Many marketers fall in love with new product ideas. They get excited when it comes up and imagine the significant impact the product could have on business performance. At the moment, it looks like the right thing to do….. Until it doesn’t. This is where concept testing comes in and deflates all that excitement when it turns out that consumers do not share the same enthusiasm – or even care about the product at all.
Should all this effort and hope be thrown away? Well, not yet…
It is OK to let go of some of your concepts…
All the data you can find on the success rate of innovation illustrates the same reality. A high proportion of products launched fail. Some say 80%. Others put the figure above 90%. Take any data point you want and it will tell you the same thing. It is extremely difficult to launch successful products.
That is why innovation research was created. You need to test as many ideas as possible in order to select those with the best chance of success. You do not want to spend time and effort developing a product that will be an epic failure. Nor do you want to add zombies or cannibals to your portfolio that bring no incremental revenue. It is a waste of time and resources, and your competitors may take advantage of it.
This is why most marketers are very comfortable letting some concepts go. After all, concept testing protects their business and their reputation. But what if your gut tells you that concept testing might actually be killing a great idea?
Concept testing is a great tool for making better decisions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight for an idea you really believe in. After all, each approach to concept testing has its pros and cons. Depending on which you choose, there will be biases and caveats that you need to consider when using data to make decisions. And taking them into account can change your perspective on your product’s potential.
Very unique products may need more time
Some innovations clearly add more options to an existing category. A new flavour, a new variety, a new pack and many other innovations seek to increase the market share of the brand in a defined category. However, the innovations that marketers dream about are those that are fairly unique. Launching a disruptive product creates a market advantage. Until competitors move into that space, your brand will define the category and expand without competition. A blue ocean ready to be conquered. The impact on the business can be significant, and once launched, the market landscape may never be the same.
However, when consumers complete a concept testing questionnaire, they evaluate products based on their accumulated experience with similar products. Some of them will see the uniqueness of the product as the reason to choose it over all existing alternatives. Others will feel that the product challenges their understanding of the category and will be inclined to stay in their comfort zone. This love-or-hate effect of disruptive concepts explains why some great products require consumers to take a little more time to reflect, accept the superiority of the innovation and ultimately adopt the product.
If the product is very unique, I always recommend taking this into account when analysing the data and making the final decision. We may be facing one of those cases where consumers need to think twice and the size of the prize can compensate for a higher risk tolerance.
General population vs category buyers
There are two approaches to sampling when it comes to concept testing. Today, most researchers use national representative samples, although some prefer to test the concept with category buyers.
There are two strong reasons for using national representative samples:
- The idea that brands should target the broadest possible group of consumers has become mainstream and, as a result, many brands are trying to increase their penetration. If a brand sees everyone as a potential buyer, there is only one way to go in terms of sample design and that is to use nationally representative samples.
- The second reason is norm development. When analysing the scores of any concept, everyone wants to compare their own scores with other tests so that there is a better judgement of how good or bad a score really is. Obviously, norms are easier to establish if everyone uses nationally representative samples.
This approach is perfectly valid if the category already has a high level of penetration, or if the product is disruptive and we do not know exactly what level or type of consumer it will appeal to. However, for established categories with relatively low penetration rates, I advocate using only category buyers in the sample. In these cases, testing against a nationally representative sample will give the concept a poor score and it will probably be rejected. This is wrong, because a new product may not have a great impact on expanding the boundaries of the category, but it may very well be a great tool to increase market share within the category. A product that opens up new consumers or new uses for the brand can still be a great addition to the portfolio. And over time, the brand will be able to build its own norm, using only category buyers in its tests.
Big numbers vs. specific audiences
We must always remember what the rationale for innovation is. Of course we want mass impact – which is why most concept testing projects are typically based on general population samples. But we also need to be mindful of the concept of incrementality. There may be products that resonate with a particular niche, which could be very valuable to a brand, but might be overlooked in the average analysis we do. If the new product can increase penetration for the brand, it does not have to appeal to everyone to be worth launching. So don’t just focus on the big numbers. Look at the specific audiences your idea is attracting, as this could lead to pleasant surprises and brand growth.
Concept testing is not the end
Even if a product doesn’t perform well in a concept test, it doesn’t mean that you have to throw it away just yet. Consumers change, and so does the competitive environment. An idea may have been rejected by consumers at one point, but it may be worth trying a few years later. Maybe it was just not the right time.
Also, the popularity of design thinking and agile digital product development has made many traditional researchers more relaxed about concept testing. A poor score in the test doesn’t necessarily mean the concept has to be discarded. Maybe the concept is not good enough today, but it can be improved over time and become viable in the market at a later stage.
If you think you have a great concept that deserves a second chance, give it some time, find ways to improve it, and try again when you think it has a better chance.
Avoid concept testing on autopilot
As you can see, concept testing is more complex than many people are prepared to accept. It is highly likely that any approach to concept testing you take will be correct in identifying the worst concepts that you need to kill as quickly as possible. However, be aware that the wrong approach to concept testing can also end up removing concepts from the list that are actually worth spending more time on.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to innovation testing, which is why I always urge brands to stay away from concept testing on autopilot. Instead, you should tailor your concept testing to your exact situation, which is the only way to avoid bad concept testing killing promising ideas.
Just give me a call if you need help figuring out how to do that.
Mar Serrán
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