Advertising Campaign Concept Evaluation
The quest: An electric utility in California was developing an advertising campaign around grid modernization and preparedness resources in collaboration with its agency of record.
The need: The public utility needed to assess customers’ reactions to two proposed concept platforms. It commissioned qualitative research to achieve three goals:
- Ensure the concept platforms and accompanying executions effectively communicate the intended message
- Identify any potential areas of concern for non-English-speaking populations regarding messaging and creative elements
- Determine specific areas of improvement in the message and creative elements
The solution: ThinkNow conducted eight online focus groups among utility customers, including those who lived in high fire risk areas (HFRA), as the campaign could resonate more strongly with this segment of the coverage area.
Because the advertising campaign would ultimately be run in up to nineteen languages, the proposed research included representation of the largest non-English speaking populations in the following languages:
- Two groups - Spanish
- One group - Mandarin
- One group - Korean
- One group - Vietnamese
Three general population groups were also included conducted in English.
The group discussion focused on gathering reactions and feedback on the two campaign platforms, including eight different executions. To ensure the highest level of rapport and cultural understanding, moderators conducting these focus groups reflected the focus group participants’ cultural background.
The results of this study were instrumental in optimizing the concepts before quantitative testing. The research also provided direction regarding the proper in-language terminology to use for category-specific terms referenced in the campaign.
The culturally diverse team of moderators was instrumental in ensuring the campaign's intended message was communicated properly and effectively.