the time gaps. We do much of our broadcast pretesting on our own premises, using closed-circuit facilities. With this means, findings can be tailored to the requirements and interests of our creative people but in time to do some good. So often, research has been accessory after the fact when it should have been accessory before the fact. With the magic of electronics, we frequently conduct what we call "Focused Group Interviews" which pretest creative "concepts" among con sumer groups representing audiences of interest. Groups of from seven to 10 respondents, selected and screened from a larger group on the basis of responsiveness, are interviewed on two-way closed-circuit TV. Clients, creative people and other interested parties can observe and take part in the discussion while observing the panel from another room. We find this to be one of our most valuable tools to appraise rapidly firsthand what consumers like or dislike about packaged foods, drugs or detergents before the products are marketed. The pretesting of a product to determine the format and theme of a TV commercial without doubt can save the client considerable money and certainly improve dollar effectiveness. The instant and spontaneous reaction thus obtained can provide the agency with a microscopic view. In the way that fine precision machinery is calibrated to hair-breadth degrees, research techniques are being "calibrated" in progressively finer degrees to mirror more precisely the wants and opinions of the consumers — the men and women who can make or break a product. Specifically, in the case of Lestoil, one of our clients, focused group interviewing proved a definite aid in developing certain creative approaches and marketing concepts. It also contributed substantially to the preparation and direction of Lestoil's TV commercials by showing us clearly and quickly what was important about the product to the consumer. With the accent on time-saving research methods, the effectiveness of the client's dollar can't fail to be improved if an agency is willing and able to make the necessary investment in time, money and ingenuity. William Holden is senior vice president and manager of Fuller & Smith & Ross Inc., New York. Before he joined FSR in 1961, Mr. Holden was with Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Shenfield for 14 years as account supervisor, agency director and officer. He is a graduate of Boston University. Mr. Holden has had considerable experience in all phases of communications, including sales management and investment analysis work. He resides with his wife and family in Chappaqua, N. Y. BROADCASTING, November 11, 1963