Online Advertisement and Message Testing - Peak Insights

Online Advertisement and Message Testing

Tired of guessing how your creative will land? Peak Insights’ online ad testing uses innovative research tools and technology to measure real time, moment-to-moment reactions to advertising. Using a variety of online capabilities, we can test ads and concepts among your target audience to gauge message effectiveness, persuasiveness, believability, relatability and overall importance.

Tired of guessing how your creative will land? Peak Insights’ online ad testing uses innovative research tools and technology to measure real time, moment-to-moment reactions to advertising. Using a variety of online capabilities, we can test ads and concepts among your target audience to gauge message effectiveness, persuasiveness, believability, relatability and overall importance.

Whether it be early-stage rough cuts or story board concepts, or fully produced, ready-to-ship spots, Peak Insights will test ads among a segment of your target audience to provide real-time feedback on the overall effectiveness, as well as specific aspects, such as copy, imagery, colors, etc. We can test digital ads, videos, audio and print images. Peak Insights’ exclusive online platform also captures verbatim responses and includes heat mapping, text highlighting and even ranking of still images.

For each of your ad testing projects, Peak Insights will provide you with a detailed report of our findings, including overall scores, ad rankings, reactions by key subgroup and dial test analysis detailing the words and phrases that work best in your spot. Our online testing allows you to make confident, data-driven decisions about how and where to spend your valuable contact dollars.

Here’s how it works:

While the video is playing, we employ a real-time “dial test” to assess moment-to-moment reactions to your spot. We then employ Peak Insight’s key identifiers to measure initial reactions and pose a series of follow-up questions to measure message effectiveness, persuasiveness, believability, relatability, and overall importance of message.

Our exclusive online platform can also capture verbatim responses and includes heat mapping, text highlighting, and even ranking of still images. When your ad testing is complete, Peak Insights will provide a comprehensive report detailing key findings, including overall scores, ad rankings, reactions by subgroup and dial test analysis detailing the words and phrases that work best in your spot.

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Washington I-1631 was a statewide initiative proposed in 2018 that would have established the nation’s first “carbon tax” on greenhouse gas emissions. The “yes” side coalition was formidable, comprised of a laundry list of high-profile environmental groups, labor unions and tribal organizations. Proponents had a lot of things going for them, including solid resources (over $15M) and an electorate that is highly environmentally sensitive and eager to address climate change in the form of public policy. Washington is a deeply blue state, dominated by the Seattle DMA which covers roughly 60% of the state. Peak Insights was hired as lead pollster for the “No on 1631” campaign, headed by the Western States Petroleum Association.

Our initial statewide voter survey showed majority support for I-1631, which was clearly benefitting from favorable ballot language, fawning media coverage and the promise of funding going to a slew of special interest groups. The poll also revealed that one of the major challenges facing the No on 1631 campaign was in how to “frame” the debate – was it a “pollution fee” on big industry designed to reduce carbon emissions and move the state toward clean energy, or was it a poorly designed, unfair “energy tax” that would ultimately be passed on to consumers and hurt those who could least afford it? Through our comprehensive research program, which included in-person focus groups, online ad testing, multiple message refinement surveys and an extensive nightly tracking program, Peak Insights was able to guide the No on 1631 campaign to victory by helping to successfully frame the debate, develop key messages to specific target audiences, and identify the most effective messengers to deliver those messages.

As is often the case with partisan-driven issues like climate change, the “swing” voters in this campaign were made up largely of unaffiliated/Independent voters. This group also tended to fit the description of “cord-cutters” – voters who don’t typically rely on traditional media for news about politics and issues. Our polling, in conjunction with the modeling data, provided a clear path to connecting with these voters. This group had more macro-level than micro-level concerns and, as a result, responded favorably to communications that provided a broad summary of the negative impacts of I-1631. The notion that I-1631 would create a financial burden on individuals and families through higher gas prices and rising energy costs, without a guarantee of meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, was a compelling argument for this swing audience.

Credibility of message and messenger was critical in defeating I-1631 and our research shaped the narrative and delivery from start to finish. We worked closely with the analytics and modeling teams to ensure that the right messages were delivered to the right audiences, through the right mediums and at the right time.