The Challenge
A leading door manufacturer wanted to test two potential advertising campaigns for its solid core doors to
determine which would resonate best with homeowners. Specifically, the company wanted to understand how
its strategic value targets (SVTs) would respond. The SVTs included four different personas based on different
types of door buyers. The company needed insights into which campaign would be most compelling for the
largest percentage of its core consumer segments.
The Solution
Shapiro+Raj began by leveraging our proprietary research on the leading door manufacturer’s established four
SVT personas representing the attitudes and preferences of key homeowner segments. The team then trained
its proprietary AI-powered consumer insights engine, Stella, to bring these personas to life for the campaign
testing. These interactive “avatars” roleplayed the SVTs. The avatars were powered by an ensemble of
advanced language models with specialized datasets, fine-tuned to accurately reflect the four personas based
on qualitative and quantitative research.
The avatars were then shown two advertising executions – campaign A focused narrowly on noise reduction
and campaign B focused more broadly on quality and craftsmanship. Stella shared the avatars’ open-ended
reactions across five simulation sessions to evaluate appeal and messaging resonance.
The Outcome
The avatar testing revealed that campaign B’s execution strongly appealed to three of the four SVT personas,
suggesting an effective mainstream message. Campaign B’s message allowed the avatars to imagine benefits
beyond just sound dampening. Campaign A’s execution was seen as too niche.
Additionally, S+R was able to enhance two of the SVT personas by incorporating transcript data from a follow-
up qualitative study focused specifically on their needs and desires related to doors. This enriched the avatar
perspectives, enabling more advanced personalization of messaging in future campaign development.
By leveraging AI avatars to bring consumer segments to life, we provided enhanced clarity on which target
segments prefer which creative approach along with guidance on brand messaging opportunities. This allowed our client to optimize communications to align with the true values of core customer personas.
This nuanced insight provided the client with a clear direction on which campaign to execute, saving significant
money. The avatars impressed the client, and they will use them to evaluate creatives moving forward.