In today’s hyper-competitive business landscape, marketers face an alarming reality: nearly 95% of their campaigns fail to achieve their objectives. This staggering statistic reveals a glaring inadequacy in the current approaches to communications testing. It begs the question: how can so many campaigns, despite undergoing rigorous research processes, still fail to resonate with their target audience?
The answer lies in the inherent limitations of traditional communication testing methodologies. These conventional approaches often rely on outdated metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) defined by research agencies clinging to their “proprietary benchmarks.” The resulting reports are filled with numerical “grades” that offer little in the way of actionable insights, failing to provide the context-rich information essential for marketing and agency teams to optimize their message testing effectively.
At Shapiro+Raj, we understand these challenges. As an integrated team of marketers, social scientists, analysts, and strategists, we have experienced these pain points firsthand. This is why we reimagined the approach: instead of merely evaluating the performance of brand communications strategy, we developed an approach that generates future-forward insights to guide the optimization of creative assets for maximum in-market impact.
Our methodology is grounded in four fundamental differences from traditional methods:
1.) From Measuring Legacy KPIs to Using a Strategy-Led Performance Rubric
Traditional comms testing often results in reports filled with scores for metrics such as memorability and motivation. While these measures have their place, they fail to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that truly influence success. This problem stems from two critical issues: the absence of a clear definition of success and the reliance on metrics that are not strategically aligned with the intended goals.
To address these shortcomings, Shapiro+Raj’s approach prioritizes the alignment of business and brand strategy with messaging. Rather than relying solely on KPIs, we engage in a collaborative process to define your specific strategic goals based on three crucial dimensions:
+Belief: What belief is the creative trying to instill/shift?
+Behavior: What behavior should the creative inspire?
+Brand: How should the brand be positioned/perceived?
By viewing success through the lens of these dimensions, we create a customized rubric that goes beyond surface-level metrics. This framework allows us to evaluate your communications holistically, considering their alignment with your brand, impact on business objectives, and ability to captivate and persuade your target audience.
2.) Elevating Analysis: Embracing Cultural & Competitive Dynamics for Contextual Insights
Differentiation is a critical objective for any communication strategy, yet many evaluations fall short by assessing creative work in isolation. To truly gauge the effectiveness of communications in standing out from the crowd, it is essential to look beyond the confines of the research setting and consider the broader cultural and competitive landscape.
Our comprehensive approach begins with a deep dive into the semiotics of your category. By analyzing the signs, symbols, and codes that shape meaning within your industry, we uncover the underlying factors that drive consumer perceptions. This analysis allows us to identify whitespaces and explore the cultural significance of the visual and verbal language used in your communications. Through this lens, we answer critical questions such as:
What communication codes are saturating the category, and where are the untapped areas for differentiation?
How can your brand carve out a unique position by leveraging the identified whitespace?
What cultural meanings and associations are evoked by your imagery and lexicon, and how do they align with your brand’s intended message?
By grounding our evaluation in this contextual understanding, we gain a clear picture of the IdealSpaces™ ripe for exploration. As we gather insights from respondents, we map their feedback against this backdrop, revealing how your communication performs within the larger context.
3.) Beyond Rational Response: Harnessing Social Science for Improved Outcomes
The human mind processes information through two distinct systems: System 1, which is intuitive and automatic, and System 2, which is rational and deliberate. However, traditional research approaches often focus solely on capturing logical, conscious responses to communications, neglecting the crucial role of implicit and unconscious reactions in shaping brand perceptions and driving consumer behavior.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of how communications truly impact audiences, we venture beyond the realm of rational thinking. Our rigorous evaluation framework, firmly grounded in behavioral and social sciences, taps into both System 1 and System 2 processes and employs a range of innovative techniques, such as somatic pulse scaling, which measures physiological responses to stimuli, and implicit association testing, which reveals unconscious connections between concepts. We leverage the Shapiro+Raj proprietary method, WithInsight™, to delve into the deeper recesses of the human psyche.
By blending these methods, we paint a multi-dimensional picture of how a concept resonates with your target audience, illuminating both conscious and unconscious factors that shape their perceptions and drive their actions. This holistic understanding empowers you to craft communications that not only inform but also inspire, forging powerful emotional connections that leave a lasting impact.
4.) Leave Guesswork Behind: Embrace AI-Powered, On-Demand Feedback for Continuous Optimization
Traditional research methods often leave organizations with a list of optimization recommendations but no way to validate their optimizations. Once respondents have provided their initial feedback, they are no longer available to assess the impact of any changes made. However, the power of Gen.AI has enabled us to bring respondents back to the table virtually at a moment’s notice.
Stella.ai, Shapiro+Raj’s supervised learning AI Agent, is carefully trained using each interview, resulting in authentic Avatars of your respondents. These on-demand Avatars can be invited to a focus group to provide feedback as you would with real participants, offering invaluable insights into the revisions. It is as if you are conducting another round of research without the time, effort, and expense typically involved with traditional research.
Are you ready to futureproof your comms testing?
We hope you see that Shapiro+Raj’s future-forward approach to communication testing and optimization offers a differentiated solution. By leveraging our TechManity™ framework, you can break away from the limitations of traditional testing methods and unlock the full potential of your communication programs. Schedule a consultation today at [email protected] to discover how we can help you shape, not just respond to the future.
Watch On Demand: Practical Ways to Integrate AI into Your Traditional Communications Research
About Shapiro+Raj
Shapiro+Raj, the sixth-largest independent insights company in North America, helps global Fortune 500 companies shape the future using the power of future forward insights. We are recognized as the top-5 most innovative research company, #1 strategic insights consultancy, and the largest Nationally Certified Minority Business Enterprise. Shapiro+Raj operates from Chicago, New York, and Pune, India. For more information, contact Shapiro+Raj at (312) 965-2319 or visit https://www.shapiroraj.com.