Gallup & Robinson: Copy Testing

Understanding the performance of individual advertising executions and campaigns - their strengths and weaknesses - in the context of alternatives, past experience or category norms - that is the objective of Gallup & Robinson's Impact System.

G&R pioneered Impact based on experimental work that Dr. Gallup began at Young & Rubicam in the early 1940's. It is used both to evaluate advertising effectiveness and to diagnose its performance.

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What It Tests
Impact can be applied to the evaluation of print advertising in magazines or newspapers or to broadcast commercials on TV or radio. It is equally suited to pre-testing rough advertising executions or post-testing the finished product. The basic Impact system can also be used to test FSIs, direct marketing and Internet advertising. The majority of our testing has been in the consumer sector. We also have considerable experience with B2B ads, for which we have developed normative data for many categories and target audiences.

Methodology
Our general methodology is substantially more than “day after recall” and includes a full spectrum of important metrics. The Impact procedure begins with a systematic mapping of ten widely dispersed U.S. markets to ensure that we reach a representative survey sample. Our interviewers contact potential respondents door-to-door or, if low incidence, over the telephone and screen them for specified sample characteristics. If qualified, respondents receive a test stimulus and are instructed to read or view it that day in their home as they normally would. Test ads or commercials are embedded with editorial/programming content and clutter ads to simulate realistic reading or viewing conditions. The next day respondents are recontacted by telephone, confirmed as readers/viewers and taken through a structured interview. They do not refer to the test ad or commercial as they answer the questions covering our core metrics, which include intrusiveness (recall), idea communication, persuasion, brand rating and ad liking. Respondents are then asked to look at the test stimulus again as the diagnostic section of the interview is administered, containing both standardized and custom questions about ad reactions and brand attributes.

Analysis
New analytic techniques, such as Advertising Response Modeling (ARM) and Concept Convergence Analysis (CCA), can often enhance basic Impact data to yield a richer understanding of an ad's cognitive and transformational value.

Validation
G&R's core Impact metrics have been validated in numerous studies over the years, including the ARF's Copy Research Validity Project. We have tested over 200,000 ads and commercials and have developed rock-solid norms in most major product/service categories. Impact has been the cornerstone of Gallup and Robinson's business since 1948 and it has undergone many enhancements since, as learning and technology progresses. The system is valued by companies committed to relentlessly improving the quality of their advertising.