Brand Research Debate: To Validate or Not to Validate?

A client recently approached us seeking advice on validation research for his brand and the importance of testing. He wanted our opinion on the following:

How important is testing the positioning/messaging and eventual creative concepts among my key targets? What are the risks if I decide not to validate?

As a Senior Account Executive at HCB Health, this is a question I hear fairly often from clients. Some of our clients won’t make a move without testing, while others see it as a luxury if they have the time and budget. This specific client request really got my wheels spinning. Not necessarily about the risks of not testing, but more about the considerations to keep in mind when deciding if validation research is right for your brand.

Validation research: The benefits to testing

Performing validation research following both positioning/messaging and concepting stages of campaign development is by no means a requirement. However, it is the best measure we currently have for testing an idea — and approach to selling or promoting a product/device — on our target audience.

Testing considerations: To validate or not to validate?

On the front-end, validation research adds a few weeks to a launch timeline each time we test. It also increases the budget necessary for a product launch.

However, if we launch a product in the marketplace with no validation from our primary targets that the message/execution resonates well with them, we could run the risk of missing the mark altogether in terms of message clarity, relevance or impact — or all three!

Below are a few key considerations in determining if validation research (for both positioning/messaging and concept testing) is the right approach for your product/device:

• How radically different would the positioning statements be from one another? If incredibly different, it may prove beneficial to test. If the difference isn’t as large, testing may not be as vital.
• How ambitiously do you plan to promote your product/device? In other words, how much money do you plan to spend on media? And how long will the campaign run? For example, if you plan to have a short-term campaign that is mostly driven by sales aids that reps leave in an office, concept testing may not be as vital as it would be if you were running heavy media weight in trade journals for multiple years.
• What product/device sales are at stake and how important is it to your company’s overall success?
• Is using your product/device over a competitor’s a really vital decision? Who makes this decision? When do they make it? Answers to these questions could also be a factor in determining what you test and when.

In my experience, validation research is not a one-size-fits-all approach — and it shouldn’t be, as different products/devices may have very different needs. My hope is that the above questions to consider will help my client, and maybe some of yours, to best evaluate the importance of testing their products/devices. Feel free to post a comment if you have any thoughts to share!